https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc5s2jK2JfU

 

Episode transcript below:

Hello, how are you doing? In this episode we're going to take a look at some interesting, surprising myths about learning English. The top ten myths in fact. I'm really excited to share them with you, I think you're going to like them. They might make you think about your English fluency in a new way. Let's challenge some of those thoughts that you have about English fluency. I've heard from a lot of learners that they say, "Oh you know I really need to learn in a Native speaking country. I can't learn English until I can move to the United States."

Seriously? It's not true. If you're planning on moving to the United States for example, you should probably start learning English before you move there. You don't need to live or even to travel to a native speaking country to become fluent in English. There's so many resources, especially online with so many interesting websites, news sources, video clips that you can watch, movies that you can stream, music sites that you can listen to music on, there's so many ways that you can get immersed in English in your living room, or wherever is convenient for you. You don't have to be in an English speaking country, you just need to bring English to you wherever you are.In fact I know a lot of people who live in the U.S. and they've lived there for years, maybe ten years, and they still don't speak English. Why? They spend their whole day everyday with people from their own country speaking their native language. Simply living in the United States is not the secret to fluency. It's a great place to be don't get me wrong, but fluency has to come from you and your effort, and knowing how to become fluent. That's why I'm here to help you. Stop making excuses, this excuse is not valid, you do not need to live in an English speaking country to become fluent.The next myth that I'd like to bust is that you have to major in English in University in order to be fluent. Now this is wrong on so many different levels, of course majoring in English can help you with your English but in a University you're typically going to study literature, and writing, and maybe how to become an English teacher. Sure, maybe it's a good idea if you want to be working with those fields but, in fact if you want to be able to speak English fluently I would suggest that you don't focus on it at your University. I would suggest, if you're taking English classes at University or a private language school that's great, but you have to do so much more outside of the class to develop your fluency, and make sure that you're not relying on your textbook, your teacher, or your course work to make you fluent. You really have to use English outside of the classroom to become fluent.Okay, next number three is really fun. I get a lot of requests from Go Natural English viewers, if they could become fluent by marrying an English speaker. Well, you do not need to marry an English speaker in fact to become fluent in English. It's great if you can have connection, or friendship, or even more with an English speaker, but you do not have to marry an English speaker to become fluent in English. I would suggest to reach out to people with similar interests and discuss those interests with them in English. Maybe you're really into sports, you could find a sports community using social media, or maybe a forum online. That's a great way to connect with people. I would suggest you put your effort into finding people with similar interest who also speak English.Number four, English is the most difficult language to learn. This is simply not true for most English language learners. English can be more difficult for some people and easier for some people depending on your native language, and depending upon your experience learning languages. If you've already learned another language it can become easier an...