Obstacles to Improving English

Not Realizing the Importance of Good English

Some new students focus entirely on their academic studies, believing that working hard on their studies will compensate for their English-language problems.

Later, when they have to write research papers or a thesis or dissertation, or take an oral examination, or give an oral defense of a thesis or dissertation, they realize that they should have worked on their English from the beginning. In addition, when they try to find a job on campus or after graduation, they find that they are at a major disadvantage.
 

Many students are so intent on earning a degree as quickly as possible that they avoid taking English classes. Later, they realize to their regret that taking time to improve their English when they first arrived would have made all their studies (and their lives in general) easier, and probably have saved them time.
 

Shyness and Fear

Some individuals are naturally shy. They are cautious in social situations. They do not like to draw attention to themselves. They fear being embarrassed or misunderstood. They fear not being able to understand what people say to them in another language.

Such people have much more difficulty practicing and learning a foreign language than do people who are more willing to speak up and less bothered by making a “mistake” in another language.
 

College and university students are beyond the age when learning a new language is easy and natural. Generally, but not always, it is more difficult for people older than about 12 years to learn a new language—to remember vocabulary, develop new pronunciation habits, and feel at ease using a new language.