Topic Talk | How can I learn English by myself? (Spoiler: You can't!)

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Jack explains why it's not really possible to learn English alone. Interacting with other English speakers should be your goal and is a necessary part of the process of learning English.Transcript:00:00:01JackWelcome to the agency English podcast. My name is Jack, and today I have another solo episode, and today's episode is a topic talk episode.00:00:12JackThe question we're trying to answer today is.00:00:16JackHow can I learn English alone?00:00:20JackHow can I learn English alone?00:00:25JackAnd my answer to that.00:00:28JackI'm going. I'm going to answer that with a an English expression or an English saying. It's very. It's a very old expression.00:00:38JackAnd it goes like this. We say no man is an island, OK? No man is an island.00:00:49JackAnd I think what that means is that we are all connected or.00:00:57JackNo one person can completely disconnect from.00:01:03JackOther everyone else, you're always connected to some person through your work, through your family, through your friendships, whatever it may be, we're we're all connected.00:01:19JackWe can't. We cannot help it.00:01:23JackIt's just one of and I think that's why you know, we use those expressions on social media, you know, making connections on Facebook.00:01:33JackHow many can you know how many friends do you have? Oh, I connected with this person on Facebook and then and then that person connects to another person who connects to another person that connects to maybe somebody else that you know and.00:01:47JackAnd it's all about connections, right? So when students ask me, you know, Jack, how can I learn English alone?00:01:59JackMy answer is you can't.00:02:02JackUM, you can't learn English alone.00:02:08JackAny better than you could learn how to be a friend.00:02:14JackWithout talking to any people you know, like reading a book called how to be a friend.00:02:21JackChapter one.00:02:23JackBe kind.00:02:26JackChapter 2. Listen to your friend.00:02:29JackYou know chapter 3. I mean, it's ridiculous, right? Trying to, you know, learn to learn how to be a friend. I I think learn to how to learn, you know, learning English alone is almost as ridiculous as.00:02:50JackLearning how to be a friend alone. I mean you learn how to be a good friend by.00:02:57JackBy befriending people and having relationships and experiencing those things.00:03:06JackAnd the exact same thing.00:03:08JackCan be said about English. It's about.00:03:13JackInteracting and using the language with other people.00:03:17JackCreatively trying to communicate, trying to be understood. Now, obviously there are times where you could.00:03:27JackStudy certain things by yourself, like you could learn some new vocabulary, or you could do some reading by yourself. You could listen to a podcast by yourself. You could do some grammar exercises, but if you don't, if if you don't take all of that, work those.00:03:47JackThat homework type stuff, you know, grammar exercises, listening to the podcast, and you don't apply that to some kind of actual real life speaking situation where you're talking with other people. It doesn't have to be native speakers, it could be other language learners if you don't.00:04:07JackTake that next step and actually use the language creatively. Then all the other stuff is pointless. There's.00:04:16JackNo, there's no point in.00:04:19JackPracticing grammar if you're not going to go out and use the language and that's, you know, the hardest part, and we're making that easier here at the edges. The English podcast, because we are associated very closely with something called World English.00:04:40JackAnd world English is a a community that I that I started with a YouTuber, Robin Shaw.00:04:51JackAnd we started this, this community, so that students can join the WhatsApp group. They can come in there and they can talk to each other. Now, talking to each other doesn't necessarily mean you're you're talking using your voice. You could be typing and communicating that way.00:05:09JackThrough text messages or voice notes. But we also have Google meets classes and you're allowed to go to the Google meets class classes for several weeks for.00:05:21JackFree and we have Google meets classes almost every day, so at 1:00 PM GMT.00:05:32JackThat's Greenwich mean time.00:05:35JackUM, we have a free class. Uh, Sunday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday every day, every week. The only days we don't do our Fridays.00:05:49JackAnd then we also have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. We have another class that is that that takes place at. That would be 1:00 AM.00:06:05JackGreenwich mean time.00:06:07JackOK. And so we've got these two you know, so that's 44 classes that you can attend and what we do in these classes is students get together in Google meets on Google meets. So you have to have a Google account, you have and you need a smartphone.00:06:28JackAnd then in the Google meets you get together and you join other other members of our of our community in breakout rooms and you discuss a topic.00:06:40JackAnd sometimes the native English speakers are in there. Sometimes I'm in there.00:06:46JackSometimes our teachers are in there and you're, you know, talking and having a conversation. And and this is the final piece of the puzzle that's the most important part that so many people.00:07:00JackShip. They OK? I'm gonna study for my IELTS test. I'm gonna study for my Duolingo Duolingo test and I'm just gonna memorize this grammar. I'm going to memorize this vocabulary. I'm going to but. But when it comes to speaking, I'm just going to say, oh, it's too hard. I.00:07:19JackSo how can I?00:07:20JackFind anyone to talk to. So I'm just not going to do that part. Well, that's the whole point of the of all of the work that you're doing is to speak with other people. That's it.00:07:31JackLike I said, no man is an island. You cannot be a language learner.00:07:38JackAnd be an island, you need to be connected to other people. You need to use the language creatively in a social setting. That's it. It has to be that way. And if you're not doing that, then you're not really learning English.00:07:56JackYou might be studying some of the rules you might be picking things up, but you're never going to actually be able to communicate and function as a bilingual speaker until you actually put yourself in social situations where you're using.00:08:17JackEnglish as the target language to communicate ideas.00:08:23JackAnd listen to other people's ideas and share opinions and go back and forth and do that. You know that tennis match, which is a conversation.00:08:33JackThat's it. That's what. That's the ultimate.00:08:37JackYou know that's the ultimate goal, or that's what your ultimate goal should be, not some score on an exam. Not getting some kind of grammar questions correct.00:08:52JackIt's a totally different ball game when you're actually using the language to communicate with other people. So.00:09:00JackI gave you if you're interested in joining our WhatsApp group and want to learn more about our Google meets classes, you can. You can contact me. You can leave a comment on our our website A-Z englishpodcast.com. You can send me an e-mail A-Z [email protected]:09:21JackYou can join our WhatsApp group. I'll put the link right in there and that'll take you right to our Google meets classes.00:09:30JackOr if you are using WeChat, you can communicate with me that way and I will point you towards the Facebook link for the Google meets class. So you still need a Google account if you want to participate in our online classes because we're using.00:09:50JackGoogle meets to have these classes, but like I said, you can do it free for several weeks and see if you like it. If it's, if it's good for you. If the time works, then you may want to think about joining, joining costs $10 a month. That's it.00:10:07Jack$10 a month and you get almost 5050 classes a a month. So you do the math. It's it's such a good deal.00:10:18JackUh, it's amazing. So alright guys, with that said, I will see you next time. So thanks everybody.00:10:27JackBye bye.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/topic-talk-how-can-i-learn-english-by-myself-spoiler-you-cant/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok:@atozenglish1Instagram:@atozenglish22Twitter:@atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ADonate to the show: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/9472af5c-8580-45e1-b0dd-ff211db08a90/donationsRobin and Jack started a new You Tube channel called English Word Master. You can check it out here:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2aXaXaMY4P2VhVaEre5w7ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Daybird by Broke for Freehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Directionless_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Directionless_EP_-_03_Day_Bird/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcodeSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy