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7 Reasons That English Learners Fail (And How You Can Avoid These Traps)
November 24, 2012 by 360 Comments
This guest post is by Aileen Pablo, on behalf of Open Colleges and InformED.
Learning a new language is difficult and can be the source of many headaches. But being able to communicate effectively in another language is important, especially for people who work internationally or who live abroad. One of the most universal languages spoken around the world is English. This language is learned by people in most countries and is the top language for business communications. For this reason, learning English can be extremely beneficial.
However, English can also be a struggle to learn for many people. With its silent e’s at the ends of words and letters not pronounced, many foreigners struggle with learning English. You can make this challenge easier by avoiding a few commonly made mistakes. The following are seven mistakes to avoid when you are trying to learn how to speak English.
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1. Do not avoid speaking or writing in English
Practice makes perfect. Focus on learning a new set of words each day or practicing your English skills either through writing or by speaking with someone in English. These activities will help you feel more comfortable and learn the language faster. Remember, if something feels difficult, it means that you need to practice it more often. By forcing yourself to do these activities each and every day, you will reach your goals faster.
2. Do not hang out with people who speak your native language too often
Although you will want to take a break from learning a new language at times, breaking out of your comfort zone is also important. You can make these positive steps by finding a group of foreigners who are in the same position as you are learning English, or by making friends with native English speakers. In either case, speaking frequently will help you to learn English faster and will help you to get to know how to do so conversationally instead of by textbook.
3. Do not beat yourself up
Learning a new language can be difficult, especially when you are learning a language that is spoken by so many people around the world. It is easy to get discouraged over not being further along in your ability to converse. Don’t give up! The more you practice, the more you will progress. And focusing on what you have learned is more important than focusing on what you cannot remember.
4. Do not use poor materials
Learning a new language is difficult enough. You do not need to make it more difficult by using poorly designed materials. To make your journey toward fluent English speaking easier, it is a good idea to invest in higher quality and proven language learning materials. These tools will help you learn faster and more effectively, which will ultimately make you feel more encouraged and enjoy speaking English more.
5. Do not forget why you are learning the language
Something must have compelled you to want to learn how to speak English. If you keep this reason in mind while learning the language, it can help motivate you when the going gets tough.
6. Do not set outrageous goals
You will not be fluent in only one month of practice. It is simply not realistic. Although it is a good idea to set goals for yourself, setting ones that are not reachable will only frustrate you and make you feel less encouraged to continue on your path to learning a new language. Instead, focus on goals that are achievable and celebrate your successes along the way. This optimism will make learning English more enjoyable.
7. Do not stop having fun
When you stop enjoying speaking English, you will stop learning. Find fun ways to incorporate your education into your daily life, such as through movies, social scenes, or anywhere else makes using English fun. This enjoyment will help you move forward faster with your language skills and will keep you on track for success.
Learning how to speak English should be fun. Stay motivated by setting achievable goals, and find ways to have fun while you learn.
In the comments below, answer this question: What English-learning habit has helped you the most?
Aileen Pablo is part of the team behind Open Colleges and InformED, one of Australia’s leading providers of Open Learning and distance education. When not working, Aileen blogs about education and career. She is often invited as a speaker in Personality Development Seminars in the Philippines. If you are interested in featuring her works in your blog, you can find her on Google+.
5 Ways to Increase Your Motivation To Learn English
August 25, 2012 by 22 Comments
This post is by Holly Deambrosi, CEO of OnTargetEnglish.
Now you’ve done it. You’ve made a commitment to learn English. Maybe you’re a beginner, or perhaps you’ve reached an advanced level. You want to improve yourself and stay motivated to reach your goals. Here are five ways to help you do that.
1. Follow a blog or subscribe to emails about English.
The benefits are many: you get frequent reminders and encouragement to continue learning. Blogs are also great at giving you bite size pieces of information that you can process quickly. So even if you don’t have a great deal of time to devote to your self-education, a blog, like this one at OnTargetEnglish.com, can keep you moving forward in the time you do have.
2. Set aside time every day to practice your English.
Even if you spend just your 10 minute morning shower practicing pronunciation or using those new vocabulary words in sentences, those minutes will add up to hours very quickly. And you’ll be amazed at how quickly your speaking improves.
3. Find someone to encourage and help you practice learning English.
This could be someone you practice vocabulary with or spend time in English conversation with online, on the phone or at a café. Watch movies with a friend in English and see if you can understand the actors without looking at the subtitles. Start an English club in your town.
4. Find the fun in learning English.
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Ask yourself what attracted you to learning English in the first place. Find a way to incorporate it into your hobbies. If you like to read the news, challenge yourself to read at least one article in English every day. If you enjoy volunteering, then find a place where you can have contact with other English speakers. Love to teach? Share some lessons on colors and numbers in English with your neighbors’ or relatives’ children.
5. Take pride in the progress you’ve made.
Reward yourself for meeting goals. Share your success with others. Tell them when you’ve finished an English course, read a magazine or book in English or can introduce yourself in English.
What motivates you to keep working on your English skills? Post about it in the comments section.
Don’t Give Up! Why You Should Keep Studying English
March 21, 2012 by 53 Comments
Video transcript
Hi, it’s Alfredo. For language learning, motivation is extremely important. Without motivation, there will be no progress. Some of you have been trying to learn English for a long time. Months ago or years ago, you thought that by now, you would be fluent. You may be tired; you may be frustrated; you may have lost a lot of your motivation. Today, I want to tell you, don’t give up. Don’t quit!
I’m excited to present another part of my interview with Matthew Weathers, an English teacher in Asia. In the first part of the interview, Matthew and I talked about getting the confidence to talk with a native English speaker. As you watch this video, write down the reasons that Matthew and I give for not giving up. Watch the entire video, because at the end, I have a question for you to answer.
Interview
Alfredo: Many of these English learners have spent years studying English. And it may be that there at the point that they’re just frustrated. They’re perhaps tired of studying English. They’ve been doing it all their lives, or as much of their lives and they can remember. And so the motivation might get lower and lower. What do you recommend for someone who needs to be reminded about why they’re studying English? What can help to increase their motivation?
Matthew: For students–and both of us have been students in the past, and we realized a long hard process of going to class, of studying, of working hard–sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the details of learning and keep our focus off of the end goal.
1. Learning English for a Job
And I would encourage my students with learning English that one day they will need to stop being a student and to join the workforce in whatever country that may be. Usually, that will be in China for my students who are Chinese. But many of them desire to go abroad or to work in an international company. And so even English is a very useful and valuable tool for them to find a job. I know today studying grammar is not very fun, but tomorrow speaking English on the job is very beneficial.
Alfredo: Do you have any other suggestions for someone to increase his or her motivation for learning English?
2. Learning English for Relationships
Matthew: I did mention about jobs and how learning English will help you usually find a better job, whether in your native country or abroad, but learning English also helps you to expand your friendships and your relationships. I have many friends who are Chinese, but if they did not know English and I did not know a little bit of Chinese, we could not be friends very easily. But since they have learned English relatively well, we can be friends. And if I need something or if they need something, we can communicate, and we’re able to help one another. And with a student who knows English, when they help me or if they help another native English speaker, who does not know Chinese very well, that gives them a big feeling of satisfaction and joy in helping other people.
So I would say that learning English is good not only to have a job but also to help other people in whatever field or in whatever location you are.
3. Learning English for Pleasure
Alfredo: Yeah, and I think that there’s a difference between internal motivation and external motivation. A lot of times when we do something for a job or we do something for some kind of reward, some kind of external reward like a pay increase or a better job, that might not actually be as motivating as something that’s coming from internal motivation. We do it because we want it, we see the value of it, we love it, and it just becomes a passion for us.
Why Are You Learning English?
In this part of the interview, you heard Matthew and I give some reasons for not giving up, reasons for not quitting.
Why are you learning English?
- Are you learning English because it’s part of your academics?
- Because you need it for your current job or your future job?
- Because you want to improve relationships or make new relationships?
- Or are you learning English because you just enjoy learning English? Is learning the English language a hobby for you?
Add a comment below this video, and give us your motivation, your main reason for wanting to improve your English skills. I look forward to reading your comment.
How a 30-day Challenge Can Improve Your English
March 31, 2011 by 71 Comments
Here is a transcript of the video for those who want to read what Alfredo says in the video.
Video transcript
OnTargetEnglish.com is hosting English Success, an online video, email, and social media course that challenges you to get better English in 30 days.
In this video, I want to talk about how a 30-day challenge can help you get better English. But first, I want you to know that you can still sign up for this challenge. Enter your email address on our website, and click “Subscribe.”
So how can a 30-day challenge help you to get better English?
1. A 30-day challenge encourages teamwork.
When you are trying to improve something in your life, it’s helpful to know that you’re not the only one. At OnTargetEnglish.com, hundreds of English learners have signed up for the English Success challenge. Many of them signed up not only to learn English but also to grow in their commitment. I want you to know that every person who signs up is a valuable member of the community at OnTargetEnglish.com. I’m looking forward to seeing you interacting with one another, helping each other learn English, and encouraging one another to stay committed to your goals.
You can interact with one another through comments on our website and on our page on Facebook. We have also set up a Twitter hash tag. Use the #OnTargetEnglish hash tag to talk about this 30-day challenge. And search for this hash tag on Twitter to see what other people are saying.
2. A 30-day challenge encourages accountability.
What is accountability? Sometimes, when I want to improve something in my life, I tell other people about it. For example, when I was in graduate school, I was writing my dissertation, which is a very large project. I told other people about it, and when they would see me, they would ask, “How is your dissertation going?” That encouragement helped me to keep working on my project.
You might tell other people about your goal to get better English in one month. Other people might ask you about it. Maybe, they will see your comments on Twitter, on Facebook, or at OnTargetEnglish.com. In fact, you can even blog about learning English. Sometimes, when people want to lose weight, they write a blog for the whole world to see, and they write about losing weight every day or every week. One person named Julie wanted to improve her cooking, so she wrote a blog about cooking. Her story actually became a movie called Julie and Julia.
3. A 30-day challenge gives you a plan for learning English.
Many people want to learn English, but they don’t know how to start. After you sign up, you will get an email of English activities every day during the next month. Now, in order for this event to be successful, you really need to do the activities. These activities will require from 15 to 30 minutes every day. If you want to spend more time using English, continue to participate in conversations about the challenge on Twitter, on Facebook, or at OnTargetEnglish.com.
4. A 30-day challenge can help you to develop good English-learning habits.
Now, I don’t believe that you can become fluent in one month. And I certainly can’t teach you everything about the English language in one month, even though I can teach you a lot. But if you participate every day, you might be able to develop good English-learning habits that can help you to reach fluency later.
I am very excited about the hundreds of English learners who have signed up for English Success emails. Many of them want teamwork, accountability, a plan for learning English, and good English-learning habits.
Look at just a couple of the comments that were posted recently:
One visitor wrote, “I am going to study English every day to improve it.”
Another visitor wrote, “I want to improve my English speaking skills. I have subscribed today on your website. I am eagerly waiting to join your English course . . . ‘English success’.”
There is an excited and motivated community of English learners at OnTargetEnglish.com. Will you join them? Will you commit to the 30-day challenge? Enter your email address on our website.
We look forward to helping you get better English in a month.
