education – amalfabian

How to be a good language learner

I have been teaching English for fifteen years now. Over the years, I have noticed some positive traits and approaches of good language learners. What we will cover is based on my experience teaching English, but these points would be relevant when learning other languages as well.

4 points to keep in mind when learning a language

1. Have a positive attitude

Learning a new language is rewarding in itself. You learn new sounds. You learn new words and idioms. You learn new grammatical forms. In short, you learn a new way to express yourself. A new horizon opens up.

I remember a student telling me that she didn’t enjoy learning English, and that she was learning the language only because she had no choice. As you could guess, learning English is a chore for this person. This internal resistance will work against her learning the language well.

If you are learning a language, do not view it as a burden. Relish the sounds of the new words. Enjoy the process. It’s always a pleasure to be a student, whatever your age may be.

2. Be persistent and patient

If there is a word that you find difficult to remember, write it down. Keep practising it during the week. If there is a grammar point that is tricky, take your time. Slow down. Spend a minute or two to better understand it. Make a sentence with it. If you make a mistake, no worries. Try again. The more persistent you are are, the more your mind becomes familiar with what you are learning. Give your mind time to absorb the new information.

I have met students who are impatient when it comes to learning English. At times, they overestimate their level of English. They are in a hurry to become advanced-level speakers. Don’t be. Being impatient is not going to make you learn the language any faster. In fact, you may get demotivated when you find that you are not improving as much as you thought you would.

Persistence is the path that will get you there.

3. Celebrate small wins

After many attempts, you use the present perfect tense correctly when speaking. Celebrate the win! After repeated mistakes, you use a preposition correctly. You say, ‘I’m in the car’, instead of ‘I’m on the car’. Celebrate the win! I’m not saying you have to eat a slice of cake. But, just recognize that you have achieved something, however small it may be.

If you have been learning a language for some time, your errors may be fossilized. When you finally get a word or grammar point right, pat yourself on the back.

4. Immerse yourself

Immersion is the secret to learning any language. Imagine you are in a country where people only speak a foreign language. Your learning curve will be steep.

All of us may not have the opportunity to live in a foreign country. But, we do have access to the internet. Watch YouTube videos. This would include: the news, short clips, songs, documentaries, comedy series, and yes, even cartoons.

When listening, be an active listener. If you are a beginner in the language, see if you can identify any words. Listen to the sounds of the language.

If you are at the pre-intermediate, intermediate level, or upper-intermediate level, you could keep your ears tuned for new words. You can try to guess their meaning from the context. Don’t worry if you are not sure of the meaning of the new word or phrase. By using your mind to guess the meaning, you are already on your way to expanding your vocabulary. You can always check a dictionary. My go-to dictionary is Cambridge Dictionary.

Apart from words, pay attention to how words are pronounced. Pay attention to the key words that are stressed in a sentence. Pay attention to how intonation is used.

Notice how grammar is used. In the beginning, try to recognize the grammar that you have already covered. Doing this will help you consolidate your learning. Later, focus on unfamiliar grammar points.

Phew! As you can see, when it comes to language immersion there are a lot of things to do.

I recommend that you take a pro-active role when learning a language. Become an independent learner. Isn’t that the best way?

The takeaway

Enjoy learning a language. Don’t worry if it seems endless. Eventually, with persistence and patience, you will attain your language goals.

Learning a new language can be fun and rewarding or it can be boring and dreary. The choice, dear reader, is yours!

Parents: Your child needs to be good at grammar

If are a parent of a school-going child, this post is for you.

My name is Amal Fabian, an English teacher with fifteen years of experience. An author of two books on English language learning: Q in the Garden of Grammar and Common Indian Errors in Business English. I’ve taught at British Council, Chennai. I’ve been a British Council corporate trainer in Delhi, where I’ve conducted sessions at MNCs, Indian companies, NGOs, and colleges. I’ve been an IELTS examiner in Punjab for many years. And I’ve been teaching students online from South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Can you guess what the main issue that all learners struggle with when it comes to learning English? Not vocabulary. Not pronunciation. The main issue is: grammar. Why? Because if your foundation in grammar is weak, it is difficult to improve your speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills. Your errors become fossilized. Whenever you communicate, grammar pulls you down.

The best time to learn grammar is when you are young. Your mind is fresh. And you are a student by profession. Parents, please remember this. Later on in life, as an adult it is very difficult to improve your grammar. You have lots of responsibilities. You are no longer a student.

Many people overestimate their English skills. People who are at the intermediate level feel that they are upper-intermediate speakers. Parents, keep this in mind: just because your child speaks fluent English, it does not mean that she is not making grammatical errors. These errors get recognized only when she takes an English-proficiency exam such as IELTS. Make sure that these errors are corrected before she takes any of these exams.

Whatever profession your child takes, it is highly likely that she will need to use English for the rest of her life. Focusing on grammar right now will be an investment that reaps benefits throughout her life. Your child needs to have a good knowledge of English to:

Do well in exams such IELTS, TOEFL, SAT, GMAT, and GRE
Make presentations and write essays at college
Communicate with colleagues and clients at the workplace
Travel abroad for work or leisure

To succeed in this age of AI, your child must have excellent communication skills and teamworking skills. This means that she needs to have very good language skills. And that means a solid foundation in grammar.

AI can be used to generate ideas and for routine messages. But beware. If your child is wholly dependent on AI, then her English skills will not develop. They will be stunted. There will come a time in the future when she needs to express her own thoughts using her own words. If her foundation in English is weak, she will find it challenging to express complex ideas and nuances. This may negatively affect her career prospects.

Dear parents, I hope I’ve made my case to you. Grammar is foundational when it comes to communicating in English. Make sure that your child strengthens her grammar. Here are some free websites you can access. When visiting the British Council website, you can check out the section for teens.

The takeaway from this post is this: learn grammar as a child. Do not struggle with it as an adult.

If you have any questions or comments, let me know!

Best website for learning English

Students frequently ask me which website they can visit to learn English.

Of course, there are so many out there. In my experience as a trainer, the best one is BBC Learning English. Their material is relevant and engaging.

This is a disclaimer: BBC is not paying me. I’m writing this post so that you could get the most out of the website.

Wait!

Before you google BBC Learning English, let me give you an overview.

The website has a lot to offer. Let’s start:

Vocabulary

The more words you know, the more precisely you can express yourself. When a person has a limited vocabulary, he tends to repeat words and phrases.

Whatever our English levels may be, we all need to expand our range of vocabulary.

It takes time to learn new words. My suggestion to you is this: go slow. Don’t just learn the meaning of words. Practice using them. Become familiar with them. Use them correctly.

I’ve noticed that students at times struggle with phrasal verbs. Do you freak out when you hear the phrase phrasal verbs? Help is at hand. Here’s the definition. If you are working, then you need phrasal verbs, for well, for work. And we all need phrasal verbs for technology.

Vocabulary is not limited to learning phrasal verbs. You also need to learn more words and phrases.

Visit this page to learn words from the news. I liked this episode on fake news.

If you have six minutes to spare, go to 6 minute English. I’ve just listened to the episode Call centres: Are you talking to AI?

English in a minute is a great way to improve your vocabulary. You can hit the nail on the head by learning new phrases within sixty seconds.

Remember, it’s not just about learning new phrases. It’s about using new phrases appropriately. I suggest you select phrases you like and try to use them during the week. Over time, you will be on fire!

Grammar

Are you comfortable with all the tenses that are there? You can confide in me. Be honest.

Tenses with Georgie is a good, fun way to revise tenses.

Prepositions can be confusing. Are you in a train or on a train? Mmm…. Not sure? Check out Prepositions with Georgie and find out.

If you like the idea of learning grammar by watching The Grammar Gameshow , go for it.

There is so much more when it comes to grammar. I know, it seems endless. Visit the main grammar page to find out more.

Pronunciation

Whatever your accent may be, that’s okay. What’s important is that you speak clearly and fluently.

The sounds of English are the building blocks of words. Are you keen to learn these sounds? Do you want to know the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants? You are at the right place.

Check out The Sounds of English on the pronunciation main page. I watched those short videos years ago, and I found them helpful. I hope you do too.

Tim’s Pronunciation Workshop is an effective way to learn about different aspects of pronunciation, such as elision and assimilation. Not familiar with those last two words? No worries. You’re probably doing some it already, in a natural way.

It’s more fun learning pronunciation than it is learning grammar. Do you agree?

Is there anything ‘more’ to do on the website?

On the right hand side of the menu bar, there is an option: More. Click on it with confidence. Don’t hesitate.

I have noticed that students often do not know their level. Do you know yours? Are you at the intermediate level? Upper-intermediate? Advanced?

Here’s the thing. Many students are generous when it comes to deciding which level they are at.

I’ve seen this happen lots of times: a person who is at the intermediate level believes that he is an upper-intermediate student! And the same goes for other levels as well. Many students are bumping themselves up a level.

I’m not a 100% convinced when it comes to online level tests. Having said that, try the level test at BBC learning English. See what you get.

If you enjoy listening to podcasts, try this out. You can listen while travelling.

Do you enjoy drama? I’ve just started listening to The Importance of Being Earnest.

There are many things to do in the ‘more’ section. Find out what works for you.

Before you go…

As you can tell, I’m pretty impressed with this website. It has a depth and breath that I’ve not seen anywhere else.

What do you do now? It’s up to you. If you want to improve your vocabulary, then click on the related links. The same goes for the other topics.

When learning English, be consistent. Consistency is the magic sauce that will help you improve your English.

Apart from BBC Learning English, here are two other websites I recommend.

Happy learning!