Learning a second language is something that people have been doing for a long time now, it is an activity that keeps on growing as time passes by. Some people succeed in mastering that language, some barely learn it, and others just fail miserably. Now you as a reader of this article happen to fall under one of the three categories mentioned previously, yet there is a high chance that you have never asked yourself: what makes the difference between these three categories? Well, in this article, we shall reveal the most overlooked element when it comes to learning a second language.

Let’s take ESL learners for example; most people go through the basic steps when learning the language: they attend their lectures, take notes, finish the lecture, and eventually revise the night before the test or the exam. Following this process, they find themselves in a situation where they cannot remember most of what they had learnt, thus leading them to believe that English is just too difficult to learn, or maybe that “it is just not meant for them”, when in fact, that is not the case at all.

What people fail to understand is that learning a new language requires one very important step that most people unfortunately ignore, and that is practice. It is not enough at all to just learn the English grammar and the vocabulary alone if you do not put that knowledge into use consistently, through several methods. The first obvious way is writing, a learner of a new language must grow a habit of writing paragraphs, articles, poems, and all what is in between, as through that huge pile of mistakes that your teacher will correct after checking what you wrote, your mastery of the language will slowly rise up to the top before you even realize it. Another form of practice, one that most people tend to prefer, is to practise the speaking skills, which is usually done via group conversations in which people with different levels in English for instance gather in one place (virtually or physically) to discuss different topics, this way is very interesting and beneficial, as the participants will not only get to speak and enhance their fluency and oral skills, but also listen and learn from the other people participating in the conversation, thus making it one of the most entertaining yet fruitful ways to practice the language, and eventually master it. Of course for those reading this article, we cannot write it without telling you about ‘Speaky Batel”, an online group discussion at Dope that is done on a weekly basis in which you can find great people, interesting topics, and all in all the perfect environment to practise and make your English way better than it was before, and did I mention that it is free? If you are reading this, you really have no excuse, so get out of your comfort zone and come join us!

To conclude, the point we tried to make here is that practice is arguably the most overlooked element in learning languages, when in fact it is absolutely crucial to become better at the language you want to learn. Be smart, do not make the same mistakes, and PRACTICE!