A Challenging Question
Taiwanese students and parents face an interesting challenge. The importance of becoming fluent in English before attending overseas universities cannot be understated, but which of the many routes to fluency is the most effective and efficient?
Taiwan is a country that started integrating English education decades ago, and most Taiwanese people can read and understand basic English; however, many Taiwanese are not confident in their speaking ability, and, statistically speaking, few qualify as fluent.
There is an obvious, sincere, and longstanding desire to learn English in the general population, so why aren’t more people becoming fluent? Given the amount of time and money spent on learning English here, why aren’t most people conversationally fluent?
Problems in the English Education Market?
After many years working in Taiwanese international high schools and adult English institutions, and observing the various kinds of English learning marketed around Taiwan, I have pinpointed a few factors that contribute to the lack of realized potential. While I’m not necessarily here to point fingers, I will at least mention a few of the factors that seem to slow or prevent fluency.
Many Taiwanese after-school English programs don’t exist primarily to teach English. For many families, these schools serve other functions, such as after-school care for busy parents and homework-help centers.
Mandatory public school English programs implement moderately successful teaching strategies but still focus on the types of learning that work much better for Chinese language studies than learning English, such as memorization and repetition, and some public school teachers don’t speak well enough themselves to teach students correctly.
Some so-called “international schools” in Taiwan accept students whose English proficiency is far too low to enable the students to succeed in an all-English, academic environment. Students who can’t carry on a casual conversation in English for a few minutes certainly can’t read and analyze literature or interpret scientific data in English, and they are left behind as they try to catch up on learning English, without the school’s help, while juggling demanding academic coursework. Frankly, no student should be put through that. Everyone has the potential to learn a language, but many students are set up to fail .
Some cram schools overemphasize the importance of standardized language proficiency tests and make promises about learning results that they can’t back up. Cram school English classes are wildly popular, but they are probably the least genuine, least regulated, and least effective options for learning English. Some schools provide good services, but they all make money whether or not their students learn English.
It’s Up To You
Taiwan’s persistent quest to increase the level and amount of English fluency on the island is commendable, impressive, and makes foreign language teaching in American public schools look like a joke. (Most American students take two years of extremely watered-down language classes and are never required to demonstrate any real mastery at any level.) However, the fact that many Taiwanese people speak some English has little or nothing to do with any individual student’s likelihood of mastering English.
A shift in mentality must occur - a person who sincerely plans to become fluent in a language accepts that they must individually bear most of the responsibility for their own success. Parents can pay schools as much money as they want, but at the end of the day, students must use the resources at their disposal and their own precious time if they want to truly be successful.
This is not to say that no one needs help. This does not mean that parents, teachers, tutors, classes, and resources are irrelevant. However, you’ll find that, short of a year or two of full-time, intensive language training through a reputable program, the most effective and efficient methods of learning a language are mostly self-guided.
No Strings Attached
On that note, I would like to share with you some tips for learning English fluently, without spending an arm and a leg, from an old friend, and a true example of a self-guided language learner:
Daniel Mikesell is an international teacher who has guided students at schools in four countries and is now a master’s student at The Hopkins-Nanjing Center, a branch of Johns Hopkins SAIS, and a visiting scholar in the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University, where all classes and assignments are conducted in Chinese. Daniel is an American who largely taught himself to read, write, and speak Chinese. When I first met Daniel while teaching in China, he was deep in the process of learning Mandarin Chinese. Often, when I would ask Daniel how he was doing, he would reply that he woke up in the middle of the night and studied Chinese for two hours. That was in addition to his rigorously scheduled self-study sessions and lessons during the day. Daniel has a passion for languages (he has also studied Italian, Japanese, and Arabic), and he knows many effective methods for self-teaching. He would like to share a few of those methods with you.
How can Taiwanese students learn to speak fluent English without spending lots of money?
Taiwanese students learn basic English in school, but there’s a huge gap between textbook
English and authentic English. In five years of teaching English across the USA, Japan, Italy, and China,
I’ve met many students whose parents spent a fortune on their education, yet they failed to learn English. On the
other hand, I’ve also met students whose parents lack financial resources who learned to speak like native
speakers. I’m convinced that parents don’t need to spend lots of money to help their children become
fluent in English.
Why do you care?
It’s simple: I care deeply about bridging the gap between cultures and I believe that helping students learn foreign languages is the best place to start.
What can students do in order to guide themselves to learn English at a high level?
Set aside time every week for watching English-language TV. Start with short, light TV shows, not full-length movies or complicated documentaries. When watching English-language TV, use English subtitles – and only English subtitles! Never use Chinese subtitles! This point is critical. If Taiwanese students use Chinese subtitles, their brains won’t be forced to think in English. It’s true that Chinese subtitles would aid their understanding, but the purpose is to improve their English, not to understand every detail of the show.
Use free English-language internet resources. In my experience, the two most helpful resources are Youtube and Anki.
Youtube is filled with English lessons, and I’ve met dozens of people throughout the world who taught themselves English primarily through Youtube.
Anki is a free computer software which utilizes the Pimsleur method, an effective language-learning method based on the concept of graduated interval recall. Pro tip: Use Anki flashcards with short sentences, not individual vocabulary words!_
Follow English-language social media influencers on Instagram. Influencers tend to teach slang and other non-textbook phrases that are useful in everyday life.
Listen to English language music and lyric videos on Youtube. Through these videos, you’ll improve your English while simultaneously gaining insight into foreign cultures.
Participate in English-language discussion forums on Twitter. These discussions will familiarize you with ways native speakers communicate on the internet.
Browse the headlines of foreign news websites like Reuters and the BBC. This is one of the best ways to learn how to discuss complex issues related to politics and business.
What can parents do to help their children?
Parents can help their students by moving beyond mainstream ideas about learning English. Groupthink is hard to overcome, especially when everyone is under so much pressure, but non-traditional methods can really help! If your children are watching TV or surfing the web, they’re not necessarily slacking off – as long as they’re doing it in English! Reciting vocabulary might help for taking tests but it won’t help students speak like native English speakers. Most importantly, don’t believe people who say you need to spend lots of money to help your children learn English. The key is to utilize the resources that you already have at your disposal!
Daniel Mikesell taught English for five years across the USA, Japan, Italy and China. He is currently a master’s student at The Hopkins-Nanjing Center, a branch of Johns Hopkins SAIS, and a visiting scholar in the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University.
Email: danieljmikesell@gmail.com
Line ID: daniel.mikesell
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