Why Basic English? Why not just regular English?

That is a good question. The most important thing we learn is to ask why. When we know why then learning becomes easier.

Basic English is what people need to learn first. People need to stay with Basic English until they know it well. It is not good to go on to regular English without fully knowing Basic English.

I like to compare learning English to learning a skill like playing a musical instrument or even more like learning to type on a typewriter or keyboarding on a computer. I think it is wrong for people to learn English like they would learn mathematics or science. It is not a subject to get a 75 percent or higher and then pass on to the next level. No one has ever learned a language by taking a test.

English is only a subject in school when the student already knows English. English should not be learned in school, it should be learned at home, on the street, on the internet, at the movies, at work.

Basic English is complete English. It is the English a child knows before he goes to school. That is the English you need to learn so that you can use English to learn whatever it is you want or need to learn in English.

Basic English lets you use English. You only need about 40 hours to learn Basic English. When you know Basic English, you forget about studying English. Instead of studying English you use English and by using English your English will always get better and better.

I speak good Spanish and it is not because I went to a school to learn Spanish. My Spanish is good because I use it. I have never studied Spanish. The only thing I ever did with Spanish was learn how to pronounce and read it and after that I practiced reading and I practiced talking to people in Spanish by teaching.

A big strong man with hard muscles did not get his strength by studying about exercises. He only studied a few seconds and then used all his time practicing lifting heavy weights over and over again until it was easy. He then practiced lifting heavier weights that were harder for him to lift and used all his time practicing lifting these weights over and over again until it was easy for him to lift them. That is what you do with Basic English and that is why Basic English is the only English you need to study and after that you throw your books about English away and just start reading English to learn what you want to learn.

People who want you to spend thousands of dollars to learn English will not like my website or Mr. Ogden’s 1930 Basic English system. They say you need regular English and only they can teach you regular English. I have heard some teachers even say that Basic English is for babies and it is not good to teach Basic English to older people.

Since 1975, I have been both liking and using Basic English to teach my students and I know how good it is. I have not found a system that is better than Basic English.

The problem with teaching other ways is because of money. Schools do not want their students to learn English in 40 hours. They want their students to take hundreds and even thousands of hours to learn English. They want money and they are only interested in teaching you English because of the money you have.

Basic English is free, it always was free, ever since 1930 when Charles Kay Ogden created the system. The only thing a student really needs to pay for is the things he cannot do on his own. If he needs help, you can pay a teacher for his time to help him. If he cannot copy the book on my free website, he can pay someone to make a copy for him.

Teachers can make money with Basic English but it is not because they have to pay for Basic English. Everyone needs to get paid for the work that they do and everyone understands that. So, instead of paying an expensive school that is owned by rich people who want your money, Why not pay a teacher for his time? Get a group of three or more people and ask a Basic English teacher to help your group practice once a week. Each student pays a little money so that the teacher can work to help your group improve.

That is all schools do and nothing more. I have taught English at schools were just one student pays the school what the school pays me. At a university I was teaching a group of students and the university said they could only pay me $50 a week, but I found out that each student was paying $200 a month and I had 10 students. The university was getting all the money.

No one will ever ask you for a diploma or a certificate that says you speak English. People know you speak English because you speak English. Basic English and only Basic English is what you need to start speaking and using English and by using it for everything; start talking, start reading, start listening. English is like a muscle that will grow bigger and bigger the more you practice.