Study a Balance of the Four Key Skills - listening, speaking, reading, writing
Most students want to communicate better in English. If this is one of your goals, it is important to study a balance of the four major skills. Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing are the main (macro) skills you need to communicate in any language. Being very good at only one of these skills will not help you to communicate. For example you need to be able to read well before you can write well. You also need to be able to listen before you can speak. It helps to think of these communicative skills in two groups.
- INput <<<
- Listening (in through your ears)
- Reading (in through your eyes)
- OUTput >>>
- Speaking (out through your mouth)
- Writing (out through your hand)
It's simple. Think of it this way. First you have input. Next you have output. First you listen to someone ask you a question. Second you speak and give them your answer. First you read a letter from someone. After that you write back to them.
Reading and Listening is NOT enough. Practice Speaking what you hear!
Reading, listening, and speaking are the most important aspects of any language. The same is true for English. However, speaking is the only requirement to be fluent. It is normal for babies and children to learn speaking first, become fluent, then start reading, then writing. So the natural order is listening, speaking, reading, then writing.
First Problem
Isn't it strange that schools across the world teach reading first, then writing, then listening, and finally speaking? Although it is different, the main reason is because when you learn a second language, you need to read material to understand and learn it. So even though the natural order is listening, speaking, reading, then writing, the order for ESL students is reading, listening, speaking, then writing.
Second Problem
The reason many people can read and listen is because that's all they practice. But in order to speak English fluently, you need to practice speaking. Don't stop at the listening portion, and when you study, don't just listen. Speak out loud the material you are listening to and practice what you hear. Practice speaking out loud until your mouth and brain can do it without any effort. By doing so, you will be able to speak English fluently.
First Problem
Isn't it strange that schools across the world teach reading first, then writing, then listening, and finally speaking? Although it is different, the main reason is because when you learn a second language, you need to read material to understand and learn it. So even though the natural order is listening, speaking, reading, then writing, the order for ESL students is reading, listening, speaking, then writing.
Second Problem
The reason many people can read and listen is because that's all they practice. But in order to speak English fluently, you need to practice speaking. Don't stop at the listening portion, and when you study, don't just listen. Speak out loud the material you are listening to and practice what you hear. Practice speaking out loud until your mouth and brain can do it without any effort. By doing so, you will be able to speak English fluently.
Speak a little English every day. The absolute best way to learn any new language is just to speak it. It doesn't matter if you only know five English words or if you're practically fluent -- speaking English with another person is the fastest, most effective method of improving.
- Don't wait until you "feel more comfortable" speaking in English -- you probably won't reach that level for a long time, so push yourself outside of your comfort zone and start speaking English today. You' ll be amazed at how quickly your language skills improve.
- Find a native English speaker who is willing to spend some time speaking English with you -- you may be able to offer them a language exchange, where they spend 30 minutes speaking English with you and you spend 30 minutes speaking your native language with them.
OBSESSION:
The first and most important thing you need to achieve this goal is incredible passion. You must have tremendous emotional power to learn super-fast. Why? Because you must study English 8-14 hours a day… and every hour you must be alert, interested, and energetic.
To improve that quickly, you must build emotion. You must be obsessed with English. You must be passionate and incredibly enthusiastic. Remember, Emotion is 80% of success, method is only 20%.
To create passion, you need very compelling reasons to learn English. Just doing well on a test is not a strong enough reason. Just getting a new job is not a strong enough reason. You need HUGE reasons for doing this. Imagine all the incredible benefits you will have as a fluent English speaker. Imagine how your life will change 5 years from now. 10 years from now. 20 years from now.
If you are motivated by money, imagine how English will make you amazingly rich. Visualize your dream house, your dream car, your dream life.
If love motivates you, imagine how English will help you meet incredible people from other countries. Imagine dating beautiful/handsome foreigners! Imagine incredible love and passion– possible because you are a fluent English speaker.
You can also exaggerate the terrible things that will happen if you fail to speak English fluently. Imagine all the jobs you will miss. Imagine all the people you will never meet. Imagine how bad your life will be because you can’t speak English.
Make your reasons bigger! Bigger reasons = Bigger Passion. Bigger Passion = Bigger Success.
Emotions is the key. Make your emotion stronger! Become obsessed with English!
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