Non-native English speakers, what was the hardest thing about learning English?

Answer 1

I am not a non-English speaker but from what I hear from my students, phrasal verbs and idioms are the most difficult. It's one thing to learn what they mean but to actually use them is much more difficult. They are a vital part of communication yet if one uses them in the wrong way it can cause embarrassment and even ridicule. The ideal way to learn those is to have an experienced teacher teach them the idiom/phrasal verb, then give an example of it and, finally and most important, have the student give their own example. The final part is when the student, while he understands the meaning of such an expression, makes a mistake in using it. Here's an example. Teacher: The meaning of "get over" is "recover from". Here's an example: I got over the bad cold I had last week. Student: I got over my job. Teacher then corrects by saying that "get over" is only used in the context of illness or emotional distress. Corrected sentence: I got over the anger I felt after my boss unfairly criticized me. This is a slow process but one that is very worthwhile since such expressions are so commonly used.