Tips for success in English

Come to class every day
English is learned in little steps. It is similar to learning a musical instrument. You must pick up the musical instrument and play it. If your guitar simply sits in the corner, you will never learn how to play it.

Listen to what the teacher says
You might not understand every word and that is ok. But, if you tune out, you understand nothing. This will make you frustrated and your teacher will get frustrated, too.

Focus on the assignment
If you are unable to focus on the assignment, if you are talking to your neighbor about something other than the assignment, I will think that my assignment is too easy for you, and you will get a more difficult assignment. Not as a punishment, but rather to help you stay focused.

Ask questions
If there is something you do not understand, ask. Teachers get paid to answer questions. We love answering questions. It makes us feel important.

Do the homework
There is a reason why I am giving you the homework, so do it. If for some reason, you do not have the homework done, please do not waste my time with excuses. Simply say, “I did not do the homework.” Why you did not do your homework does not interest me. I will get that information from your parents when I contact them to tell them you did not do your homework.

Stay organized
Structure your learning. Below are a few tips on how to do this.

How to structure your English folder.
Your English folder should be divided into three parts. Part 1 contains handouts that you receive from the teacher.Part 2 contains in-class assignments that you have finished.Part 3 contains corrected homework assignments you receive back from your teacher.

On each page you must legibly write your name, the date the assignment was given to you. If the assignment comes from a textbook, write the name of the textbook and the page the exercise(s) can be found on.

How to learn vocabulary
There are many different ways to learn vocabulary. Here are a few;Learn them from your vocabulary notebook. Transfer the difficult words from your vocabulary notebook to a notecard.Use a dictaphone device to record and learn your vocabulary. (Listen and repeat!)

In all cases, you will learn best if you learn a set number of words (perhaps 20) at a time. You can group the words into categories; you should learn important phrases where the word appears. This will increase your fluency.

How to structure your vocabulary notebook
Your vocabulary notebook has two columns. In the first column you should write the English word. In the second column the translation. Then on the line below you should write a short English sentence using the English word. This is sample sentence that you should remember.

How to structure your notecards
In the top left corner of the card write the word you want to learn. On the lines of the card write your sample sentence and/or phrase. Underline the key word in the sentences and phrases.Turn the card over and write an acceptable German translation in the top left corner. If you need to, write an acceptable German translation of the key sentence and/or phrase.

How to structure your audio files
Use your dictaphone. Read the English word and leave a 5 second gap. Then read the sample sentence and/or phrase and leave a 5 second gap. After this, you can record the German word if you want to. Repeat this process for 20 words and save your recording. Listen to what you have recorded and during the 5 second gaps, try to repeat the word or the phrase as often as you can.

Cognitively, this process is probably the closest thing we have to natural language learning.