English as a foreign or second language

Terminology and types

The many acronyms and abbreviations used in the field of English teaching and learning may be confusing. English is a language with great reach and influence; it is taught all over the world under many different circumstances. In English-speaking countries, English language teaching has essentially evolved in two broad directions: instruction for people who intend to live in an English-speaking country and for those who don't. These divisions have grown firmer as the instructors of these two "industries" have used different terminology, followed distinct training qualifications, formed separate professional associations, and so on. Crucially, these two arms have very different funding structures, public in the former and private in the latter, and to some extent this influences the way schools are established and classes are held.

Problems in Learning English and How to Improve Them

Poor English Vocabulary
Vocabulary is important when learning a language. Any language, of course including English, has thousands and thousands of words. In many cases, even those native speakers of the language do not know all the words of that language. there are just too many to learn. In fact, according to many sources I have come across, there are only 800 words that you must know to converse in English. That list is too long to display here, but a good start is to read through that list and see how many words you know.

difficulties in english learning

What Can You Do?English language students, you can't live with them, you can't do without them. What's a frustrated English as a Foreign or Second language teacher going to do? English language teachers, there are good ones, so-so ones and then there are those that justice would only prevail if they were permanently excused from the classroom. So what's a near-desperate English as a foreign language learner to do?
Critical Problems
Here are the first three of the English language learning classroom's most critical problems with comments on what might be done in dealing or managing each one. We'll continue the discussion of the final two critical problems in ELT in a second article.

Problems in learning to read and write

This site presents the whole range of English reading and spelling problems. It shows why so many learners of English have difficulties with reading and writing.

Anyone interested in a fuller explanation of English spelling problems should consult
my book (Masha Bell, Understanding English Spelling, 2004), or watch my Youtube videos! or go to My Blog

The difficulties in learning English and how to overcome them

The difficulties in learning English and how to overcome them


Beginners of foreign language always meet difficulties from the outset. For me, I had to overcome these problems when I started learning English.