I studied English for a very long time. And the main reason for this is laziness. Ten years ago, my English was at level A1-A2, it was some residual knowledge acquired at school. I decided to get serious about learning the language and began studying with a teacher twice a week and diligently doing the exercises between classes.
Within half a year, I noticed tangible progress and decided to switch to independent study. Gradually, everything I did came down to passively listening to content in English. I listened to audiobooks and podcasts adapted for language learners and believed that I was still “improving” my English. But this was of little use. After a couple of years, my English became even worse because I forgot a lot of what I had previously learned.
Then I got back to work – I found an online teacher and began doing my homework, learning new words, reading and writing. Progress was again evident. But soon history repeated itself, as soon as I quit classes with the teacher, my incentive to work on the language gradually faded and I continued to engage in the laziest method of learning – listening and watching. I watched a lot of educational videos on YouTube and listened to educational podcasts. But progress stopped again. I really didn’t want to continue sitting with books, writing, doing exercises, but I still wanted to improve my level and in the end I developed a new approach for myself.
I started studying with an online teacher again, but I asked him to just talk in class on any topic, without adhering to any curriculum, and not to give me homework. I can’t say that this method is more effective than actually working on the language using educational materials. But more or less it still worked. During the lessons I developed my ability to speak. Between classes, I still listened and watched a variety of content. In addition to boring educational videos, I started watching movies, TV series, TV shows, etc. In addition to this, I learned 10 new words every day (including repetition of previously learned ones). And I tried to read the information mainly in English. For example, if I am interested in a question, instead of Googling it in my native language, I Google it in English and read something that is important or interesting to me.
As a result, my journey in mastering the English language took about 10 years, and looking back I can say that if it weren’t for laziness, then by continuing to study actively and daily, I achieved the same result 5 times faster. Yes, it requires effort and patience, but as they say, water does not flow under a lying stone.
Igor.