Learning English: Tips for Beginners

[Avant]

Hi, everyone! I am glad to learn about this forum which deals on ESL, as I am a primary English teacher and even if I am already a teacher of English, I still have to learn a lot since there are lots of changes in the English language because it is evolving.

Iwould like to share the following tips for those who are just starting (might also apply to everybody at a certain degree) to learn English:
1. Just like a new baby, we learn a language slowly. First we listen, then we speak, then we read and finally, write.
2. Listen, speak, write and most of all, THINK in ENGLISH.
How: joining and posting in forums, especially in this website is very educational and informative.
3. Make friends with somebody who is an ESL learner or somebody who can study and practise with you with the language.
4. Read English stories and articles.
5. Write down new words, start a vocabulary notebook.
6. Keep an English diary to practise writing sentences in English.
7. Visit an English speaking country (if you can afford it, why not), live, listen and speak with native speakers.

This is my first post but I hope you learn something from it.
Keep on posting! :D

[Floren]

Hi avant,

Last week I sent you a message to make friend with you, but now I have't receied your fitback, if you agree to make friend with me. Please, send massege to me.

Thanks you,

[Ns]

[Mkhraim]

Thank you for your advices.
It's vary nice.
I'll try to do most of it

[Torsten]

Hi mkhraim and welcome to our forum

You might want to take a look at this:
Some advice?
http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic1360.html

Let me know what you think,
Torsten

TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between two students in their dormitory during registration week

[Pyro]

Definatly listen to people. There's a ton of expressions and grammatical quirks that you just have to pick up. There's also a lot of sayings that make perfect sense to English speakers, but no sense to people that are new with the language! I guess that's pretty much true in any language though.

[*Delta*]

hi avant
I wanted to ask you something
am traning now for my TOEFL test but am not in that order that you have mentioned above

[Torsten]

Hi Delta, if you want to prepare for the TOEFL you will be interested in the information here:
30/30 Challenge or How to learn English?
http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic10072.html

Follow the instructions and your English will improve dramatically.
Let me know what you think.
Regads,
Torsten

TOEIC listening, photographs: Boarding the schoolbus

[Pfizer]

watch tv or dvd it's a great idea cause you can earn and learn current english and not "english from books"

[TomWelling]

The more you speak, the better you write. Is that true?

[Torsten]

Hi TomWelling, welcome to our forum. If you want to write correctly, you have to learn a lot of authentic and natural English phrases, "strong collocations", idioms and even entire sentences. If you speak a lot, it doesn't necessarily mean that your sentences are correct.
It's best if you follow this simple but powerful principle: "Input before output". This means, the more English you absorb and digest, the better your English becomes.

Let me know what you think.
Torsten

TOEIC listening, photographs: Riding a mountainbike

[EnglishSpeaker]

My suggestion is to read the newspapers. It has a lot of uncommon words, which is great to improve your vocabulary. :D

[Borjana]

Hi, I`m new in this forum, and reading messages , and liked to learn english, my experience is, I reading kids book, newspapers, watching tv, much serials, or watching three time non stop, in interval 45 - 60 minuts, speaking aloud with my self, because I` scary maybe any body laughing with my english, because my spelling is same with my lungage, but, every body meet with me, tell me, your english is good, and I feeling good and learning more, , other, few days ago, I meet one friend , don`t see long ago, and she tell me , good, your english is perfect, and in moment , my eyes wet, and my emocion, don`t let me to talking more, but , this episod, I tell you, encourage me, and, I tell my self, learning and study more, . I don`t have any plan for study in any school this time, but, maybe, where my english to bee more , more good, maybe surprizing my self, and for school don`t have age, . Sorry, I writing , but, please, you understend me, I need to talk, and this forum , you are my friends. Sincerely Bora.

[Violino]

Also good way to learn english words is to write them down on some slips of paper and hang them in all room/house - on the walls, on furnitures, everywhere we can "by accident" read them, sometimes just see - without thinking of (learning) them.

[Stew.t.]

I think the best way is immersion (put yourself into the input), motivation (do not give up) and application. Learning a language is like riding a bike you need the push from a helping hand, you need the support from stabilisers, but at some point you have to go it alone and freewheel into self fulfilled learning.
_________________
Please meet Stewart Tunncilff