Learning or improving business English can be like the training an athlete does to improve performance.
How so?
When I studied Sports Science in the 1980’s, there was a common belief that to improve performance you had to train really hard and that it HAD to hurt. This gave rise to the phrase “no pain, no gain”.
However, this began to be questioned because new training methods started to produce better improvements in performance. This was specifically around sprints in athletics and in the shorter swimming events. Athletes found they could train longer and with a higher intensity with these new training ideas and without the pain of lactic acid building up in the muscles. I won’t go into any more detail here.
So what is my point? Well, I’m sure you agree with me that there is nothing more painful in learning a new language than trying to memorize lists of words, or boxes that “explain” how sentences are constructed or repeating over and over what the different tenses are. That is a pain, and it doesn’t really work.
No Pain, more gain
It is much more beneficial, enjoyable and productive to learn a new language (in our case English) by learning and using words in context, using sentences that make sense, and when possible carrying out the actions of the words you are talking about. It involves more of the senses and has a greater stimulation on the neurology of your system and helps you absorb new ideas, words, sounds etc at a faster and more efficient rate than learning by rote or repetition.
Listen to English, on the radio, in the car, find other people who speak English and talk with them. This is how we first learned our native or first language.
If you want to learn like this click here to book a trial lesson with me.
