Some English Learning Advice

5 years ago
If you want to succeed at learning English, or any language for that matter, I have some advice for you.  

1. Remember why you are learning English
   Sometimes the going gets tough. You are overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do or life is just hectic.  When you start complaining about your workload or feeling overwhelmed like you want to quit, I suggest that you look at the big picture. If you are a business English student, then you need to remember that improving your English skills will open doors to better job opportunities. Every student has a reason for learning English. Make sure you never lose sight of what it is. 

2. Set Milestones for your overall goal. 
   Some students are very clear about what they hope to accomplish. Some want to sit for the PET this year, the FCE next year and the CAE the following year. Others want to go from beginner to intermediate to advanced.   However, I recommend setting many small goals each week for yourself so that you can monitor your progress and see that you actually are making progress. If you set one large goal, it is impossible for many people to stick with it because you have nothing to measure it against.  But if you focus on the things that you know you can do each week, you are more likely to stay consistent. 

3. Do the WORK! (and this is important)
Teachers cannot work miracles for you or provide you with motivation to learn. That is something that you need to do yourself! And this means reading extra material, listening to audio, watching videos, writing emails, and working on whatever skills you need to improve.  Teachers cannot complete this work for you, and if you neglect to do it, you are only hurting yourself. 

4. Pinpoint your Weaknesses
You must be very aware of what you need work on so that you know what you need to focus on in your studies. 

5.  Talk to Native Speakers
 Having normal conversations with native English speakers will do wonders for your confidence and speaking skills. It all depends on where you live, but where do all of the foreign expats hang out? Are there any MeetUp groups in your city for English speakers? Any other clubs or organization where English speakers meet? Join them and be exposed to real, everyday English.

6. Listen to yourself
  Are you a student that makes the same mistakes – again and again. You get corrected, but you  repeat the mistake the very next day. Listen to the mistakes you make – really listen, and not be so quick to dismiss them. That is the first step towards improving and changing. 

7. Be methodical and Consistent
 If you wants to improve your listening comprehension by watching videos on CNN.com, you should have specific days and times to do it – say twice a week right after class. You should listen to the same type of audio – in this case short news stories for a certain period of time before moving on to longer videos or audio. Switching from one activity to another may not give you the results you want. Stick to one method until you get results.  


Never Give Up
Maybe you are a student who has been studying English for years, and always end up in the same place, not advancing to a higher level. Some of you may have taken international examinations several times with no success.  If you feel you have reached a plateau, quitting will mean that you’ll probably forget and lose most of what you've learned. Quitting is not an option. You must stick to it until you meet your goal, or at the very least redefine a goal that may be a little too unrealistic. 

I hope this helps! With summer coming, most of you should have more time to focus on these things and maybe redefine that goal! 