Listening

My students always complain that they are sick and tired of the boring grammar and vocabulary. If you think it is of no interest to learning grammar and vocabulary, please go back to the primal mode of learning – listening and observation. Be alert when you listen to someone speaking English, be it at your classroom, at school, at dorm, or on television wherever you can access to English. Watch out for common expressions and usages. A peasant in America who has never been to school, an illiterate, has no trouble understanding and speaking to his great president of his country, why? The reason for that is because he uses and listens to his language everyday. When you are listening, try to perceive the key words and expression for you to recall the whole and retell the central idea. Do not listen to the separated words with no meanings. Cultivating the habit of listening anything related to English and gets the sense of English.

Reading

While listening to English speakers definitely helps, it is important to read if you wish to expedite the process of improving. Most people are put off by this because they associate reading with big literary books. However, what I am  talking about is reading anything and everything written in correct English. Therefore, your range of choices could extend from books from library to articles with English in the newspaper stand, gadget manuals to movie reviews. While reading, try and get a feel of the language and usage of words. More importantly, underline and digest  the use of words and expressions as these are areas where the most common errors are committed. Do not desperately improve your vocabulary by reading books ,for books are more than that. It's functions are to help you broaden your perspective of information. If you come across some bewildering words, try not to consult the dictionary but to use the context and sense of language to guess and figure out.

vocabulary

     I like reciting the vocabulary simply because it is the premise of all language. During the schoolings , I had taken part into many exams, such as Band 4 and 6, Tem4 and 8, IELTS and TOEFT, to all of which a gigantic of vocabulary is a must. And I had recited more than 12000 words before I got the guts to sit for the Tem 8. The approaches to memorizing the new words are putting the new words into sentences and use the “First Person” to produce, imaging in what situation can I use this word or sentence. Take the words of “compete, competitive, competitor, competition”, I will put all those separated words into one sentence and imagine the occasion I am involved like “Tonight, I am going to compete with many competitive competitors in this competition.” Using one sentence to link all the words together and speak it out with passion and confidence. The more you use your imagination, the larger your vocabulary will be. Do not learn the boring words by rote, but commit yourself to learning ten more new linking words and sentences daily. If possible, maintain a notebook and put all those Chinese expressions into English while you are on an outing, at the shopping mall, at home, at school or any places you can be in touch with. When you can note down the new words everyday, make sure that they are along with the sentences, so you can remember them better. Write down the exact meaning and also frame. First Person Sentence using the word, so it is now registered in your memory. Go through the notebook periodically to refresh your memory and employ the words in your conversations or emails, coupled with an eye for observation and an ear for new words to imitate and show off are all it takes to enlarge your command of vocabulary efficiently