Most students think their biggest problem is grammar. Some think it is vocabulary. Others believe they simply need more practice. After more than twenty years of teaching languages, I have become increasingly convinced that the real problem is often somewhere else. Many students do not struggle with language. They struggle with fear. Recently, I worked […]
Tymur Levitin
You were never bad at languages. You were bad at expectations that were never true. Most people who say “I tried to learn a language and failed” are not talking about language at all.They are talking about disappointment. They were promised something that does not exist: Language did not betray them.The narrative did. The first […]
Tymur Levitin
Why It’s Not About Rules — But About Attitude “We don’t just say something. We say how we feel about what we say.”— Tymur Levitin Author’s Column — Tymur Levitin on Language, Meaning, and RespectPart of the series: Grammar Is Meaning, Not Rules Why Students Struggle with Modality They often memorize that can, must, and might are “modal verbs.”But […]
Tymur Levitin
