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:

I want to learn about

such and such topic

through the foreign language

Don't say

I want to learn English

But rather:

I want to learn about

France in the 18th century through English

I want to learn about marketing

through English

and so on and so forth

Language is first and foremost a tool for getting knowledge.

Your main focus should never be on the language.

Input before Output

Knowledge before Speaking

Input before Output

Meaningful input

compelling input

things you want to talk about,

before you actually talk about it.

And the input, the knowledge has to be in the language

you want to speak.

You can't acquire knowledge in your native language,

and then learn a few words and idioms, in a foreign language,

and expect to speak fluently, in the foreign language.

No, that's not how speaking works.

Yet another mistake people make.

You maybe a Nobel prize winner in Physics from Japan,

have all the knowledge related to physics in your head

But if you want to talk about physics in fluent English,

you need, in a way

to Relearn or at least Reread

your physics in English.

You have the knowledge, but you still need to see how that

very same knowledge

is presented, is structured

in the language you want to speak.

That is why there is no such thing as a polyglot.

People claiming to speak 10, 20 languages.

Input before Output Knowledge before Speaking

And I ask again:

Where does the language teacher fit into the picture?

When was the last time you learned a useful piece of knowledge

something that you were really interested in

in your language school?

Or from a video of a language teacher on YouTube?

How can you?

For the most part,

language teachers are not experts in anything but language.

Honestly

what is a degree in TESOL, TEFL, or CELTA or applied linguistics

supposed to mean?

Better at explaining words

Better at pronouncing words

basically, a better human dictionary.

Any teacher who promises to fix your accent

and teach you perfect British pronunciation

or awesome American pronunciation

is either delusional or dishonest.

Anybody who promises to teach you slang, phrasal verbs, idioms

natural English, amazing English

is either delusional or dishonest

Language equals Knowledge

No knowledge, No language

You have no choice, there is no choice.

It's down to basic biology, human physiology

The brain simply cannot retain all that vocabulary and grammar

without meaningful content

without the information those words and grammar convey

information you feel passionate about

This is a pen.

means nothing

This is the pen with witch the Joker did his magic trick

has a meaning.

It is something you are much more likely to remember.

and understand the difference between

'a pen' and 'the pen'

That is how we learn vocabulary and grammar,

by way of consuming content

part of which is entertainment/movies.

The way people look at learning a foreign language is:

Learn the language first,

and then start reading books,

and start watching movies without subtitles.

Language and Information, as 2 almost unrelated things

Language first, Interesting content second

No, it is the other way around

You learn English through reading interesting books.

You learn English through watching interesting movies.

Interesting for you, not for your teacher.

The focus is on the content,

and the language learning is secondary

Yes, we do learn a foreign language

but that learning is secondary.

The focus is on the piece of knowledge,

or entertainment you want to consume,

and the language learning is secondary.

Yes we learn

but that learning doesn't require a separate teacher,

doesn't require a separate subject,