DON'T use advanced English! (C1/C2)

More than 98% of the vocabulary in this video is from the 10,000 most frequent words in English. No 'advanced' English was necessary! - If you want to start USING your English join the Canguro community and start communicating today! canguroenglish.com/academy

" you don't need more english, you need more practice " Magic sentence and golden advice. Thank you, sir

This teacher is a magician of ideas. He manages to encourage people to study as well as teach us important points of learning a language. Thanks , master !!

I started learning English when I was 6. I'm 36 now and I'm using it on a daily basis at work or otherwise, whilst my native language remains Polish. I never really thought I knew the language very well, until the age of approximately 15, when I started to watch American/British shows with English subtitles (thank you South Park!!!). Once you get to B1/B2 level, the best way to progress is to expose yourself to the language on a daily basis. It's particularly easy nowadays with Internet access. There is no need to learn literary English to be proficient. Most of these "posh" words can be derived from context anyway. So I fully agree with the message of this clip.

Most important skill in advanced English for me isn't using fancy wording for the sake of it, but being able to differentiate between subtle differences in meaning. This is most useful in comprehension, but sometimes you have to be very precise in expression as well. Language isn't just used for casual conversation and entertainment.

I couldn't agree more. If only the IELTS judges and examiners also understood this important point. Right here in Vietnam, quite a lot of IELTS learners pack themselves with countless advanced vocabulary and structures but fail to communicate themselves clearly and effectively. They use a lot of language from novels, unnecessarily complicated vocabulary just to impress the examiners. 😅

Agree in principle. The trick is to know WHEN advanced vocab is appropriate, which in conversation is *rarely*. Earlier this week I had a lesson in which my student said "verify" at least 50 times. I told her to use "check" instead, but she insisted on using "verify". Also HOW to use these advanced words isn't easy. "Bad" and "detrimental" aren't synonyms and they have different grammar. You can't have a detrimental day at work, nor can apples go detrimental. Things are bad for you but detrimental TO you.

Native English speaker here - I always try to speak and write as simply as possible. The larger, more infrequent words can make the speaker come across as showing off. Most everyday conversations are at around the B2 level, anyway. Don't worry about the infrequent vocabulary; just focus on building a basicl vocabulary that you can use for everyday life. The less frequent words will come as needed by reading, listening, and in conversations.

As a native English speaker who loves writing fancy and speaking fancy, you have to know your audience and the importance of your message. It’s very sad how few people read anymore, and their vocabulary is definitely quite limited. No one does the crossword anymore. The world is too fast-paced for them to stop a moment to take in the beauty of certain words. But just as beautiful as these words are, a beautiful message is even more important. Don’t waste your time on the words, when you haven’t even fully articulated that message in your mind. Advanced language is advanced because it is like a cherry on top of the message—and some people don’t even like cherries. Be wary of that, and realize that the ice cream sundae that is your message consists of many components. If people cannot even taste the ice cream in your sundae, they will surely fail to appreciate the chocolate drizzle, the whipped cream, and yes, even the cherry on top.

Sir, without a doubt, as a person who has been learning English for 12 years with an endless education, I had never seen such a sensible video this whole time, thank you for being inspiring!

Learning other languages, for me, is very difficult, but I never give up. Thank you for your words! I feel more enthusiastic 🙂

I swear you that your pronunciation, expression and approach are really immersive for me. I saw your video at a night suddenly, and I wanted to write my comments. I got excited! ❤

You are the most humane and honest English teacher to tell people that advanced words are not necessarily required! I'm glad to find you, subscribed in a second!

From a Brazilian English student: this message is worthy of being in a TED talk. Absolutely touching.

Hey man! You were my inspiration to start my own YouTube channel to help learners. Teachers need to learn too! I love how you teach and explain things. I'm a CELTA holder from America and I watch your videos as if they're just part of the Cambridge program. Keep going!

Thank you so much for your advice! I have thought about the process of learning new words, and I've noticed that when I read a book in my native language I'm able to understand everything that I read, but a lot of those words I never use when I speak or write. I think we learn difficult words naturally and the most important is focus in learn words that we can use in our daily routine.

I have just randomly played your video after I came back from a job interview. It is crazy how relevant is your advice in relation to second round where I need to do a presentation. It really summarises and puts into words feelings I have about most of the things and skills in life. Thank you for this magnificent educational content. Subscribed

I think this video is not for me. As someone who has no problems about my english skills, I still want to learn the more advacned stuff. Sure, I will not use the non-frequent words every day, but being able to know what someone else means, especially in an enviroment where subtle differences mean a lot, or give a whole different impression to what one might want to convey, feels good. I agree that there are more productive things to do when learning english, like actually having conversations (especially with native speakers), writing and reading, but I would not just tell people to not use advanced english. But as I said, I agree that being afraid of using "plain" english can be detrimental to one’s learning :)

That’s why I like showing this channel, and reason is instead of complicated issues I learn simples, naturals and useful techniques. My respect for you Professor.

You have put into words what I have felt for years about learning English, thank you very much.