PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT


1. BEFORE STUDYING


Those who are interested in English:

Find out specifically why you want to study English. Do you study English because you want to understand American dramas or news on TV, or because you want to make American friends to broaden your sense of values, or because you want to read English novels? In my case, it was very simple. I loved the sound of English language so much that I wanted to be able to speak the language.


Those who are not interested in English, but are rather forced to study it:

Although it may not be easy for you, relate your interests to English. Say, you love cooking and music. When you memorize vocabulary, stick with vocabulary dealing with cooking and music, so that nobody can beat you on this vocabulary. Once you gain confidence on whatever the area you have covered, you will find English studying interesting.

My Advice 1


2. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Now, here is how to master English. Although what works for me may not work for you, as I show you how I mastered English, you may be able to get the essence of mastering English: practice, practice, and practice!


What I did and have been doing for years is to listen to NHK radio program. For your information, they have different kind of programs for different English levels. The programs are for 20 minutes every day. I usually listen to Business English, which starts at 10:40 p.m. The following describes what I do with the program and things you might want to try out.


Steps:

  1. Record the whole skit while listening to the program.
  2. After the program, listen the recorded skit a couple of times.
  3. Then start mimicking the speaker on the skit and do it over and over.

This mimicking is professionally called 'shadow practice' and interpreters do it for improving their skills.

If you find #3 too hard to do, try:

My Advice 2


  • Memorize the text.
    Those who have a little more time, and want to improve more, can do the following: simply memorize the whole text.

    My Advice 3

    My Advice 4

    From my experience, whatever you do, do not just do it once, because you can forget it easily, but do as many times as you can. Like they say, practice makes perfect!


    3. TO OVERCOME A SLUMP

    Even though you study hard, there will be a time when you feel in a slump. But if you do not expect this, you might feel silly spending all your time studying English or even think you are not cut out for mastering English.

    They say studying English is not like climbing up a steep hill, but like going up the stairs. When you think you have improved, that means you have gone up one step higher. When you think you have not improved, that means you are going up, but still on the same step level. Thus, if you do not give up but work a little harder and longer, you can climb up the next step.


    So the important thing is to see the big picture and recognize which step of the stairs you are on. That way you can avoid being in a dilemma and wasting your time just feeling upset.

    My Advice 5

    Always try to think (or make you believe!) that English studying is so much fun that you can never stop!!