Moving on from what has been written by Dr. Khalid Al-Seghayer (“How Can We Best Utilize Non-Native English Teachers?” Arab News, Jan. 28) and Mubin Raza Khan (Letter of the Day, Jan. 31) on the subject of teaching and learning the English language, it is interesting to note that English has been assumed as a standard language, and most discussion is focused on teachers and teaching this language.

English language itself is no more than a name of one language. Today, there are many varieties of English — British English, American English, Australian English, Subcontinent English, Arab English and English spoken elsewhere, such as Africa and Scandinavia. Therefore, from an academic point of view when a reference is made to learning and teaching English, the variety of English also should be specified. Similarly there is little consensus over which variety should be taught.

Take the example of British English, which itself has many variations. According to linguists, the English language spoken by British aristocrats, also called Queen’s English or BBC English, is technically known as Received Pronunciation (RP). This version of English is not found beyond London.

According to linguists (language scholars, such as grammarians or phoneticians) a dialect (language differing in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar) of any language is influenced by local speakers, and dialect undergoes changes roughly after every 60 miles. It is as true for English as it is for any other language. Take the example of Arabic: It has Egyptian, Sudanese, Yemeni and Saudi dialects. It’s not surprising to find Welsh English, Scottish English and other dialects of English language in the United Kingdom itself, and it is interesting to listen to these variations as they appear in the British IELTS test.

In London itself, dialects are further divided on the basis of social and regional dialects, an example of which is Cockney. The same is true for American English and its dialect variations across the American continents or for that matter in New York. And within America, white and black Americans also have different speaking styles and pronunciation.

Language learning comprises four skills — speaking, reading, writing and listening. People tend to emphasize speaking skills for different reasons but mainly because it demonstrates command of a foreign language. In this regard, native speakers with “proper” received pronunciation no doubt have an edge over other native and non-native speakers. In other skills they also should have an advantage from a linguistic perspective.

According to these experts, second-language learners always will be at a disadvantage and innately tend to first translate the subject matter into their mother language. These linguists agree that the second-language learners at most can be “bilingual” (using two languages orally after intensive formal instruction), but they rarely equal native speakers in ability.

Most bilinguals are people with parents of different mother tongues. Without poring over complex linguistic information and going into intricate detail whether a native or non-native speaker can be a better teacher, the focus should be on how learning English can be made most easily accessible for second language learners — and with minimum input or resources.

Here are a few simple steps to learn English. These steps can help the learners gain a reasonable grasp over the language that can get them jobs, help them communicate in English-speaking countries or impress friends at local parties. Remember, if style, good looks and money are on display, poor pronunciation rather adds to the “glamour.”

• Learn 800-1,000 words (the TOEFL vocabulary book is a good start).

• Use talking dictionaries that are easily available in local markets to practice correct pronunciation.

• Watching English movies also improves pronunciation and assimilation.

• Learn the basics of English grammar with emphasis on parts of speech and sentence structure to understand word order.

• Learn the types of sentences so you may express a thought or give an order.

• Under miscellaneous, pay attention to genders, case, singular/plurals, tenses, direct-indirect (change of narration), change of sentences from active to passive and the sequences of sentences to make your language a pleasure to read or hear.

Through concerted efforts and sticking to these basic steps, offered at no charge, a person not only should be able to make heads and tails out of this intricate but beautiful language in six-eight months but also save a lot of time and money that would have been spent at language coaching centers.

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(Rizwan Ghani is an English teacher with the Ministry of Education. He is based in Abha.)