How we have been learning English incorrectly for years and not using it in our careers

Why learning English is stressful

Our brain is designed in such a way that it always wants to be in the comfort zone. In this case, our comfort zone is to speak our native Russian language, no matter how difficult it may be. And when using a foreign language, the brain strains. And this despite the fact that training and working in IT itself consumes a lot of RAM every day.

With English for the average Russian, everything is something like this: we teach it at school as a separate subject, without reference to other sciences. And, as you noticed, for the majority it does not stick in their heads and remains at the level of “London from the Capital of Great Britain”. And this is not an attempt to offend specific people, but a real problem with the education system itself.

How to connect language learning with real benefits

At the same time, there is another approach: you can master not a language, but a subject with the help of language. It's more interesting (but also more painful at first). A large number of people give up learning English because they lack motivation. General phrases like “get a job abroad”, “watch TV series in the original” and “understand what they sing in songs” are bullshit if there is no real reason why you need it specifically for you, who is just getting into IT. Or, on the contrary, for 5 years he has been working as some kind of java developer in Sberbank with an A2 level, which is perfectly sufficient for reading technical documentation and watching videos with Indians with subtitles.

Hence the conclusion: there is no point in simply learning English. But it makes sense to systematically study something on it. English is a tool, not an end in itself.

And, it seems to me, there is no point in studying it through conventional series and songs, as is often recommended. But you can immediately focus on developing your professional skills, but entirely in English. Will this make you depressed for a couple of months? Oh yes. Is it worth it? Definitely.

I am convinced that studying most exact sciences in English is many times easier than in Russian. Why? Our language is overloaded with grammar, spelling, contexts and meanings. We have a lot of theoretical and definitional basis. For one English word there are from 3 to 6 words in Russian, if we talk about scientific language. We have a very strong descriptive skill and provide precise and comprehensive definitions. But in English everything is more concise.

There is a theory that Russian-speaking children are more talented in theoretical research, and English-speaking children are more talented in practical research. In our textbooks they immediately give you a lot of theory and require you to learn it by heart. The theory, of course, is also taught abroad. But such a huge emphasis is not placed on it as we do. Children are immediately taught to put everything into practice. Which approach is better – judge for yourself. None of them are perfect and each can be used for different purposes.

How I studied in English

I'll tell you about my experience. I was very lucky in this regard – I studied at school in the UK for a year as an exchange student, it was in the 6th grade. And at Moscow State University I studied under the double degree program.

So, before studying in England, I didn’t like many school subjects. Physics and chemistry – oh, I don’t like them. Biology is somehow too complicated, although it seems interesting. The story is, well, just boring. And when I was sent to study, my opinion gradually began to change. The first month or two was pure hell – I sat with a dictionary and tried to piece together everything the teacher said. And this despite the fact that by that time I already had a certain level of English. The brain desperately asked to return to its usual conditions.

When you reach the peak of stress, you begin to experience Zen. And after a while, I became imbued with the teaching methods there. The teachers spoke with enthusiasm, immediately emphasizing how we could apply the acquired knowledge in life. Understanding this, as well as communicating with a bunch of other children who found themselves in a similar situation (you are all from different countries with a not very high level of language and with your own accents), changed my attitude towards science.

Offtopic: it’s interesting that in mathematics we studied topics of the fifth grade according to the Russian system (and I studied in England in the sixth). Therefore, all year I rather explained to other children topics that I already knew.

Who is to blame, what to do

Decide for yourself who is to blame. I personally am not happy with our education system. I consider the introduction of English language teaching programs in schools to be a reasonable solution. For example, in Asian countries they are actively implementing this approach (Vietnam, Cambodia, etc.).

We have almost nothing like this in Russia. In many ways, this was the impetus for me to create my own school. I believe that, at a minimum, exact sciences should be immediately learned in English. Even if you don’t plan to study abroad or work in an English-speaking environment. Plus, I notice from students that when they study using such a system, there is less confusion in their heads, and the ability to think in another language is stimulated. What goal do we pursue when we learn a foreign language? That's right, we want to be able to think in it. A common way of thinking looks like this:

1. You see a task / text / any task in English

2. You translate it into Russian in your head

3. Trying to understand what they want from you

4. Looking for a solution in your mind in Russian

5. Then you translate your solution into English.

But that’s not how it should be. It is necessary for language to be an assistant in finding a solution, and not a complicating circumstance. Yes, you will have to suffer for the first 2-3 months, but then the results will surprise you. By the way, if all of our current working generation studied in a bilingual environment, then society would be different now. Typically, such people have more flexible thinking, adapt to change more easily and are not afraid of it.

They also have better developed critical and logical thinking. The fact that logic is not taught as a separate subject in school does not make me happy either. Although recently it was proposed to introduce it. To learn how to solve mathematical problems normally and understand the essence of theorems and proofs, you need to teach children logic. At least the most basic one. This is something that the current generation of students has big problems with – they often simply do not know how to think logically and express these very thoughts. Okay, this is a lyrical digression.

This is all I mean: you can, of course, study separately English and some subject that interests you (be it mathematics or a programming language). But if you teach one through the other, the results will be completely different.

In addition, in the coming years, all basic materials on mathematics and development will still be published in this language. ChatGPT, for all its genius, will not be able to become your full-fledged personal translator (well, not yet). Someone here will also add that the geopolitical situation is not conducive to learning languages. However, crises tend to pass. And the knowledge will stay with you for a long time, as will the perspective.

Thank you for reading the article. I will wait for your opinion about this teaching method in the comments.

And finally, a question: how many unsuccessful attempts have you had to learn English?

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I am a teacher by profession and vocation, and my big goal is to destroy stereotypes about education and teaching in the exact sciences, and also to prove that international education is for everyone, and not just for the “elite”. Look into my tg channelespecially if you have children.