by Keisha Centa Putri
How often do you check your phone, switch tabs on your laptop, or scroll through social media every day? Without realizing it, most of the content we consume contain English. Unfortunately, this exposure is often considered as mere entertainment, when in fact you can also use it as part of your language learning process.
Right now, there are many English learners that still believe that upskilling your English skills means remembering all the grammar and rules as much as possible. They are focused on grammar and structure, yet still find it hard to understand real life conversations or how to respond instantly.
The main problem isn’t that you’re not smart enough. It’s because rules and grammar don’t train automatic responses.
In real life conversations, your brain doesn’t have time to recall all the rules and grammar one by one. Conversation goes so fast and response should come naturally. Relying too much on grammar actually slows down the thought process and makes the language sound stiff. On the other hand, your English skills will get better through regular and consistent exposure. Every time you watch videos, read articles, and listen to conversations in English, your brain will start to recognize the pattern without you realizing. At this point, your language intuition will start to form. You’ll begin to know if a sentence sounds correct, not because you know the rules, but because you’ve found it often—intuitively.
Fluency grows from familiarity. The more often English appears in daily activities, the more natural the response will be. Grammar is important as basic foundation and support for English learning, but it is not the center of it.
By utilizing the exposure around us and reducing excessive reliance on grammar, learning English can feel easier and more effective.
Source:
- Byrnes, B. (2020, May 7). The importance of everyday language exposure. Studycat. https://studycat.com/blog/the-importance-of-everyday-language-exposure/
- Hulatt, L. (2020, October 9). Language exposure. StudySmarter UK. https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/tesol-english/language-exposure/
- Faster Capital. (n.d.). Language exposure. Faster Capital. https://fastercapital.com/term/language-exposure.html
