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Learning new vocabulary and grammar is pointless if you do not…

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A question from Facebook: “I’ve learned a lot of words but I quickly forget their meaning and can’t remember them the next time…What should I do?” Doc Meme

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We learn new words and grammar, so we can communicate better.

Learning new vocabulary and grammar is pointless if you do not practise them in writing, speaking and listening. So whenever, you learn a new word or a new grammar rule, try to put it into practice.

There are many sites on the net where you can practise English with someone like http://www.italki.com and http://sharedtalk.com. Exchanging letters also could help. Facebook is a good way for communication, too.

As well as that, you can practise by recording your voice. This is a great way to spot your mistakes and at the same time improve your speaking skills.

Wishing you lots of good luck!

Kind regards,

Dimi

Category: Questions 0 comments

Practice Makes Perfect

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A question from Facebook: “Sometimes with listening I can’t recognize some words. When I try to write them down, I write them with wrong spelling so I can’t find them in the dictionary… and every time I listen I can’t get the idea. Could you advise me please how I can improve my vocabulary and listening?” Doc Meme

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Thank you for this question, Doc Meme.

I have been there and understand what you are going through. But with practice everything will come at its place, I assure you :-)

At the beginning, I also had such problems with listening. At that time, I worked as a computer designer. So what did I do to improve? Instead of music while I was working, I put English listening tasks as a background. Again and again, the same tasks till I got the main ideas. At home, when I was cooking or ironing, I was also listening to English speech (TV, radio). And that was each day. I was very motivated and also curious to find out new things. What happened in the end is that my listening skills have improved significantly. Initially, I wasn’t able to grasp most of the vocabulary but with regular practice, I started to understand more and more of the spoken words. And I started wondering, why at the beginning, I wasn’t able to catch the words? The answer is simple – practice makes difference. English is another language with different rhythm, intonation, stress. So you need time to get used to that and practice, practice, PRACTICE :-)

Practice makes perfect.

So it is normal when you start not to be able to get most of the spoken words. But do not give up :-) With regular practice, you can change that. When there is motivation and passion, everything is possible.

For instance, if you like, you can start by watching movies with subtitles. You can see on my website: http://englishwordoftheday2010.blogspot.com/search/label/Movies under the category Movies – the movies which I’m using with my students and which I like. Most of them are with subtitles.

The thing is to be immersed in English language on a daily basis. If you want to become good at anything, you have to spend a lot of time being engaged in that activity.

Do let me know how you are going.

Wishing you lots of good luck with English and with everything :-)

Kind regards,

Dimi

P.S. See the useful tips from BBC on how to remember new vocabulary: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/grammar-and-vocabulary-exams/tips-remember-words

Here is also the site which I use with my students for learning new words: http://quizlet.com