Many make the fatal mistake of diving right in without thinking much about what it actually takes to master the English language. Considering the amount of attention given to teaching the language academically, it's criminal almost nothing is done to prepare you mentally and emotionally for the challenges that lie ahead. If the grammar, the vocabulary and the language skills are the tangibles that set the wheels in motion, the intangibles—how to apply what you've learned, how to overcome the fear of speaking English and how to deal with setbacks, for example—are quite simply the essentials that keep you on the right path to the ultimate destination.
Forget the "whats" and focus on the "hows" for a second. No matter what you're hoping to gain from this experience, your road map for success boils down to the following 8 language learning hacks that you might not have heard much about.
Reset Your Mindset
You will not find the right mindset
until you unplug and reset.
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Language learning is often a long hard slog with countless hurdles that look set to grind you to a halt. You could never get over the line by relying on the weekly lessons alone, wishing that everything would take care of itself. Given the amount of ground to cover, it's a near impossible task to share and explain in class every piece of information that you need to know.
Most of the hard work takes place outside the classroom, anyway, because no matter how much you study, you still have to develop your language skills to make use of all the knowledge that you've acquired. For every hour you spend in class, for example, you must put aside at least another hour to practice what you've learned.
Therefore, it's vitally important to have the right mindset from day one. If you want to see progress, you must take the initiative to go the extra mile. That is something conventional language schools or textbooks seldom teach you, but expect your coach to preach its significance every now and then.
Attitude Trumps Aptitude
Aptitude allows you to move at your own pace,
but it is the attitude that wins you the race.
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There are plenty of ways to learn a language. Regardless of how you choose to do it though, you must always maintain a positive attitude toward the challenges you're facing. While the right mindset gets you off to a bright start, the right attitude is what you need to get the most out of it. But the attitude we're talking about here is much more than just being attentive and proactive in class.
For example, are you willing to:
speak English with your family and friends?
read at least one English article every day?
keep a list of words and phrases that you've learned?
stop using broken English in texting?
start thinking in English instead of your first language?
And the list goes on. Basically, you must pounce on every opportunity of gaining valuable exposure to the language. What makes it challenging is that each of the above calls for drastic changes to your lifestyle that can only be sustained if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone to embrace the unknown.
Narrow Your Focus
To mount a challenge,
the key is to unlock the doors that count.
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Today’s language learners are blessed with a vast array of learning resources. So, it's not surprising that many of you prefer to learn the language on your own. With numerous websites and reference books vying for your attention though, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by such a sheer number of options—especially at the beginning of your learning journey. Take some of the most popular online dictionaries, for instance: Oxford, Longman and Merriam-Webster. Which one is the best for example sentences and which one is the best for American English?
This is where the coach’s input becomes indispensable. Those who've been there, done that can easily draw on their past experience to help you make better choices. Knowing where to focus your efforts on not only saves you a great deal of time, but also points you in the right direction.
And bear in mind that language learning is not a sprint. It is a marathon of challenges that test your limits in more ways than one, which means you usually have to make some adjustments here and there in order to reach the finish line. As you move through different stages of your learning, a language coach can always adapt to your evolving needs. Can textbooks or courses that cater to a large group of students do the same?
Create an Affinity
You can only turn something into a habit
if you are willing to brave the storm to do it.
(Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay)
A curious conundrum facing the teaching communities in many non-native English speaking countries is that English learners still somehow struggle to achieve mastery even though the language is practically taught at every level in schools. Roberto Guzman, an English language professor, once pointed out that his students still found it difficult to communicate in English despite demonstrating their knowledge of grammar in classwork and written tests. As baffling as this revelation might seem, the underlying cause of the problem is clear as day.
Knowing all the grammar in the world is not going to make any difference if you do not feel the need to speak or write in English. The challenge is therefore to find an approach that can nurture your affinity with the language. One way is to use authentic materials—such as news articles and feature stories on informational websites, and educational videos on YouTube—that reflect how the language is used by native speakers in everyday life. Unlike textbooks, handouts or worksheets designed for academic purposes, the choice of content can always be tailored to your interests.
The benefits are twofold. It's always easier to pay attention to stuff that you like. Because the topic is about something you're concerned with, you can relate to what you're seeing. After reading an article on something you're passionate about, for example, you may question the writer's opinions, you may draw conclusions of your own or you may want to discuss it with your friends. In one way or another, you're going to end up using any combination of the four language skills—speaking, listening, reading and writing—to process and relay that newly acquired information. That is how you gradually internalize an unfamiliar language.
The 4-in-1 Approach
You can never be an effective speaker/writer
if you are not an attentive listener/reader.
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Most of you tend to devote your efforts to getting more speaking practice, leaving the other three language skills by the wayside. Little did you realize that you would miss out on the synergy created when working on all of them simultaneously.
For example, if you spend more time listening to how native speakers speak English, the increased exposure to those colloquial expressions as well as the intonation and the pronunciation will help you speak more naturally. If you read more, you will be able to speak with a wider range of vocabulary. If you text consistently in Standard English, eventually you will get better at organizing your thoughts in English to express yourself with greater clarity.
Regardless of what your initial priority is, committing to all four ensures much quicker progress and gives you more opportunities to build a stronger foundation.
Refuel Your Motivation
Inspiration is the straw that draws
motivation out of desperation.
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The journey to mastering a language is anything but plain sailing. Setbacks are inevitable. And the inner demons that want you to fail—procrastination, frustration, you name it—are all desperate to shut you down. Motivation is therefore the fuel that drives you forward and keeps you firmly on track. The question is, how do you sustain it? One way is to make sure the learning activities feel interesting and enjoyable rather than routine and uninspiring. No matter how tedious the task may seem initially, you must find a way to enjoy it. The trick is to focus on aspects of the work that motivate you intrinsically.
Conventional language teaching often makes the mistake of ignoring this intangible side of language learning. Explaining how the English language works is only half of the job. The other half is to help students cope with the mental side of the challenge. Coaches may even argue that the latter is more important simply because a language can never be taught. The ability to use a particular language can never be transferred from one individual to another. It can only be picked up organically.
So, the key is creating an environment to facilitate the natural, gradual acquisition of the language, and ensuring that you're able to find the motivation to keep moving in the right direction. That's why having a battle-hardened leader by your side is such a plus. Experienced coaches, especially those who walked a similar path, know when to put themselves in your shoes and make you see the bigger picture. And their passion for the language tends to rub off on you too, giving you the inspiration you need to fight on.
Manage Your Expectations
Climbing the stairs is less daunting
when you take it one step at a time.
(Image by Jukan Tateisi from Unsplash)
Many set off with the impression that the mission can be accomplished fairly quickly, only to discover that the journey is a slog through the mud rather than a stroll in the park. Before long, the initial buzz fizzles out and thoughts of giving up begin to creep in. Such scenario has probably played out a zillion times under the eyes of those who aspire to master a non-native language. It's not for lack of trying, though.
The real problem is the unrealistic expectation that enrolling in one of those intensive English courses is all you need to succeed. Look, I hate to break it to you, but the idea there's some sort of magic formula that suits everyone is nothing more than wishful thinking. The harsh reality is that the process of learning a language is not as straightforward as one often expects.
Skim off those overly ambitious objectives and start off with something attainable. Aim for the ceiling first and shoot for the stars later. Divide the pursuit of a goal into small steps that feel manageable instead of giant leaps that seem impossible. Even if you only manage to meet a couple of targets in the short term and miss the rest by a mile or something, earning those little triumphs on your own merits gives you a bit of oomph to trudge on to the next chapter.
Aim for Consistency
Consistency is a product of
persistence rather than insistence.
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One of the toughest roadblocks to mastering a language is the lack of consistency. How do you get it right nine times out of ten? Perhaps the more pressing concern is, how do you first unlearn the bad habits that have impeded your progress and shaped the way you use the language all this while?
For starters, it takes plenty of diligence and persistence to change something that you've been accustomed to for so long. But the biggest barrier to achieving consistency has to be the lingering sense of uncertainty in your mind that repeatedly questions the linguistic choices being made. Is the grammar good or bad? Does it sound natural? Is there something wrong with the sentence structure? Your first instinct is probably to google a way out of these nagging doubts. There's no guarantee that you'll always find the right answers though.
Hence, it's clear that you need an experienced English user to not only mentor and guide you but also serve as a role model of how to speak and write better English. Malcolm Gladwell, an author best known for his unique take on popular culture, kind of nailed it when he said, “We learn by example and by direct experience because there are real limits to the adequacy of verbal instruction.”
Hack Your Way to Mastery Language Learning
If you don't set out to earn the victory
from the first second,
you may end up scrambling over the line
just to finish second.
(Image by Spencer Bergen from Unsplash)
As with all challenges in life, the secret to success lies in getting a grip on the psychological side of things. And these language learning hacks, while they're not often talked about, are precisely what you need to set the right tone from the outset.
Why not come and kick the tires on Englishire's one-on-one coaching to see for yourself the tricks you've been missing all along? Take the wheel now and feel the difference it can make to your English learning journey!