Master English Faster - part 1

1.  Practice English every day. Don’t miss a single day.
Even if you are extremely busy, find 15 minutes.
Try to devote the earliest hours of the day to language
and at least 20-30 minutes in the evening just before going to bed.

2.  Make a special list of phrases that will definitely be useful, which you think you will need in many situations. Revise the list from time to time and develop it. Practice these phrases until you can say them perfectly.

3.  Focus on developing different skills like reading, writing, speaking and comprehension. The fastest progress is usually achieved when these four activities are well-balanced. When learning new words and expressions, pay attention to their different meanings and pronunciations. If you don’t see immediate progress - don’t worry and don’t hurry. Everyone can learn a language. Carry on with your lessons and be patient and persistent.

4.  People learn in different ways and receive information through different channels, but some channels and ways of learning are more efficient than others. Keep in mind that:
*  An average person normally memorizes only about 5% of the material he or she reads it silently if they don’t take notes.
*  People learn about 10% by doing exercises and about 15% by writing.
*  People learn about 20% by hearing and taking notes.
*  People learn about 30% by seeing. (‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’)
*  People learn about 60% by seeing, hearing and taking notes.
*  People learn about 70% by discussing their problems and taking notes.
*  People can maintain about 80% if they revise and apply what they learned.
*  People learn from about 90 to 97% by using a wide spectrum of various learning techniques.

In general, the more parts of brain that are responsible for different functions are involved in the learning process, the faster a person learns. For example discussing an idea a person should understand what was said, analyze this information and form his or her own opinion, think over the response and how to express their thoughts in a clear form in English.

5.  Develop a habit to translate, in your mind, everything that is possible, for example: headlines in newspapers, titles of films, books and articles, slogans, phrases etc. It is a useful mental game and exercise, which helps to make significant progress in learning new words and expressions very quickly.

6.  Take notes, write ‘to do lists’ and keep your journal in English.
Writing short stories, compositions and essays is a very effective way to learn a language. It teaches you to express your thoughts and even to think in the language you are learning.

7.  Change forms of studying and be inventive. Try different approaches: read magazines and books, watch English channels on TV, listen to English radio programs, CDs or an Mp3-player, do English exercises or simply look through a textbook or dictionary. People learn faster on the background of positive emotions. Find a way to make the process of learning a pleasant and entertaining activity.

8.  Try to put yourself in the natural language environment as often as possible. Listen to educational audio recordings when you are not occupied with something important, for example, on the metro, during breakfast on weekends, on your way to work and back and in the evening before going to sleep.
Watching original English films is definitely both entertaining and very effective. Use every possibility to talk with native speakers; to sound natural, try to imitate their pronunciation.

9.  Don’t be afraid to speak and don’t be afraid of possible mistakes.
Storytelling is an efficient way of improving speaking skills.
It also helps to develop your confidence when speaking English in public.
Don’t feel offended, hurt or upset if somebody corrects you.
On the contrary you could ask your friends, who speak English better than you, to correct your mistakes. Correcting your mistakes is a natural part of the learning process.

10.  Surveys among successful business people show that it is better to speak English reasonably fluently with a few mistakes, than to know grammar very well and speak accurately but very slowly.
If you really want to learn English, read, watch films and news on TV and try to speak in the language you are learning instead of your native language.
It will retrain your brain to think and operate in English.


Vocabulary

to master  -  овладевать
to devote  -  посвящать
definitely  -  определенно
to revise  -  делать ревизию материала
perfectly  -  идеально
to develop  -  развивать, пополнять (список)
skill  -  умение
comprehension  -  восприятие
to achieve  -  достигать
expression  -  выражение
to pay attention  -  уделять внимание
pronunciation  -  произношение
to carry on  -  продолжать
patient  -  терпеливый
efficient  -  эффективный
average  -  средний
normally  -  обычно
to memorize  -  запоминать
to take notes  -  делать заметки
A picture is worth a thousand words.  -  Лучше раз увидеть, чем сто раз услышать.
to maintain  -  поддерживать, сохранять
to apply  -  применять
various  -  разнообразный
to think over  -  обдумывать
to express  -  выражать
headline  -  заголовок
article  -  статья
significant  -  существенный
to do list  -  список предстоящих задач
journal  -  дневник для записей
essay  -  реферат
thought  -  мысль
inventive  -  изобретательный
approach  -  подход
to look through  -  просматривать
textbook  -  учебник
background  -  фон
entertaining  -  развлекательный
environment  -  окружающая среда
recording  -  звуковая или видеозапись
to be occupied  -  быть занятым
native speaker  -  носитель языка
to sound  -  звучать
offended  -  обиженный
upset  -  расстроенный
on the contrary  -  наоборот
survey  -  обзор, опрос
accurately  -  точно
instead  -  вместо, взамен

Alex Kritskiy, a private English teacher, Ph.D., 38-067-391-76-62