DRAFT
Despite there being
tens of magic methods that promise to teach you English in 6 weeks or 6 months
for that matter, I regret to say that this is just very unrealistic. That’s why
we’ve compiled some tips and recommendations to help you make the most of your
self-study, in a realistic way, provided you are self-driven, motivated and
disciplined. Expect no miracles but reward guaranteed!
I am sure you’ve
heard and seen all over the notion that in order to master anything, you need
around 10,000 hours of doing it. For some people it’ll be more and for other a
bit less, but that’s seems to be a fairly accurate number, according to
experts. That means no quick methods. However, this also depends on your goals.
When it comes to learning English, let’s first think a couple of things
through:
-
Do
you want to be accurate and fluent? Accurate meaning: no or very few grammar
mistakes and fluent meaning that you aim at making yourself understood despite
grammar mistakes
-
Will
you be communicating with native speakers who are not used to speaking to
non-native speakers, to native speakers who usually deal with non-native
speakers, or to non-native speakers of various levels of command of command of
the language?
-
How much of my time I am willing to spend
exposed to English, with an active approach to learning out of this exposure?
Watching a film in English for the sake of learning English won’t be very
productive unless you are active in your learning (I’ll expand on this later)
-
How different
is your mother tongue from English? What bad habits you have when it comes to
communicating in English? – it’s often important to unlearn what you think you
know and break this habit by bombarding the brain with the right expression /
grammar structure / whatever you want to learn/...
-
What do I
want to focus on: grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, understanding native
speakers of different nationalities?
-
It’s never been easier to learn
than now. With opportunities to spend time in countries where the target
language is spoken, with mobile learning (apps, the ubiquitous availability of Wi-Fi,
photo cameras to take photos of material and sheets and handouts, free online
courses, free language exchanges online, online magazines, radios in English
online and a longer list of options). Consequently, provided you’re motivated and
disciplined, learning is at the palm of your hand and just one or two clicks
away.
The way I interpret language
learning is holistic. That means that ideally, when you’re learning a new
vocabulary item, a new structure, it’s good to learn it as a whole, as a chunk
and focus on pronunciation, connecting the words if they have to be connected,
learning the words it usually is combined with. Like this, you’ll be easier to
understand and you’ll understand others far more easily, you’ll be more
efficient and gain fluency. English is complex in ways that you may never have been shown
or told. That shouldn’t be a problem or put you off studying it, however, it’s
good to be aware of that. Yet again,
this depends on your mother tongue in many ways and how you’ve learned whatever
English you know.
The problem for many is
that nowadays most people have learned a bit of English, most can perform at
work with varying levels of fluency or accuracy but if you really want to
improve and ... that’s hard work, when you can already communicate, ...
Failure to see that you learn a
language not only to speak but also to be spoken, to understand others is
crucial, too. It’s a two way thing. Don’t just set your goals like : I want to
speak better English. Speaking is just one area you want to learn. To speak
better English, we need to know what exactly you’ll be speaking about, you need
vocabulary, this vocabulary maybe associated to a certain grammar and register,
etc. Learning a foreign language
involves speaking and being spoken, so understanding and being understood.
Also, be specific and realistic and invest time in learning the basics well as
this will make it easier for you to pick up a bit more complex grammar. It’s
key to understand the have as an auxiliary verb for example, to succeed at
higher levels.
. Tip: watch videos giving you
advice on how to learn and study. They’ll help you understand why it’s helpful
to follow their advice
My favourites are:
Some people focus their teaching
in themes, as it has always been done, the way I see it this method has pros
and cons, ..experiment and find a way that resonates with you, that you
identify that you learn the best..and by this I don’t mean identifying if you
are visual, kinaestheic or audio learner, it’s beyond this.
Repetition is key, go over exercises, videos, podcasts, a few
times. You’re learning English, learning is exposure, you learn a word when you’ve
seen it a meaningful, relevant context a number of times. Meaningful, relavant
to you. You’re brain is lazy, help it learn by exposing yourself to what you
want to learn.
Get into the habit of using your
resources actively, that is, if you’re at a PC, by default, open your howjsay (I’ll explain this later) google translate or
equivalent and wordreference or any other online dictionary of your choice. Use
their pronunciation icon, type and listen to words and expressions.
Podcasts
Radios
Video channels on youtube
Pronunciation and fluency
Reading newspapers, watching
short videos,
Youtube speed and subtitles, ted
talks speed and subtitles,
+ videos
Recommended apps vary from website to website, from teacher to teacher so here
is a list but do find out what you like best, go and explore itunes and google
store to find others you might like. Some are for Android only, other of iOS,
some are free others are not,... the list here if for free ones. Apps: https://edition.englishclub.com/articles/top-10-apps-for-learning-english/
Common needs I have identified:
Improving email writing style
Insisting on present perfect for and since
lo único que puedo
recomendarte para aprender rápido es motivación para estudiar, (usa
métodos tradicionales con nuevos (apps, videos, podcasts, etc - experimenta
hasta encontrar uno o varios métodos que te gusten) - y disciplina y que estés
abierta a replantearte ideas / significados etc. Submérgete en la lengua que
quieras aprender. Encuentra tu manera de aprender.
Pero no hay nada como motivación real (y que de te la creas tu des de dentro de
tus entrañas - ya sea realmente querer x trabajo, querer ganar más dinero,
viaje, necesitar comunicarte con una persona en tu vida) y disciplina.
