Part 27
Once you leave the house to go to work or school, make sure you take your MP3 player with you. If you drive a car, feed your CD or MP3 player with an audio book and have it on in the background while you are driving. Again, you do not have to concentrate on what you hear -- simply switch on the CD or MP3 and concentrate on the traffic. As we have mentioned before, your subconscious mind will do most of the work for you. Trust in your ability to absorb the sound of new words and phrases while you are focusing your attention on something else. Relax. At the beginning you might find it a bit disturbing to hear an English voice speak while you are driving and you are probably tempted to switch the CD off. That's fine, you don't have to force yourself to do anything. Just switch the CD on and let it play for a couple of minutes. Then you can switch it off and listen to your favourite radio station for a while. After you have taken a short break, switch the CD back on and let it play for another couple of minutes. Repeat this procedure several times and try to increase the amount of time you spend on listening to your audio book or English radio station. Let's say, your trip to work lasts about 30 minutes.
Within that time you can listen to English for at least 10 minutes. By "listen" I actually mean you should have the CD or MP3 on in the background while you concentrate on the traffic or your tasks for the day ahead. Don't make the mistake of trying to understand every single word of what you hear. The primary purpose of the 30/30 Challenge is not so much to 'teach' you new vocabulary but rather to develop the habit of surrounding yourself with spoken English on a daily basis. Once you get into this habit, your ears will get tuned to the sound and intonation of the English language and your brain will start recognizing more and more words and phrases. The 30/30 Challenge will help you reach the point where your mind is used to spoken English. Your job is to follow these simple instructions for at least 30 days and once you complete this first task, you will experience a tremendous feeling of success. So, now you arrive at work or school where you spend the next couple of hours. Maybe you won't get any opportunity to listen to your audio book while you are at work. But then again, you might. At any rate you should take your MP3 player with and if you have a free minute or two, just put on your headphones and hit the "play" button. Who knows, your boss or cow-orkers might become interested in what you are listening to and you can tell that you are learning English.
If you have any English grammar or vocabulary questions,
please post them on this English Grammar Forum.
