I am am an english school owner in japan and people often ask me how they can improve their english, while the basics are most important they tend to ignore the realities of most students who study english as a hobby, these students have little time, little motivation and little need tto speak english. To counter that I have listed some alternative ideas on how to study english taking into account that many students study english as a hobby.
Consistency-Most people want to hear a a "secret" way, or "majic" method but truly the most important thing is consistency . I often tell my students if you come you WILL improve. If you study consistently you will improve, it's very simple.
Motivation- to be motivated you have to find something that you enjoy that you can do in english, for example TV shows, movies, writing a journal, writing a blog, joining an online discussion forum, having a drink with friends the point is that its different for everyone, I study japanese and I structure my study habits around my personality, I like meeting new people and drinking so I go out to a bar or restaraunt and start conversations with people I don't know. So for your average student it is extremely important for them to find something they like to do in english, if they can find this then it is no longer "study" but "fun".
Mistakes-Many people say you should try to speak english with no mistakes ,but everyone will make mistakes, EVERYONE, so to say "No Mistakes" isn't helpful, in fact its harmful because students should be trying to speak as much as they can without fear of mistakes (especially in the beginning) if you worry about mistakes you'll stop speaking out of fear of making a mistake, I would say the opposite ,MAKE MISTAKES, mistakes are good, because you learn from your mistakes. So speak as much as you can and instead of fearing mistakes welcome them, talk,talk,talk and learn from your mistakes
Shadowing- There are many ways each suited to different people, example I have many of my students using CD's in their cars on the way to work and on the way home, they listen to the CD's and then repeat the sentence as closely as they can, then next sentence repeat again, this is called "shadowing" and it works pretty well, some people listen to radio shows , some people watch there favorite english TV shoes, movies whatever it all works but you have to do it consistently. The greatest thing is that this is "free" study time, what I mean is that they don't have to use any extra time from there day because they would have been driving to work anyway.
Dictionaries- Of course dictionaries are important and if you have the patience and your level is adequate an english/english dictionary is best but be careful , often dictionaries are wrong, or too simple, or the nuance is wrong, especially languages that are very different ,a good rule of thumb would be to use an electronic dictionary when on vacation or lacking time but to use a paper dictionary when studying. When you use a paper dictionary you must repeat the word over and over in your head as you search for it, this can help you remember the word much more quickly than simpling entering it into an electronic dictionary.
Friends-Another important tip is to find a native english speaker friend who will be honest with you and tell you your weak points, most people do not want to say bad things to you to be nice but if they don't its very difficult to improve, a "good" friend is someone who will always correct your english for you and a "good" student is someone who can accept criticism.
Talk-talk,talk,talk ,find english speaking friends, go to places where there are english speakers and talk
Notebooks-carry a little notebook with you at all times so you can right down any new words or sentences that you here (especially if you are living in an english speaking country)
By yourself-when your by yourself try to think in english or even talk to yourself in english , this helps your response speed, most of my students now go through a pattern like this
Teacher- "Where are you going tomorrow?"
Student- translates above sentence from english to japanese, then she translate her response from japanese to english.
Obviously this takes a lot of time, if you speak to yourself or think in english this helps you skip the translating part and you begin to "feel" the english
Mimic/Copy-Mimic people, mimic people on TV , movies, mimic your english speaking friends
Fun- Have fun, if you don't have fun it will be difficult to continue
-Also remember that if you are living in an english speaking country its important to change your study styles
Randall League
Goodwin English Schools
Japan
www.goodwinschools.jp
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Randall League
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