Introduction
Our group class teacher was on leave today, so we had a substitute teacher (Wil).
He's a teacher who taught us "how to learn English" and inspired us to learn English in a better way.
Common Sense
Typically, it takes an average person three years to learn English. Even if you study very hard for 12 hours every day, it will still take at least 6 months.
No language school is a magic school, so they can't cast a spell that will instantly make you fluent.
The Forgetting Cycle
Study -> Learn -> Rarely use -> Go back to your country -> Forget it all
The Basics of Language Learning
You must understand how your brain learns.
See -> Say -> Hear -> See -> Say -> Hear...
Learning any language requires constant repetition.
Is Studying Enough?
When we were children, we spent 20% of our time studying and 80% practicing. For adults, it's the opposite.
That doesn’t make sense!
What's Important in Learning English?
The most important thing is to "Find what works for you!"
How do you find what works for you?
You must find something you are interested in.
Have you ever been in a restaurant and heard a couple fighting amidst the buzz of the crowd?
I think in that moment, you gain a superpower of listening. Even though it's very noisy, you can hear everything because you're so interested in it.
Actually, when you're interested in something, you learn it quickly. So, doing something related to your hobbies in English is a good approach.
My Personal Case
I really love writing for my blog, and I spend a lot of time watching talk show videos. I usually go jogging twice a week.
Actions
I thought, "That's right. I have to change my methods for learning English."
- Practice writing articles in English.
- Improve listening skills by watching talk shows.
- Set all system languages on my phone and PC to English.
- Listen to English audio regularly.
- Watch movies with captions.
The most important thing is:
If you leave your country to learn English, don’t rely on the same methods you used in your home country. Otherwise, the experience will be similar to studying in your own country.
Teacher's Suggestions
How to Prepare for the TOEIC
- Increase your listening speed.
- Familiarize yourself with different accents.
Should You Turn Off Captions When Watching Movies?
If your English level is still low and you only understand a few words, watching without captions might be too challenging. In this case, turning on captions is more effective.
Watching 50 short videos (5 minutes each) per week is a great way to improve.
How to Memorize Vocabulary
As a child, memorizing vocabulary was easy, but now it can take much longer to remember just one word.
Even in our native language, we don’t memorize vocabulary; we learn it naturally through use.
How to Improve Listening and Pronunciation (Linking Sounds)
Listen to music, especially Disney songs, and try to sing along. This will help you improve faster.
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