Think of babies and children again. Listening is always the first step. No
child starts talking before they understand through listening. They always
listen for a long time, until they understand a lot of the language. Then, and
only then, do they begin to speak. This listening “silent period” is vitally
important to the process of natural language learning.
Another property of natural language learning is that speech emerges
naturally from listening. Speech is not a skill that is consciously practiced or
taught. Rather, after enough understandable listening, a child will just
suddenly begin to speak. Its seems to happen by magic. The speaking ability
grows out of the listening ability.
Researcher James Crawford has found that speaking English is the result
of listening and that English fluency frequently occurs from listening alone.
He states that English learning is an unconscious process, and while it’s
happening we are often not aware that it is happening.
You can think of this like a seed in the ground. The seed, the potential for
speaking, is always there. However, the seed needs water in order to grow
and emerge from the ground. Likewise, our brains need a lot of
understandable listening for effortless speech to emerge.
As you might imagine, because children spend so much time listening
before they speak, their listening ability is always higher than their speaking
ability. In other words, children always understand more English than they
can actually use in speech. As you use the Effortless English™ system you
will experience the same thing. Your listening ability will naturally grow
faster than your speaking ability. Some learners worry about this but it is the
natural and correct process.
Another way to think of this is that listening leads speaking and pulls it
along. Listening is like a balloon with a string tied to speaking. As the
listening level rises, it pulls the speaking ability up with it. They go up
together, but the listening ability will always be higher.
