Why study English?

This is an interesting question. English is a hard language to learn, and serious study of any hard subject takes time, effort and sacrifice. There are people who find it quite easy to learn new languages, but they are very few indeed.  Most of us have to work hard to develop good fluency in a new language. So why do we do it?

By far the most important reason is, in the end, financial.

We invest our time and our effort in order to achieve a real long-term benefit. Maybe our immediate objective is to get an international job, or to get a place at an English-speaking university. But in both these cases the real long-term goal is to improve our chances of earning a high salary over the rest of our life, or for a period in our life.

Like any investment, the balance between investment, risk and reward has to be right, or we will not spend the time and money.

Clearly therefore the potential cost of an English course, in terms of the price we have to pay and the time and effort we shall have to devote to it, has to be weighed against the benefits we expect. The actual price we shall have to pay is not the most important factor here. Most important is the difference between total cost and total benefit expected, because this provides motivation, and every language trainer in the world will tell you that motivation is the real secret of language learning.

But motivation is not a fixed quantity. It varies. A motivated student can become quickly demotivated if he or she starts to feel that they are not making visible progress. They can become demotivated if their tutor is unimaginative in their approach, or does not respond properly to their needs. Quite suddenly the effort they need to put into the learning process starts to feel like a burden they cannot carry, and their long-term goal looks unattainable.

A good tutor in a good school will build up their students’ motivation week by week. They will encourage the student to levels of effort and achievement the student did not imagine possible. The school will provide materials and equipment that help reinforce the tutor’s work, and the student will find that their studies move along quickly, and enjoyably. The long-term goal comes visibly closer, and motivation soars.

Finally, here are three tips to bear in mind when deciding to study English.

1.            Be clear about your long-term goal, and the steps you will take to achieve it.

2.            Look for a school that has tutors who know how to motivate their students.

3.            Work hard…no  one should ever expect to find English an easy language!