So....this week is the week when most people go on holidays. When we think of holidays, we don't think about work; the most that we want to do is, well, nothing.
When did you English classes end? How much have you planned to practice your English over the summer?
If you think that practice isn't important, I'd like to ask you to reflect on a post that I wrote last year. You are the only person who can control how much you learn. You attitude is everything!
So how have you planned to review and practice your English over the summer? How are you guarantee that you don't go back over the summer? Please feel free to leave your ideas in the Comments section below....
Showing posts with label attitudes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attitudes. Show all posts
1.29.2013
Four thoughts about homework:
1. Homework is important because it's like brushing your teeth or paying taxes. No one really likes doing these things. There may be times when we don't do them because we don't feel like doing them. All of these things, even if they're boring or repetitive, help you keep control of your situation.
2. Practise does not happen in a vacuum. You have many resources to help you. Doing exercises on paper is ONE way of improving your English, but it's not the only way. The limits to your resources are the limits to your interests: try to find something that you enjoy doing, then do that. Don't forget the paper exercises - but don't limit yourself to ONLY doing paper exercises.
3. Teachers can provide the resources to help you, but we cannot do the learning for you. If you don't do your homework, and if you don't do any practice at all outside of class, that tells me that you are not serious about improving your English. I can help you, but I can't do the learning for you.
4. Think about how much learning English - and being able to speak, listen, write and read well in English - means to you. If learning is not a priority for you right now, that's okay. But don't tell me that it's a priority and then do the things that will stop you from learning. I'm not giving you homework because I have nothing better to do than correct what you do. If I invest the time in creating exercises to help you, and you don't do those exercises, in my opinion, you don't deserve the right to complain that you're stuck.
You only get out of it what you put into it.
2. Practise does not happen in a vacuum. You have many resources to help you. Doing exercises on paper is ONE way of improving your English, but it's not the only way. The limits to your resources are the limits to your interests: try to find something that you enjoy doing, then do that. Don't forget the paper exercises - but don't limit yourself to ONLY doing paper exercises.
3. Teachers can provide the resources to help you, but we cannot do the learning for you. If you don't do your homework, and if you don't do any practice at all outside of class, that tells me that you are not serious about improving your English. I can help you, but I can't do the learning for you.
4. Think about how much learning English - and being able to speak, listen, write and read well in English - means to you. If learning is not a priority for you right now, that's okay. But don't tell me that it's a priority and then do the things that will stop you from learning. I'm not giving you homework because I have nothing better to do than correct what you do. If I invest the time in creating exercises to help you, and you don't do those exercises, in my opinion, you don't deserve the right to complain that you're stuck.
You only get out of it what you put into it.
Writing isn't easy (but here's how to make it less difficult)
I'm going to start this post by admitting that I always enjoyed writing. I'm not a very verbal person - I listen much better than I talk - and I always find it easier to write my ideas and feelings, rather than talk about them.
Not everyone is this way, however. After fourteen years of teaching, I know that there are a lot of students who don't like writing for many reasons:
- They don't trust a process that is not automatic. Speaking is easy (for some people!) - you open your mouth, you move your tongue, teeth and lips, and you have spoken. Writing well means more preparation, more thinking about language thinking about the person who is going to receive what you're writing...and more steps can mean more possibilities for making mistakes.
- It's a lot of work. Even if the work helps students improve, that still doesn't mean that they like it. There are a lot of students who won't do work, whether they think it helps them - or not.
- They feel self-conscious about writing something down because they think the mistake will be there forever. In contrast, if you say something silly or ridiculous, it only exists as long as the other person hears or remembers the mistake. (And trust me, some people have VERY long memories of mistakes.)
Are you one of those students who doesn't like writing? This video provides a quick review of the seven pieces of advice that I give my students so that they find writing less stressful.
The focus of the video is on things that you do in your own language, anyway - they're universal things that you probably do in your own language, but which take a little longer when you're writing in English. Here are some other things to remember....
- Perfect doesn't exist. "I want to do it perfectly," a student says. There is no perfect. "Perfect" is an excuse that people use so that they don't have to do anything at all. Good enough is fine. Don't put yourself under pressure to create something that is impossible.
- If you don't know what to write, write anything. Keep your pen or pencil moving. Keep typing. It is always easier to fix what you have, instead of trying to fix what doesn't exist. Even if you have to start a writing by writing this is crap, this is crap, this is crap, this is crap....
- Writing is a skill. Like any other skill, such as playing basketball, dancing Argentine tango or surfing, there is only one way to get better: practice more. It's work, not magic, that makes people get better.
1.04.2013
Learning English doesn't solve everything
Just a quick observation about learning languages:
Learning English might help you reach goals and enjoy learn opportunities, but it won't change who you fundamentally are. If you're shy, English will not turn you into a social animal. If you find human behaviour confusing and you don't understand what people are doing, English will not make you wise and make you understand the motivations why people do everything.
If you buy a better hammer, that doesn't make you a better craftsman. If you buy a really expensive pair of trainers, it won't guarantee that you will finish a marathon in under three hours.
English can do a lot of things, but it won't make you radically different from the person you are today.
Learning English might help you reach goals and enjoy learn opportunities, but it won't change who you fundamentally are. If you're shy, English will not turn you into a social animal. If you find human behaviour confusing and you don't understand what people are doing, English will not make you wise and make you understand the motivations why people do everything.
If you buy a better hammer, that doesn't make you a better craftsman. If you buy a really expensive pair of trainers, it won't guarantee that you will finish a marathon in under three hours.
English can do a lot of things, but it won't make you radically different from the person you are today.
12.21.2012
If you are convinced you'll never learn English....
....because you haven't done so well so far, think of this:
PAST PERFORMANCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RETURNS.
That's what you see at the bottom of any information on investments, and it's true.
Let me put it another way:
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO GRAB OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FUTURE IF YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF GARBAGE FROM THE PAST.
Maybe you didn't get what you wanted in the past. That doesn't guarantee that you're never going to get what you want in the future.
What can you change in 2013 to make your English better than ever?
PAST PERFORMANCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RETURNS.
That's what you see at the bottom of any information on investments, and it's true.
Let me put it another way:
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO GRAB OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FUTURE IF YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF GARBAGE FROM THE PAST.
Maybe you didn't get what you wanted in the past. That doesn't guarantee that you're never going to get what you want in the future.
What can you change in 2013 to make your English better than ever?
7.13.2011
No one gives you the title.
One of the reasons why exams like TOEFL and First are so appealing is that you GET something at the end of the process. You study, you do the exam and, if you do it well, you get a piece of paper at the end. Congratulations! You are now "X".
That may be why it's hard to study English when you don't have a clear goal. You can study English and say you're studying English, and there's nothing wrong with that. It seems more REAL, however, if you have something in mind.
Here's a thought: What about studying English so that you can say, with confidence, "I am an English speaker"?
Go ahead. Try it. I am an English speaker. I am an English speaker. I am an English speaker.
I have no authority to tell you whether you ARE an English speaker or not. Only you can do that. Cambridge can't do it. ETS, the people who offer the TOEFL exam, can't do that. They can give you a piece of paper that estimates your level once you're done the exam. But they have no way of knowing what you're going to do with that English once the exam is done.
No one gives you the title of "English speaker". Only you can do that for yourself.
4.28.2011
Communication isn't just about talking.
Me: What do you want to focus on? Where do you need the most help?"
Student: "I really need to improve my spoken English."
Student: "I really need to improve my spoken English."
This is a common request, but in my experience, it's only half the problem. Yes, it's important to know that you have to make people understand you. Communicating your message is only 50% of what communication is.
When you speak with people in English, how much do you listen? Do you try to listen actively and show the other person that you're mentally connected to what they're saying?
When you speak in English, do you practice your listening with the other person (or people) you're talking to? Or do you focus on how you're going to say the next thing you want to say?
To be a good speaker, it's fundamental to be a good listener.
1.21.2011
Some thoughts about being afraid....
Lourdes and I went to see "The King's Speech" last night. If you've got any doubts about seeing it, please, do - it's wonderful. One of the best parts of the film is watching Bertie (Colin Firth) struggle against his conviction that he will never, ever, stop stammering. There he is, the man who was about to become the King of England, and he's absolutely paralyzed by the fear that his throat and mouth will stop working and he won't be able to express himself.
As the movie progresses, however, you see that isn't the case. When he's relaxed and isn't focused on his fear, he communicates quite well. But the minute fear starts taking over his brain, he's a disaster. He remains completely convinced that he's going to mess things up, and, sure enough, he does!
Sports people call this "choking". You're playing well, you're doing a really good job - but then something happens that brings in that moment of doubt, that feeling that maybe you're not good enough, and BLAM! Everything comes apart. I'm not going to name any names, but we've all seen it: in tennis matches, in football matches, in (ummm, ehem...) under-23 international ice hockey championships playing against the Russians...you're winning, you're doing well, but ten or twenty minutes later, those doubts have started to control your brain, and you're dead.
How do you fight it? Don't allow yourself to be fixated on failure.
Imagine yourself in a moment where you're speaking English fluently and without being self-aware. You're relaxed, you're doing well. If you can visualize it, you can do it.
Kill your inner editor. Everyone has a voice from the past that tells them, "You're no good. You don't know anything. You're a failure." Now, imagine yourself telling that person to shut up. Imagine yourself asking that person, "How do you know? Why should YOUR failure influence me?" Inner editors are very powerful. They're also irrelevant and totally useless. Keeping your inner editor will never help you, but getting rid of that person is extremely satisfying.
Be fair to yourself. It's easy to focus on what you didn't do well or mistakes that you made. How many times do you congratulate yourself on doing things well? How many times have you focused on your successes, rather than your failures? Replace your inner editor with your inner grandmother:
The teacher said you did a great job with the role play on Monday's class!
You got an 80% on the last test - that's 10% better than you did last time!
You used those new phrasal verbs properly!
The guy from London said that your English sounded a lot better on the phone!
It doesn't matter if these things would sound stupid to someone else. They're not for someone else - they're for you and for you only.
It's just like the sports coaches say: Attitude gives you altitude. The most important muscle you have is the muscle that is located between your ears.
"Really, the greatest fear is fear itself." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
"Our greatest fear is not that we are powerless. Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." - Marianne Williamson
As the movie progresses, however, you see that isn't the case. When he's relaxed and isn't focused on his fear, he communicates quite well. But the minute fear starts taking over his brain, he's a disaster. He remains completely convinced that he's going to mess things up, and, sure enough, he does!
Sports people call this "choking". You're playing well, you're doing a really good job - but then something happens that brings in that moment of doubt, that feeling that maybe you're not good enough, and BLAM! Everything comes apart. I'm not going to name any names, but we've all seen it: in tennis matches, in football matches, in (ummm, ehem...) under-23 international ice hockey championships playing against the Russians...you're winning, you're doing well, but ten or twenty minutes later, those doubts have started to control your brain, and you're dead.
How do you fight it? Don't allow yourself to be fixated on failure.
Imagine yourself in a moment where you're speaking English fluently and without being self-aware. You're relaxed, you're doing well. If you can visualize it, you can do it.
Kill your inner editor. Everyone has a voice from the past that tells them, "You're no good. You don't know anything. You're a failure." Now, imagine yourself telling that person to shut up. Imagine yourself asking that person, "How do you know? Why should YOUR failure influence me?" Inner editors are very powerful. They're also irrelevant and totally useless. Keeping your inner editor will never help you, but getting rid of that person is extremely satisfying.
Be fair to yourself. It's easy to focus on what you didn't do well or mistakes that you made. How many times do you congratulate yourself on doing things well? How many times have you focused on your successes, rather than your failures? Replace your inner editor with your inner grandmother:
The teacher said you did a great job with the role play on Monday's class!
You got an 80% on the last test - that's 10% better than you did last time!
You used those new phrasal verbs properly!
The guy from London said that your English sounded a lot better on the phone!
It doesn't matter if these things would sound stupid to someone else. They're not for someone else - they're for you and for you only.
It's just like the sports coaches say: Attitude gives you altitude. The most important muscle you have is the muscle that is located between your ears.
"Really, the greatest fear is fear itself." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
"Our greatest fear is not that we are powerless. Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." - Marianne Williamson
1.20.2011
Don't be THIS student.
Whose fault is it if you don't learn English?
Do you feel that your lack of progress is due to a bad teacher, a stupid teacher, a lazy teacher or an inefficient teacher?
Classroom interaction goes both ways. You can have the best teacher in the world, but if you're not responsible for your own learning, you're going to have problems. People always talk about different kinds of bad teachers...now it's my turn to talk about "bad" students.
After twelve years in the classroom, it's fairly easy to identify the students who won't make progress. Or, worse, the students who won't make progress, and say that it's TOTALLY the teacher's fault.
#1: THE LUMP. Maybe it's not fair to start with The Lump, but I will anyway, because I think that if all The Lumps were taken out of classes, life would be a lot easier for everyone. Somehow, The Lump always manages to be someone with a lot of money. The Lump never talks. Never. "You're the teacher; you is the one who is paid to talk. English class was not my idea; the Human Resources department needs to use up its budget this year and I was the only one who didn't participate in the regular classes. Besides, I don't need English. I have done the Proficiency exam since ten years ago and my English is good." And that's all you hear from The Lump: The Lump then sits with her arms crossed over her chest, staring at you like you came from Mars. The Lump will happily sit there for forty hours in that position! (Don't laugh. It's happened.)
#2: MR./MRS. PANIC. "Yes? Hello? I'm calling to find out about English classes for my son/daughter. My son/daughter is writing the TOEFL/IELTS/PTE/First/Advanced/Proficiency/BULATS the day after tomorrow and needs help with the exam. [Pause.] No, this is the first time s/he has written the exam. [Pause.] No, s/he doesn't have a textbook to help him/her study. [Pause.] No, s/he doesn't attend an English school. [Pause.] No, s/he doesn't have English classes outside of class. [Pause.] Eighty Euros an hour? Can't bring the price down a little bit?"
I always have this conversation with mothers, not with fathers. I think fathers would probably kill their kids for leaving exam preparation until the last minute, which kids almost always do. And no mother has ever paid €80 an hour for English classes...because mothers are smart! Mothers realize that English teachers are teachers...they're not miracle workers!!
#3: THE PATIENT. "Ohhh, my head hurts so much. I think I have the flu. Now, don't forget that you have to correct me on everything that I say wrong. You never correct me when I say thinks wrong. That's what I said, thinks! This cold is just so awful. I just got a cold and now I'm getting another cold. And I'm so tired! I don't know how you English teachers work so hard! Everyone is very so sick these days...no, that's what I said, so very sick...oh, I think I need an aspirin. And it's so cold in here!"
#4. THE NAG: "What do you mean, you don't have extra photocopies from that class we did six months ago? Why aren't you listening to my problems? Why are you so tired? It's not my fault that you've already taught for nine hours today! Sorry, excuse me? Where's my homework? What do you mean, homework? I'm an important person! I have no time for homework! I have an important job and I have children and it takes me an hour to drive here every morning, and I don't have time for anything silly like homework! Homework is for idiots! I pay you to put English in my head, not to give me homework! Now pay attention to ME!"
#5. THE LEGO LANGUAGE EXPERT. "For me, learning English is very ok, but, oh! Why no is more like Spanish? Why not can I take my Spanish words and only translate them directly into English and put them where always I put Spanish words. Is not fair!!" (This person has probably been trying to learn English for, oh, twenty years or so.)
To be fair, we all have days like this. But if you find that your inner dialogue starts sounding like this all the time, you will find that you'll make more progress if you change the way you think about learning.
Do you feel that your lack of progress is due to a bad teacher, a stupid teacher, a lazy teacher or an inefficient teacher?
Classroom interaction goes both ways. You can have the best teacher in the world, but if you're not responsible for your own learning, you're going to have problems. People always talk about different kinds of bad teachers...now it's my turn to talk about "bad" students.
After twelve years in the classroom, it's fairly easy to identify the students who won't make progress. Or, worse, the students who won't make progress, and say that it's TOTALLY the teacher's fault.
#1: THE LUMP. Maybe it's not fair to start with The Lump, but I will anyway, because I think that if all The Lumps were taken out of classes, life would be a lot easier for everyone. Somehow, The Lump always manages to be someone with a lot of money. The Lump never talks. Never. "You're the teacher; you is the one who is paid to talk. English class was not my idea; the Human Resources department needs to use up its budget this year and I was the only one who didn't participate in the regular classes. Besides, I don't need English. I have done the Proficiency exam since ten years ago and my English is good." And that's all you hear from The Lump: The Lump then sits with her arms crossed over her chest, staring at you like you came from Mars. The Lump will happily sit there for forty hours in that position! (Don't laugh. It's happened.)
#2: MR./MRS. PANIC. "Yes? Hello? I'm calling to find out about English classes for my son/daughter. My son/daughter is writing the TOEFL/IELTS/PTE/First/Advanced/Proficiency/BULATS the day after tomorrow and needs help with the exam. [Pause.] No, this is the first time s/he has written the exam. [Pause.] No, s/he doesn't have a textbook to help him/her study. [Pause.] No, s/he doesn't attend an English school. [Pause.] No, s/he doesn't have English classes outside of class. [Pause.] Eighty Euros an hour? Can't bring the price down a little bit?"
I always have this conversation with mothers, not with fathers. I think fathers would probably kill their kids for leaving exam preparation until the last minute, which kids almost always do. And no mother has ever paid €80 an hour for English classes...because mothers are smart! Mothers realize that English teachers are teachers...they're not miracle workers!!
#3: THE PATIENT. "Ohhh, my head hurts so much. I think I have the flu. Now, don't forget that you have to correct me on everything that I say wrong. You never correct me when I say thinks wrong. That's what I said, thinks! This cold is just so awful. I just got a cold and now I'm getting another cold. And I'm so tired! I don't know how you English teachers work so hard! Everyone is very so sick these days...no, that's what I said, so very sick...oh, I think I need an aspirin. And it's so cold in here!"
#4. THE NAG: "What do you mean, you don't have extra photocopies from that class we did six months ago? Why aren't you listening to my problems? Why are you so tired? It's not my fault that you've already taught for nine hours today! Sorry, excuse me? Where's my homework? What do you mean, homework? I'm an important person! I have no time for homework! I have an important job and I have children and it takes me an hour to drive here every morning, and I don't have time for anything silly like homework! Homework is for idiots! I pay you to put English in my head, not to give me homework! Now pay attention to ME!"
#5. THE LEGO LANGUAGE EXPERT. "For me, learning English is very ok, but, oh! Why no is more like Spanish? Why not can I take my Spanish words and only translate them directly into English and put them where always I put Spanish words. Is not fair!!" (This person has probably been trying to learn English for, oh, twenty years or so.)
To be fair, we all have days like this. But if you find that your inner dialogue starts sounding like this all the time, you will find that you'll make more progress if you change the way you think about learning.
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