Ask yourself weekly: What do I want to learn this week?
Asking yourself this question every week will help you stop and
think for a moment about what is most important to you. It is easy to
focus only on the current unit, grammar exercise, etc. If you take a
moment to stop and set a goal for yourself every week, you will notice
the progress you are making and, in turn, become more inspired by how
quickly you are learning English! You will be surprised at how this
feeling of success will motivate you to learn even more English.
Quickly review important new information shortly before going to bed.
Research has shown that our brains process information that is fresh in our brains while we sleep. By shortly (this means very
quickly - just a glance at what you are working on at the moment) going
over some exercise, reading, etc. before you go to sleep, your brain
will work away on this information while you sleep!
While doing exercises and alone at home or in your room, speak English aloud.
Connect the muscles of your face to the information in your head.
Just as understanding the basics of tennis does not make you a great
tennis player, understanding grammar rules does not mean you can
automatically speak English well. You need to practice the act of
speaking often. Speaking by yourself at home and reading the exercises
you are doing will help connect your brain to your facial muscles and
improve pronunciation and make your knowledge active.
Do five to ten minutes of listening at least four times a week.
In the past, I decided I needed to get fit and went jogging -
usually three or four miles. Well, after not having done anything for
many months, those three or four miles really hurt! Needles to say, I
did not go jogging for another few months!
Learning to understand spoken English well is very similar. If
you decide that you going to work hard and listen for two hours, chances
are that you will not do extra listening exercises any time soon. If,
on the other hand, you start off slowly and listen often, it will be
easier to develop the habit of listening to English on a regular basis.
Look for situations in which you must speak / read / listen to English
This is probably the most important tip. You need to use English
in a "real world" situation. Learning English in a classroom is
important, but putting your English knowledge into practice in real
situations will improve your fluency in speaking English. If you do not
know of any "real life" situation, create new ones for yourself by using
the Internet to listen to news, write English responses in forums,
exchange emails in English with email pals, etc.
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