Learning English...easy or hard?

One of the many questions I get asked by learners of the English language, is whether it is possible to learn English to the same fluency they have in their own mother, native, tongue, or MT1.

Such a question is difficult to answer, for any number of reasons, not least trying to understand what the  goals and objectives are of the learner and the way the learner wants to use the English language.

Here we can divide learners into two groups, those who have a natural ability to learn a language, and those who have to work hard to acquire a learned language. In the first group of learners they have the ability to quickly learn the learned language in the same way they learned their own MT1. It comes naturally to them, as does their level of fluency. Equally helpful to them is their innate ability in understanding that language is both natural to its own particular environment, and doesn't reflect their own cultural and historical identities. As a good friend of mine, who speaks three languages, says 'when I'm using a particular language, I'm reacting to that language and no other.'

This brings us to the second group, those who have to work hard to improve their language level in the language being learnt. These learners can struggle and the reason is very often simple, they depend on their own MT1 language structures to define the language structures of the language being learnt. Because they have a good command, and can successfully manipulate their own MT1, then it follows that by following the same rules they should be able to do it in the learned language. Yet they struggle, when they don't have to, and learning the new language is a very frustrating experience.

One of the first things I ask new English learners is 'How perfect they are in their own language?', which they will answer by often saying 'Perfect', although many will immediately grasp the point I'm making and saying 'I'm not perfect but I have a very good command of my own language.' To these learners I go on to say 'Well if you're not perfect in your own language, why are you trying to be perfect in English?'

The key to learning English successfully, and by extension becoming more fluent, is 'to keep it simple, but use it well!' which is the number one rule we have at ESS. As teachers we should be teaching English in an holistic way, coupled with as much realism as possible so that the concepts we teach are wholly based on the learner's own experiences.

What do you think?