DO YOU WANT TO KNOW
HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH...from ABC?
For toddlers, learning one
language is no more difficult than learning another.
Even if the child doesn't continue in the language,
learning so young clearly stimulates brain activity."-
Francois Thibaut, (Founder of The Language Workshop
for Children and specialist, Early Childhood Education)
Learning English while living in Japan is a very
difficult thing to do. However it can be done. When
learning English one must remember that "Rome
wasn't built in a day." It takes a very long
time to be able to speak well. Learning English is
more like learning Classical piano than it is like
learning how to ride a bicycle or how to swim. With
swimming lessons you can see the results very quickly.
After only a few months or less, you can swim. English
is very different. It takes years of English classes
to become fluent.
Arguably, English is the most difficult language
in the world to learn, comprising the largest vocabulary
in the world, and possessing a system of grammar that
often leaves students and even teachers dumbfounded.
In many ways Japanese is actually much easier to learn
than English, the grammar rules do not change very
much, whereas English grammar has many exceptions
to the rule.
If you are lucky enough to go and live in an English
speaking country for a year, and study hard, speak
everyday, and avoid having many Japanese friends while
there, you will come back to Japan as a fluent English
speaker. Why is this so? Well if you simply add up
the hours of English speaking practice--let's say
8 hours of English speaking and listening per day,
multiplied by 365 days, that comes to 2,920 hours
of English for the year! Wow! If you go to a typical
English conversation school, and you are a very good
student and do homework each week, study each week,
watch English movies, listen to English music, and
read English books, and sometimes think in English
when you are on the train or walking home, then perhaps
you experience English for 8 hours a week, multiplied
by 40 weeks (excluding holidays, sickness, class cancellations
etc), totals 320 hours of English per year.
To equal a year of living abroad, you would have
to study at a conversation school and at home for
almost ten years. This is probably pretty accurate.
Language school students who do stay for 4 years or
more, tend to be very good English speakers. The ones
who have stayed 7 or more years are approaching the
level of students who have lived abroad. I do not
want to discourage students from studying English
at a language school! It is a very good thing to do
if you want to learn English and cannot live abroad.
It is also necessary if you are going to go abroadfor
a trip or to live. But you must realize that you cannot
study for a few months and be a great English speaker.
It just isn't possible. Learning to speak English
is more like an art, one which took native speakers
a long time to master. Even North American children
often make mistakes when they speak. Frankly, so do
many adults!
Hopefully you are still reading this, and haven't
run away from the computer screaming about all the
money you spent on English study! There are some students
who learn English very quickly and become very good
speakers, and even fluent in a short time. Just like
the person who becomes very good at tennis, they practice.
You do not need a fantastic tennis coach to be a very
good tennis player, you do need to practice. The same
rule applies to English study.
Here are some habits of Japanese who speak
English very well:
1. PARTICIPATE:
When you come to class, speak up. Try to talk as
much as you can. When asked a question answer more.
ie) "What did you do on the weekend?" Answer:
"Nothing." Not only is this a poor answer,
you obviously lead a very boring life, and need to
get out more! Better answer: "I went shopping
in Canal City with my friend." Also the teacher
can't correct you, if he or she can't hear you. Speak
up! Come to class on time, try to come every week.
Borrow English study software, videos, and books from
our libraries. Read English newspapers and magazines,
especially magazines about the hobbies you like.Try
to really get into English, and make your home into
a `little England` as much as possible by watching
English movies, or using English study software on
your computer. Get Wowwow or Perfect TV and watch
English TV programs and movies as much as you can.
I have mentioned this many times already, and that
is because it is so important to becoming a good speaker
and listener. In your car, listen to English cassettes
which you can borrow from our schools, or listen to
FM 76.1 which has a lot of their programmes in English.
Also, don't give up! Our teachers can recommend study
software for you, or a good listening cassette or
book from our library.
For Young People:
Some of you need to leave the negative attitude at
the door. Try to have fun, your teacher is. You may
not realize it now, but English is going to be very
important to your future. If you plan to travel anywhere
outside of Japan, then English really is a necessity.
English is cool! If you can speak well, you will have
so many opportunities that others will not. It really
is the world's language, so you can learn it now,
or you can learn it later; when it will be more difficult
as you will be very busy working, and perhaps have
children and other responsibilities. See below.. Listen
to English music!
2. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME
When you come to class speak English. You can speak
Japanese at home. Don`t use Japanese during class,
and remind your classmates of this as well. When you
finish a pairwork activity, this is a good chance
to do free talk in English. Don't waste your time
by doing free talk in Japanese. Your Japanese is all
ready very good! If you don't know the English word,
describe it or use gestures. Be creative! Do your
homework EVERY week! Study the important points in
your textbooks every week. For every hour of class
time, you should spend at least one hour of home study
to prepare for class. So three hours of classes per
week equals three hours of study at home, plus you
must do the assigned homework each week. No one said
it would be easy! You can of course study much more
than this, and this will increase the speed at which
you become a good speaker.
3. PAY ATTENTION
Listen to other students talk. You can learn just
as much from them as you can from the teacher. Look
at the student who is speaking. Also, make eye contact
with everyone when you speak, not just your teacher.
It is rude to just concentrate on one person when
you speak, you should make eye contact with everyone
in the class.
4. THINK IN ENGLISH
By answering quickly you can train yourself to think
in English. If you translate every time, your English
will be very slow, and your grammar will be bad. It
is difficult to translate from Japanese to English
and speak well--the languages are so different. Answering
quickly will prevent you from translating into Japanese.
5. RECORD
your English lesson and listen to it later.
6. PERSEVERE
Students who become good English speakers don't give
up. They continue to study until they master English.
This may take a long time. But so do many things in
life.
7. TRAVEL
to English speaking countries whenever you can. It
helps you to practice and it spurs you on to study
more. In fact, the very best way is to do a working
holiday or home-stay- ask us for advice.
8. JOIN OUR SCHOOL PARTIES/ EVENTS.
We organise regular, fun, monthly social/cultural
events. Come and meet some of the international people
or societies here in Fukuoka. You can meet many people
from other countries and practice your English. In
Tenjin, the international restaurants and bars or
bookstores have many English magazines like `Fukuoka
Now`. Of course, don`t join just to practice your
English of course- join a society or event in which
you have a genuine interest.
9. MUSIC:
Listen to songs sung in English. Sing English songs
when you go out for karaoke.
Above all, do your best to enjoy your
studies, that way you will persevere and study longer.
