So I encountered not even a language barrier, but a language quagmire, in which I got stuck every time I tried to speak, although my English is far from terrible. It was scary. But in the process, I discovered that some of my attitudes turned out to be myths. (Okay, about some of them, everything was clear before, I just reconfirmed my conclusions.) Perhaps for someone they are obvious, but for me they were a revelation.
1. Everyone around you knows the language better than you
Apologizing for not knowing the language well and playing down one’s level is like our national pastime (hello, school education!). Of course, I take part in it. Especially since I’ve always assessed my knowledge of English based on my knowledge of Russian, and my Russian is very good. Not in the sense that I never mix up letters and always place commas correctly, but in terms of vocabulary, understanding context, switching between styles, and so on. And it always seemed to me that until I can do the same in English, I’m some kind of loser who is unable to learn basic things.
Moreover, I talked to people with very different levels of English proficiency. And this seditious thought that you are definitely worse than everyone else periodically pops into the heads of many. Even those who work in a foreign company, professionally translate and generally know the language at a high level. Because the issue is not in the language at all, but in this question: “Why a four, why not a five? And what did everyone else in the class get?”
People from other countries are much less picky about themselves. Most of them think they know a language if they can communicate in it. And you know what? They are absolutely right.
The goal of any communication is for it to happen, that is, for the interlocutors to understand each other. If this happens, it is a success. Of course, you can lament that you do not use enough phraseological units or forgot a word at a crucial moment. But if you leave the store with groceries, and from a date – having giggled to your heart’s content, then it seems like there is nothing to worry about.
Just remember: even if you are not sure about your language level, there will always be those who know it worse. You are already great – keep this in mind and do not be afraid of anything.
2. You can learn universal English, which works the same everywhere
You can giggle endlessly at videos where the British and Americans laugh at how differently foreigners pronounce “a bottle of water,” but reality will throw up many more problems. Because the difference will not only be in pronunciation, or rather, in that too.
In some countries, familiar words of A1 level will be pronounced in such a way that you won’t recognize them the first time. For example, Australians say something like “naur” instead of the usual “no”, and “nice” turns into “noice”. But sometimes the same thing is called by different words, and these are not the usual “lift” and “elevator” or “eggplant” and “aubergine”, but a whole bunch of things. Because English is not appropriated by Great Britain or the USA, it exists and develops in other countries, and often according to its own laws.
So it takes time to get used to, for example, the fact that people from some Asian countries have R that sounds closer to L because they don’t have their own R. Or, let’s say, you spent days and nights learning to write business letters, but it turns out that any issues in the country are resolved via WhatsApp, and everyone from a realtor to a bank employee, instead of saying “We shall appreciate your cooperation in this matter” and “Looking forward to hearing from you,” will throw you stickers of varying degrees of cringe.
3. In a language environment you quickly start speaking English
It’s a lottery, and only if you already have a good base. You probably won’t make an incredible leap from zero. Plus, a lot depends on your environment. If you’ve started working in an international office, made friends, and communicate in English from morning to night, your vocabulary will most likely grow. If your new acquaintances have a rich vocabulary .
If you don’t have one, finding friends with whom you can discuss everything from gossip to the impact of global warming on farmers’ lives will take time and effort. Everyday conversations are usually extremely monotonous. You won’t grow much from them.
That is, nothing will happen by itself. Even in a language environment, you have to make an effort in any case. In what way exactly – by studying textbooks or by acquiring highly intellectual connections – is a different question. Although there are nuances here too, which we will discuss further.
4. It is best to learn from native speakers
A native speaker is a phrase that, when pronounced, is accompanied by the sound of bells ringing and angels singing in the background. After all, he knows the language perfectly. Or does he?
Let’s take Russian. The Moscow State University professor is a native speaker. The participants of the TV show “Yu”, whose speech is often subtitled because they can’t understand a word, with their “ёновный”, “ёшьний” and “ихний” are also native speakers.
You and I, people for whom Russian is our native language, are generally able to distinguish between literate, rich speech and its opposite. But for a person who does not know the specifics and is simply trying to adopt the vocabulary and some rules from the speech of the interlocutor, this will not be intuitively clear. So there is a risk of learning something bad.
5. People who mix languages in their speech are either stupid or show-offs.
Well, you know, “depending on the fabric, depending on how many details.” Who are you kidding, I wonder? As if you could forget the language you’ve spoken for so many years to fall into this language-mixing abyss.
So, I am speaking from the bottom of this abyss. And most of my friends have not escaped this misfortune. There are many reasons. Firstly, there is no point in translating some phenomena into Russian. You encountered them in another country, they will not be useful to you when you return . Secondly, you immediately learn about some things in another language, and the need for translation arises only when you tell someone about them who does not speak the language.
For example, I once told my mother about local fruits hugging a dictionary (an online dictionary, of course, this is a metaphor). Thirdly, words pop out of memory automatically. If you talk about something more often in another language, the brain carefully substitutes them in place of Russian. Fourthly, sometimes a word or phrase in English expresses a thought more accurately than in your native language.
6. Every day your confidence in your own abilities will become stronger.
This generally works with any area in which you are progressing. It is as if you are climbing a mountain and you can already see the top, but it turns out that there is an even steeper climb beyond it. That is, the more you learn, the more you realize how much you still don’t know. It is frustrating. Because you seem to be trying, but each time you find yourself in a situation where, compared to the volume of the unknown, but already visible, you know less and less.
7. It is possible to master English perfectly
Depends on what you consider perfection, of course. But no language can be learned to the end, to pass the final boss. Because, for example, the “Large Academic Dictionary of the Russian Language” has more than 150 thousand words. And this is only literary vocabulary used in the period from the 19th century. And there is also slang, jargon and all sorts of other words and phrases that do not fit into the norm.
The Oxford English Dictionary has over 500,000 lexical units. And that alone isn’t enough. Because the Urban Dictionary, which collects informal words and expressions, is growing in size every day.