How to be an effective learner of English
2009-10-29 10:00
The following are the three tips I’d like to offer you which I hope will do you good:
First, be attentive. As a student, you should listen to the teacher carefully and attentively (Perhaps the same is true of all the subjects you are taking). As an English language learner, you have to imitate the teacher’s pronunciation and intonation, understand the teacher’s explanations, memorize the idioms and something you think useful, learn how to use what is being (has been) taught or learnt, and so on and so forth. So you must fix your attention on what’s involved in the four basic skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. And you’d better take down as many notes as possible so that you can go over them after class.
Second, be active. You should participate in any activities the teacher wants you to take up when you are attending an English class. Put up your hand when a question is raised or if you have any question to ask. It is universally true that the more active you are in class, the better you’ll learn. So try to use what is being taught or learnt, as the old saying goes: “Practice makes perfect”. What’s more, active learning, according to some scientific studies, leads to efficient results and therefore will strengthen your interest in the subject; and in return you’ll be stimulated into new efforts.
Last but not least, be creative. When you are learning English, imitating the teacher and trying to answer the teacher’s questions are not enough. You should use what you have learnt, which I’m sure is a better way to
consolidate, or to lay a solid foundation in learning the language. More than once I have told my students to make up sentences with new words and expressions they have learnt or come across. Of course if you are able to put a topic into a passage in simple and natural English, forgetting your mother tongue, you are actually starting to use the language. By and by you’re sure to be able to use it freely, fluently and genuinely.
