Thomas Brock, our resident travelling English teacher is returning to his weekly blog after some time off. This week he shares some advice he has been giving to his students.
Read on to hear What advice Thomas has for new English learners!
Vocabulary List
- Routine
- a usual or fixed way of doing things
- Retention
- the continued use, existence, or possession of something or someone
- Consume
- to watch or read forms of media (= the internet, television, newspapers, magazines, etc.) or take in information from these
- Fancy
- decorative, complicated, expensive
- Confusion
- a situation in which people do not understand what is happening, what they should do or who someone or something is
- Summary
- the feeling or belief that something will or should happen, how you think you should behave or what you should accomplish
- Opinion
- a short, clear description that gives the main facts or ideas about something
- Passive learning
- a form of learning where you receive information without taking an action
- Active learning
- a form of learning where you perform a task using new information
Some Learning Advice
Hello again everyone,
Today I wanted to talk a little bit about some advice that I have been giving to my students recently.
A number of my students, especially newer ones, recently asked me about how they can build a simple and effective routine in order to help them practice their English and stay motivated to learn. This is what I usually say:
Practice over perfection.
As my Latin teacher used to tell me at school: Latin (languages) is like athletics, you have to practice in order to get better. You can’t simply learn all the rules, watch other people do it, and hope to be good at it yourself.
You need to practice and accept that you need to do something badly enough times so that one day you will be able to do it better.
Don’t be scared of not being perfect, you will be one day.
So, how do we practice?
Well, I recommend doing a little every day. This might be five minutes of reading or listening practice, or perhaps some English exercises. Doing some exercises given to you by an English teacher or ones you find online is great, but sometimes feels like a lot of effort.
Reading or listening practice can be a lot easier, and a lot more fun.
However, just reading an article or watching a YouTube video may not make for effective retention, which is why I suggest some small tricks to help you benefit more from consuming English content.
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1. Keep notes
This is one of the first things that I encourage my students to do.
Whether you are old-fashioned and use a pen and paper, or you have a million fancy notebooks in your house, or you like using the notes app on your computer, phone, or other device, it’s important to take notes.
What kinds of notes should you keep?
New words and phrases. Interesting pronunciations or phrases that you like, but wouldn’t think to use. Anything you think could be useful. You should also write down any questions and confusions you have so that you can ask your teacher later.
2. Write summaries
A great way to improve your English writing skills is to write a short summary of an article, a book, a TV show, a video, or a podcast episode. Write down the main points and share your opinions.
A number of reading and listening resources for English learners also have questions designed to help you practice your English and even if they don’t, a summary is a great way to practice!
3. Share your thoughts
This one is a little tricky if you don’t have a language partner to talk to, but you can find ways around it.
Of course, in the thinking in English conversation clubs, you have access to a whole community of English learners who you can talk to via written messages or voice calls.
If you have an English teacher then they will obviously be the main person to go to to talk about your English reading and listening experience.
Otherwise, a friend or family member can be a great person to have or conversation with, or just talk at, if they are not so eager to join in.
Here are just a few ideas for you to turn some passive learning into active learning, and really make the most of your English practice.
Thomas
How do you practice your English?
Do you have a learning routine?
What tasks do you find hardest to complete when you are practicing your English?
