Why is English HARD?

I understand that English can be hard even though I believe that there are other languages out there that are way harder than English English is not an easy language to acquire so in this episode I'm going to present to you some of the aspects of English that I consider to be the most challenging for Learners knowing these pitfalls that you will likely encounter in your English learning Journey will make you better prepared to face them hey everybody how's it going Chiago here and welcome to another episode of the podcast in case you're new here and

this is your first video I created this podcast and YouTube channel to help intermediate and advanced Learners of English communicate with more confidence more accuracy more clarity and more awareness if this sounds like something you want for yourself and your English subscribe to the channel here on YouTube and if you're are listening on Spotify or apple podcasts follow the show over there so you don't miss any single episode registrations for my conversation Club are still open but they are closing soon because classes begin effectively next week so if you are interested in practicing your English

conversation with me and other Learners once a week on the live call check out the link here in the description of the video in the pin comment below and also in the show notes on Apple podcast and Spotify to learn more about how you can secure your spot also don't forget to check out my pronunciation course this is a course designed to help you understand the main connected speech patterns that native speakers use when they speak in real life and in media and also this course will teach you the main sounds of the English language

this course will help you speak English with more clarity better pronunciation and become better able to understand fast spoken English in media so if you are interested in learning more about the course the link is also here in the description of the video in the pin comment and in the show notes all right so for every problematic aspect of English that I present here here I'm also going to give you a tip to counter that keep in mind that every person who learns English as a second language experiences these challenges these pitfalls that the language

inherently has it's normal so if you face them or if you are facing any of these difficulties here be okay with that and know that it is to be expected and you have to keep going with your studies okay the first challenging aspect of English I would say is the vocabulary when it comes to vocabulary one thing I can say here is that English words usually have multiple meanings okay there are many different meanings for the words we tend to use the same words but in different ways in different contexts with different meanings that in

and of itself can be challenging for Learners already so let me give you an example we have the word bear bear well bear can be the animal that's a noun but when talking about investing the stock market we also have the bare Market the bare market is when the market is going down all right and when there is a lot of pessimism around the stock market so that's the bear Market but you also have the verb to bear and the verb bear also has multiple meanings for example it means to carry or support the weight

of something the bridge is designed to Bear the weight of heavy trucks this is one meaning bear the verb also means to endure or tolerate something difficult or unpleasant for examp example I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my family behind I couldn't tolerate I couldn't stand having this thought I couldn't bear the thought okay and to Bear a child means to give birth to a child for example she bore her first child at the age of 25 bore here is the simple past form of the verb beg bear bear boore okay so a woman

gets pregnant and after 9 months this woman Bears a baby or a child you see this is one example of how uh we tend to use the same words in English but in different situations in different contexts that can be a challenge when it when it comes to learning the language so my tip to counter this is is always learn the words in context don't focus on individual words in English vocabulary lists with individual words it's always better for you to learn the words in context if you're going to create a list for yourself of

vocabulary make sure you also um categorize those words through context and have a lot of example sentences to illustrate that word being used in that cont so learn vocabulary in context in phrases okay still talking about vocabulary we have the phrasal verbs of course all the phrasal verbs the Achilles heel of every English learner phrasal verbs can also have different meanings let me give you an example here we have the phrasal verb pick up pick up so for example if I say pick up your clothes from the floor floor this is one meaning something is

down on the floor you pick it up right but I can also say that I have to pick up my son at school every day that's another meaning you see you pick up someone someplace and what about this one imagine you are a single person you can go to a bar to pick up someone at the bar in that case to pick up a person at a bar means to interact with that person showing romantic interest flirting and hopefully leaving the bar with that person this is piing up someone at a bar still in that

context we have the pickup line the pickup line usually uh you know imagine a guy who is single he goes to a bar and he might try some pickup lines to start a conversation with a girl there at the bar a pickup line is usually a joke or a funny comment something intriguing let's say to get the other person to engage in conversation with you that's the pickup line some of them can be quite effective quite funny and quite smart and others can be quite horrible and cheesy and corny okay but that's a pickup line

still talking about that within that space we have the pickup artist pickup artists are typically men who are very manipulative and uh they go to bars for example uh to let's say um pick up girls at bars but these guys they they're not really looking for something serious for a long-term committed relationship they're just looking to score let's say that night yeah so you see I'm talking about all these things using the verb or the phrasal verb pick up so you see phrasal verbs can also be used in many different situation so another tip for

you to counter that especially about phrasal verbs is learn the different situations a phrasal verb could be used in so when it comes to phrasal verbs guys maybe don't Focus so much on the meaning of each phrasal verb but focus on the possible situations that phrasal verb could be used in like pickup the example I just gave I can use pickup when something is down on the floor and I pick it up I can just pick up like pick up my son at school or pick up someone someplace but you see these are situations all

right these are situations that allow you to use the phrasal verb pick up so focus more on the situations let me give you one more example related to phrasal verbs take off don't worry about the meaning of takeoff worry about the situations you can use take off in for example if I have to take a shower I need to take off my clothes first when I travel and I am on the plane when the plane lifts off the ground or leaves the ground the plane takes off if I at a party and I want to

leave I want to go home I can say hey let's take off or I'm going to take off you see so focus on the different situations you could use the phrasal verb not necessarily the meaning of each phrasal verb this is a tip I can give you still on vocabulary and how English vocabulary can be challenging for Learners idioms the idiomatic expressions these are phrases that shouldn't be understood literally they have a figurative meaning they have a literal meaning which is very visual usually but they have a figurative meaning actually they are not literal in

meaning they are figurative for example bite the bullet to bite you know bite the bullet this means to face a difficult or unpleasant situation with courage and determination you bite the bullet for example I know it's going to be tough but we just have to bite the bullet and get through this challenging project like let's just buy the bullet and get it done you see it's something imp plas it's difficult but let's get it done let's bite the bullet and do it another example to let the cat out of the bag to let the cat

out of the bag this means to accidentally reveal a secret you let the cat out of the bag you reveal a secret accidentally for example we were planning a surprise party for her but someone let the cat out of the bag and now she knows all right here here's another one to beat around the bush to beat around the bush this means to avoid talking about something directly or to be deliberately vague or evasive you are not clear in your communication you are not straightforward you beat around the bush you speak many things but not

necessarily say many things for example stop beating around the bush and just tell me what you really think about my idea okay be straight with me so here's a tip I can give you about idioms first whenever you have an idium in front of you try to understand the literal meaning first because picturing the literal meaning of a of an ediom can already help you make sense of the ediom let's go back to let the cat out of the bag can you picture the literal meaning here the image there's a cat inside a bag and

then you let the cat out of the bag okay now with that visual in mind with that um picture in mind now it's it's much easier for you to understand the figurative meaning which is to accidentally share a secret okay so this is a tip I can give you here now moving on about listening now when it comes to listening listening can also be very hard and problematic for many Learners why first of all because of the speed at which native speakers usually talk some people speak slower but other people speak fast all right so

when it comes to that the tip I can give you right out the gate is learn the main connected speech patterns that native speakers use when they talk because being familiar or becoming familiar with these connected speech patterns will help you better understand even when a native speaker is speaking fast that's why I've created my pronunciation course to teach you the main connected speech patterns that native speakers use so again to learn more can just check out the link here in the description of the video another challenging aspect of English listening is the different accents

of English English is not spoken in just one country it's spoken in multiple countries and each country has a specific way or sound a specific way when they speak English natively so my recommendation here is pick a standard English accent as your reference first then gain exposure to other accents and compare them to your accent of reference I've already shed that here on the podcast my reference is standard American accent is not American English from New York American English from Mississippi American English from California no it's the Standard General American English that's my my accent

of reference okay it's the typical English you hear on the news for example let's say on CNN okay now that I have this base or this reference then I can listen to other accents and then I can compare them to my reference which is standard American English so that's what I recommend you do pick one standard ideally standard accent because the standard accent is the neutral accent is the most neutral one okay and then master that first Master The Sounds get comfortable with how it sounds when people speak using it and then gain exposure to

other accents but when you listen to a very different accent you can always compare that to your reference okay okay something else that is challenging about English listening is the use of slang and colloquialisms there's a lot of slang in English as well and there are many words that have a standard meaning but that can also be used in a slangy type of way for example the word sick well the traditional meaning or the standard meaning is ill or unwell you are sick you're not feeling very well this slang meaning could be something awesome cool

or impressive for example that skateboard trick was sick the concert was sick that guitar solo is sick you see this means really cool that's a slangy way of using the word sick another example the word salty salty when food is salty is because it has a lot of salt in it it tastes salty like there's a lot of salt maybe too much salt in the food that's the standard meaning but as slang it can also mean when you are bitter resentful or angry for example he's still salty about losing the game you see so the

tip I can give you here about this is regularly consume English content and be deliberate about what you watch the genres because imagine uh you watch you always watch the same stuff you always watch sitcoms comedy shows if you only watch those you will be exposed to a certain type of English all the time but then if you watch something different like an epic TV series or uh uh a podcast about history I mean the world history that will naturally uh present you with different words different L depending on what you're watching okay so be

also mindful of that make sure you vary the types of videos podcasts media that you consume because each type each genre will teach you let's say or give you exposure to different ways of saying things and this is also beneficial for vocabulary I was just mentioning about the idioms the phrasal verbs right the words with multiple meanings so consuming English media should be a given guys it should be a given you should be consuming media in English every single day all the time movies TV series podcasts interviews music reading okay something else that can be

challenging for English Learners when it comes to listening is this the difficulty of understanding spoken English in noisy environments have you ever thought about that when it comes to using English in real life when you travel at work the environment will not always be optimal for listening there will be noise there will be there will be people talking if you are having a phone call it's naturally more challenging to understand the person because you you can't see the person we're just hearing the person and the connection might not be so good it might be breaking

up you see so one tip I can give you for this is listen to a podcast for example but in a noisy environment practice that too uh listen to English podcasts interviews not only in the comfort of your home when uh everything is nice and quiet but I don't know take a bus and listen to the podcast there while people are talking go to a shopping mall that is very noisy and listen to a podcast there so when it comes to practicing your listening skills in English practice listening in all kinds of environments the quiet

environment is great for honing your skills and really refining your listening skills and learning new stuff but also for challenge for extra challenge practice listening in noisy environments like the gym as well when it comes to speaking and pronunciation so I've already covered vocabulary the challenging aspects of vocabulary the challenging aspects of listening what about speaking and pronunciation well something that can be hard for English Learners is the difficulty of pronouncing certain sounds in English especially depending on your native language so I know that for Brazilians for example the th sound is a problem but

th sound and the the sound like thank you and father that can be a problem uh the letter L for some countries for some uh people could be a problem going l l o okay uh again I think for Brazilians the L is a problem because we tend to pronounce the L in Portuguese as a u sound like we don't say Brazil like oh which is the correct way in English we say Brazil Brazil see we round our lips and make it a oo sound but a z you know so the L can be a

problem for Brazilians but I know that for other countries they naturally have this l or o sound in their native language so that sound might not be so tricky but maybe the schah sound is another one that is problematic the uh sound um and it is also challenging because it is a sound that is the most popular or the most used sound in English in spoken English so mastering the schah and pronouncing the shuah every time it occurs is challenging the letter V I know especially when it comes to Spanish speakers for example Latin American

speakers who speak Spanish the letter V is a problem sometimes because um I've heard people instead of saying the V the VV they pronounce more like a b sound like they don't say video but video video something like that you know so depending on your native language there will be sounds in English that will be harder for you to master but it is possible to master all these sounds with practice intention and determination okay but it's important that you become aware of your native language how the sound sounds of the letters work in your native

language and how those sounds compare to the Sounds in English and then you attack the ones that give you the most problems okay when it comes to English speaking in pronunciation knowing the intonation of the words or where to place the stress can also be challenging for example you might say epitome but that's not the correct pronunciation not because you are Mis pronouncing the sounds but simply because you are not placing the stress in the right place the word here is epitomy epitomy epitomy so the Str syllable here is p epitomy epitomy not epitome for

example or what about project versus project these are two different words a project that's the noun you work on a project but to project something like projector voice when speaking that's a verb what's the difference this TR project project project project or record record a record is an album for example it's a noun okay like here behind me I have a Metallica record behind me Master of Puppets but to record an album that's the action that's what bands do in the studio government government so the stress here is in the first syllable if you change

the stress you are automatically mispronouncing the word even though you might be pronouncing all the sounds correctly you might be you you might go government government I'm not really mispronouncing the individual sounds of the word here if I go government or government but it's still sounds wrong because I'm not placing the stress in the correct place so the correct way is government government not government or government all right so knowing where to place the stress in the words and even in the sentences that can be tricky and challenging for learners and of course the use

of linking sounds going back to Connected speech the cool thing about connected speech learning more about connected speech is that it attacks two fronts right it helps to improve your listening skills and better understand fast spoken English because native speakers use connected speech all the time but when it comes to your pronunciation if you can speak applying more connected speech in your um English speaking that's going to automatically make your sound better with more flow more fluently and more natural all right so here's an example Jim almost had a heart attack this is a sentence

actually that I use in my course in lesson one of the course the pronunciation course so Jim almost had a heart attack so what's happening here I don't really pronounce the T for almost I drop it so I say almost and then I I have had a I go had with a flap sound had and then hard attack I go flap again here hard hard heart attack so almost had a heart attack almost had a heart attack Jim almost had a heart attack this is connected speech if you can speak that way you sound good

or check out this example I'm going to speak without connected speech first okay this is not so hard to do just think of something as a solution now what about using connective speech how would that sound something like this this is not so hard to do just think of something as a solution so what's happening here first of all I am reducing to to uh do do do do this is not so hard to do I'm also dropping the for not so this is not this is not I don't say this is not so this

is not so hard to do hard to do I don't say hard to do but hard to do so this is not so hard to do think of something think of something I'm not really fully pronouncing of here I'm dropping it to awah sound uh so think of becomes thinker thinker think of something think of something as a solution so as a I also join and it becomes as a as a as a solution as a solution you see so this is not so hard to do just think of something as a solution you see

so learning connected speech helps to improve your pronunciation and improve your listening skills again check out my course I teach all this stuff all these patterns and sounds in my pronunciation course Link in the description of the video in the pin comment below and also in the show notes if you are on Spotify or apple podcast this is golden information guys you have to check it out now when it comes to speaking something else that can be challenging for Learners and this specifically is not necessarily related to the language itself is psychological challenges so far

uh I've been focusing on the challenging aspects of English when it comes to the language the inherent aspects of English the language that can be tricky that can be hard for learners but especially when it comes to speaking there is also the psychological aspect for example shyness insecurity lack of confidence impostor syndrome you know that feeling of inadequacy always doubting your abilities you doubt that you can speak English fluently limiting beliefs I'm too old to learn English I don't have the talent to learn languages okay so even though these are not related to the language

directly they can also be crippling for English Learners so a tip here is if you struggle with any of these things here that I just mentioned the psychological challenges learn more about these issues focus on your personal development as well because sometimes what you need is not to learn more English it's not to learn more words more grammar but to become a better person to develop yourself as a person and get rid of limiting beliefs minimize impostor syndrome become more confident build up your confidence as a person as a speaker maybe that's what you need

right now not necessarily to learn more about the language so think about that so if you struggle with shyness learn more about this issue of shyness feeling shy listen to podcasts about this topic listen to experts psychologists discussing this topic and implement the tips and solutions they provide read books about this stuff study about this stuff and see how you can get rid of it you see so that's another aspect of English that is not about the language but it can be problematic as well so attack those issues as well moving on to grammar now

of course I couldn't leave grammar behind of course guys so when it comes to English grammar that can also be hard and challenging to get right first of all uh there are some complex rules in English grammar and understanding maybe how to use certain tenses certain structures can be difficult for example when do I use present perfect I have done and when do I use simple past I did what's the difference that can be tricky when to use past perfect I had done I had gone went to use that the conditionals first second third mixed

zero all right that can be tricky the modal verbs reported speech reported speech is a big one yeah passive voice so so some tenses in English some structures can be quite complex to understand and tricky to get it right also there are many exceptions to the rules so yes we have the grammar rules but there are always exceptions to those rules as well so learning the rules first and then learning the exceptions that can be challenging and time consuming and also of course the difficulty of using or remembering the correct verb tense when it's time

to speak English maybe when you study at home by yourself without any time pressure or social pressure you understand this structure you use this structure but when you are in a high pressure situation talking to people in real life those verb tenses those structures just don't come to you that can be a problem as well when it comes through English grammar so tips to counter that when it comes to improving your grammar in English guys there are two approaches here okay first of all let's get this out of the way grammar is absolutely essential in

my opinion it is absolutely important okay so don't neglect grammar okay now there are two different approaches you can take with improving grammar okay and getting better with the structures of the language the first approach is what I call the pragmatic approach the surgical approach the compartment type of brain approach what does that mean if you are a more pragmatic type of person if you are a person who is really into details you are very detail oriented you really like to understand the why of things why do I place this auxiliary verb here why do

I place the verb there okay if you like this stuff if you like to uh deeply understand about something and if you have more of a let's say compartment type of brain meaning that you tend to compartmentalize information in your brain your brain is made up more of little boxes let's say and then each box has specific information if you are that type of thinker and learner form studying grammar is going to be paradise for you that's the kind of learner I am and that's why um I've never had a problem studying grammar formally with

books and stuff I love that stuff I love getting a better grasp and understanding of English grammar and I love understanding when when I use first conditional when I use second conditional why do I use third conditional when do I use third conditional I love that yeah the why is in the how of the language so if you are that type of learner formally study grammar buy a grammar book I I have some links here in the description of the video you can check out um if you are an intermediate learner buy an intermediate level

grammar book that's going to suit you very well and then dedicate a few minutes per day you know doing some grammar exercises better understanding the the language like that okay but there's the other approach to okay which is what I call the organic approach or the holistic approach the intuitive approach if you find that studying grammar formally is really boring okay and just can't get it maybe maybe you are the organic type of learner you learn more with your organic approach having more of holistic approach to the language so a holistic approach here would be

you don't focus on specific areas of the language like one at a time like in a very pragmatic way but you could you learn the language you practice the language as a whole that's a more holistic approach you know you take the language as it comes yeah and randomly sometimes you learn some vocab sometimes you learn some grammar even intuitively you know organic Ally you know you internalize it kind of naturally that's one type of learner there's nothing wrong with that okay so if you are that type of person my tip would be don't obsess

over terminology when it comes to grammar you don't have to memorize the terms first conditional second conditional you don't have to do that so you can focus instead on the functions that those structures serve for example knowing the term first conditional is not really relevant for you but knowing how to threaten someone in English if you need to is relevant and how do you threaten someone in English using first conditional but you're not really worried about the terminology but you got to be able to use language in that context for example if you don't do

your homework you won't play video games you see that's a par threatening the child you got to be able to use that construction correctly in that situation or you don't have to memorize the term second conditional or what it is but you have to be able to hypothesize about stuff you have to be able to talk about imaginary situations if I had more time I would read two books per month instead of one book a month you see that's second conditional but the function is hypothesizing right talking about hypothesis imaginary situations unreal scenarios so focus

on that focus on the function the grammar structures serve don't obsess over the terminology so when it comes to improving your grammar in English you have these two approaches the pragmatic type of learner who sits down and formally studies grammar that's me and you have the organic IC more holistic intuitive type of learner who just by consuming English regularly frequently and consuming a lot of English and using it over time naturally internalizes uh the structures you know so see what kind of learner you are now regardless if you identify more with a pragmatic type of

learner or the holistic type of learner these two things are crucial for both types of Learners here when it comes to improving your grammar first one read read extensively read lots of books read articles read magazines in English reading gives you exposure to the structures of the language already so read a lot read all kinds of stuff and write write okay having the habit of writing getting your ideas and taking your ideas from your head to a Google doc or to a piece of paper this is super powerful to develop yourself as an English user

you know and it's super powerful for your grammar as well because then you'll learn how to properly write the sentences the punctuation all right writing is something that takes more time you think more about what you are producing you are more deliberate with it so I would say these two things are essential okay read extensively and have the habit of writing so now I just want to conclude with some final words guys listen English can be a hard language to learn but you are not alone make great use of the resources you have nowadays and

remember that every successful English learner has experienced these challenges at some point in their lives but they succeeded because they didn't give up learning English I hope you found this episode useful if you liked it do me a favor like this video and also share this video with a friend or somebody who needs to learn more about English and learn more about this stuff don't forget to subscribe to the channel here on YouTube Follow the show on Spotify and apple podcasts and check out my conversation Club the registrations are closing so you still have time

to join learn more about it the links are all here in the description of the video in the show notes and also learn more about my pronunciation course this is a recorded course you can take at your own time at your own pace and learn more about English pronunciation guys I'm Chagu I'm signing off thank you so much for listening until now and I'll be talking to you very soon in the upcoming video bye-bye