Hello again everyone.
I hope some of you are reading this! Last time, I gave a brief self-introduction. This time I want to give you some more information about what I enjoy doing in my spare time and why it can help you. I read a lot (what's life without books, eh?); do a bit of creative writing; play the piano; watch sport occasionally; drink too much; spend time with my family; eat at "all-you-can-eat" restaurants and then get stomach ache; waste time on the Internet etc etc etc. However, I have one hobby which may interest you guys- I actually enjoy studying Japanese. When I first came to Japan nine years ago, I couldn't speak much and I found the language really difficult to study: kanji was crazy; I didn't know the difference between 'ga', 'wa' and 'ni'; all people spoke too fast; the amount of vocabulary was endless. I was at a loss but I never gave up.
Enjoy Studying
I am still not satisfied with my level but I have picked up some techniques which help me enjoy studying. This is where I can maybe be of help to some of you. If you think studying English is boring or troublesome, you need to change your mindset. The more you learn English, the more the fun you can have. You can begin to understand all of what native speakers are saying to you. You can comprehend written English passages in less time. You can follow the dialogue of a movie without using the subtitles too much. You can express your ideas and opinions quickly and interestingly. Think of how satisfying all this can be!
Make Mistakes!
In studying Japanese, I also realized it is better not to care about making mistakes. By making mistakes, we can learn and improve in a language. Who cares if you make a mistake? If you make a mistake, we can correct you and you can learn not to make the same error again. It's simple!
Speak Out
In class, don't be shy to speak out or raise a hand if you don't understand anything. Kaplan teachers want to hear your thoughts and ideas. We want you to ask us to explain the meaning of the grammar pattern, the difficult vocabulary or the context of the passage. These kinds of questions make us better as teachers. You should use us in class!
Mix It Up
Also, when you are self-studying, English can seem very tiresome. My advice is that you should mix it up a bit. By this I mean, don't spend too long on one exercise. You should spend 20 minutes reading something, then 20 minutes listening to something totally different, then practice some writing or grammar, then watch or read something else. If you mix it up like this, you won't get so bored and your brain won't get so tired.
Always Review
One more thing: it's important to review. If you study a lot of English, you will pick up a huge amount of vocabulary, expressions, idioms and grammatical structures. You must review these or you will forget them very quickly. When you self-study after a class, you should review what you learnt to refresh your memory. It is very difficult to remember new words or expressions in English but if you review, you can become familiar with it all.
In short, the important point is to realize that English can be fun!
See you all soon,
Ant
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・【Anthony's self-intro】2009.01.09 (Fri)
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Posted By: Anthony Gardner on February 6, 2009
