Which English skill is the hardest?

Hello!

Which of the four skills – reading, writing, speaking and listening – do you find the easiest and which are the most difficult for you?

A little while ago, I asked the members of my women’s Facebook group this question. The results and the comments were very interesting. Most people chose either speaking or listening as the hardest, or both, and a couple of people mentioned writing. Nobody chose reading.

Not everyone is the same. I’ve met students who are great at writing but find speaking and listening a struggle. I’ve also seen the opposite – people who can speak easily but find writing a challenge.

Let’s think a bit more about each skill.

When you’re speaking, you may be worried about making mistakes. Maybe you worry about speaking in broken English or going blank and not knowing what to say. It can feel like there is pressure to find the words and grammar you need but there’s not enough time to think.

Some people feel safer with writing than speaking. Writing gives you more time to think and find the right words. On the other hand, any mistakes you make are more permanent, and they are there in black and white for other people to see.

Whether you find speaking easier than writing or the other way round usually depends on how you were taught English and how much you’ve practised each skill. Perhaps you did very little speaking in school and so this is your biggest struggle now. But if you mostly practised oral skills, writing will be harder for you. And it’s sometimes an extra challenge if you use a different alphabet or writing system in your language.

Listening comes with its own challenges. When you’re studying on your own, you can find easy videos or change the speed on YouTube. But in real conversations, there isn’t always time to understand what was said. On top of that, there are different accents to understand.

Maybe you worry that you won’t understand, or that you won’t be able to reply if you don’t understand what the other person said to you. Feeling nervous or stressed makes it even harder to understand. Without going into the science, your brain finds it more difficult to process language when you’re stressed.

In contrast, reading often feels like the easiest and safest skill. This is probably because you have the most control here. You can go at your own speed. You can stop as often as you want and check the words you don’t know. And nobody is watching, listening or judging you.

So if one skill feels harder for you, it’s probably for one or more of these reasons:

* how much practice you’ve had

* stress or a lack of confidence

* time pressure

Whichever skill you’re finding the most difficult, find ways to practise more. And also, make it easy and take the pressure off.

For speaking, this could be finding someone to talk to who doesn’t make you uncomfortable. This could be a friend, practice partner or teacher. You can even talk out loud when you’re on your own.

My advice for writing is similar. Writing comments in a Facebook group for learners is less scary than writing emails for work, for example. Or try building confidence by writing a diary or journal, which nobody else will read.

For listening, maybe it’s about finding materials that are the right level for you. If movies are too demanding, try YouTube videos for English learners instead, something like BBC Learning English. The English is slower and easier to understand. You can find some suggested materials here.

For reading, my advice would be much the same as for listening. Start with materials that are written for your level. You can find lots of ideas for reading materials here.

When you’re not feeling confident, everything is so much harder. Negative thoughts, fear and panic get in the way of communicating in the moment, and they also get in the way of learning. Little by little, by practising in safer, lower-pressure ways, you can build the confidence that makes all four skills feel easier.

If you’re looking for help with your English and your confidence, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Or take a look at my website to see what I offer.

See you next week!

Katie 💙

Thank you for reading! I’m Katie Salter and I help adult learners feel more confident using English.

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