The importance of speaking English
The English language is undoubtedly the most powerful language in the world. According to a study by Kai L. Chan the English language tops the list of the most powerful languages in the world and not only is English the most powerful language, it is more than twice as powerful as its closest rival: the Mandarin language. The “Power Language Index” , a research note on the efficacy of languages, showed that English, with a score of 0.889, is the most powerful. It is practically the world’s lingua franca. You might wish to read more about the power of the English language here, an article published by the World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/is-english-too-powerful/
According to another article published by the same WE Forum there is a strong correlation between English and the economics of a country. It is a known fact that a rise in English proficiency was connected with a rise in per capita income. In other words better English and income go hand in hand – improved English skills allow individuals to apply for better jobs and raise their standards of living. The article also concludes that English is the lingua franca of global business and knowing English is not just a luxury—it’s the sina qua non of global business today. Here is a link to this interesting article which might also serve you as a good reading task and help you in your motivation to learn English: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/the-link-between-english-and-economics
At Gateway School of English GSE we also recognise the importance of speaking English and we know that a lot of students who enrol with us lack practice in spoken English. It is a known fact that students who study with us would know the grammar points really well but cannot apply them in the spoken language and therefore struggle in fluency and in expressing themselves. This is why GSE is offering 10 free conversation classes throughout the month of February, a continuation of our offer which started in November, whereby students pay for 20 lessons and will get 10 free speaking lessons per week. February is the last month for the 2019-2020 offer and the same special offer will resume in November 2020 all through February 2021.
Speaking classes help our students consolidate what they would have learnt during the General and Business English classes, a more hands on approach to learning English i.e. learning by doing. After all communicating through spoken English is the aim of most of the students who come to Malta to learn English and brush up on their skills. The fact that classes at GSE have a good international mix of students and are graded according to the level of the students as ascertained from the entry level test or online placement test also helps students to better express themselves when speaking about a particular topic as they are not shy to speak knowing that the other students are foreign speakers of English and have a similar level of English.
