Is there someone who can understand English but can not speak it fluently.
10 answers from our tutors
Best answer
Yes I am because my basic language is urdu punjabi . But I am not afraid to English. I speak English confidentiality. Mistakes are part of any process of learning! Be bolder and speak out more. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. A good tutor will help you correct them.
This is a common conundrum with many of my students who first start learning with me. Many people can understand English well but can't speak it for a number of key reasons: 1) Firstly, and chiefly among which, people lack confidence and exposure to opportunities to conversate with natives. They have an irrational fear that they will be judged or embarrassed when saying something incorrectly, which generally speaking couldn't be further from the truth. 2) Writing, listening, and reading are all interpretative skills; you have time to think and consider the information you're being presented to understand, whereas speaking is an expressive skill where you lack the time to think and understand in a dynamic conversation. 3) Lastly, English is complicated, (particularly grammar). Writing grammar fluently is comparatively easy, speaking it with muscle memory, however, is not.
There are plenty of people like that. Living in the US has exposed me to many different kinds of people. We've met people who have been here for 60 years and still cannot speak fluently. They understand, but they still retained the survival English they came to the US with.
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This usually happens when the only source the student uses, is movies and TV shows. This way they get very well with understanding and comprehending English, but if you don't use other sources like books and structures, you probably can't get further than that.
Speaking from my own experience, I had some IT people and their passive knowledge of Engish was extraordinary, but they faltered badly when they tried to speak. It all came down to a lack of opportunity to practice the language in their case.
This is more common then you would expect it to be. It goes with other languages. You may find a person who can understand spanish but can't speak it. It's not just with English
There has always been those who understand a little basic English but cannot speak it fluently. These have often been those who are surrounded by those who also only speak one language. It may be found to be a crucial aide in life to speak more than one language. That's where I would love to simplify an easy English learning process for any of you, who have seen learning this language to be such a hard thing to do.
Yes, this is very possible and often happens. A person can learn to read and listen and understand English without putting in much effort or thought. It doesn't mean it is very easy but it is a passive process of receiving and processing information to understand it. The active process of creating sentences and speaking is much hardly. Speaking fluently is even harder still. It requires a lot more effort and most especially, courage. And most students, on their own, often lack confidence and feel too shy to step out and try and speak and make mistakes. Mistakes are part of any process of learning! Be bolder and speak out more. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. A good tutor will help you correct them.
Many of the students struggle with this problem. Understanding a language is passive knowledge, while speaking it is an active process. This should not frustrate the student because it is one of the steps in learning a foreign language.
- OttilieCertified ESL teacher Bachelor of Education in Secondary Education
Yes one may understand a language but cannot fluently speak it
Other student questions
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Hi My first advice is watching TV series and listening podcasts. In addition buying favourite books in English Best regards
- Which phrases do you find useful when making small talk in English?
Describe a specific situation where you will need to make small talk.
Best answer
Greetings and weather it is better
Best answer
"The dark side of the light chasers" By Debbie Ford. Simple and easy to understand for an intermediate-level student. (Self-growth)
