I am lost and desperate. After 10 years of learning this language I still make stupid mistakes and my English is still far from being like that of a native speaker (I don't know how to say this in a shorter, simpler way). No matter how many books I read, no matter how many movies I watch, or how much time I spend on the internet reading English forums and such, my speaking still sucks and I hate how I never seem to know which word to use and what phrase fits the situation. Speaking English is always a pain for me. I sound unnatural and I use words in inappropriate contexts so I get very tense when in a situation requiring me to speak English and end up saying nothing much at all. I think I get a lot of input but it doesn't seem to work because the wrong form of english seems to be permanently hard-wired in me now that I'm almost 22 and the years when learning is easiest are long gone. Is there anyone on this forum who has been in such a situation and found a way out? Please don't say my English doesn't seem to be that bad because this is a text message and if I wanted to express the same things in real life, with my actual speech organs, I wouldn't even be able to make you understand me because I sound so unbelievably dumb.
Help me
Well, what can I say? That's life. Not everything is meant to be.
But, all is not so bad. You just need to reconcile yourself with your bad English. It may be hard to accept at first that your English journey was in vain. Nevertheless, I don't find it foolish to undertake a journey just to discover its uselessness. If you change your nascent desperation for a calm hopelessness, you will have obtained something that many humans long for.
But, all is not so bad. You just need to reconcile yourself with your bad English. It may be hard to accept at first that your English journey was in vain. Nevertheless, I don't find it foolish to undertake a journey just to discover its uselessness. If you change your nascent desperation for a calm hopelessness, you will have obtained something that many humans long for.
If it's really that important to you, maybe you should see a psychologist or some kind of adviser to help you find the most apt method for you. It's never too late to change with enough determination and perseverance. Be resolute, tenacious and you can do it...
yeah, right.
yeah, right.
>>I'm almost 22 and the years when learning is easiest are long gone.>>
That is a myth, Danny. Learning is a very rich experience life long. Besides, did you not know that the human brain is still growing till about age twenty-five ?
Conversation and reading are the key. Do some travelling in the British Isles. In Russia itself, seek out English conversation groups and reading circles :
http://www.expat.ru/communitycalendar.php
That is a myth, Danny. Learning is a very rich experience life long. Besides, did you not know that the human brain is still growing till about age twenty-five ?
Conversation and reading are the key. Do some travelling in the British Isles. In Russia itself, seek out English conversation groups and reading circles :
http://www.expat.ru/communitycalendar.php
Don't be too hard on yourself. Many are still struggling with English even when they are in their mid life. Unless you are majored in English and aspire to be an English news anchorman, I don't think you need to speak English perfectly. Moreover, life success doesn't rely on English in many cases. Many billionaires in my country don't know much English.
But if you really want to improve your English speaking skill, here are some tips I've heard:
Everyday, after reading new papers, you try to recap the news using your own language. Don't recite, but recap. You may speak awkwardly in the first time, but when you try it again and again, you will find you improve gradually.
Hope it helps!
But if you really want to improve your English speaking skill, here are some tips I've heard:
Everyday, after reading new papers, you try to recap the news using your own language. Don't recite, but recap. You may speak awkwardly in the first time, but when you try it again and again, you will find you improve gradually.
Hope it helps!
<<I am lost and desperate. >>
Aren't we all, aren't we all?
<<No matter how many books I read, no matter how many movies I watch, or how much time I spend on the internet reading English forums and such, my speaking still sucks>>
Well, that leaves you without a whole lot of options...
<<and I hate how I never seem to know which word to use and what phrase fits the situation.>>
What situation for example. What word did you use that didn't fit the situation?
<<After 10 years of learning this language I still make stupid mistakes and my English is still far from being like that of a native speaker (I don't know how to say this in a shorter, simpler way).>>
10 years is far from a long time. You really shouldn't be expecting to speak like a native speaker.
Anyway, it's more down to intensity of studying and intelligence than total time.
By intelligence I mean not so much quantum physics, but just a generally well-rounded, unmuddled adequacy of mind.
<<I wouldn't even be able to make you understand me because I sound so unbelievably dumb.>>
Maybe intelligence is precisely what you're lacking in. 22 years of age => born in 1988. You didn't grow up near Chernobyl did you?
Aren't we all, aren't we all?
<<No matter how many books I read, no matter how many movies I watch, or how much time I spend on the internet reading English forums and such, my speaking still sucks>>
Well, that leaves you without a whole lot of options...
<<and I hate how I never seem to know which word to use and what phrase fits the situation.>>
What situation for example. What word did you use that didn't fit the situation?
<<After 10 years of learning this language I still make stupid mistakes and my English is still far from being like that of a native speaker (I don't know how to say this in a shorter, simpler way).>>
10 years is far from a long time. You really shouldn't be expecting to speak like a native speaker.
Anyway, it's more down to intensity of studying and intelligence than total time.
By intelligence I mean not so much quantum physics, but just a generally well-rounded, unmuddled adequacy of mind.
<<I wouldn't even be able to make you understand me because I sound so unbelievably dumb.>>
Maybe intelligence is precisely what you're lacking in. 22 years of age => born in 1988. You didn't grow up near Chernobyl did you?
I don't know, but when I thought I started to learn English(approx. 5 months ago) I was able to speak, read and write, however, I didn't know any proper pronunciation or theory at all, and at that time I thought that "input" was related to something like "plug and play" i.e. joysticks and stuff.
@danny in russia
So reading your message, I think, what else do you expect?... you have got exactly what you have been learning all those years, you have optimized your knowledge the way it allows you to understand exactly those things you have mentioned and as for the skill of speaking it just does not play a main role in your activities, and you are not developing it very well participating in them.
Actually it's all up to you, but for me there is an infinite amount of topics where I'm not fluent in my native language, some of those topics I have just learnt in English and I can only properly explain them in English, and vice-versa, if I know something in my native language it doesn't mean that I know exactly that in English too; if I try to apply the knowledge of my native language or try to interchange it in random contexts, of course I'll end up failing to give everything a clear reasoning in that case. I just say what I know and I don't care about the multiple haters around, because they are everywhere. I am not an ultimate Jesus Christ and I know there is too much I still don't know, but it doesn't distract me when I speak and I don't try to imitate or mimic, I just have an abstract idea of what I'm going to say and I focus on it, instead of trying to be fluent wherever it is feasible. I also try to not type or write using PC, I dictate everything to W7 Voice Recognition, it helps me not only to pronounce the words correctly, but I guess it also teaches me to explain myself in spoken English as well.
And look at those politicians, there are hundreds of bloody dozens of them and guys are just pathetic, and it seems like their work is only to be stupid. I think it's not the knowledge of a language that makes one smart for life, but it rather depends upon who you are, not all the time for sure, but definitely there is almost always plethora of ways to avoid speaking about something dumb.
For example, a typical situation from my personal experience:
it took place when I was forced to play dull performance during a uni English exam, where I was surprisingly assigned to write an e-mail letter in the artificial manner to some unknown non-existent ancient guy Tim from the UK, who supposedly found a mysterious mechanism to travel in the nowadays while opening himself to the large world of opportunities of the internet access for the first time, because otherwise I would never imagine the situation like that to exist in real life, where I could have such a flashback of misconception leading me to present a pretty consistent overview of the national holidays which I frankly didn't have a clue of in any of the languages as a reply, and what I wrote in my short essay,
was that I just made myself clear to reflect my thoughts with a mirror of me being not a referral link to a proxy-server of Wikipedia where I advised them to go instead of sending potentially containing spam messages, which in the real world I would have deleted unread right away. Unfortunately, but expected, my inspiring advice of self-irony gathered no critical acclaim among the sissy crowd of tasteless disappointment, but I didn't think it was anyhow related to knowledge evaluation.
I guess I've just send a dumb comment, but it's probably because I'm not "22 and the years when learning is easiest are gone". LOL
@danny in russia
So reading your message, I think, what else do you expect?... you have got exactly what you have been learning all those years, you have optimized your knowledge the way it allows you to understand exactly those things you have mentioned and as for the skill of speaking it just does not play a main role in your activities, and you are not developing it very well participating in them.
Actually it's all up to you, but for me there is an infinite amount of topics where I'm not fluent in my native language, some of those topics I have just learnt in English and I can only properly explain them in English, and vice-versa, if I know something in my native language it doesn't mean that I know exactly that in English too; if I try to apply the knowledge of my native language or try to interchange it in random contexts, of course I'll end up failing to give everything a clear reasoning in that case. I just say what I know and I don't care about the multiple haters around, because they are everywhere. I am not an ultimate Jesus Christ and I know there is too much I still don't know, but it doesn't distract me when I speak and I don't try to imitate or mimic, I just have an abstract idea of what I'm going to say and I focus on it, instead of trying to be fluent wherever it is feasible. I also try to not type or write using PC, I dictate everything to W7 Voice Recognition, it helps me not only to pronounce the words correctly, but I guess it also teaches me to explain myself in spoken English as well.
And look at those politicians, there are hundreds of bloody dozens of them and guys are just pathetic, and it seems like their work is only to be stupid. I think it's not the knowledge of a language that makes one smart for life, but it rather depends upon who you are, not all the time for sure, but definitely there is almost always plethora of ways to avoid speaking about something dumb.
For example, a typical situation from my personal experience:
it took place when I was forced to play dull performance during a uni English exam, where I was surprisingly assigned to write an e-mail letter in the artificial manner to some unknown non-existent ancient guy Tim from the UK, who supposedly found a mysterious mechanism to travel in the nowadays while opening himself to the large world of opportunities of the internet access for the first time, because otherwise I would never imagine the situation like that to exist in real life, where I could have such a flashback of misconception leading me to present a pretty consistent overview of the national holidays which I frankly didn't have a clue of in any of the languages as a reply, and what I wrote in my short essay,
was that I just made myself clear to reflect my thoughts with a mirror of me being not a referral link to a proxy-server of Wikipedia where I advised them to go instead of sending potentially containing spam messages, which in the real world I would have deleted unread right away. Unfortunately, but expected, my inspiring advice of self-irony gathered no critical acclaim among the sissy crowd of tasteless disappointment, but I didn't think it was anyhow related to knowledge evaluation.
I guess I've just send a dumb comment, but it's probably because I'm not "22 and the years when learning is easiest are gone". LOL
>Maybe intelligence is precisely what you're lacking in.
yes that must be it. im retarded
thanks for your answers everyone
yes that must be it. im retarded
thanks for your answers everyone
Shut up you wannabe Anglo, you're so spineless about your language skills you're beginning to sound like a wimpy Dutchman. I thought Russians were meant to have the thickest spines?
if by 'spine' you mean total ethnocentrism and a complete disregard for other languages and cultures, yes, most russians do have that. I'm not like the majority though. god, the dutch are so good at english. I wish I had been born in America, but if not that I at least in the Netherlands, then my english wouldn't be half as bad and I'd probably know 4 additional languages as well