Most language learners eventually encounter one of the strangest discoveries in English. A teacher writes: Then says: “One means not many. The other means several.” Technically, that explanation is not wrong. But it misses the most important part. The real difference is not quantity. The real difference is perspective. And once you understand that, you […]
Tymur LevitinIf I had to choose one English word that causes more confusion than it deserves, some would be a strong candidate. Students usually learn it as: Then they open a real book, watch a film, listen to native speakers, and suddenly discover that some can mean: The problem is not grammar. The problem is that […]
Tymur LevitinOne of the most interesting things I have discovered after years of teaching languages is that students often believe they are learning grammar when they are actually learning meaning. The grammar is only the visible part. The real question is always: What exactly are you trying to show? A simple sentence can demonstrate this better […]
Tymur LevitinA student once asked me what seemed like a simple question. What is the difference between: At first glance, this looks like a grammar question. It is not. It is a question about meaning. And that difference is one of the reasons why I do not start language lessons with grammar tables. I start with […]
Tymur LevitinThere is a sentence I have repeated to students for many years: “Your problem is usually not that you do not know the language. Your problem is that you do not know what to look at.” At first, many people are surprised by this idea. They come to a lesson expecting another explanation of grammar, […]
Tymur Levitin
Author’s Column by Tymur LevitinSeries: Method by Tymur Levitin — Think, Understand, DoubtLanguage. Identity. Choice. Meaning. 🌍 Choose your language https://levitintymur.com/#languages Most learners don’t fear grammar. They fear being wrong. Grammar itself is not the problem.The problem begins when grammar stops being a tool for thinking and turns into a system of judgment. At that […]
Tymur Levitin
Author’s Column by Tymur Levitin — Founder, Director, and Senior TeacherLevitin Language School / Start Language School by Tymur LevitinGlobal Learning. Personal Approach. It All Started With a Question Just minutes before writing this, I finished a private lesson with one of my students.He looked at me and said, “So what’s the difference between сломал […]
Tymur Levitin
The Language I Live — Author’s Column by Tymur LevitinLanguage. Meaning. Thinking. For more than twenty years, I have been teaching languages to people of different ages, cultures, professions, and life situations.And during all these years, one idea keeps returning — sometimes quietly, sometimes painfully clearly: Language learning is not really about language. It is […]
Tymur Levitin
Author’s Column by Tymur LevitinSeries: Method by Tymur Levitin — Think, Understand, DoubtCategory: Language Learning InsightsSlogan: Language. Identity. Choice. Meaning. 🌍 Choose your language https://levitintymur.com/#languages Most people start with rules. I start with meaning. Rules may help you pass a test. Meaning helps you live a language.When you begin with meaning, grammar becomes the shape […]
Tymur Levitin
For years, people have been asking the same question: “Do you have free video lessons?” The question itself is understandable.The assumption behind it is the problem. Because free video lessons don’t teach you a language.They never have. And they never will. What they can do is something far more valuable — if they are designed […]
Tymur Levitin
