You can also think of learning English as similar to learning to play a sport. If you think about it too much, it doesn't work. I used to overanalyze my tennis game. I would tell myself to watch the ball or to swing the racket correctly or to change my grip for a backhand shot. But I analyzed so much that I couldn't relax and just play the game! I was too aware of myself. I finally discovered that I was more successful if I focused on the big picture: the game, not myself.

Should you stop studying grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary? No! Focusing on the small pieces of English is important and useful. It helps you to see what you can't see with your wide-angle lens. As you continue to learn English, it's very useful to be able to quickly zoom in on a difficult word or grammar point, and then to zoom out to the wider angle again.

Adults have an advantage over children here. Children have only the wide-angle lens; they learn languages subconsciously. Adults can do both: we can learn both subconsciously and consciously. Research shows that being able to learn both ways is important for success. You need to be childlike enough to relax with the language and not be too worried about all the details. But at the right times, you also need to examine your language with your zoom lens, then use the detail to improve your language.

Here's an example of what it's like to use a wide-angle lens when you look at things. Look at the row of strange shapes below. Can you read the message? What does it say? Don't read further until you have tried this puzzle for a few minutes.

Did you get it? You have to look at the white spaces between the black shapes. The three white spaces are the three letters, F, L, and Y, spelling the word FLY. You may have looked at the black shapes because you are used to seeing black print on white paper. Don't be tricked!

This puzzle is an example of how you can focus on the wrong thing in a language if you don't have a wide-angle view of language. If you look too closely at the puzzle, you focus on the details. If you back away and look at the whole picture, you get it. Language works the same way.

Before you read further, do Questionnaire 3.

H. Douglas Brown, Strategies for Success: A Practical Guide to Learning English (White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, 2002.) Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education.