Hi there!

Here comes part 3, where we get stuck into the last and easiest problem to solve: time.

Want to refresh your memory? Here’s part 1, and here’s part 2. If you haven’t read them, give them a once-over, and start on this post after.

There’s one thing that everybody I’ve taught and those who read my blog have in common: they all want to improve their English in some way (I know, I’m not exactly a genius to have worked this out).

They either want to get a higher level in general, or they had a higher level at some point in the past that they have since lost, and want to get that level back, and then improve.

Everyone wants to improve.

How do you want to improve?

A quick story…

When I was at university, I worked full-time in a pub to pay the rent. One day, a man came in and sat at the bar. It was mid-afternoon, the quietest part of the day, so we got chatting.

He had an American accent and at one point he asked me, “Where do you think I’m from?”

I remember thinking that it was strange that someone with an American accent would ask me that as it was obvious.

“Canada?” I replied.

“Wow! Yes! People always think I’m American. You read my mind! Here, let me read your mind.”

I was intrigued.

He continued, “Think of a card, any card, from a full deck, then picture it in your mind.”

“Ok, I have one,” I said.

He then slowly pulled out a card from his mouth, opened it up, and sure enough, it was my card. Don’t ask me what card it was as I cannot for the life of me remember. I can only remember thinking, “How on earth did he do that?!”

It turns out he was a magician who was going to perform that evening in the university nightclub, and was looking for a guinea pig to warm himself up before the big show.

I was that guinea pig.[thrive_leads id=’1049′]

I’m going to try to read your minds now, if I may.

You see, I may not know many of you personally, but I know something about most of you. Likewise, none of you know each other, but you all have something in common.

Most of you grew up at a time when English education in schools was drastically different from how it is now, and you left school with the very basics, and badly taught.

Most of you have at least a B1 level, and most of you are above thirty. Now, if you’re above thirty with at least a B1, then that means you got to at least that level AFTER school.

Maybe you studied English in higher education; maybe you did an intensive course or summer camp when you were in your late teens or early twenties; maybe you were lucky enough to spend an extended period of time abroad and got a C1/C2.

Whatever it was, the vast majority of you had a higher level in the past, but you feel you have since slipped down a level or two.

Then why haven’t you gone to a language school to improve your level?

There are two reasons.

You’re over thirty, you have a full-time job, you may have kids, you have a social life (as much social life as the previous points will allow you to have), and a bunch of other obligations that being over thirty brings.

You know that you don’t have the time or desire to go to a language school for hours on end, week in, week out.

When you’re in your late teens or early twenties, you have time coming out of your ears. The story is very different when you’re thirty or above.

Secondly, you previously got to at least a B1 some time ago. When you learn a second language to this level, you know what it takes to learn and improve in a language.

Because you know what it takes to improve in a language, you have the feeling that this is something you can now do on your own, but you’re not exactly sure how. Maybe you’re not sure how to set and accomplish goals when learning on your own.

You also know that when you reach a level and stop, you start to lose it. You know the importance of constant contact with the language, so you’re looking for ways to do that.

Anyone who is starting from scratch has no idea what learning a second language entails, so they go down the only route they know: a language school. Which is great for the reasons I covered in Part 1.

So maybe your company started giving you English classes as part of the training programme they have. Maybe you get a couple of hours a week, if you’re lucky.

That’s great. You start to feel good because you’re using English again. It feels good when you use a skill again that you haven’t used for a while.

But you feel it isn’t enough (because it isn’t enough), and you start to feel frustrated again.

After all, YOU want to improve.

It all comes down to time. If you’re lucky enough to have a couple of hours a week of classes at work, that’s fine if you want to maintain your level. Maybe…

A lot of people who have English classes will attend their English class, then leave and be out of contact for a full week. Progress is impossible like this. What you learn in those two hours, you have a whole week to forget.

It’s not enough.

If you go to a language school or do an intensive course, when you finish the course, you slowly start to forget what you learnt. Remember, you can never finish learning a language.

That’s not enough either.

Most people don’t realise the amount of time and work that is required to increase just one level in a language school. I’ll tell you, it’s months, and many hours a week.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. I know for a fact that if you use your time wisely, set goals, focus, and practise well, then with your B1/B2/C1 you can make more progress in less time on your own, and have complete control over your learning.

And that’s the key.

If you have complete control over your learning, then these very problems I’m covering cease to exist.

The learning material becomes 100% relevant because YOU decide what you learn.

You get to have 100% control of your learning because YOU decided to get into the driving seat.

You’ll also have the luxury of deciding not only how you learn, but when you learn, how long you learn for, and will be working towards YOUR goals, on YOUR time.

Next week we’ll take a look at how we can start to solve these problems, and how you can start to take control of your own learning.

And Leticia will finally get the answer to the message she sent me! If she hasn’t fallen out with me for taking three weeks to reply, that is…[thrive_leads id=’1049′]