Useful Strategies for English (and Other Language) Learners

Learning English is never easy. You need to persevere and be well-prepared in order to be successful. Here, you can find some useful strategies for perfecting every skills in English language – reading, speaking, listening and writing.

These strategies are not only applicable for English learners - other language learners will also find it useful and practicable.

1. Reading Strategies
• Look at the task/questions before reading.
• Look at the title, headings and any photos or illustrations before reading. Read the first paragraph and the last paragraph. Can you predict what the text might be about before reading the full text? The first sentence of a paragraph will usually give you a general idea of the whole paragraph.
• On your first reading, try to understand as much as possible without using a dictionary.
• Skim to find the general idea of the whole text. Fast repeated reading is more effective than slow careful reading.
• Scan to find keywords. Read around the keywords to find the answer to the comprehension questions or to guess the meaning of unknown words. For any unknown words consider the following:
o What part of speech is it?
o Is it a positive or negative word?
o What is the context of the paragraph or sentence?

Immerse Yourself in English: Reading
• Do reading comprehension activities – either by textbook or multimedia (CD-ROM)
• Read English newspaper
• Read ‘Graded Readers” (short books written with language graded to the student’s language level ability)
• Surf the internet to learn more about topics you are interested in
• Join a local library
• Subscribe to online English-language newsletters, which are mailed to your inbox

2. Speaking Strategies
• Learn delaying words or sounds used by English speakers to give themselves time to think, such as, “…er…”, “…umm…”, “…well…”. It is not embarrassing to make use of such words. Just remember that you are still in the process of learning.
• Ask follow-up questions. Keep the other person talking by asking “Why?”, “How did you feel about that?”, “And then what happened?”, etc.
• Comment on what the other person has said with expressions like, “Really!”, “Exactly!”, “I totally agree”, etc. This also shows the other person that you are listening carefully and are interested in what the other person has to say.
• Ask for repetition or explanation if you need it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that”, “I’m sorry, what you do mean exactly?”
• Give reasons for your statements. Try to finish sentences with ‘because. . .’ For example, “I like my teacher because she’s really friendly”.
• For more cohesive speech, use linking devices to glue sentences together. For example, “On the other hand…”, “Despite…”, “On a similar note…”

Immerse Yourself in English: Speaking
• Join English club and attend that club regularly
• Try to use English at all times in class, even when speaking to your classmates
• Make some English-speaking friends or you might also want to consider trying the language exchange
• Help foreign visitors to your city
• Visit places where there are likely to be English speakers
• Download Skype and use your headphones to meet new people who speak English
• Daydream: think how you would express yourself in English in a variety of situations. Create fantasy dialogues and imaginary encounters in English

3. Listening Strategies
• Predict:
o What do you know about the topic before listening?
o What do you know about the speakers? What are they likely to say?
o What can you guess about the listening from visual support, the context, any gestures or facial expressions?
• Plan:
o Read any tasks or comprehension questions before you listen
o Think about possible answers
• As you listen:
o First listen for overall meaning, then listen for specific information
o Don’t translate
o Listen for clues in background noises, character/speakers, tone of voice.

Immerse Yourself in English: Listening
• Listen to songs in English (use the lyrics for extra support)
• Watch DVDs and TV in English – this will also help you understand different English-speaking cultures, accents and colloquial words.
o Choose to watch films with plots you are already familiar with
o Use English subtitles for the hearing impaired
• Access radio websites
• If you join an English course, usually they give you an English learning CD at the start of the course. Listen to it when you are on the bus or subway.
• Watch the news in English:
o Write down any new words or phrases
o Look up any unfamiliar words or phrases
o Watch the news later that same day or the next day. Were any of your new words repeated? What were the updates or developments in the story since you last watched?

4. Writing Strategies
• Write down all of your ideas quickly
• Think about the language you will need.
• Organize your notes into a logical structure (beginning, middle, end)
• Organize your sentences into paragraphs. Start paragraphs with topic sentences and then follow with sentences that give examples, analogies, arguments, statistics, anecdotes, etc to support the topic of the paragraph.
• Write
• Read and check
• Make necessary changes

Immerse Yourself in English: Writing
• Notice the layout and format of a variety of text types. Pay attention to any formulaic language and try to incorporate it into your own writing
• Keep a journal
• Visit chat rooms and meet new friends by writing in English online
• Send e-mails
• Send SMS messages
• Use Instant Messenger in English
• Write your blog in English

Immerse Yourself in English: Vocabulary
• Label objects around the house and office – try to repeat it every day
• Review your notes from class and/or your English course
• Record language in chunks and phrases
• Look for clues in the word that indicate what the word means (like prefixes and suffixes)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbasecamp.com

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

# of Ratings = 1 | Rating = 4/5