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Watch the Wider World from Educated Words as Nothing But a Coward

LEARNING WRITING TIPS

Writing Skill - Motivasi Menulis Bagi Kaum Profesional (Special Article)

Reading Expand Your World

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,,,,My Collection about Reading Material,,,,

Reading is the active search for answers!

Newbies Say about Me

download buku

Happy Learning :)

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pendidikan

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Welcome in My Blog | Your Blog Description

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Daftar Blog Saya
Watch the Wider World from Educated Words as Nothing But a Coward

LEARNING WRITING TIPS

Writing Skill - Motivasi Menulis Bagi Kaum Profesional (Special Article)

Reading Expand Your World

Material of IT for Teaching

English is Amazing

Apa itu Wondershare??

Enjoy with English "ciendta siee kecill"

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buku entri

PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS

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ENGLISH EDUCATION CENTER

BECOMING A GREAT ESL HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER

,,,,My Collection about Reading Material,,,,

Reading is the active search for answers!

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download buku

Happy Learning :)

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pendidikan

alternatif belajar bahasa inggris

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5 tips to help you learn better and faster
Posted on May 11, 2012 Written by Luiz Otávio 14 Comments

What does learning English mean to you? Choose the picture that you think best illustrates the process.

learn english

If you chose picture 1, you probably think learning English means understanding and remembering words, phrases, sounds and rules. You like clear explanations, challenging grammar exercises and word lists. If you chose picture 2, you probably think learning a language is like learning a new skill, like swimming, playing tennis or driving. What matters is repetition and controlled practice – lots of it!

If you chose picture 3, though, you believe that language learning is a natural, organic, non-sequential and – given the right conditions – inevitable process.

But what does “right conditions” mean in this case? Three things, I believe:

a. Lots of exposure to authentic English

b. Motivation to use the language

c. Fun

Take a look at this very interesting infograph. Which picture do you think most students would have chosen?

Infographic: How to learn English via Kaplan Blog

Probably picture 3, right?

But here’s an important question:

Is surrounding yourself with English and picking it up “naturally” the best way to learn?

There’s no such thing as the “best” way to learn – or teach. It all depends! To be successful, you probably need a balanced mix of pictures 1, 2 and 3. In this post, I’m focusing on 3 (surrounding yourself with authentic English and learning naturally), since this tends to be most neglected area.

So here are five tips to help you make the most of your learning outside the classroom.

1. You’re probably better than you think.

Here’s something important to keep in mind: Don’t use movies, music or TV shows as the only benchmarks to measure how good your English is. If you’ve studied English for a long time, but still struggle to understand Jay Z, Dr. House or Will Smith, you’re not alone. Most foreigners do. As a non-native speaker, I myself still miss a word or two sometimes. And you know what? That’s fine. 100% comprehension is probably not a goal worth pursuing.

2. It’s all about passion.

Choose movies, TV shows, songs and books that you like – or really like. Here’s a true story: My mother grew up on a farm, miles and miles away from civilization. All she had was an old record player, a couple of scratched Beatles records and an old, worn-out English-Portuguese dictionary. But she was such a Beatles fanatic that she wound up translating every lyric to every song on those albums using her dictionary. Guess what, she taught herself English in the process. No classroom, no teacher, no rules. Just passion. So here’s something to remember: if you find something uninteresting, it probably won’t help you learn. Period.

3. Subtitles: on or off?

It depends. If you turn off the subtitles, you may still understand a lot, which is great, of course. But what if you don’t? What if you only get the gist (main idea) of the dialog? What if you catch a few words and phrases here and there, but miss the details, the subtleties, the jokes? Is that enough? Well, maybe. It depends on the movie, on yourself and on your expectations. But, one way or another, understanding 30 or 40% of what you hear probably won’t help you learn new words and phrases, nor will it help you improve your grammar subconsciously. After all, how can you pick up what you don’t understand? So plan B is to turn on the subtitles. But…

4. Subtitles: English or your native language?

Most people will say “English, of course” and that makes a lot of sense. Listening and reading at the same time can help you establish important sound-spelling connections (e.g.: you hear “shoulda” and read “should have”) by showing you how native speakers link, weaken or “swallow” sounds. But subtitles in your own language can help, too, especially when it comes to vocabulary and grammar. For example, as a student in the 80s, I remember learning how to use the word “likely” by watching a Bruce Willis movie with subtitles in Portuguese (likely = “provável” = probable). I also noticed the present perfect for the first time in a Meryl Streep movie, by comparing the original (“I have been there”) to the translation (“Eu estive lá”) and wondering why, in Portuguese, that idea was expressed using the simple past.

5. Be a detective

For the kind of learning I described above to happen, you must act like a sort of language detective and train yourself to notice the new grammar, vocabulary and sounds. Noticing, as the name suggests, is an active process. It means watching a movie, reading a book, listening to a song and asking yourself:

“What did he mean by I wish…“?
“Oh, so it’s not more happy… it’s happier!”
“Hey, I saw that word in class last Monday!”
“Why do they keep saying regardless? What does that mean?”

Noticing means training your eyes and ears to pay attention to both what is said and how it is said. This doesn’t come naturally to everyone, of course – most people tend to focus on the message only. But if you want to make the most of your learning outside the classroom, this is a skill that you must develop.

Thanks for reading!

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