3 Top Mistakes Students Make When Learning English

Post by Akmal Akbarov

I have been teaching English for more than 5 years and these years have included amazing experience working at small language centers and universities both in Tashkent and beyond. My students were not only Uzbeks but also Russians, Tadjiks, Kazakhs, Afghans, Iranians, Indians, Arabs and so on. But this is not the whole point and I am not writing this in
order to show off myself as a teacher but simply I wanted to say that even though I taught English at different places and very diverse students, the mistake students make are same no matter what nationality they may be. So let’s have a look at them below one by one and try to find a possible solution:

They keep using their mother language: Now this is mistake that almost 95 % of the students make in all over the world, I guess. In my 5-year language teaching experience, I very rarely see English learning students communicating with their classmates in English. This is a number one mistake which students make while trying to learn English because learning a foreign language by mixing the other languages is usually difficult. Why? Because you as a student will always be confused over what language to use when you see your friends and it will make your language learning process a bit frustrating.

More you speak in English, faster you will get your mind-set programmed into automatic way of thinking in English. When you start thinking in English, you will start speaking in English with improved fluency and you will not have to, first, construct your sentences in Russian/Uzbek and then try to translate the whole thing into English. So speak English at every opportunity without paying attention to how people around you may react and give yourself a chance to outrun them in less than 3-5 months. Believe me you will be amazed to see how your English has improved by just taking risks regularly and speaking English at an every opportunity.

They translate directly from their mother language: Another mistake that students make is to translate from their mother language into English. I remember once I gave my essay to my English teacher at the university and she said that it was very easy to understand essay had been written by Uzbek student. When I asked her why she thought so, she responded me by saying that I had translated many of my sentences from Uzbek into English. But I still did not understand what she really meant and how I should improve. I understood it until recently I began teaching writing skills myself.

Many students try to construct their sentences in Uzbek or Russian and then put it in English. This practice is very especially popular among Russian speaking students because many sentence structures in this language can be translated word by word into English, but not all. Not everything can be translated into English word by word. Moreover, English and Russian way of communication is very different, too. What is translated from Russian into English word by word may not sound natural and it may even seem very weird to British or American people and vice versa. Finally, how long will you translate everything from one language to another? Don’t you think you should communicate in English without any problems? Yes? Then stop translating! Start reading in English more and of course, speak English whenever possible.

They do not reflect on their lessons: Last but not least, the mistake that students make is rushing out of the classroom as soon as the bell rings or teacher announces that a lesson is over. Hey, wait! Don’t you forget to ask yourself a question? What question? I think you have always been forgetting to ask yourself the following question: What have I learnt today in the lesson? This may seem to you very simple or elementary but remember that it is simple things that world always misses out and it is elementary things that actually make the things go round. Don’t rush! Take your time and yourself this question and I am sure you will improve your academic performance both at school and college/university because asking this very simple question will make you reflect. When you reflect, you start seeing the bigger picture. Once you start seeing the bigger picture, you will start thinking both critically and analytically. At the end of the day being reflective, critical and analytical is the key to academic success.

In summary, I would like to remind you that you should speak English whenever possible, stop translating from your mother language into English and ask yourself a question at the end of every lesson. Take my words and I am sure you will appreciate them all too soon because these 3 things made my English almost perfect. Do you want to have perfect English? You decide. Adios!