Don’t become too reliant on your dictionary. Your dictionary should be an aid, not your main teacher. Try to guess the meaning of words rather than going straight for your dictionary.
Don’t give up! Stay positive! Sometimes you will feel that you aren’t learning quickly enough. Everyone feels like this, don’t worry about it. You’ll get there in the end.
Enjoy it! We learn more when we are having fun!
If you get nervous when speaking, take two deep breaths before you say something. You’ll speak better when you feel relaxed.
Keep yourself motivated by looking back at the textbooks and CDs you used in the past. You’ll be surprised at how easy they seem to you now! 6. Congratulations, your level is improving!
You are never too young or too old to start learning English. Don’t make excuses not to learn. What are you waiting for?
Procrastination can stop you from being successful. To stop procrastinating, it’s important you understand if your procrastinating is to avoid studying, or if it is your bad habit.
If you haven’t gotten the results you wanted yet, it’s not because you’re bad at languages, it’s because you haven’t found your own special way of learning yet.
Use resources which match your level. Don’t use texts/listening exercises which are too difficult or too easy. Use materials which challenge you but don’t frustrate you.
Don’t worry about making your accent perfect. It’s an important part of your cultural identity to keep your accent. Native English speakers enjoy hearing English spoken with an accent.
There are many types of English: British, American, South African and so on. None of these are wrong or not as important. English is English.
Instead, be aware of the differences in American and British English and use your words accordingly. For example: Elevator (US) / Lift (British).
Carry cue cards with you. These are small cards which you can write new words on. You can pull them out and look at them whenever you a free minute.
Use post-it notes and stick them around your home. You can use them to label things. Stick one on your pet dog!
You can’t ignore phrasal verbs (two words verbs), there are hundreds of them in English and they’re widely used. The more you focus on their meaning, the more you’ll be able to guess the meaning of new ones. You’ll start to recognise their patterns.
Use your intuition. Go with your gut feeling, you’ll be surprised how often your first guess is the right guess. Like we said before, be confident.
Gather your thoughts. Take a second to think about what you’re going to say. You know the grammar, but maybe you don’t use it correctly when you speak.
Meet new people. Make the effort to mix with English speakers in your town. You could join a club or go to bars where foreigners hang out. Buy one a drink, they love that!
Be the person to start conversations in English. Try to keep the conversations moving and use listening words (‘really?’ / ‘go on…’/ ‘what happened then?’) Don’t wait for others to speak to you. Get in there!
Debate. Discuss topics in a group. Each person should choose a viewpoint (even if you don’t agree with it) and debate it within the group. Make sure you get your point across. Learn to listen actively. Active listening will help in the classroom and it will help you get more out of, and contribute more to, group study sessions. Focus on the person who is talking. Concentrate on the speaker with your ears and eyes.
It’s not enough to only learn English words. You can teach a parrot English words but that doesn’t mean it can speak English! You still need to have an understanding of grammar.
Verb tenses are used by English speakers to talk about the timing of actions. You might not have the same expressions in your own language. It’s important that you know these tenses and when to use them. English has many irregular verbs. You should drill yourself on them.
Keep it up! If you take a break from speaking English, you will find that your level decreases and all your hard work has been wasted.
Don’t be put off by a bad test score. Sometimes students have the ability to pass an English test, but can’t communicate well with English speakers. If you can speak freely in English, you should be proud of yourself.