Bored with English? Struggling with a lack of motivation? Feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to do well from parents, friends, teachers or even social media?
You’re familiar with the situation. You’re familiar with what you need to do. You’re familiar with the expectations too.
But, English just doesn’t interest you. It’s boring. All those fancy terms and complicated techniques, how are you supposed to remember all that AND include them in your writing too? An impossible task I hear you say. Actually, it’s not.
Of course, there are levels you’re expected to know by a certain age or year group, but even that’s not written in stone. Students learn and progress at different rates and, in any case, you may wonder WHY you need to know all this? It’s easy for me of course, some call me a grammar geek, I have a passion for our wonderful language, but I understand that not everyone is the same and you might be feeling bored with English.
So, how are you going to become interested enough to reach an acceptable level and go forward to learn about the kind of things you really WANT to learn about? There is a one word answer to that:
Read. Yes, read. You cannot read enough.
There are endless ways in which you can read and extend your knowledge and imagination. It doesn’t have to be books, but my tip would be that if you find it ‘boring’ to read, then you’ve probably been reading about something that doesn’t interest you. Of course, we all have to do that sometimes, but for now, let’s focus on subjects you like.
For example, do you like cooking? Read about food and recipes. Like travelling? Read guidebooks or reviews of places around the world. Like animals? Read articles about amazing working animals, wildlife conservation or species preservation. If the subject is interesting, then the read will grip you!
Actively searching out different types of texts will open your eyes and your mind to the world of words and this, in turn, will help you understand how language is formed and how structure is used to enhance and impact on a piece of writing. In time, you will begin to use similar techniques in your own writing.
However, verbal language is also important to our understanding of all things ‘English’ as well. In Shakespeare’s time, our verbal language was essentially very different; if you’ve ever looked at Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet then you’ll know what I mean, but language is something that’s ever evolving. There are new words in our verbal word bank almost every day! And that’s before we discuss Textspeak; maybe we’ll leave that for another time!
Maybe you’re thinking that all that reading isn’t going to make a difference? I promise you, it will.
Your verbal prowess will expand indeterminately, your general knowledge will include topics and areas you previously had no clue about and your options for your future will suddenly increase beyond all expectations. Who’d have thought it? Who was it that said English was ‘boring’?