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  • Ok, here I go

  • It is my absolute belief that

  • Foreign language learning as a separate subject

  • should not exist.

  • Let me repeat that:

  • Foreign language learning

  • as a separate subject

  • should not exist.

  • Language is not teachable

  • Nobody has ever learned a foreign language

  • in the classroom

  • Let me say that one last time

  • Foreign language learning as a separate subject should not exist

  • Learn English, learn French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese

  • are hollow concepts

  • it's the wrong mindset.

  • Learn English.

  • People say:

  • I want to learn English

  • I want to learn the English language.

  • What is language?

  • The vast majority of people say:

  • Language is a tool for communication

  • What is a tool for communication?

  • By a tool for communication most people think: Speaking

  • Speak the language

  • Speak English

  • People say:

  • I want to speak English well, fluently

  • Here is one of the biggest mistakes language learners make.

  • I want to speak English is too broad,

  • is not clear enough.

  • instead of:

  • I want to speak English

  • You should say:

  • I want to speak about ... in English

  • And here you need to be as specific and clear as possible.

  • Don't say:

  • I want to speak about my life/country/job in English

  • No

  • these topics are too broad, too vague.

  • Be as specific and clear as you possibly can

  • For example:

  • I want speak about

  • France in the 18th century in English

  • I want to talk about

  • my company's product, which is vitamin pills

  • in English

  • I want to talk about cryptocurrency in English

  • You get the point

  • Make as many examples as you want,

  • as many as you want

  • just make sure your examples are clear and specific.

  • I want to talk about the movie Joker in English

  • what is the difference between

  • I want to speak English

  • I want to speak about France in the 18th century in English?

  • The big difference is that, the second sentence

  • clearly shows what you need to do

  • if you want to be able to talk about 18th century France

  • in English.

  • You need to learn about 18th century France.

  • You need to acquire that piece of knowledge

  • and you need to acquire it in English

  • not in your native language.

  • And if you want to talk about the movie Joker in English

  • is not enough to have seen the movie

  • but you also need to know how other people talk about movies

  • discuss movies.

  • The language they use to discuss performances,

  • cinematography, special effects

  • and so on and so forth.

  • And you need all that information, in English,

  • if you want to talk about movies/Joker in English

  • So once again

  • What is language?

  • I strongly believe that Language is Knowledge

  • Language is Knowledge/Information/Content

  • Language = Knowledge

  • And vice versa

  • Knowledge is Language

  • Let that sink in for a moment

  • There is no knowledge without language,

  • nor there is language without knowledge

  • Let me repeat that:

  • Language doesn't exist without Knowledge

  • Neither does Knowledge without Language

  • What do I mean?

  • For instance:

  • History is Language

  • History equals Language

  • Think about it

  • Does history exist without language?

  • Does tomorrow exist without language?

  • The sun will rise tomorrow, with or without language

  • but my question is:

  • Does the concept of tomorrow,

  • the way we homo sapiens understand it

  • exist without language?

  • Is there tomorrow for the pen, for the veg, for the monkey?

  • Physics is language Art is language

  • Mathematics, medicine is language

  • Marketing, programming, fashion is all language.

  • Everything you see around you is language.

  • Knowledge is Language

  • Language is Knowledge

  • Language is fashion,

  • Language is marketing, Language is medicine,

  • Language is history

  • and so on and so forth.

  • You learn History through Language and Language through History.

  • You learn Medicine through Language and Language through Medicine

  • and so on and so forth.

  • There is a strong correlation between

  • the size of your vocabulary and

  • the size of the knowledge you possess

  • For instance

  • Listening to a physicist

  • talk about quantum physics,

  • or string theory, in your native language,

  • sounds like listening to a foreign language,

  • because you lack the knowledge and vocabulary that goes with it.

  • You learn Physics through Language and Language thought Physics.

  • You can't cram all those scientific terms,

  • without understanding the subject.

  • nor can you learn the subject without the scientific terms.

  • Knowledge doesn't exist without Language

  • Knowledge equals Language

  • Language = Knowledge no Knowledge, no Language

  • No question about that

  • So my question is:

  • What's taking place in the language classroom?

  • What are people learning in language schools?

  • What is the language teacher, teaching exactly?

  • Language?

  • Language without substance, without the knowledge.

  • So what we get is:

  • Language is Language

  • A complete nonsense, emptiness, nothing.

  • zero, zilch, nada

  • Language teachers use language to teach language.

  • It doesn't make sense.

  • Teachers use language to teach knowledge,

  • things like art, philosophy, mathematics, history.

  • But using language to teach language

  • makes no sense.

  • Using one's native language to teach a foreign language,

  • makes no sense

  • they cancel each other out.

  • And even in a monolingual language classroom.

  • teaching English using English.

  • Teaching what exactly?

  • Vocabulary wholesale

  • 10 ways to say Sorry

  • The 10 most common phrasal verbs

  • Top 10 business idioms.

  • No substance, just random words

  • just fake mini stories, fake situational dialogues,

  • telephone English, restaurant English, airport English

  • TOEFL English, TOEIC English

  • Hollow, empty concepts

  • no substance, no context

  • no compelling content.

  • Any teacher who promises to teach you business English,

  • or telephone English, or conversational English,

  • is either delusional or dishonest.

  • Language is Knowledge, on a certain topic.

  • You need to know about that very same topic

  • in order to talk about it.

  • Knowledge first, Language second

  • or I should say

  • Knowledge through Language.

  • Language is first and foremost

  • a tool for acquiring knowledge.

  • Let me repeat that:

  • language is a tool for acquiring knowledge

  • So instead of saying:

  • I want to learn a foreign language

  • you should say: