Embarking on any new language can be a daunting task. It’s taking on a fundamental life skill – a skill most of us can barely remember learning the first time around. The entire process of learning a language is complex and fraught with difficulty – and English, supposedly, is particularly difficult for non-native speakers, with its inconsistent rules and idiosyncrasies.
No language can be learned overnight, and there is no magic fix. But with a few straightforward steps, and a dedicated attitude, it’s entirely possible to be competent and conversational within a few months. Learning English quickly needn’t be a headache.
English is the true lingua franca, the world’s global language. It is the most widely used language in the world, spoken by well over a billion people in every continent. Significantly, in addition to almost 400 million native speakers, there are as many as a billion non-native speakers, suggesting that English as a second language is a vital skill for much of the world.
This is reflected in where you find English. It is a dominant language in business, science, I.T., aviation, seafaring, diplomacy, medicine, the internet, and many other industries. In an increasingly globalised world, English is expected as a basic requirement on any respectable CV – and bilingual speakers can enjoy much better employment prospects than those who speak only one language.
Learning English opens you up to masses of entertainment and arts. It’s the language of centuries of culture: of Shakespeare, Dickens and Austen; of Byron, Shelley, and Wordsworth; of Hollywood, the Beatles and Britpop.