Comments on: Learning English VS Learning Languages

By: Negar ,Iran

Negar ,Iran — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 19:44:27 +0000

There is no doubt that learning English is a necessity in nowadays world, but not to the degree to call it a “must”.It totally depends on the goals people pursue in their lives and to what extend knowing English would be helpful in their daily lives.For instance,what is the point in learning English by a farmer whose primary concerns are all about harvesting the crops in the best way with no free time to dedicate to learning a language which may have no use in his entire life.
Needless to say,”talent” and “motivation” are two influential factors enhancing the process of learning a language and more essentially learning English.
Thanks for your helpful post.

By: Yuri

Yuri — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 10:15:53 +0000

I agree with all your thoughts in this blog. And I like what you do for teaching us a real English

By: anwar

anwar — Sat, 25 May 2013 08:35:17 +0000

I definitely agree with you that English is very important to be learned. I have proved that I can read more news, journals, articles every thing that very useful for my life. Though, ones might think that English is necessary because they may have some purposes why they need to study about.

In my country, Indonesia, people learn English because wanna study abroad such as America, Australia, and some European countries where international programs are existing. It’s really help them to understand more things in other countries which probably useful to be implemented and developed in my country.

Frankly, I like your blog.

By: Pedro

Pedro — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:00:08 +0000

I MUST agree with you. I’m Brazilian and I could say that it is just astonishing what English speakers have that we don’t have in Portuguese. It really looks like that the English world is a different world. And my English is not that good, yet.

Of course, I’m saying that from my own perspective, but I suspect that many Portuguese speakers would agree with me.
Just a few examples from my own perspective:
- I use Linux at home. I already quit trying to find things in Portuguese. It is really faster to find what I need in English.
- I enjoy taking photographs. While in Portuguese we have nice things (tutorials, websites, forums, etc), in English I’ve found GREAT things, way better than the resources I’ve found in Portuguese.
- I play guitar. Considering only my hobbies, this is probably the area that is better developed in Portuguese. But even so, if you don’t understand English you will miss a lot of nice things.

It is a kind of sad saying all those things. But unfortunately, if I deny that, I would be a liar.

By: Vera

Vera — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:12:32 +0000

First of all, I am a person who needs to interecting with this new world all the time. Because of this, I start learning English.a few years ago. I love that language. I love English movies. I love the English universe.But, because I’m 63 years old, things don’t happen faster. Nowadays I have more difficultie in to memorize everything that I’ve been learning since then.
But, I hope learning it better one day. H
Who knows?
By the way, I’m glad for your blog.
Thanks.both of you are the best.

By: Prathyusha

Prathyusha — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:11:57 +0000

Hi, its a good point.I love talking in English but hate LEARNING English. May be its because of the educational system we have in India.
Personally, I don’t understand why silent letters are there….instead they can write what they speak like our Indian languages….we write what we speak. This is called Devanagari lipi (God’s script)
Lot of pronunciations for a single letter in english make LOTS OF CONFUSION what to speak!!!

By: Jing

Jing — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:40:12 +0000

I think you have a point. Learning English is not like learning any other languages because how wide spread it is around the world. And to be able to communicate with people around the world is exciting to most people.
However, is it a must? There are a lot more essential things to the majority of the people in this world than living an “exciting” life. You were brought up believing you can be what you want to be if you put your mind to it. But I dare say you are the minority.

This post sounds more like a poorly written advertisement to me. Sorry if it sounds too harsh to you.

By: allthereis

allthereis — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:37:06 +0000

Hi,Andy !

I became a VIP member of your program a week ago,and I love it !

But I can’t agree with what you wrote in this post.
In some sense,you are right.Now English is a lingua franka ,a global language…That is why I want to improve my English…But,at the same time,I have an ambivalent feeling about it….because that is related to a process of history…I mean imperialism ..In 19th century,Great Britain became the super power,and next US…and so-called globalization began some decades ago…which was the same process of globalization of English language….And in 2009,we had Lehman shock…That was the beginning of the end of so-called globalization….What globalization brought us was that :1) destruction of traditional culture and system ,including our own languages. 2)　expansion of inequality . ….In my opinion,that is also against democracy in many aspects,including democracy of language…I admit that learning English is a must because that is a de facto common language in the present world…But I can’t say that not knowing or speaking English means to limit our lives..

Anyway,Andy,I like your English program,and the new project you are doing now !

By: Про Английский | Vadim YR

Про Английский | Vadim YR — Thu, 23 May 2013 08:07:45 +0000

[...] мой художественный перевод вот этой статьи из блога классных ребят, живущих в Китае и [...]

By: Audrey

Audrey — Thu, 23 May 2013 02:59:23 +0000

Hi guys,
The topic is great! Maybe it’s not must, but I do think learning English well is a way to fulfill your life quality, due to that English is a really common language during communicating now. Every one has his or her own life style, u can still enjoy ur life without this skill. Just for me, it’s necessary.
By the way, I’ve sent an email to u about some questions l have for American accent training, I’m not sure whether u got it or not. If u receive it, give me a feedback pls.
Thank you