Here’s a flashback from my first year of teaching…
Prague.
Fall.
2004.
I walked into the classroom.
It was full of nervous adults.
I said something like “How’s it going?” or “Hey” or “What’s up?”
Whatever I said, the reply was silence.
They had no idea what I said, nor how to reply.
And these were intermediate students who had been learning English for years!
Why?
Later, a student told me.
It’s because their text books told them they can say:
“Good afternoon. How are you?”
Or: “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Or: “How do you do?”
The only problem is, unless you’re having tea at Buckingham Palace, most native speakers don’t speak textbook English.
True.
Perfect😁
And how is it going Ryan? 😊😊
Your way of learning English convinces me more and more
It’s true but I still would
replied Hello
Oops…I never had any English textbook but I thought these greetings are still applicable in common life
I like your style very much. I hope one day I can become your student.
Perfect!
O yeah! My wife once told me that when she was at school (50 or so years ago in still USSR) they hosted a group of schoolchildren from Liverpool (or Manchester?) and they couldn’t understand a damn thing cos they spoke very different English from what they learned. And this was a special school with an emphasis on English.
very true 🙂
Yes I learned ‘ how do you do?’ 😂😂
And wich is the right answer? Everything is ok?
Yes, unfortunately this is true. So we learn English in a let say #wrong way#, because nobody teaches us what we really need and we had almost no conversation during the lessons. So as many of us I thought that my knowledge of English was intermediate, but in practice I had so many problems with conversation that I thought maybe I should start to learn English again. So your advices helped me in the past and also now that making mistakes during speaking is not so bad, because we can learn more in this way and we can improve our speaking.
I suppose it is the same in any country, the natives speak differently than what the textbooks teach. But I think we have to know the theory and then practice.
Hi Mr Vig!
Thank you very much for the lovely but more beneficial to me, Vitamins V. About English textbooks speaking…
Yes, I spoke it recently! Guess where? In England… In a traditional English family – a bit conservative – whose guest I was! There, all the sentences started with Should/ would… and ended with “we agree that we disagree” followed by a somewhat forced smile… There were 3 generations. Only with the little ones – we understood each other less politely and protocol. So I had a bit of a problem with the native English in G. B… I compensated with the Dutch in Amsterdam where everything was ok, . simple and fun. Continue …through Europe! .All the best for you!❤️🙏
Hi my teacher Ryan !
Like it or not grammar is necessary in any language.
I learned textbook English in secondary school – class 5- 8
Yes, it is! This is one of the problems you find when you start to live in a real english situation
Any language is a living phenomenon. With or without rules, the most important are the communication situations and the time required for it. (I just bought the Course Guide).
PS. A sign is a sign, not a word. You discover that my mind is set like this, and I can’t get rid of these landmarks. (correct, basically).
That is, a sign = letter, a symbol like “V” or like “💜”, a word is a system of signs.
True
100%