Learning English On Your Own

October 12, 2008

Learning English On Your Own

First, find out what kind of learner you are. Answer these questions to get an idea of how you learn best.

•    Do you need to “see” it on paper to understand?
•    Do you need to “hear” it to understand?
•    Do you learn better when you are having fun?
•    Do you remember more when you are moving around?
•    Do you need to memorize rules?
•    Do you learn by talking to people?

You can learn more effectively if you understand your strengths and use them to help you. Think about what has helped you in the past.

Use a variety of strategies when studying.

Talk to English speakers, use a textbook, memorize vocabulary, write sentences and paragraphs, listen to various recordings, study grammar, read newspapers, magazines, and books

Don’t forget the 4 skills.

Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing

Learn with someone.

Find a language-learning partner. If you meet with someone who is also studying English, you can help teach each other.

Organize your studying.

•    Set achievable, short-term goals. (For example: My goal is to finish a book this month; to learn 10 vocabulary words; to be able to tell a story; to be able to ask questions in meetings)
•    Create a study notebook with material that you have studied. Review it every month or two.
•    Study in short intervals. (10, 20, or 30 minutes a day)
•    Tell someone about your study plan, and talk about it frequently.
•    Plan out when, where and how you will study.

Here are 2 study plans you can try:

Plan One: Focus on one skill each week

Skill: Reading

Monday: Read a news article quickly for the main idea.
Tuesday: Define the vocabulary that you don’t understand.
Wednesday: Reread the article, and focus on understanding all of it.
Thursday: Look at individual sentences and grammar.
Friday: Read the article again and summarize it in speech or writing.

Skill: Listening

Monday: Listen to a Podcast or something recorded.
Tuesday: Define the vocabulary that you don’t understand by looking the words up in a dictionary or using context clues.
Wednesday: Listen again and focus on a few specific sentences and phrases. Write them down.
Thursday: Listen to short segments and repeat what the speaker says.
Friday: Listen again without looking at your notes. Stop the recording frequently and summarize what you just heard.

Skill: Speaking

Monday: Think of a topic that you want to be able to talk about. Think about the audience.
Tuesday: Think of vocabulary or ideas that you need to know in order to talk about the topic.
Wednesday: Talk about the topic in short, timed segments. Start with 1 minute, then talk for 2 minutes, then for 3 minutes.
Thursday: Listen or read what someone else has said about the topic. Study some new vocabulary words about the topic.
Friday: Discuss the topic with someone, or record yourself talking about the topic and listen to it.

Skill: Writing

Monday: Think of a topic that you want to be able to write about. Think about the audience.
Tuesday: Think of vocabulary or ideas that you need to know in order to write about the topic.
Wednesday: Try free writing. Don’t worry about vocabulary or grammar. Just write as much as you can for a period of time (10 – 20 minutes).
Thursday: Self edit your writing or ask someone else to read your writing and make comments.
Friday: Add more details and write a final draft.

Plan 2: Focus on all 4 skills each week

Monday: Read an article quickly for the main idea.
Tuesday: Listen to a Podcast or other recording on the same topic that you read about on Monday.
Wednesday: Study vocabulary that is related to the topic.
Thursday: Write your opinion or a summary of the topic.
Friday: Talk about what you read or heard to someone else or to yourself.

Other Ideas for Self-Study

Speaking:
•    Practice telling stories.
•    While you are doing an activity, describe it in English aloud or in your mind. (“I’m sitting on the train, taking my morning commute to work.”)
•    Practice saying tongue twisters quickly. “Six thick thistle sticks.”
•    Find a conversation partner to meet on a regular basis and agree on topics to discuss.
•    Have an English conversation on the telephone.
•    Sing along with an English song and stay with the beat.
•    Think of a topic that you want to talk about and practice speaking about it for two minutes. Record it and listen to yourself.
•    Read children’s books in English aloud.
•    Read news articles or dialogs aloud.

Listening:
•    Listen to any audio and ask yourself, “Who is the audience?”, “What is the main topic?”, “What are some details?” and “What vocabulary words are new to me?”
•    Listen to Online news stories.
•    Watch a movie without subtitles.
•    Listen to an audio book. (You can also read along with the audio, too.)
•    Listen to audio from NPR or BBC and read the transcripts.
•    Listen to music, and while you are listening, try to hear words that have reduced sounds. (For example, “gonna” is a reduction of “going to”.)
•    Listen to podcasts to hear a variety of speech and accents, such as call-in radio programs, interview programs, news shows, quiz shows, sports programs, etc.
•    Go to a lecture or speech in English and take notes.

Writing:
•    Write a journal in English. Write about anything.
•    Write a short story.
•    Write to-do lists in English. (example: “Call Tom.”)
•    Write emails to friends who speak English.
•    Write a blog in English, or post comments on someone else’s blog.
•    Write sentences for new vocabulary words. Ask someone to edit them for you.
•    Translate short articles from your native language to English.
•    Watch a movie or read something and write a summary.
•    Practice “free-writing” which is writing without caring about grammar, vocabulary or structure. Time yourself and write for 10 minutes without stopping.

Reading:
•    Read books/journals that are related to your job/career.
•    Read fiction that has been recommended for young adults. Keep a journal of short summaries of what you’ve read.
•    Read a blog.
•    Read “easy readers” with audio CDs. These are available at bookstores and Online.
•    Read “extensively.” This means reading for fun. You shouldn’t worry about the vocabulary or grammar. In fact, don’t worry about understanding everything. Just keep reading as much as possible.
•    Sometimes read “intensively.” Read carefully for understanding. Look up the words you don’t understand, and try to get a full understanding of the text.

Pronunciation:
•    Look at yourself in the mirror when pronouncing words to see if you are opening your mouth.
•    When you make vocabulary flashcards, be sure to write the pronunciation of the letters and the word stress.
•    Create a list of words with the same stress patterns. Practice pronouncing these one after the other. (For example: partner, income, power, exit)
•    When practicing a sound, practice many words with the same sound.
•    Ask a friend if you’re pronouncing a word correctly.
•    Do a “shadowing” activity: Listen to natural speech and repeat what you hear without stopping the audio. Copy the pauses, stress and intonation.
•    Put a rubber band around your thumbs and pull it apart when pronouncing stressed vowels. This will help you to pronounce the vowels more clearly.

Vocabulary:
•    Keep a vocabulary spreadsheet of new words and examples of how they were used, including the context.
•    When you learn a new word, try to use it 3 times in one day.
•    Learn all the forms of a word (verb, noun, adjective, adverb). You get four words for the price of one!
•    Divide your vocabulary into active and passive lists. (Active: words you’ll use; Passive: words you’ll hear but will not use)
•    Do an Internet search for the word (if it’s a phrase, put quotations around the phrase). Look at how the word(s) are used in a sentence. (Tip: If you do the search on Google News, you’ll get examples from published sources.)

Answer these questions to help yourself get started on a self-learning program:

What is your first goal? I will be able to ______________________________________by (deadline) .

When will you study?

How will you study?

Posted by white smoke | Filed Under english learning, english writing, white smoke, whitesmoke

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