This blog is intended to collect ideas of how to improve our English level. There are learning strategies, techniques, activities or tasks that make some people more successful than others. Please write down what has worked for you or is currently working for you.
How do/did you learn English? Do you use any specific technique or strategy that you want to share? Please write down your comments.
Good evening
ResponderEliminarMy name is Caterine Ciprian. I have bad memory, but one day I have to memorize some words for one test. So I decided to write one(word) by one with its pronunciation many times....for example, misspelled, misspelled, etc, at the same time pronouncing it.
thus, I obtained a good grade in the test. I think That it is a good strategy for people who have Bad memory like me....
EliminarYes, Caterine! This exercise is about letting others know about things that you have done, or still do, and worked for you.
EliminarGood morning
ResponderEliminarMy name is Leina. I like listening to music so much. For this reason I use it as a tool for improving my English level. Usually I download musical videos with lyrics. It helps me to improve my pronunciation and learning new vocabulary.
The idea is to listening different songs and repeat words that I did not know in terms of meaning and pronunciation. I have obtained good results with this strategy because I learn new vocabulary and pronunciation of those words at the same time. It is funny because I learn English through something that I like!!.
Listening to music or watching videos is definitely a good technique to learn English, what you do with each song or video is a strategy that you adjust to your own needs, ex. getting the key words to grasp the general idea.
EliminarListening to music is the most common technique for learning vocabulary and practicing pronunciation, that is why I use to listening to music too. I learn the lyrics, practice the pronunciation of difficult words and finally I try to find out the message song. Sometimes I try to guess the meaning of those unknown words because I don't like to look for them in a dicctionary, but sometimes I have to ....
ResponderEliminarYes Jonatan. We have to admit that looking up for unkown words in a dictionary is a must. There are ocassions in which you can infer a word by its context, but there are moments that you need to refer to the dictionary. By the way, this technique is very good for your English and at the same time, you relax or have fun while learning.
EliminarHi my name is Deiby García
ResponderEliminarTo me a good way to learn vocabulary in a foreign language is through the association of it with my previous knowledge. I think, doing that it will give me the opportunity to learn any word not only for a test. I think that strategy will give me the chance to keep in mind the new vocabulary for life.
Thanks Deiby! That is good learning strategy!
EliminarGood afternoon people who want to learn English in a meaningful and funny way.
ResponderEliminarDuring my English process have been very difficult improve my speaking skill. So, one day, I decided to use different strategies and activities that have helped me, in this complex process. The strategy that I like to use for improving my speaking skill or oral production is listening tape recordings or videos on internet.
For example: I check some pages on internet about news, songs, interviews or movies. I watch them with subtitles. Later, I write many words, ideas, and important expressions or unknown vocabulary. I take those words and organize a speech about that specific topic.
I do not write full paragraph. I only write the most important ideas, in an orderly way. When I feel that I am ready. I take a mirror and I start to speak looking myself in the mirror. In that way, I feel that I am speaking to others, I can check my pronunciation and my memory. I can analyze if I have a good or bad fluency and accuracy.
It is very funny to see yourself on the mirror, but you can analyze your mouth movements.
thanks and good luck.....
Yes Johanna! that one is a little ackward but it really helps. Remember, everything is valid towards the learning of English. Thanks for your participation!
EliminarHI EVERY ONE. I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU THE STARTEGIES I LIKE TO IMPROVE MY ENGLISH LEVEL.AS YOU, I ALSO LIKE LISTENING TO MUSIC, SO WHAT I DO IS TO DOWNLOAD THE MUSIC I LIKE. I HAVE A SPECIAL PROGRAM ON MY COMPUTER IT IS A KIND OF KARAOKE. IT LOOKS FOR THE LYRICS AND WHAT I DO IS: FIRST, I LISTEN TO THE SONG. SECOND I HIGHLIGHT THE UNKNOWN WORDS. I LOOK FOR THEM AND I LEARN THEM. AFTER THE PROCESS OF RECOGNIZING THE SONG I START TO EXAMINE CAREFULLY THE PRONUNCIATION. AFTER THAT, I START TO SING. I THINK IT IS A GOOD WAY BECAUSE YOU LEARN PRONUNCIATION, BUT ALSO YOU LEARN STRESS OF THE WORDS, COMMON EXPRESIONS AND YOU LEARN TO SING...
ResponderEliminarI WILL SHARE WITH YOU MORE ACTIVITIES. BYE
EliminarVery interesting Anyela! Would you mind sharing with us the name of the software you use for the songs? Thanks for participation!
EliminarIt is called minilyricS.You can download it from internet. It is free and very useful.
EliminarI used to watch movies with subtitles in English for improving my English. It is very useful because you can learn some idioms and it’s useful for people who are very visual as me.
ResponderEliminarDefinitely! Anything that is directly related to the culture or to the languages and authentic is really and strongly useful. Thanks Patricia!
EliminarFor my the most common and useful ways to learn and improve my english are listening to music and watching videos , series and movies.
ResponderEliminarwhat I do when I listen to music is to look for the lyric of each song , then I look for the new vocabulary and pronunciation of those new words . I love watching videos, movies and tv series, what I do with them is to take the idioms , and common expressions from the subtitles. I consider those expressions are useful when we try to star a conversation in English. Also when I watch tv series it is normal for me finding new words, I just wrote them dowm , I also wrote the meaning of each one , for remembering, for increasing nea vocabyulary that is very useful when write or speak about something.
Yes Xiomara, those are key ideas of yours.... remember that the saying goes like this: "memory has the faculty of forgetting" if we learn a new expression and do not write it down or try to use it, it will be forgotten in a blink of an eye.
EliminarThe tip that I recommed to learn English is watching reality shows in English obviously, I think that watching reality shows allows us as students to improve our listening and pronunciation, and also can help us to contextualizate our selves in any kind of situations, because of the different moments and situatuions that the people in the reality have to go through. The reality show that I always watch is "keeping up with the Kardashians", I love watching that t.v show because the people there use a very clear voabulary and some expressions that hardly we can find some where else.
ResponderEliminarWhat I do is watchig the T.v show and learning by hard all the new words and expressions that there appear.
I hope you try to improve your English level using this strategie
Thanks Laura for sharing your ideas with us! I would say that learning by heart is a little tricky, I would recommend to have a small note-book for new expressions or vocubulary. In the end, it depends in how well your memory is trained.
EliminarHi I am Diana Farfán,
ResponderEliminarSome of the strategies that I sometimes use for improving my English are:
First, reading articles or short texts througt the internet or in books. I look for the vocabulary that i don`t know and try to memorize it, repeating or writing it several times.
Second, watching musical videos with lyrics in youtube, it is very useful to improve the pronunciation and learn expressions and vocabulary. In occasions, I also practice karaoke. And other times, I use to listen the radio to train my ear.
I also watch Tv programs or movies and although I don`t do that frequently It is the best way to get a better English level since you can learn vocabulary, pronunciation and cultural aspects, etc.
Yes Diana! Your ideas are very important and practical. By the way, we should never stop doing those techniques and strategies because learning is non-stop process.
EliminarGood evening!!! I AM KAROLINE MEJÍA
ResponderEliminarI LIKE SHARING MY STRATEGY TO LEARN ENGLISH. FIRSTLY, I LISTEN TO MUSIC A LOT. I LOVE ROCK AND POP MUSIC. ALSO, I LOVE SINGING. FOR THAT I PRACTICE WITH THE KARAOKE. WITH THIS STRATEGY, I IMPROVE MY PRONUNCIATION AND I LIKE WRITING THE SONG AND THEN I COMPARE MY WRITING WITH THE ORIGINAL LETTER. IT IS A GOOD STRATEGY TO IMPROVE PRONUNCIATION, WRITING AND LISTENING.
SECONDLY, I WATCH MOVIES WITH SUBTITLES AND WRITE THE UNKNOW WORDS TO INCREASE MY VOCABULARY.ALSO, THE PRACTICE OF PRONUNCIATION WITH THOSE STRATEGIES.
Thanks Jenny K. for sharing with us your learning strategies and techniques. Practices makes perfect!
EliminarGood evening I am Sonia.
ResponderEliminarI want sharing you a strategy which I usually use in my English learning process. It has to do, with: I read short stories about any topic. Then I look for the words that I do not know. Also, I look for the pronunciation of those words, in order to increase my vocabulary and my pronunciation. So, let`s try this, it is very useful and enjoyable!!!
Thanks Sonia! There are many ways to approach learning and it goes connected with your own learning style and preferences, for some music, movies, cartoons, news, magazines, etc. All of them are valid. Thanks for sharing with us.
EliminarGOOD EVENING.......... I THINK THAT FOR LEARNING ENGLISH IS NECESSARY TO DEVELOP SOME ACTIVITIES THAT CAN HELP THE STUDENTS TO FEEL IN A CONFIDENCE ENVIRONMENT WHICH PERMITS THEM TO PRACTICE ALL SKILS(WRITING,READING,SPEAKING,LISTENING)I THINK THAT IS A GOOD STRATEGY TO LEARN NEW VACABULARY TROUGH LISTENING SONGS, CONVERSATIONS OR READING, BECAUSE WHEN YOU LEARN NEW VOCABULARY YOU CAN SPEAK AND UNDERSTAND IN A GOOD WAY.
ResponderEliminarTHANKS.....
Thanks for your opinion Jeimy! Learning should be fun, why to get bored? instead there are so many ways to get or to approach knowledge.
EliminarHI EVERYBODY I HAVE LEARNT, THAT ONE STRATEGY TO IMPROVE MOST OF THE ABILITIES, AND TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LEVEL IS TO SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE. SO I AM MEETING WITH SOME OF MY FRIENDS THAT ARE STUDYING DIFFERENT THINGS FROM ENGLISH. THE IDEA IS THAT I SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE AND HELP THEM WITH THEIR DOUBTS, WHENEVER THEY HAVE A QUESTION. I/WE TRY TO ANSWER IT AND TO MAKE EXPLANATIONS, IN THIS WAY THEY AND I HAVE THE OPPORTIUNITY TO LEARN.
ResponderEliminarTHANKS...
THE MOST IMPORTANT IS TO SHARE EXPERIENCES TAHT WE HAVE