One of the most important classes a student will take in life is English.
Most high schools tend to have different variants of English classes.
Some are more advanced than others.
It isn’t uncommon for some students to find English class boring, however.
Here are 10 reasons English class sometimes seems boring.
Why Is English Class So Boring? (10 Reasons)
1. Outdated Books
Like many other subjects at school, English classes follow a specific curriculum.
English teachers have to give their students certain lessons to ensure they’re ready for the standardized tests ahead of them.
Because they’re beholden to a curriculum, they often end up having their students read books that can seem a bit outdated for current times.
Some of the books are certainly still relevant.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Fahrenheit 451, and 1984 are just a few examples of books that are still pretty relevant reading.
However, other books don’t pack as much of a punch as they do today.
As such, reading them can become quite stale and boring.
It’s even worse if the class ends up spending a few weeks devoted to that book.
That’s not uncommon for larger books that students have to work through.
Outdated books make English class boring because it’s difficult for students to understand or see why it’s relevant to their current lives.
Since it doesn’t seem relevant to the politics of the day or their everyday lives, it doesn’t move them.
Instead, it just feels like busy work.
Even reading Shakespeare, a classic author and playwright, can seem stale since it doesn’t have any real relevance to their current lives.
A better solution is to offer different English classes that focus on different genres.
Shakespeare would be an ideal choice for someone with an interest in classical literature.
Since this isn’t the case, outdated books tend to feel forced on students which isn’t an enjoyable experience.
Because they’re not engaged with the books, it feels boring.
2. Reading Is Too Challenging
Another reason English class is sometimes boring is that the students find reading difficult.
English class has a few purposes.
At its very heart, it’s designed to help students read and comprehend words better.
That’s an important skill to have since reading is always going to be a part of someone’s life.
The better one can understand and comprehend words, the more likely they are to succeed in life.
They’ll be able to distinguish a good contract from a bad contract, for example.
Being able to read well also means they’re able to go on and tackle more advanced concepts.
Since they have a grasp on challenging words, it’s easier for their minds to break them down and understand them.
Doctors, for example, need to understand very complex words.
However, an inability to read well can make English class seem quite boring.
That’s because the student isn’t comprehending the words as well as the other students.
While some students are able to participate in a dialogue about the book they’re reading, other students can’t.
They may even be several chapters behind because they’re struggling to get through it.
Not only is this problematic for the child’s future, but it also means that they’re going to have a tough time succeeding in English class.
Because English teachers must stick to the curriculum, they can’t always give the student the extra help that they need.
Instead, the student’s parents will need to find tutors and other organizations outside of school to help them.
That also relies on the student having parents who are ready to support them.
English class is sometimes boring when a student can’t participate in the class because they find reading too challenging.
3. Reading Is Too Easy
While some students may find reading too difficult, others might find reading too easy.
That can also make English class quite boring.
Students who find reading easy may not be receiving enough of a challenge in class.
Because it’s easy for them to read and grasp the concepts of the books, they’re way ahead of everyone else.
They may feel like they’re waiting for everyone else to catch up.
That can be a boring feeling.
They may already understand what the book is trying to say.
As such, they may find the worksheets that they need to complete on it to be just busy work rather than anything that’s helping them understand the book further.
Students who aren’t feeling challenged in English class are usually ideal candidates for going to a more advanced English class.
Since not every school has different tiers of English classes, they may end up stuck in their current class.
Some community colleges also offer college courses that high school students can take advantage of.
However, those courses can sometimes cost parents extra money.
If they don’t have the sort of budget to spend on that, then the student doesn’t receive the kind of challenge that they need.
Teachers may be able to recommend books to the student to further challenge them, but since those books probably aren’t part of the curriculum, they won’t count as part of the coursework.
As such, the student might feel stuck and bored.
English class is sometimes boring for students who have a firm grasp on reading and are way ahead of the rest of their class.
4. Grammar Is Dry
While reading is an important part of English class, there’s another equally important part.
A large portion of English class is learning to write well.
That means following the rules of English grammar.
Essentially, grammar is the formula used to string a sentence together in the correct format.
Without grammar, a sentence loses its meaning.
It won’t make sense.
While grammar is something that’s often forgotten when speaking informally with another person, it’s still vital when writing emails, letters, proposals, and other texts.
Without a firm grasp of grammar, you can appear uneducated.
If you’re trying to make a good impression, then having a good understanding of grammar rules is essential.
That said, learning grammar can be difficult because it’s such a dry subject.
There isn’t anything exciting about learning the proper structure of words.
Unless you have an inborn love for words, their arrangement, and reading comprehension, you’re likely going to find studying grammar exceptionally boring.
Perhaps one of the worst parts of learning about grammar is that the process of learning about it involves repetition and memorization.
To remember the correct arrangement of words and which words need apostrophes, you have to repeat the sentence over and over.
There seems to be an endless number of worksheets that you have to go through while learning grammar.
To those who grasp grammar early, completing all the worksheets can be a bore.
To those who are struggling, completing all the worksheets can be a frustrating and boring experience.
It’s difficult to liven up teaching grammar, too.
While grammar is a bit complex, it’s also straightforward.
Since it’s usually presented in a rather dry and straightforward way, it can make the subject boring.
5. Not Ideal For Kinesthetic Learners
English favors a certain type of learning style.
There are four main types of learning styles.
They include the following:
- Reading and Writing
- Visual
- Auditory
- Kinesthetic
Since English class primarily consists of reading and writing, those who learn best by writing and reading are likely going to do the best in class.
Even visual and auditory learners will have a relatively easy time.
Many English classes often have visual aids or movies that they show alongside the book which visual learners can appreciate.
Reading out loud is another part of English class that can help auditory learners.
The problem comes when a student is a kinesthetic learner.
Being a kinesthetic learner means you prefer to manipulate or learn things with your hands.
Being able to touch something helps the student break it down and learn its concepts better.
It’s difficult to provide that sort of stimulus in English class.
While kinesthetic learners can hold a book, they’re not able to touch a concept, for example.
There isn’t anything for them to handle with their hands.
Even grammar can be difficult to learn unless the teacher has grammar blocks or something similar that a student can manipulate.
Because kinesthetic learners have a difficult time using the method with which they learn best in English class, they might find the subject boring.
That’s because they’re forced to learn the subject using a different learning style than what their brain prefers.
Not only can this cause some distress, but it adds an extra layer of challenge.
The student has to learn new concepts, but they also have to do so in a way that their brain isn’t used to.
It can make the process of learning feel unstimulating which can make the subject quite boring.
6. Essay Work
Another large part of English class is writing essays.
Many students might find writing essays boring for several different reasons.
The first is that the subject of those essays may be irrelevant to their current lives.
A common thing that students have to do is write an essay about some subject relating to the book that they just finished.
If the book failed to feel relevant in the student’s life, then the essay may feel irrelevant, too.
Since it doesn’t seem important to them, the process of writing the essay can feel quite boring.
Essays can also take some time to complete.
Some teachers may only want a single page.
Others might be harsher and require five to 10 pages.
This usually means the student has to spend a lot of time on the essay.
It requires them to go back to the book to find certain sections to support their claims.
While this practice is ideal for those who intend to go on to write research papers for a living, it isn’t as important for those who are going into other fields.
Writing essays lays down the foundation for source-checking, but the process of it can be quite boring to students who find the subject boring to begin with.
It may have been difficult for them just to get through the book.
By having to go through it again with an eye for detail to complete their essay, the process becomes even more boring to them.
The process becomes even worse when teachers edit the essays, then send them back for revisions.
At this point, the student has to do the work all over again.
Writing essays can be quite stale when it’s a subject that the student doesn’t care about.
7. Research Papers Or Projects
While essays may fill certain students with dread, there’s nothing so bad as a research paper or project.
A research paper is essentially an essay on steroids.
One of the worst parts of a research paper in English class is that you aren’t always permitted to choose your subject.
Instead, the teacher may have a certain theme that you need to follow instead.
At worst, they may directly assign you the topic that you need to research.
A research paper is usually several pages long.
You have to find all the information that you’re going to use in the paper, then cite it correctly with the type of format that your school uses.
In most cases, it’s either MLA or APA format.
That then requires you to research those formats to ensure you’re doing it right.
If you’re not, then you can expect points to be removed from your overall total.
Research papers take a long time to complete.
They also seem to go on and on.
A teacher might spend several weeks devoted to the research paper or project.
If you’re someone who got their paper done early, then you may feel bored waiting for everyone else.
If you’re not done with your paper, then you might feel bored by the process of writing one alone.
Doing a research paper usually requires time outside of school to complete, too.
As such, it cuts into the time that you could be spending with friends or doing things that you actually enjoy.
It’s not uncommon for a bit of resentment to form as a result.
Those feelings can translate into feelings of boredom.
English class is sometimes boring because of the number of research papers or projects that you need to complete.
8. Little Creativity
Since English class involves reading and writing, it’s easy to assume that there’s some form of creativity also involved in the class.
That isn’t usually the case.
While there may be lessons revolving around creativity in earlier English classes, the higher you advance in school, the less creative the class becomes.
For example, in Sixth or Seventh grade, you may have instances where you can write simple silly books as part of the class.
By the time you get to 11th or 12th grade, however, English class is far too structured for creative lessons.
Instead, if you have an interest in something like creative writing, you usually need to take that as a separate class.
That’s if your school even offers a creative writing class.
In most cases, you won’t find creative writing in high school English classes.
This can make the subject quite boring for those who are creatively inclined.
Part of the reason they might have enjoyed English class earlier in school was that they had the ability to write original stories.
High school English has to focus more on the curriculum.
They’re beholden to standardized testing and ensuring that their students are ready to take those tests successfully.
As such, they tend to not have enough time for creative writing modules.
This can make the English class feel boring because it becomes quite dry.
Even analyzing a work of fiction in class isn’t open to creative interpretation.
In many cases, you either believe what the curriculum states you need to believe about the book, or your answers get marked wrong.
There isn’t a subjective debate about the meaning of the book.
Since students aren’t able to voice their real opinions about what they believe the book is about or saying, it can make the class seem quite boring.
English class is sometimes boring because it doesn’t often give creative writing or creative analysis any room to thrive.
9. Boring Teacher
Whether a class is boring or not can sometimes come down to the teacher.
A fun teacher can make even the most boring of subjects interesting.
That’s because they know how to present the information in a fun way that engages their students.
While English class can sometimes have interesting teachers, it isn’t a guaranteed thing.
You might end up with an extremely boring teacher who doesn’t stimulate personal analysis or thought.
Instead, they want you to just read the book, write the essays, finish the worksheets, and move on.
It may seem like they’re just going through the motions.
A teacher who is fun can keep everyone engaged in the subject.
A boring teacher instead manages to disengage their students.
English class can sometimes feel very boring when you have a boring teacher leading the class.
10. Textbooks
A final reason English class is sometimes boring is the number of textbooks that you have to go through.
The main method that teachers use to instruct their students involves using textbooks.
The textbooks have certain passages in them, certain stories, and certain worksheets.
While they’re ideal for teachers who are quite busy and overworked, they can become very boring for students.
Textbooks are usually quite dry.
They present the information in a way that isn’t exciting or engaging.
While it may include a few pictures to break up the walls of text, the huge walls of text can immediately make a student feel bored.
Textbooks also don’t promote creative thinking or original thinking.
Instead, they want you to hone your analytical skills to come to the same reasoning that the book suggests.
If all your time in English class is reading the textbook and answering questions about what you’re reading, then it can feel too structured.
While routine is sometimes good, doing the same thing over and over can often feel extremely boring.
The brain enjoys a little bit of stimulation.
It isn’t going to get that stimulation by reading textbooks all day.
English class can sometimes be boring because of its reliance on textbooks.
Conclusion
English class is an extremely important class that can lay the foundation for how you succeed later in life.
However, it can sometimes be very boring which can be problematic since it’s important for a student’s future.
Knowing the reasons listed above can help teachers and school faculty come up with solutions to make English classes more engaging.
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