Friday, February 03, 2006

Secrets in learning good English


1. Read more!

What should I read, you may ask. Read things that interest you, things you can understand without constant checking of the dictionary. Read things in paragraphs, not single isolated sentences in exercise books as far as possible. Read as much as you can, for example, 30 minutes a day. Try not to translate things into your mother tongue. Try to read the piece twice each time. If you skim through and get a rough idea you won't learn much in terms of language and grammar.

2. Listen more!

The same questions may be asked as in reading. Listen to things you can understand. Try to listen to tapes first if you are learning English and at an elementary stage. Don't think you can listen to the BBC straight away. You can try to listen to the news in your mother tongue and then the next hour news in English. It's been reported that doing this for 3 months can help improve listening ability to near native proficiency.

3. Speak more!

Try to speak English as often as you can. Even if you have no one to talk to, you can talk to yourself. Or you can read out aloud the stories you have read silently. Reading aloud is a good way to practise speaking. You can also read aloud dialogues or scripts in plays.

4. Enjoy the language!

You won't learn anything if you don't enjoy it. Find things you are interested in and read or listen to it to make yourself happy. Learning comes quietly and without your knowing it, you acquire something. By the time you have enjoyed English for a year, you'll suddenly find that you have a better feel for the language.

5. Use the dictionary!

Here is a good link for you. If you can't gusess the meaning of a difficult word from context, it is easy to just click and learn the meaning as well as the pronunciation of it by using this link. Try!

About Myself


Eva Fung-kuen, LAI

QUALIFICATIONS

1991
Ph.D., Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, H.K.
1983
M.A. in Linguistics for ELT, University of Lancaster, U.K.
1982
Diploma in the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages,
University of Manchester, U.K.
1981
Final Diploma, Institute of Linguists, London, U.K. (BA equivalent)
1980
Teacher Certificate, Special Education, Education Department
1974
Teacher Certificate, Northcote Teacher Training College

Working experience
I have taught in the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors for many many years. My research interest is in second language acquisition, reading, testing and self-access learning. In my spare time I help out as a voluntary worker organizing activities for English language teachers.

Fun in teaching
The fun in teaching is that we are learning at the same time. We make friends with our students and we stay young. We train ourselves to be patient, to share our love and to empathize with others. We don't just complete tasks. We interact with real people and we grow in the process.