#1 How To Learn A Language (Part 1/3)
Having A Tutor To Guide You
A tutor acts as a guide for you to become aware, whether it be pronunciation, grammar, sentence structure, etc.
A good tutor will give you encouragement, pass on knowledge and orient you to tools you can use to assist you in improving and, also, encourage you to become more aware of what you are having difficulties in.
Your learning should be a stress-free experience because if you are interested and excited you will learn.
Practicing new words when you can, practicing your pronunciation when you can, especially, if you have difficulty, should not be stressful.
Take action and become more aware. It requires focus, conscious attention, and determination. Remember, however, it is a process, not a goal. Awareness is always in progress. In the beginning you will get mentally tired, when learning a new language, the same for becoming aware. This is perfectly normal. The mental stress and tiredness in learning a language, sooner or later, will disappear. It takes time and persistence but you will improve.
Awareness is a process in becoming more focused and attentive to what you need to do or learn or acquire. A language student needs to listen, really listen to the chosen language. The student, also, needs to repeat new words to train the mind and the muscles of one’s mouth in order to pronounce them as well as possible. You don’t have to be perfect. One just needs to be understood.
Because English can be difficult to pronounce, sometimes due to the spelling, it is necessary to listen to the pronunciation of any word to really learn its sound. Notice the spelling. See patterns as they emerge. Focus. Always listen to new words, as soon as you can. You can use an online dictionary, e.g., The Free Dictionary at www.thefreedictionary.com, to hear American and British pronunciation. Try to focus, however, on the pronunciation, if you want, only on British or American. Remember, both nationalities speak English but the difference in the sound of the language and in the vocabulary used can be very, very different.
Repeat, repeat and repeat the pronunciation, especially, if the word is difficult. Break down the word into its parts. A good dictionary, like the one I mentioned above, will show you how the word is broken down.
Always ask for help, if you need it.
Read and/or listen to, in a very relaxed way, useful, informative and interesting material that you want to know about in order to provide food for conversation that you enjoy and which will, linguistically, feed and nourish you.
If you read and/or listen to something every day, you will progress and grow in the language you are learning. Let time do its work. Read often and read as much as you can so that you can gain more and more vocabulary. Listen, also, to something in English every day. Again, being aware and conscious of the language you are learning is accomplished by focusing and concentrating on what you are doing. To do that, be in contact with the language every single day, or as often as is possible.
Remember, learning a language is a process, not a final goal, and it requires practice, practice and more practice in order to gain more and more fluency. You will always be learning!
Be patient with yourself.
Know that you are on a journey. It will be a journey in growing awareness of the language you are learning. There will be no final stop on your journey unless you want to stop. If you want to speak English well, you must live it as much as possible. If you really want to learn as much as possible, know that you will always be learning new words, especially, if you want to know as much about the language as possible. Even in your first language there are always new words and concepts to learn. Are you doing that?
Surround yourself with English as much as possible and always stay connected to the language, at least, one way or another.
You have the Internet, so, in your hands you have virtually the whole world of English. Remember to always look for the definition of new words, always.
Stop for that moment when you see or hear a new word so that you can get to know the word, much like you would stop what you are doing in order to get to know someone.
Remember to only guess, if the meaning of the word is very, very clear in the context. And, even if it is very, very clear, look in the dictionary, especially, to get to know the word much, much better. You will learn what you need for the moment. Learning anything new require w-o-r-k. Don’t worry about learning all the meanings at once. It’s impossible to learn every thing about the language. Learn as you go. The dictionary is, and will be your best friend in language learning. Words are rich, and have various meanings. If for some reason you see or hear the word again and again, and still don't remember, look again in the dictionary to see the meaning. This is very normal. It’s part of the work you will need to do, if you want to master the language.
Seeing words again and again help us to get to know them. Remember, the context which surrounds the word, is everything. If you cannot figure out the meaning from the context, or if you have doubts, look in the dictionary or ask a native speaker. Find the answer, one way or another. A missed opportunity in knowing just one word could, not always, but could mean that you did not really understand the whole text. It’s rare, but anything is possible.
Learning requires dedication and real, due diligence, but in the end, it will be worth it, because you will become part of another world, another culture, another way of living.
You will always be learning new words, if you are really interested in becoming more and more aware of the language. Even in your first language there will always be new words.
It's the same when learning another language.
Love what you want to learn. It will make it easier, more stress-free, more interesting and much more fun, if you love what you are doing.
©2019 Farley Leite de Akers
Tutor of English | All Rights Reserved
3 octobre 2019
