Uploaded June 2021 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emails
Go here to get the free training:
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Read the Good Shadowin Guide:
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Transcription:
What it then is about is about then using the materials that you have to use, doing what you’ve been told to have to do in class and then basically layering on top of that is as much practical stuff as you can.
One of the big differences then between how things are tend to be done in Europe and how things tend to be done in Asia (certainly in Japan and Taiwan, China, and a lot of other Asian countries as well), they don’t even get that level of choice.
What’s actually happening is that government says “here are the books that we use” and everybody in the country uses them. Which is why I was able to do my research in that area of very, very high level of accuracy because I just know that everybody in Japan has studied these books. So that kind of gives you an advantage because you can kind of try and pick something which is better anyway. And the Cambridge-Oxford stuff, whilst not amazing (textbooks never are) is certainly better than what people use in Japan.
What it then is about is about then using the materials that you have to use, doing what you’ve been told to have to do in class and then basically layering on top of that is as much practical stuff as you can.
Now, there are quite a few answers like along these lines already on the website in the self- service coaching on the English teaching, so you can have a look at that as well.
Yes, you have to teach grammar because that’s what you are told to do. No, studying grammar is actually not the best thing to do for an absolute beginner. I, to this day, don’t really understand the grammar of Japanese, yet I speak it very well. For example, neither am I studying the grammar of Chinese. And it’s more about pattern recognition, building up fundamental blocks – the chunks of English – and then, you know, what are the things that you’re going to say the most, learning those,
and then using them the way that I teach.
But if you’ve got to teach grammar, you’ve got to teach grammar. Now, the best thing to do is to then use the tools at your disposal and say “okay, well, I’ve got to teach this grammar point”. One of the most high-frequency things that people actually use based on this grammar point and then you can find those and use those as a base.
Also, if you do have to teach grammar, I think it’s also extremely beneficial to make students aware of frequency distribution of things. The other thing that I did when I was a secondary school teacher, and I extensively recommend, is you know, even if you’ve got to teach shitty textbooks and you’ve got to teach grammar, what any teacher can do is make the lessons as relevant and interesting to the students as possible. So that even if they don’t come out of school with these amazing English abilities, what they do come out of it with is the seeds of interest; good memories from the class. So that later they can be like “actually you know what? English? I kind of understand how that could be useful in my life. Maybe now is a good time to do something about it.” And those seeds can easily be planted at school.
Also, there are quite a few English teachers in MEFA/EES, so certainly, you know, you guys, you might want to talk between yourselves and exchange ideas for, you know, applying what I teach to what you are doing.
#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emails
Go here to get the free training:
doingenglish.com/freetraining
Read the Good Shadowin Guide:
doingenglish.com/shadowing
Transcription:
What it then is about is about then using the materials that you have to use, doing what you’ve been told to have to do in class and then basically layering on top of that is as much practical stuff as you can.
One of the big differences then between how things are tend to be done in Europe and how things tend to be done in Asia (certainly in Japan and Taiwan, China, and a lot of other Asian countries as well), they don’t even get that level of choice.
What’s actually happening is that government says “here are the books that we use” and everybody in the country uses them. Which is why I was able to do my research in that area of very, very high level of accuracy because I just know that everybody in Japan has studied these books. So that kind of gives you an advantage because you can kind of try and pick something which is better anyway. And the Cambridge-Oxford stuff, whilst not amazing (textbooks never are) is certainly better than what people use in Japan.
What it then is about is about then using the materials that you have to use, doing what you’ve been told to have to do in class and then basically layering on top of that is as much practical stuff as you can.
Now, there are quite a few answers like along these lines already on the website in the self- service coaching on the English teaching, so you can have a look at that as well.
Yes, you have to teach grammar because that’s what you are told to do. No, studying grammar is actually not the best thing to do for an absolute beginner. I, to this day, don’t really understand the grammar of Japanese, yet I speak it very well. For example, neither am I studying the grammar of Chinese. And it’s more about pattern recognition, building up fundamental blocks – the chunks of English – and then, you know, what are the things that you’re going to say the most, learning those,
and then using them the way that I teach.
But if you’ve got to teach grammar, you’ve got to teach grammar. Now, the best thing to do is to then use the tools at your disposal and say “okay, well, I’ve got to teach this grammar point”. One of the most high-frequency things that people actually use based on this grammar point and then you can find those and use those as a base.
Also, if you do have to teach grammar, I think it’s also extremely beneficial to make students aware of frequency distribution of things. The other thing that I did when I was a secondary school teacher, and I extensively recommend, is you know, even if you’ve got to teach shitty textbooks and you’ve got to teach grammar, what any teacher can do is make the lessons as relevant and interesting to the students as possible. So that even if they don’t come out of school with these amazing English abilities, what they do come out of it with is the seeds of interest; good memories from the class. So that later they can be like “actually you know what? English? I kind of understand how that could be useful in my life. Maybe now is a good time to do something about it.” And those seeds can easily be planted at school.
Also, there are quite a few English teachers in MEFA/EES, so certainly, you know, you guys, you might want to talk between yourselves and exchange ideas for, you know, applying what I teach to what you are doing.
#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
