In this video we explore the main problem with the 98% of people who come to see me to obtain a specific qualification. And this means that they don't like English. They have taken a mania. And this is the first problem that must be addressed, long before messing with grammars, vocabularies or various skills.

And if you're here, this is probably your topic too: what's happening to you, simply and plainly, is that you've taken a mania for English.
Yep. As with little children, “the teacher has a thing for me,” well that happens to you: you have taken a fancy to that poor language, totally innocent, which has done nothing to you. And there you have the Englishman, confused in a corner.

But you're not the only one this has happened to. In fact, if we talk about the people who consult me to obtain a specific certification for the purpose of obtaining a degree, etc., this is what happens to more than 98% of them.

I will talk about the different myths about language learning in adulthood another day in another post and in other videos, but here I want to mention above a couple of false conceptions that we have as a common place and proven fact. And they are lies. It's that simple.

1) Adults cannot learn languages, or find it much more difficult.
Phrases like “I'm too old to learn languages”, “the little ones are the ones who have the easiest time, as an adult you can't do it anymore”, “I no longer have the patience or ability to get on with English now”, and “uh, take it off, at this point.”
Well NOPE. All lie.
I insist: I will put the full story about these myths in another video, but for now it is enough to say that the idea that children learn faster than adults is a lie: we learn by comparison. We observe something new, we compare it with what we already know, we see what conclusions we can draw from what we have learned, and only then do we test, in context, to see if what we have learned works. If it works, we will continue repeating that strategy, that expression. If not, then we will have to find another one.

The false conception that children learn faster comes because Children have more time than you to experiment with the language they are learning.. And they get results in fewer days than you, but that's because neither they nor their brains have anything better to do all day (I explain it more and better in the video).

2) I am absolutely negative for languages.
Fake. I can tell you that, in the more than twenty-something years that I have been teaching English, on only two occasions have I encountered people who were truly in denial. And in both cases it had more to do with the self-fulfilling prophecy (“I will never be able to learn English”) than with their actual abilities. Well, that and there were more dogs than the ground.
Believe me: of course you can handle English. You just need the right motivation.

And finally, one of the most common fears when it comes to learning English, especially in Spain:

3) I have a tremendous fear of: making mistakes / making a fool of myself / being laughed at for my pronunciation, etc..
I haven't lived in Spain for a few years now, so I don't know if the topic has changed, which would be great, but it is true that, traditionally, we Spaniards have been very eager when it comes to learning languages.
I mean: we have the fear of ridicule embedded in our DNA; first. We are afraid that they will laugh at us if, (1) we pronounce it wrong, or (2) if we try to pronounce it correctly, because there will be people who will say “Uh, look at this one, what is it about, what did he think, the ridiculous thing.”
That is one of the things that has done the most damage of all to the issue of language learning in our country, although the methodology traditionally used is another topic, which I am not going to get into now, because why.
Well, look at one thing: when you then speak a language well, or two, or three, because this and scratching everything is starting, people freak out. How many times have they told me that I'm envious, what a pronunciation, etc. And how many times I have envied others for speaking a foreign language fluently.
Throughout the course I will give you strategies to pronounce well, to not get overwhelmed, etc. But the most important thing is this: when we learn to pronounce in another language, there are times when it is pure theater. Besides, we're already getting old enough to care about what the rest of the world thinks, don't you think?

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So that's where we are.
And the other issue when it comes to hating English, of having taken a mania for the poor language, is the issue that the majority of people who come to be prepared, what happens to them is that they are sick to death of trying to learn the language. and not knowing anything when they watch a video, (1), and not knowing how to string 5 words in a row to make a sentence (2). And that FRUSTRATES. And what frustrates us, we avoid it. Logically. Nobody likes to feel frustrated.
Oh, and when people say “I just hate English”, we are in the same situation: we hate what we fear (eg. I hate spiders).
We fear English because we fear the torture of grammar, vocabulary, endless study and then not getting results. THAT is what we fear. That frustration again is what we fear.
And that is the reason why we hate language: because we are afraid to invest time and desire and energy again, and get frustrated again.

BUT now that we know how the issue works, we see that it doesn't have to be that way.
Now we know that this time we are going to go all out. So get rid of frustration, complexes, nonsense and idiocy and let's try to have a good time learning English and ENJOY ALL THE ADVANCES we make. From doing an exercise well to understanding a word, ONE, in a listening session. Because that's going to be more than what we had before.

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And with this and a cake…
Summarizing:
Stop being your number one enemy when it comes to learning English, once and for all. Stop boycotting yourself. Yes you can. Of course you can. You relax and enjoy. After all, what do you have to lose?
Nothing. Nothing at all. If you start and see that it is not your thing, then move on to something else, butterfly.
But, ah, what if it turns out that I'm right? And I am always right about this.
So, my dears, you have much to gain.
You have EVERYTHING to win.

We must celebrate each victory, no matter how small, because each one of them brings us closer to our goal.

I said XD.

Hale, a kiss, and get ready to start learning English once and for all.
You dare?

To expand:

1. Listen to psychologist Stella Christie and her dissertation “Learning by comparison”. It is in English, but you have the complete transcription (also in English), which you can translate with a single click, as I explained in the post about ImTranslator.
   Listen: Psychologist Stella Christie on “Learning by Comparison”.
2. naturalanguages.com. Myths (FALSE) about Learning Languages.