What is the most common mistake that you see beginners make when learning English?
It’s very common to make mistakes when you start learning English. What’s the most common mistake (grammatical, speaking, etc) that you have seen with beginner students? How did you correct them?
13 answers from our tutors
Best answer
I think beginners of any language translate every word or sentence in their minds. This translation method takes long time to learn any language. They should focus on rather core skills of language; ie. reading, writing, speaking and listening.
I think that who students speak as their native language believe that in english the personal needs of a person such as; sleep, hunger, cold etc. they think that you can say " I have hungry or I have cold but the correct is I'm cold or I'm hungry.
I find that my student''s battle with the articles 'the' and 'a' before the noun. In many languages these are not part of language formation and building. My Spanish and Portuguese students battle with the Past Tense and Past Participle when pronouncing the -ed at the end of the verb. It takes time to get them into these new habits.
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Fear of making mistakes. Encouraging self correction and learning from mistakes
One of the most common mistakes I've seen with my beginner learners is, confusing the present simple and present continuous tense. For example: They might say " I am going to school everyday" instead of "I go to school everyday". I realised that this happenes because they don't understand when to use the continuous form (-ing) versus the simple present. I correct this by explaining the difference: Present simple is used for regular actions or habits. For example: I go to school everyday. Present continuous is used for actions happening right now. For example: I am going to school. After that I ask them to talk about their daily routine ( to practice present simple) and describe what they are doing right now ( to practice present continuous ). This helps them internalise what they learnt by personalising the sentences in their own context.
For beginners, I usually see students make mistakes using the wrong "to be" verb with subjects, whether in the present or past tense. I repeat their mistakes and let them correct themselves. I also make mistakes and ask them to Identify them, or sometimes I prepare a dialogue with deliberate errors and ask them to correct it. Advanced speakers usually tend to have problems with prepositions, so when teaching vocabulary, I also try to teach them preps as well.
I teach British English. Alot of students do not see or know of any diffrence between American English or other' even in my family its noticed!
- RMReneilwe Maaga
It very easy as a non native English speaker to make mistakes but the most common mistakes are pronounciation speaking and grammar
The most common mistake beginners make when learning English is relying too heavily on translation from their native language, which can lead to awkward phrasing and incorrect grammar.
A common mistake I have noticed is that they struggle with "first person" pronouns and when to use it . Example: they say "I are" instead of "I am" . I generally give drilling sessions and role play dialogue to help.
They confuse verbs and tenses, especially past and present, so I corrected this by providing clear examples and asking students to practice forming sentences using both tenses and regular feedback and conversational practice also worked on helping them improve their learning.
Other student questions
- Hey Guys!!!! Does anyone know if it is possible to learn chinese here?
I was thinking to take a little course
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Teacher NCertified tefl teacher
Hello Teacher! Yes, it is possible
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Not so genius, but this has worked with my Asian and Latino students: Substitute all "Th-" in words with a "D-", as it is an easier starting point e.g. instead of "The", ask them to say De(almost like a form of pidgin english: de boi VS the boy). Its a matter of throat to tongue, where sounds with "T" and "D" are easier to begin with and then you will gradually progress to the "Th-" sounds as the find confindence and comfort. You could always tell them to pretend they are blowing out candles on a birthday cake; and for the "Th" sound their tongue should gently touch their teeth, like in words like "Thin" or "This". Have them practice the not so elated soft "Th" sound-- its like their tongue is having a short siesta on their teeth! Such a mental jounery and lots of creativity will get you through a lot of pronounciation hurdles.
Best answer
The biggest challenge I faced while learning English was understanding and using different tenses correctly. It took time to get used to the various rules and exceptions.
