February 2026 Publishing Challenge: 3 of 28
I can't remember when I started having English classes, but it's definitely not one hour per week that will make you learn another language. To make long things short: practice is key, but not the way school presents it.
Education in France has its pros and cons and that's not the topic. The problem is that they give you worksheets, after worksheets. Students are bored by all these sheets and they soon begin to lose interest.
The most efficient way is to drop you among English-speaking people and then you will naturally be pushed to speak English by communicating with these people first, but also by turning your brain into English. Let me explain.
When I noticed that I couldn't understand a very dear English person, I started to change my strategy. After years of useless English classes at school, I started turning the language of my electronic devices into English: computer, phone, car, everything was in English.
Then, all the content I consumed was in English. If I was watching something French, I was turning the language into English on purpose. At first, it was exhausting because the smallest thing required me to focus. After months, I was used to it.
This is why practice is better than theory, by far. You can know all the grammar rules, the theory of x, y, z, but if you don't actually master the simple practice, it's pointless. I prefer learning by doing rather than learning by knowing. I prefer saying "I do" rather than "I know".
Doing is stronger than knowing. I prefer knowing nothing and doing rather than knowing and not doing. The best would be of course to do and know at the same time, that's when you become an expert and you're no longer a beginner.
Sincerely yours,
I published this story for February 26 Publishing Challenge! (Ran by Isabella). The concept is simple: publish one story a day for the whole month of February. You can join the party too at any moment.
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