Are the methods for learning English reported on Antimoon reasonable?

Question

Antimoon (see e.g. [How to learn English](http://www.antimoon.com/how/howtolearn.htm)) claims that two Polish men ([Tomasz P. Szynalski and his friend MRW](http://www.antimoon.com/blog/about/)) taught themselves English primarily without studying rules and grammar. Instead they read, listened, and used SRS methods. As non-native writers they are quite remarkable. Does anyone have any experience with this approach that would evaluate its usefulness?

Answer 1

If you are a beginner, read this: SRS is good for learning words. But you need other things to learn English too.

If you are more advanced, try reading this:

SRS (spaced repetition software) repeats things you have recently learned before you forget them. It is useful for building vocabulary, but in my opinion not for learning other skills such as sentence structure, pronunciation, usage, and fluency.

That's because SRS can never teach you all the different ways to say something:

1. Like how to choose the best word for what you want to say when there are several words that mean mostly the same thing (synonyms);
2. Or how different phrasing and intonation (grouping and stressing words) can change the meaning of a sentence;
3. Or how to pronounce a word in a sentence that can be several different parts of speech and pronounced differently for each one;
4. Or how to recognize silent letters, which are in over 60% of English words, and how they can affect pronunciation;
5. Or the seventeen different ways to say "ough" or "augh" in words. Yes, seventeen!

In other words, SRS cannot teach you Native English Skills© the way a native English speaker can.

The single most important thing in learning English (or any new language) is NOT to learn it by translating from your native language as most flashcards and schools do. If you continue to think in your native language when you are speaking, reading, writing, or listening to English, you will never be fully fluent. You will never move beyond looking at and thinking about one word at a time. You will never learn how to process phrases in your mind to get the meaning of a sentence as opposed to stringing single words together. Everything else flows from thinking in English. But there is good news: you can learn to think in English at any age. I can show you how.

Reading a lot in English is good, but it doesn't teach you English systematically like a structured lesson program would. English has very complicated grammar, sentence structure, and pronunciation. You need to know their rules. Sentence structure is like the "bones" of a sentence: everything else hangs on it. Grammar is like the "muscles": it does the work. And words are like the skin: they can make a sentence beautiful. If you try to learn English by reading on your own, you will have the impossible task of figuring out all these things by yourself (unless you are reading about English!).

I also disagree with the importance of mistakes in the Antimoon method. Antimoon says don't make mistakes, be correct from the beginning. In my experience with leading thousands of classes, it is impossible for English learners not to make mistakes. People who are afraid of making mistakes are afraid to talk. It's better to talk freely and make a few mistakes than to let that fear prevent you from talking. Besides, mistakes are a good way to learn - IF there is someone with you who can gently correct your mistakes. If you don't know that you are making a mistake, it's impossible to learn from it!

With respect to apps, I think their greatest potential lies in using AI (artificial intelligence) to optimize the learning of any language, or any subject for that matter. AI can determine what a student's learning style is and tailor the presentation of information to fit that person's learning style. It can recognize and analyze a person's mistakes, and offer instruction to minimize those specific mistakes. It could even teach someone to have the desired accent and usage. Do you want to learn American or British English? Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South African, etc? Every country where English is an official language has its own kind of English. Why not learn English to fit your specific needs? I may be biased, but I think American English is the most useful around the world. You, on the other hand, may need to learn another kind of English for another purpose, or to understand any English accent for your international business.

Until AI is in common use, the next best thing is to have a native English-speaking instructor who can do all these things for you and with you. It would be my pleasure to teach you English for however you need to use it in your travels, in your work, or in your life.

Thanks for that great question. I was scientist in an earlier career. In science we learn that finding the right answer depends on asking the right question.

Now, without realizing it, you just had an English reading lesson!

All the best,

Betty D.