advice for esl students
Essential Tips for Beginners at Business English – Get Your Priorities Straight!
For those who are just starting to study English as a foreign language, life can seem pretty tough. Especially if you are a beginner. As many say, beginnings are always scary Now, for beginners who need to study English in order to be able to work or function in a business environment in general, things seem even scarier. The added pressure students feel to achieve as much as they can in as little time possible is so great it ends up having the contrary effect. Frustration is never a good companion when learning. Well, here is some good news. It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s all a question of setting the right priorities. Want to know what they are? If you do you should definitely read on.
Priority 1
Identify exactly what vocabulary you should be learning first. What area of business will you be functioning in? What types of situations do you think you will be in? Keep in mind that although we can narrow things down to a selection of phrases needed for specific business related situations some general vocabulary is also important. After all, there are also social situations in the business world. Learning how to greet someone properly is just as important as knowing the specific words you will need to discuss business-related topics. Also, take into consideration there might be business lunches and dinners where the conversation might very generally be social.
Priority 2
Balance out fluency and accuracy activities so that your performance is both fluent and precise. Just studying grammar will make your English more precise, but it will also make your performance slower. If you’re too concerned with being accurate it might take you too long to think of and produce a sentence. On the other hand an excess in fluency-based activities may not be enough to correct mistakes or even learn new grammar. This can also be a problem since some grammar mistakes can affect what you’re trying to express. A good way to increase fluency is to use the language as much as you can outside the classroom.
Priority 3
Just relax. Keep in mind that English is not your native language and that you are allowed to make mistakes especially where pronunciation is concerned. Very often pronunciation can be a huge barrier to overcome. You shouldn’t set your expectations too high. It is not very likely you will be talking like a native speaker of English if you just started to study. Your main focus is to be understood as well as to understand. Everything else will come naturally with practice and exposure to the language. The use of audio tools that allow you to hear the language are very useful in helping you to learn proper English pronunciation easily. Audio tools (like the ones used in ESL classes) - such as CDs, cassettes, and downloads to your MP3 players are effective and convenient to use as you can listen to them in your car or while completing other tasks at the same time.
If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.englishlci.com as the original source).
The Crime of Double Negatives – Revealed!
Among the many challenges learning English as second language poses, an all time classic is a double negative. Since double negatives do exist and in fact are quite correct in other languages, for instance Spanish, many ESL students have to face the fact that in English they are not correct and therefore should not be used. What is a double negative, you might ask. It is is the nonstandard usage of two negatives used in the same construction. In a double negative sentence, they cancel each other and create a positive. Today, they are considered grammar mistakes.
The standard use of negatives in English can be understood from a mathematical concept. If you have two positives, for example + + = +, the result will be another positive. Now take a look at this. If we have two negatives, - - = +, they will equal another positive. In math in order to have a negative you would need to do this - + = - or + - = -. In other words you need a combination of a positive and negative to have a negative. Sounds a bit technical, right? Look at these examples that illustrate this concept. Remembering that two negatives form a positive will help you to avoid the “double negative” grammar problem:
I don’t want no coffee.
So, don’t is clearly negative and so is the word no. Here we have a double negative. The solution to this would be to say something like: I don’t want any coffee.
Since the word any is not negative, your problem is solved. Here is a list that has words that are considered negative. Use them once in your sentences and your statements will be negative.
no, not, none, nothing, nowhere, nobody, no one, hardly, scarcely, barely, neither
Here are some more examples.
I didn’t see nothing. – wrong!; I didn’t see anything. – right!
There wasn’t no one there. – wrong!; There wasn’t anyone there. – right!
I don’t hardly have time. – wrong!; I hardly have any time. – right!
There isn’t nowhere to park. – wrong!; There isn’t anywhere to park. – right!
We didn’t have nobody to help us. – wrong!; We didn’t have anybody to help us. – right!
He can’t barely move. – wrong!; He can barely move. – right!
She didn’t scarcely have anything to eat. – wrong!; She scarcely had anything to eat. – right!
Just keep in mind that nothing is impossible. By learning and practising the correct use of these words in your ESL programs you can avoid problems in the future. And no matter how many times you hear them in rock songs, remember: just say no to the double negative!
If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.englishlci.com as the original source).
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There’s No Magic Behind An English Course
Language learning can be very intriguing. People tend to think that after making the decision to take up a course, knowledge will start growing unattended in some corner of their minds. So, what they usually do is attend ESL classes, more or less regularly, and hope that every time a class finishes, their English level will be considerably higher. If they can’t tell a complete story then, using their “new” language, after the first or second lesson, frustration settles in their minds, and they usually end up blaming the trainer, the material, the time, their stress, or whatever seems most suitable.
This is more evident in one-on-one courses, as the pressure to succeed is only exerted by the teacher and not from peers. Excuses for a poor performance proliferate quickly and the students soon forget that at least 50% of their success depends basically on their own efforts. A course may be fantastic, the trainers and methodology a dream, but if a student is not fully committed to work hard all along the process, said course is bound to fail.
The symptoms of failure start long before the course is finished; they appear by the beginning of the second or third class. What are they? Just simple indicators that a student is not fully committed or has a careless behavior towards the course. Here is a list of the most typical ones:
- INCOMPLETE MATERIAL: Not having a notebook may be acceptable once, but lost books, CDs, or whatever material the class requires may be telling you that the course is not as important for the student as it should be. Important things are kept on hand, as you use them regularly.
- LATE ARRIVAL: Unexpected meetings or commuting may interfere sometimes with lessons. But students should arrange their schedules accordingly and make the best use of their time, not to interrupt their and other people’s lessons. Losing one half of each lesson will make a student learn probably only one third of what he expects.
- NO HOMEWORK: When excuses are abundant and real work too little, a student has found the shortest way to failure. Homework was created to use and practice what you learn, if you don’t practice, you don’t remember a thing.
- CLASS INTERRUPTIONS: Cell phones are distracting for students, and a nightmare for teachers. The more a cell phone rings during the class, the lower the level of the English course in the student’s personal hierarchy. Who learns unimportant things?
- QUESTIONING: A teacher may not be right all the time, but he certainly won’t be wrong all the time. When a student questions everything you say it is only obvious that he is not willing to learn from you. And people who don’t want to learn, will never learn.
Many other factors can interfere with a student’s capacity to learn English, like stress levels or natural skills. However, most of them can be eluded with the adequate methodology and a suitable trainer. But no strategy can work properly if the main interference comes from the student’s wrong attitude towards the learning process. There’s no magic behind an English course to make you learn a whole language over the weekend. No system can compensate for a lack of effort, only a student’s commitment and hard work will. So, if you’re planning to take up a course soon, remember that only by doing your best will you be able to get the most of the whole program. That’s the formula.
An Infallible Plan to Maximize your ESL Learning
You´ve made your decision. You´ve signed up for classes at an ESL school. This is it! A wonderful chance to work on your English skills and enjoy all the things American culture has to offer. However, you must think about this: no matter how fantastic your course is, no matter how skilled your instructors are, you could miss out on wonderful chances to take your English fluency to the next level.
Put your speaking abilities to the test by meeting and hanging out with local residents!
So, you really want to SPEAK English? Feel all speechless and bashful when trying to make friends? Face your fears! Staying with a host family could be awkward, difficult sometimes, but it is a tremendously enriching experience, a unique opportunity to get to know the American way of life and also a fantastic way to improve communication skills.
In class, you learned how to ask, how to respond, what to say, when to say it, how to say it. You name it! You learned it in your ESL program! But with your instructor it is one thing; experiences out in the street are a little different. The recommended way to learn how words and phrases are used in real social scenarios is to go out and mingle! Ask about what people your age generally do for fun, where they go, and plan outings with your fellow classmates. You could talk to really cool people, and even make long-lasting friendships.
If just the thought of initiating a conversation with a total stranger makes you tremble, find activities that will give you the perfect chance to talk to people. Think of the interesting people you could meet while learning to ski, or during a hike. Any sport or outdoor activity offers a great chance to engage in lively conversation, plus the added benefit of keeping you in shape.
Or take another course. Music lessons, arts and crafts, art courses, business courses - you´ll have a variety to choose from- and yet again ANOTHER incredible opportunity to communicate and share. If you happen to be interested in, for example animal rights, go on down to the local animal shelter, or wildlife preserve, and talk with the volunteers.
So, when the bell rings and school´s out for the day, resist the inclination to go home, stay in, and call it a day. Put what you´ve learned at school to good use. Don´t be self-conscious. And don´t fret about what they´ll think of your fuency. Chances are they´ll just be happy to have met you.
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