The secret behind basic vs. advanced English | Interview with my head of content Christina

[@rosinaiglesias-traductoral5827]

The native versus non-native teachers subject is something I have discussed a lot since English started to be taught in Spain 40 years ago. My best teachers have always been non-native. Natives were only useful for conversation when Internet didn't exist. The only way to practice was traveling abroad, but most of us couldn't afford it. So we learnt a lot of grammar, but couldn't speak a word. Nowadays it is forbidden in Spain that an academy asks for a native because that discriminates most of the candidates.

[@monicab464]

If it's true that it's forbidden to ask for native teachers then there has been great progress compared to some years ago. Job ads for English teachers used to be incredibly discriminatory in Spain.

[@christina.hilton]

Yes, it's very discriminatory! Especially because it's not an "equal playing field". Many schools would take a native speaker with zero qualifications over a non-native speaker with all the qualifications. There are so many horror stories of native speakers becoming teachers who have absolutely no idea what they're doing because they have no teaching education. It's sad that some schools still allow it :(

[@annavoytenko]

I believe other aspects like connected speech are way more important than adding a few fancy words. Thank you, Hadar, for bringing awareness to that topic! I agree with all the points you brought up. As a teacher myself, I notice some people trying to sweat about using more fancy words they picked up from short videos with minimum or no explanation at all. But what happens, really, is it sounds awkward being used in the "wrong" context. Awkward wording. Not only it confuses the person who hears it but leads to insecurities building up. We all should use the vocabulary we and our conversational partners are comfortable with. Delivering the message. Not boasting about knowing advanced phrases. Thank you so much! Discovering your channel a few years ago totally changed the way I practice English now and how I help others feel good about the way they speak!

[@nancyl7989]

I enjoyed this thought-provoking conversation. It also made me reflect regarding how hard we are with ourselves for not having the perfect english, but at the same time so forgiving when foreigners speak our native language even when it sounds choppy.

[@amrhalabi2753]

Thank you so much Hadar and Christina for this episode. I think it's easy to fall into this trap because we want to sound fluent and advanced. Once I was obsessed with learning advanced vocabulary and then I had a chance to practice my advanced vocabulary with a native speaker who is teacher/polyglot and the poor lady was like "Amr please speak English, I don't understand you" 😂 I sounded ridiculous instead of sounding advanced 😅

[@eliot1197]

Nice to meet Arabic person here.😂❤️ and thanks for your story, it gives me a great nutshell.

[@christina.hilton]

Thanks for watching!! I think it's great to expand our vocabulary, but also we have to expand our knowledge of how common and in what situations these words are used. One question though, after that interaction, did it cause you to become "taciturn"?? 🤣

[@amrhalabi2753]

@@christina.hilton lol :D not taciturn per se, I felt a bit addled and diffident 😅

[@jimmymcgill6138]

@@christina.hilton taciturn, a common word used by Spanish speakers.

[@linarojas4233]

Thank you Hadar and Christina for your reflexions about learning English process and help us to realize we need to be more kind with ourselves.

[@ravindradhumal8201]

That was fantabulous, having Christina online. eye opening for critices.knowlegable for us. Thanks teacher Hadar..

[@VividEnglishUS]

Great conversation. From 19:47 - 21:29 I anticipated use of the word "edutainment" and was happy you both pivoted to the notion that learning can and should be fun. Agreed! ...and agreed that the "say this/not that" videos are designed to prey upon insecurities -- much like the "wear this/not that" and "eat this/not that" videos. It's a click-bait thing!

[@christina.hilton]

Yep, exactly! And yes, we love to entertain 💃💃and there's a way to do that without preying upon insecurities, as you said!

[@ekaterinaratsina4664]

Hi dear Hadar and Christina! I watched it several times and I can’t stop being amazed with the value that you are always bringing but especially in this video! Thank you for advocating for healthy language learning process and justice!

[@xiaoyanli7043]

Thank you so much Hadar and Christina for this video. I am a non-native speaker and is also a medical doctor practicing in the US. I recently discovered your channel because I want to improve my English. I am a very fluent speaker, but often feel so bad about myself when I made even the slightest mistakes in pronunciation or grammar. I am so glad to hear your thoughts on this issue. After all, language is for people to communicate and share ideas.

[@hadar.shemesh]

That's right! We have to stop fearing making mistakes because it's a natural part of speaking a second language.

[@liora80]

Amazing content!!! I am doing many of these mistakes such as learning more vocabulary to feel that I am making a progress in my speaking... BUT it doesn't serve me... So thank you for lighting things that I haven't seen before. One of the most important videos that I have ever watched in that subject of learning a language. Thank you!

[@hadar.shemesh]

Happy to hear this - so much!!

[@stepstopracticeenglish]

Totally agree! Another day I watched one ref. "You are Welcome" and I love using YAW, which is considering... rather only say "No prob", which is even worse than say "No problem".

[@MediaMagnetTV]

the best teacher in the world. Thank you ma'am.

[@anajimenez7719]

I totally agree with you guys, I hate how those basic vs advance videos make people feel dumb. People on those videos make it hard because when they use the "basic" vocabulary they have this silly image whereas when they use the "advanced" one they look intelligent

[@luisacuellar861]

Thank you so much for creating this kind of content for us 💕

[@leolvosMaguirre218]

great insights that heals my suffering from native teachers

[@panagiotispavlopoulos409]

Awesome interview!!! Thank you Hadar and Christina for sharing your thoughts with us 🤩

[@hanifebrahimi7858]

I love your accent, attention and the way you teach.

[@eh9039]

Thank you so so much! This is just what I needed to hear from you guys. I was killing myself over all the BASIC vs ADVANCED contents popping up on Instagram 🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️

[@annarybina8818]

I greatly appreciate such gripping discussions on your channel! Find them both educational and entertaining🔥

[@marioluiscarbajofabra]

I loved Hadar, but now I love Christina too. Great video, and I agree. Non-native teachers have helped me a lot. You, for example. I'm only a beginner, but I watch all your videos. I see you next time, in the nex video. Bye.

[@renewal_of_the_heart]

Thanks for such a great interview! I totally agree that you can’t teach the rules you haven’t learned (as a native speaker of English). So thank you for so many gooooood ideas :)

[@supponphuaphanprasong3334]

Thank you, this episode is very useful, it is changed my perspective.

[@gedr7463]

I agree. Thanks. I am learning English with You

[@gusnarabustos2323]

I love her, she excelent and have learnt a lot with her

[@estebanarango2852]

My main goal always was being able to comunicate my ideas, they know I'm not a non-native spiker

[@asdruvalperezgt4074]

I loved this conversation! ❤

[@bustomi4136]

Finally I heard someone talked about this. I have been in a learning illusion in so so long time. I thought my English is never enough to interact with anyone speaking English.. hahaha.. but here, right here. you guys really pointed things out which is true. I hope I heard it earlier years ago. Thank you for your dedications. GBU

[@yeroca]

As a native speaker who has been working with a non-native speaker to improve her English for several years, I can attest to the truth of what was said here. A native speaker's (at least this native speaker's) sense of how pronunciation works can be really off and wrong, despite best intentions. My advice to anyone who wants to work on their English with an uncertified native speaker is to work together with the native speaker to find good pronunciation teaching materials, such as Hadar's Accent's Way English and Josh's English Hacks to find specific advice for the problems you are facing. Do NOT waste time having the native speaker come up with their own explanation. This may cause you a lot of wasted time, learning the pronunciation based on an incorrect understanding. I wish we had started doing that earlier. My first glimpse into realizing that I had significant misunderstandings was watching Rachel's English videos, which are also quite good.

[@christina.hilton]

Yep, we need to educate ourselves in order to teach! That knowledge isn't intuitive.

[@jhonguerrero236]

I'm into actually your videos about English and also i have elevate my English with your videos

[@nahumyanez6931]

Thank you so much for these videos, my English has improved a lot after following your channel, 🙏🏼

[@aguypassingby1945]

U're great guys!) I am really enjoying it

[@jaganav]

Exquisite discussion. You're eyes in this video speak more than your words. You should be proud of how you change your student's lives. I hope you both are well. BTW, I'm still waiting for the TED talk 😉 😘

[@mainumbyayala1104]

Notable entrevista. Lamento no saber el suficiente ingles como para expresarlo en ese idioma. Muchas gracias.

[@ashima8701]

Thanku so much 🤗🥰

[@franckemmanuelkouame6067]

Yep we can have some words for which we don't know the meaning but it's scare during a learning process.

[@gD-cp3cg]

It was the episode of update or what !!! Great video so true !!! Me if I am honest I like to watch your videos on you tube and that is it. I received your email but for me it is too much so I prefer choose different sort of content than always listening or watching the same people. I like to watch Vanessa, bob the canadian, Rich Roll, Huw Richards on the gardening, DW doc, Mossy Bottom, Lukes english podcast, to the point english with Ben, Lewis Howes, Feel better live more ... Ohhh and my best Simon Sinek a bit of optimism. I am sure learning is not about be better than others it is live with others !!!

[@JohnSnow-g3n]

Christina is amazing! Is she a native speaker? Does she have a KZbin channel? Thank you for the video!

[@DawnPeacock]

Yes, she's a native English speaker. I don't think she has a YT channel...

[@JohnSnow-g3n]

@@DawnPeacock I love her pronunciation! 💚

[@DawnPeacock]

@@JohnSnow-g3n Yes, Christina has a nice voice and enunciates very clearly. 😊

[@SwapperTheFirst]

@@DawnPeacock I can hear some Slavic accent (speech patterns, intonation), most probably Russian. Also her name suggests it.

[@DawnPeacock]

@@SwapperTheFirst Umm, Christina Hilton? 🧐 I think you're...being humorous??

[@henklooose2372]

Thanks for sharing. So many thumbnail-clickbait-fishers out there. I don't like it either. But on the other hand, it's business and they create the content/thumbnails/catchy trendy topics, which "works" best (generate the most clicks. They are the currency of KZbin). I can't and won't blame them for that. But Yeah, KZbinrs should be aware of their responsibility too. But at the end, it's all up to me. KZbin is a business, so marketing is a big part of that. For me it's fine, and like in the "real world". Companies want to sell their products, KZbinrs their Videos. So, it's my responsibility, to decide which product I am going to buy (which channel I am going to follow) or not. BTW: I just watched the first 15 Minutes, so my comment is related to Christinas anger. And , yes, I can totally understand her "anger" and I these typical "Thumbnail-Headline-Combination", which are playing with the feeling of "Oh, really, I have to stop saying This and That, otherwise I sound uneducated", is somehow unfair. But at the,....the now the story, it marketing. Thanks for the Video and now I will watch the rest of the interview - dwell time is also important(: The good thing is, on the long run, quality matters most.

[@aqeel994]

Hi Hadar and Chritina how are you doing. I enjoyed this discussion and learn a lot. Thanks keep doing such kind of helpful videos. Thanks

[@canalaprende987yui72]

Thank you so much

[@jeffryalmontedely]

Hello Hadar, I really like your way you teach.

[@brendaacevedo8745]

I am curious about where Christina is from? Does anybody know?

[@anamarinarivera2404]

I need your courses. I have years that I trying to advance in this language

[@ivanrevkov843]

Basic vs Advanced is exactly what Marina Mogilko does.

[@hadar.shemesh]

I know. I never said I support that type of content. I said we have different teaching styles and philosophies. But she was still wronged. And those videos - while helpful to some - were disturbing to others. And I made that video to show those who felt bad about them that they are not alone.

[@josemolina3109]

Hello Hadar how are you thank you for your class ingles

[@natalie_b]

Girls, thanks a lot for this video! I wanna sounds like you! Your speech without any brakes when you try to memorize English words, you use language so naturally. How to archive this kind of level? I’m stuck on my Intermediate level. I really do push my efforts to jump on new level. I’m trying to listen everyday podcasts, shows and everything in English. And i understand everything but i cannot use all this words on your own. You’re absolutely right about this. Like a dog - you understand everything but you can’t answer 😂 Second thing I’m trying to read a lot of English books without adaptation. It’s hard for me, but I think this can be valuable for future. I compare when I was a kid I read a lot of books on my mother-tongue language and then in school I had a higher language skills than other kids and of course my grammar was excellent as well. Does it really help me to advance my level? What do you think?

[@ekaterinaratsina4664]

Dear Natalya! I can see you are passionate about the language🙂 if you want to speak, the only way is to speak more… unfortunately, at some point I was trapped with the same thought that I need to listen more, watch more and do more grammar exercises in order to speak. But it doesn’t work this way🤷‍♀️ so, start talking, even to yourself, out loud, give all that knowledge you have to finally shine out🤗

[@natalie_b]

@@ekaterinaratsina4664 thank you for your advice! Yeah I absolutely agree. I can’t find a good teacher for practice. I’ve learned for 5 years in a different schools. And since 2022 i stopped cuz I don’t see any result. I can speak of course but not fluently at all 😣

[@DawnPeacock]

...Came back and finished the conversation this morning. It's interesting: As you know, I FULLY agree with you about the harmfulness of the videos that imply it's bad to use "basic" English. But durning the second half of the conversation, you said that native speakers are not criticized for mistakes. That's not my experience at all. Outside the ELT world, native English speakers tear each other apart for mistakes...sometimes actual mistakes (e.g., their/they're/there), and sometimes for violating made-up rules clung to by sticklers (e.g., don't split an infinitive). It's pretty vicious sometimes jaja 😅Haven't you seen this?

[@christina.hilton]

That's true! But inside the ELT industry, we aren't held to the same standards and I'd say we're granted a lot more leniency when it comes to making mistakes (grammar, typos, etc.). I also don't see people criticizing native speaking teachers if they teach a concept incorrectly, but I see it quite commonly for nonnative teachers

[@DawnPeacock]

@@christina.hilton Then you should come hang out with me. This video will be like therapy for you because you get to see me criticize a native speaking teacher for 48 minutes jaja kzbin.info/www/bejne/n56ZhGN-d62qidk (actually I partially agree with him so it's not all criticism) 🌞🌞 But joking aside, I wonder which change you would like to see: do you want people to stop pointing out the mistakes of non-native-speaking teachers? Or would you rather see people criticize native-speaking teachers more?

[@КатяНипорка]

Is usage of the word 'like' in almost every sentence considered to be advanced English?:)

[@canadatoday-2770]

Could you post the episodes where native speakers made crucial mistakes in their speech? You two are not native speakers , would be interesting NNS VS NS

[@hadar.shemesh]

Christina is a native speaker. Born in Florida. But why does it matter?

[@canadatoday-2770]

@@hadar.shemesh I wish I could believe you, but Christina has tiny errors in her speech which are very typical for a non- native speaker, that is why it matters a lot

[@canadatoday-2770]

@@hadar.shemesh It is like teaching the math equation with errors and saying it is ok to get 3 instead of 2 in your solution, oh, it is a typo

[@christina.hilton]

@@canadatoday-2770 lol - and a good reminder that native speakers are constantly making mistakes too, we just aren't as critical of them unless we suspect they are NNS 😉😉

[@danielaprzybyszewska7397]

@@canadatoday-2770 I personally know Christina and I can assure you that she was born and raised in the US. But if you claim you find errors even in her speech, what can nns expect? Maybe we should all stop opening our mouths.

[@ЮлияЮлия-ы7л5г]

Does Cristina know Russian?❤ I think yeah!!!

[@christina.hilton]

I don't! Maybe it will be my next language to learn 🤔

[@ЮлияЮлия-ы7л5г]

@@christina.hilton sorry, I was really sure about your knowledge of Russian 😂! By the way, I saw the videos about “use this instead of this” and never thought about them from that point of view. You’re absolutely right! Is was interesting interview. You’ve opened my eyes😘

[@christina.hilton]

@@ЮлияЮлия-ы7л5г hahaha I have been asked the question before, don't worry😆I'm glad to hear that!!!

[@Sormanification]

Oohhhh that basic/advanced speaker trend is really bumming me out

[@DawnPeacock]

I share Christina's anger! I find it upsetting to see these videos telling people to replace "basic" words with fancy ones. When you learn a fancy a word out of context and try to use it, it's probably going to end up sounding odd. Preying on people's vulnerability and causing more anxiety in language learners - UNCOOL.

[@christina.hilton]

Totally uncool!!!

[@DawnPeacock]

@@christina.hilton you might appreciate my commentary at around the 27-second mark in this video, kzbin.info/www/bejne/emHdfIOQqdqkbLM where I make the same point you do in this interview: NO, you don't need to memorize a bunch of fancy ways to say something (in this case, ways to respond to "have a nice day" - and in fact, if you try to, it could end up sounding awkward). 🌞🌞 Curiously, just last week I made a short from that video where I explicitly ask, IS IT OK TO USE BASIC PHRASES? (Spoiler: the answer is YES 😊😊) Maybe "basic" needs a re-branding. In some situations basic has a negative connotation...but in others, it's POSITIVE. Like, a basic wardrobe. Kitchen basics. Basic = essential. 💛

[@franciscojose6496]

Channel 100%

[@franckemmanuelkouame6067]

You are more afraid when you must pass a test language for achieving a goal.

[@anwarbukhari6178]

First talk about word secret and its all sounds

[@Doublej53]

good good good

[@aster1035]

I fully understand all those who are so-called 'native speakers' without any special licence earn a lot of money as English teachers in Asia. My friend-used-to-be is one of that kind, which drastically made me irritated and finally disconnected from her. Even her significant other, who had not been involved in language teaching, followed her course and has been an English teacher ever since.

[@christina.hilton]

yeppppp, that REALLY pisses me off!! It is such a disservice in the industry.