Chapter 4: Do You Need Beginning and Advanced Lessons?

Chapter 4: Do You Need Beginning and Advanced Lessons?

Chapter summary:  Without first evaluating the unique qualities of language, it is often assumed that English study must be divided into beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels.     However, a careful assessment of English indicates that it does not use multiple levels of language complexity.     The kinds of sentences which you use as a beginning student are the same kinds of sentences which you must master as an advanced student in order to gain English fluency. As a beginning English student, you must learn English in the context of full sentences. As an advanced student, you must use the same sentences in order to perfect syntax and intonation. Important:   When we say that "The kinds of sentences which you use as a beginning student are the same kinds of sentences which you must master as an advanced student," we are talking about the English spoken in one location by a specific group of people. We recognize that there are many variations of spoken English such as regional dialects, slang and informal English as well as formal language used in legal and business settings.     In this description we are comparing beginning and advanced levels of English among the same group of English speakers. Simply said, there is no universal spoken English, so there can be no single English course used to simultaneously teach all of its varieties. We are not saying, however, that there is only one kind of English which is used world wide. Nor are we saying that English does not contain both basic and advanced vocabularies.     Our Spoken English Learned Quickly lessons use national American and British radio broadcasting vocabulary and pronunciation because that is the English that will probably serve the university and professional people in our target audience best.

    Your perceived needs as you begin studying English will significantly influence how you answer this chapter's title question. If you decide that you need beginning English when you start your study, you will spend much time looking for lessons with beginner level sentences because English does not have differing levels of difficulty. On the other hand, if you decide that the English used in the daily newspaper is what you want to learn, you can easily find that kind of English language.

Is there a need for beginning and advanced lessons in English?
    I am really asking if beginning and advanced students can use the same level of lessons to learn spoken English. Before you give an intuitive answer, I need to ask the question properly. The question is, "Does English have multiple, specialized language divisions?"
    The answer is, "No, it does not." There is no high English language spoken by the gentry versus a low language spoken by commoners. Historically, many languages such as Greek and Chinese, have indeed used two levels. Modern English does not even have a specialized construction for folklore. Many languages in which oral tradition has been preserved have a storytelling form of the language which is distinct from the language used in everyday conversation. In these languages, there are often specialists who recount folktales in public gatherings. Commonly spoken English has none of that.
    In fact, English is so simple in this regard that we do not even have two forms of address for people of differing social standing. French, for instance, has strict conventions regarding the use of "tu" or "vous" when addressing someone. A U.S. citizen, however, would address both the President of the United States and a young child as "you."
    English has many specialized vocabularies. Any student who has taken courses in anatomy, law, physics, automotive technology, psychology, engineering, geology, or anthropology has spent a great deal of time learning specialized terminology. But the essential English syntax which holds these words together in a sentence is still the language of the street — or the language of the daily newspaper.
    So, aside from specialized vocabularies, English has no divisions representing varying levels of language complexity. Almost any individual with at least a secondary school education would make essentially the same evaluation of another speaker's ability to use good or bad English.
    The exception to the above paragraph would be found in technical documents such as legal briefs and the like. However, this style of English is far from the language used in normal conversation.
    There is only one kind of English which you need to learn. You do not need two or more different course levels. This is not to say that English is a simple language to learn. Far from it. Though it is true that some technical terms and concepts, for example, may be difficult to comprehend, the English language itself does not have differing levels of difficulty.
    Why have traditional language programs insisted that there must be beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of English study? It is not because there are beginning and advanced levels of spoken English. It is because there are beginning, intermediate, and advanced explanations for English grammar. This means that some rules of English grammar are easy to explain. Some rules of grammar are more difficult to explain. And some are complex enough to require a highly technical explanation. But spoken English is one subject of study, whereas the formal rules of English grammar are quite another.
    Now I can answer the question, "Do you need beginning and advanced English lessons to learn the language?" Of course not. There is only one level of spoken English. If you are a beginning student, you must start by speaking normal English sentences. If you have studied English for several years and consider yourself an advanced student, you must continue until you are able to fluently pronounce the words in those same normal English sentences.
    There will be a great difference in the fluency between beginning and advanced students. But there is no difference in the level of English sentences they must study. They must use the same English sentences both to initiate, and then to master, the process which will develop the necessary cognitive, motor, and auditory skills used to speak fluent English.

Complex English sentences
    I need to add an explanation so that what I am saying is understandable. English grammar identifies simple sentences (sentences with one main clause), compound sentences (sentences with two or more main clauses), complex sentences (sentences with one main clause and at least one subordinate clause), and compound-complex sentences (sentences made up of two or more main clauses and at least one subordinate clause). An example of a compound-complex sentence would be, "The Saturday afternoon program was like a two-ring circus; while one part of the TV screen carried the professional football game, the other part showed scores from collegiate games." Of course, this is not a sentence we would expect beginning English students to use. But the complexity of the sentence is not in the language level of the sentence. Its so-called complexity is only in the punctuation of the sentence which makes it a complex sentence by grammatical definition. With very little change, the sentence could become three simple sentences: "The Saturday afternoon program was like a two-ring circus. One part of the TV screen showed the professional football game. The other part of the TV screen showed scores from collegiate games." Aside from vocabulary, any one of these three sentences are beginning level sentences.
    Thus, when I say that there is no difference in the level of English sentences a beginning and advanced student must study, I am not talking about a grammatical definition. I am saying that there is not one language that would be used by commoners and another that would be used by the gentry. Even though the example sentence about the TV's split screen is not a sentence we would want to include in the first lesson, it does not represent multiple, specialized language divisions.

But it's too difficult to start with normal English
    Not really. Once you understand the "hello"s and "goodby"s in English, you are ready to begin practicing with normal sentences. Aside from sentences which contain specialized vocabulary, most English sentences use common verbs and syntax construction. This is the English you want to speak. Use it from the very start of your language study.
    This is not as difficult as it seems. If you are using the Spoken English Learned Quickly course, you will discover that Lesson 1 uses normal English sentences, even though it uses only the present tense. Lesson 2 uses complete sentences in past, present, and future tenses. The sentences become slightly more complex as the lessons progress, but every sentence in the entire course is one that you will need to master as an "advanced" student. Your objective in using Spoken English Learned Quickly is not merely to understand the sentence as though it was part of a grammar exercise. Your objective is to be able to use each sentence in fluent English speech.
    The spoken language you want to learn is everyday English. It will remove a great deal of stress if you realize that in the very first week of English study, you are learning normal English. By and large, your English study will never become any more difficult than it is when you first begin because you will be studying normal spoken English from the first lesson to the completion of your formal study.
    This is how you will study English with Spoken English Learned Quickly. It was designed for both beginning and advanced students because our students want to learn spoken English, not written English grammar.