Hi Guys,

I hope you found the previous tips on Speaking and Listening useful and have put them to good use.

This is part two where I’ll concentrate on Reading and Writing.

Reading:                                                                                                          As with listening, it’s a good idea to find the answers to: ‘who, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘how’ and ‘why’. Take notes.

Skim the text to get the main idea before you read it slower the second time for specific information.

Look for signal words that may show contrasting ideas or explanations and pay attention to pronouns as they often refer to the subject of the text.

When reading the newspaper or magazine articles look at the headlines and photos to try and guess what the article will be about. Use any prior knowledge you may already know about the topic, it will certainly make things easier for you.

Don’t worry about the words you don’t understand, try to guess so that you don’t stop reading every so often. Break the word down and see if it is derived from another. Look at its function; is it a verb, a noun, an adverb or an adjective? Finally, look up the words you don’t know when you have finished reading and see if you were correct.  It’s a great way to learn vocabulary and it will build your confidence.

 Most importantly find something that interests you to read, it’s the best way to keep reading. It doesn’t have to be educational; it could be based on a hobby or general interest.

Writing:                                                                                                     Make sure you use what you have learned in class. Write letters and post cards to your friends and family (even if you don’t send them). Keep a learning journal or even a travel journey in English.  Write ‘to do’ lists, text and email your friends in English. Keep in touch with the friends you make at GV by sending emails and leaving comments on our blog. Fill in questionnaires and forms, there are so many different ways to improve your writing.

That’s about it, unless you would like to add some of your own tips, please feel free to post a comment. As I said, it’s a good way to practise your writing.

Remember, it’s not the end of the world if you make a mistake, so keep trying and use English as much as possible!

Patty Thomas                                                                                                                       Academic Manager                                                                                                                         GV Sunshine Coast .

Learning English is an ongoing process that doesn’t end when classes do or when you finish your course. It may even surprise you to learn that a good proportion of what you learn is learned incidentally, so, take advantage of the fact that you are currently living and studying in an English speaking country. Here are some helpful tips:

Speaking:

Speak English as much as possible and try to stress words appropriately. Intonation is really important and how you say something may have a totally different meaning to what you want to say, for example, ‘hello’ could be said in a friendly, sarcastic or indifferent tone.

Use your imagination and try this exercise:

Ask three different people, your friend (1), someone you don’t really know (2) and someone you don’t like (3):  what time it is, or invite them out for a cup of coffee.  You will probably find that you will say it a little differently each time.

Avoid speaking your own language while you are here because each time you do, you reproduce your own language’s stress and intonation patterns making it difficult to master the ones required for English. This is partially why you speak English with an accent. Mimic the sounds you hear, it’s a good way to learn. Besides, we know that you can speak your own language fluently so work on English!

Some students mistake speaking very quickly with being fluent. Speak slowly and clearly, so even if you make a mistake the listener will understand most of what you are trying to say. If you speak quickly the listener will find it difficult to understand you.

If you can’t find someone to practise speaking with, read aloud to yourself. This really helps with stress and pronunciation. Have you ever noticed that everything sounds great in your mind when you read silently, but not so great when you are asked to read aloud in class? If possible, tape yourself and listen to your pronunciation.

Listening:

 Listen to the radio and watch the local news. Make sure you listen for ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘how’ and ‘why’.  Listening to music and learning lyrics to songs is a fun way to learn vocabulary. You can try and guess the lyrics to songs before you download the lyrics from the net.

Eavesdrop on conversations on public transport, it isn’t difficult because most people use their mobile phones and they’re quite loud. Even so, try not to make it to obvious you might upset someone.

Watch DVDs without subtitles because the idea is to improve your listening not your reading.

I hope these tips are useful so stay tuned for the next instalment.

Patty Thomas                                                                                                                      Academic Manager – GV Sunshine Coast