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Written exams are often where strong students unexpectedly lose points. They know the material.They understand the subject.Their language may even be correct. And yet the result is weaker than expected. This happens because written exam tasks — especially essays and structured answers — are not primarily about knowledge. They are about how knowledge is organized […]

What 22 Years of Teaching Languages Revealed About the Gap Between Knowledge and Communication One of the most common statements I hear from students is this: “I know the language — but I cannot speak it.” At first glance, this sounds contradictory.If someone knows a language, why can’t they speak it? After more than 22 […]

Introduction When people speak about “medical English”, they often imagine conversations between doctors and patients. In reality, modern healthcare operates through a far more complex communication system. Hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, regulators, insurance systems and international research organizations must coordinate their work every day. This coordination requires a professional language that combines medicine, management, economics and […]

What 22 Years of Teaching Languages Revealed About the Limits of Rules Many language learners believe grammar is the key to speaking. Learn the rules.Understand the structure.Apply the pattern. The assumption seems logical. But after more than two decades of teaching languages in real classrooms and online environments, one conclusion has become unavoidable: Grammar rules […]

What Happens When Words Are Learned Without Meaning This article continues the discussion started in: Why Language Learning Is Not About Languagehttps://levitintymur.com/the-code-you-speak-how-language-can-heal-or-destroy-youauthors-column-by-tymur-levitin-on-identity-words-and-what-we-become-when-we-speak/why-language-learning-is-not-about-language/ and Why Confidence Without Understanding Is the Biggest Language Mythhttps://levitintymur.com/the-code-you-speak-how-language-can-heal-or-destroy-youauthors-column-by-tymur-levitin-on-identity-words-and-what-we-become-when-we-speak/why-confidence-without-understanding-is-the-biggest-language-myth-2/ Memorization feels productive. You see progress.You collect words.You remember rules. But after more than 22 years of teaching languages in real conditions — […]

Author: Tymur LevitinFounder & Director, Levitin Language SchoolGlobal Learning. Personal Approach. A situation I keep meeting From time to time parents ask me a very simple question: “Could you talk to our child and tell us what his level is?” They expect a short answer — B1, B2, maybe C1.A number. A label. Something reassuring. […]

There was a moment during a lesson when a simple sentence unexpectedly turned into a long discussion. The sentence was harmless: “There is a book stall at the university. They sell books there. Do you want to buy one?” Nothing difficult.No advanced grammar.No idioms. And yet the conversation stopped. Because the problem was not vocabulary.The […]

Why Some Students Stop Speaking Even When They Understand You In one of my multilingual classes I was teaching German to a Spanish-speaking group. I teach German in German.In difficult moments, I may switch to English. Spanish I do not speak. During the lesson a student asked a question in Spanish. I answered honestly: I […]

Author’s Column by Tymur Levitin Sometimes a student knows hundreds or even thousands of English words and still struggles to say a single sentence when the conversation begins. For many learners this feels confusing and even humiliating. “How can I know the language and still be unable to speak?” The answer lies not in vocabulary, […]

Author’s Column by Tymur Levitin Sometimes parents ask a very simple question: “Our child knows English. Could you just check if he is ready for the exam?” It sounds reasonable.But in reality, this request often hides a misunderstanding about what language ability actually is. Recently I had such a conversation with a 17-year-old student.His family […]