Knowing whether an English-speaking course is good for you or not needs to start with you knowing where you are in your language acquisition journey. According to Noam Chomsky, we are naturally equipped to acquire language. Yet another scientist said that we acquire a new language in stages. Each stage of language acquisition brings its own possibilities and challenges. Individual learning styles also play a role in how one acquires a new language E.g. Do you as a person have a feel for the language or do you love thinking about new words? Do you connect language to a rhythm or do you try to find logic in the way language is organized? Both, your stage of language acquisition and your learning style play a role in determining the course that best fits your needs.
Stage 1: Beginner
Here, you are likely to be struggling with vocabulary. You simply do not know the words. If you are in this stage, your priority needs learning new words within a context in which, you can use them in a meaningful way. Please note that just learning words will not work. The words learnt have to be meaningful AND useful for you.
At this stage, you will also not be used to speaking the words. Practice in this situation is paramount. Practice in a context is even better. Using the words helps build muscle memory and this leads to better usage of the language.
Stage 2: Intermediate
You probably can manage day-to-day communication and also in situations that are familiar and frequent. However, you may struggle to express your feelings and emotions. You may also find communicating in novel situations challenging. You may feel underconfident and fearful. You may also not be able to frame sentences properly. You may struggle with pronunciation and find that your spoken language is influenced by your first language. While that does not matter as much, it clearly seems to get in your way of being understood. Many a time you may realize you are making mistakes, but you have no idea where or how to correct yourself.
Mastery of a language is about ups and downs. As you master a set of skills, issues relevant to the next level will start showing up. If you constantly find yourself problem-solving on how to do better, you are probably making progress.
At this stage, you need to correct or get inputs on the foundation of Spoken English. The skills required to master spoken English are different from the skills you need to master academic English. Proficiency in one does not guarantee mastery of the other.
Stage 3: Advanced
When you have a good grasp of the basics but miss out on nuances of what people are trying to say, colloquialisms and implied meaning, your language acquisition journey has reached an advanced stage. Every language represents human experiences, whether it is some that we define as sensed by our five senses or feelings and emotions that do not have a physical form. We use language to communicate our state of experience to others and understand others' state of experience all the time. Therefore, each language comes with its own culture, value systems and unique usage, which is shared by the populace using that language. Language usage may be region specific or group-specific like an organization.
At this stage, it is important to explore the world, culture and values of different lands. It would be ideal to get to know people there. The whole process of getting to know brings us to reconsider our own worldview and values. Your values and belief systems are important to revisit if you plan to become fluent. Only then you will be able to truly make English your own. This is the first step to fluency.
At this phase, you will need guidelines in your journey to explore English in various ways, forms, content, regions etc. Rather than work through it blindly allow the new things to change you and allow yourself to see the world differently from how you did earlier.
The stage you are in in your language acquisition journey combined with your learning style will determine the needs that an English-speaking course needs to address. It is best to inquire about the courses offered and see if it meets your needs. You could also take a demo to get a feel of the teacher’s teaching styles and determine whether it works for you.
When the right inputs are given at the right time, you will see small improvements, which will add up over a period of time. Learning a new language is like trying to learn a new habit. In addition to learning English, you will also be challenged to rewire your habits in the way you understand and communicate. The key is to set out on the journey with the right people and keep at it. Consistently.