Sarka

What is the best way to learn English?

Have you ever been a false beginner?

When I heard this compound noun “false beginner” for the first time, I thought it describes people, who are pretending to be beginners to avoid learning, but actually they are not .

I looked up the definition which states, that “ false beginners understand the meaning of a great deal of language and are able to engage in controlled, form-based  activities, but their skills are very limited when they get into meaning-focused situations”

According to this description I am a false beginner myself. So what to do? There are some recommendations how to become fluent and accurate in English.

Firstly you should be focused on the area of receptive fluency. It means listening and reading with a concentration on a content and understanding. My advice is to listen in English what you find interesting. You can watch gripping films (movies) in an original English version or listen to BBC radio broadcasting with its wide range of topics. How to support your ability to read?  You could read regularly the BBC news or borrow a haunting English book in original or in a simplified version.

In addition to that, you have to actively learn new useful words, especially the ones, which are used more often. Look up their definition in a dictionary and memorize them. The best way how to remember new word is to say it out loudly many times and imagine the situation in which you use this word. Practice every few days until you can remember it clearly (=spaced repetition). If you want to be able to use the new vocabulary actively it is necessary to learn it off by heart.

Secondly, you have to practice speaking and writing. My advice how to achieve this purpose is to make friends with people from foreign country. Spending time with them will be the best opportunity, how to communicate in English. Consequently, when they leave, you can keep in touch by e-mails or letters and practice your writing.

Finally, the most important thing is to keep using English every day at least for a short time. Support your motivation as much as possible.

However the best way to learn English is to go to England and live there.

Pavel

What is the best way to learn English?

It’s hard to find an easy answer for the usual question of how to learn English best, as we can’t comprehend English as one skill.

We must consider that English is a set of knowledge, which students need to know to be all-round fluent in this language. By the set of knowledge I mean different skills like knowing vocabulary and correct grammar rules, and more importantly the ability to listen and speak in English, or read a book written in English.

So, after knowing some basics in vocabulary and grammar rules I would start with reading some easier books for students to improve these two skills. Then, I would recommend finding some audio podcasts made by English teachers, as listening to a native speaker is very important. There are plenty of them on the Internet. After that, I found it quite useful to watch English movies with my native language’s subtitles to improve listening. Afterwards, I’ve switched to English subtitles as it constantly makes me think in English.

Many people find speaking in English the most difficult skill and it’s no surprise that this is only because of their own fear. My advice would be to not avoid speaking, in spite of the fact that you will speak with mistakes. Just do it, as practice makes perfect! I know that it will sound like a cliché, but what helped me a lot was speaking after a few beers in English and Irish pubs, as it always gave me a bit of confidence and I didn’t think about mistakes too much.

So, as there is no single best way for learning English, from my point of view all students should focus on all skills and if they’re really determined, they will gradually become a masters of English language.

Thanks!

Matej, Monika, Klara P.

What the weather forecast said was that the night will be very cold.

ACCORDING

________________________ the night will be very cold.

The reason why he is very upset is probably his wife.

SEEMS

_____________________________ with his wife.

There is a possibility that it was caused by air pollution.

MIGHT

____________________________ by air pollution.

People consider this book to be one of the best of all time.

THOUGHT

________________________ one of the best of all time.

I am afraid my mother-in-law is going to visit us very soon.

EXPECTED

My mother-in-law ____________________________________.

Kristyna, Klara T.

I ………………………….. more for my entrance exam-now I have to find a job.

WISH

I should have studied more for my entrance exam-now I have to find a job.

If ……………… so nervous at the job interview.

ONLY

I should not have been so nervous at the job interview.

If …………………. this car!

HAD

You shouldn’t have bought this car.

I …………………… more about the problems in her family.

KNEW

I would like to know more about the problems in her family.

It………………..your homework

TIME

You should do your homework now.

Andrea, Karolina, Katka

I should have gone to university.

WISH

I___________________________________ to university.

I should have listened to your advice.

ONLY

_________________________________ to your advice!

I would rather you left my house.

PREFER

I____________________________________ my house.

You should go to sleep now.

HIGH

It is___________________________________ to sleep.

Would you prefer me to go there with another friend?

WENT

____________________________with another friend?

I should have bought an umbrella!

IF

___________________________________ an umbrella!

Tommy, Michal D., Michal V.

There appears to be a macaque out there.

SEEMS

It _________________ out there.

It is thought that we are living in a free country.

APPEARS

It _______________living in a free country.

According to the latest research macaques are thought to be friendly. Apparently, they are not.

INDICATED

The latest research __________________________________________________ are believed to be friendly. Apparently, they are not.

Macaques might have been dangerous in 2004.

PROBABLY

Macaques ____________________________ dangerous back in 2004.

According to zoologists, macaques are an endangered species.

ANNOUNCED

It ________________________________ that macaques are an endangered species.

Macaques are expected to be extinct in a couple of months.

THOUGHT

_____________________ macaques will be extinct in a couple of months.

Answers

When you have finished, click on the picture below to see the answers.

Fotobabble from Maria about her best friends and Czech food

Fotobabble from Vera about her family

Andrea:

Cash or credit card

Katka:

Do you think it´s better to borrow money from friends or family?
I think it depends if you have better relationship with your family or friends. But personally I would borrow money from my family, because they would lend you bigger amout of money and there would be stronger feeling of guilt if you don´t pay it back. And that´s better motivation for paying back.

Saving money

Klara P:

Is there anything you feel guilty about spending money on? Why?
I have to admit, that I love clothes and shoes a lot and sometimes I feel really guilty about spending money for these things. Honestly, I don´t usually need this beutiful sweater or T-shirt, but I buy it because I like it. The worst thing is when I find a piece of clothing with tiger or striped pattern. That´s what I love the most. I think that the good thing about it is not spending big amounts of money as I very often look for bargins or sales.

Are you good at saving money?

Klara T:

Did you have a Saturday job or a holiday job when you were younger? What kind of work did you have to do?
My answer is of course, I had a holiday job last summer, when I was really younger. ( )
I worked in the restaurant of Česká televize Brno, in Brno. It was only one street from International house.
I was there for one month and I had to work in kitchen as auxiliary power. I had to clean all kitchen and clean vegetable and fruits and all clean restaurant including toilets. I had to prepare six salads every morning and it was really very hard. I had to think up new kind of salad every day and every morning first I had to clean all restaurant and after that I had to prepare the salads. And when I was doing it, I was so slowly at that and I lost many time for cleanning dishes. After that I was in haste all the time, because I had to washing plates and other dishes and in the end all kitchen. It wasn´t easy work and I know, that I never would like to do this job in my life. As a brigade-work it is good but as life´s work is very bad.

Tommy:

Do you give money to any charities or non-governmental organizations? Which ones? Why did you choose them?
Every month I donate a small amount of money from my bank account to an organization called UNICEF. Being one of the biggest organization involved in saving children lives, this one is one of the most trust-worthy organizations in the world, because of its transparent politics. It provides you with a list of activities they are doing at the moment and that is why you know exactly where your money go to.

Do you know anyone who won a substantial amount of money on the lottery?
My great grand-mother used to try her luck in the lottery and because she had been trying it for at least 50 years, she eventually did win several times an interesting amount of money. She had never told anyone about her winnings and saved the money for her children which came as a unbelievable surprise when she died and they found out about it. Her story remind me a bit of the short novel “The man who planted trees”. It shows that if you take a bit of effort every day, you can eventually achieve significant results…

Ivana: My first solo recital

Pavel: The Time Prisoner

Eva: The Sheik’s family

Karolina: Pillars of the Earth actor

Martin’s bike

Tommy’s fotobabble

Andrea’s fotobabble

There is also an audioboo:

http://audioboo.fm/boos/271457-klara-and-jessie

They would be very grateful for your comments.

Unfortunately, wordpress doesn’t seem to want to play nicely with either of these sites, so you will have to click on the links to see / hear them. If you have any tips for embedding them, please let me know.

Enjoy!

Klara

Most people in the class wish they could have a year off to travel because they find it interesting. On the other hand they realize that they would need more money. Only Klárka has never wished this because it would be difficult to catch up at school.

Andrea

If you are one of my students and would like to send me something to include on the site, you can email me or send it to me through Edmodo.

If you are not one of my students, take a look around and feel free to comment on anything you see here – I’ll pass the comments on to the authors of the work.

Enjoy!