Improve your Learning Skills

Learning is a skill and it can be improved.

Your path to learning effectively is through knowing

·         yourself

·         your capacity to learn

·         processes you have successfully used in the past

·         your interest, and knowledge of what you wish to learn

Motivate yourself

If you are not motivated to learn English you will become frustrated and give up. Ask yourself the following questions, and be honest:-

·         Why do you need to learn/improve English?

·         Where will you need to use English?

·         What skills do you need to learn/improve? (Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking)

·         How soon do you need to see results?

·         How much time can you afford to devote to learning English.

·         How much money can you afford to devote to learning English.

·         Do you have a plan or learning strategy? 

Set yourself achievable goals

You know how much time you can dedicate to learning English, but a short time each day will produce better, longer-term results than a full day on the weekend and then nothing for two weeks.

Joining a short intensive course could produce better results than joining a course that takes place once a week for six months.

Here are some goals you could set yourself:-

·         Join an English course (and attend regularly).

·         Do your homework.

·         Read a book a month.

·         Learn a new word every day.

·         Visit an English speaking forum every day.

·         Read a news article on the net every day.

·         Do 10 minutes listening practice every day.

·         Watch an English film at least once a month.

·         Follow a soap, comedy or radio or TV drama.

A good way to meet your goals is to establish a system of rewards and punishments.

Decide on a reward you will give yourself for fulfilling your goals for a month.

·         A bottle of your favourite drink

·         A meal out / or a nice meal at home

·         A new outfit

·         A manicure or massage

8 Tips to Improve Your English Writing Skills

 

Strong writing skills in English come from practice and determination. No one is born an excellent writer. Learning to be an excellent writer in English takes a lot of time and practice. Anyone can be a good writer if they are determined enough.

Everyone has a different reason why they need to improve their writing. Maybe you need to improve your writing for work or for your English class at university. Or maybe you want to start a blog about learning English or you need to respond to emails in English for your business.

Below are 8 Tips to Improve Your English Writing Skills:

1. Keep All of your Writing in One Place
Buy a notebook or journal or start an electronic journal. By keeping your writing all in the same place, you will be able to see how much you are improving and keep it organized.

2. Practice Writing in English Daily

The importance of writing daily is that you start to create a new habit. Writing every day in English will soon become natural and something you look forward to. You will not see a significant improvement if you are not dedicated to becoming a better writer in English. You cannot create awesome stories and papers if you never try.

3. Pick a Topic and WRITE!
Don’t get stuck on figuring out what to write about. You can write about anything. You can write about what you do, things you hear or see, news, or make up a story.

4. Write More than One Draft
Draft means a preliminary version of piece of writing. Sometimes, your best writing becomes better after you take a break and work on a second or third draft. When you revise (or rewrite) your work you are often able to get your message across more clearly. You make think of things that you did not think to write in the first draft and you can add it in a later draft.

5. Use Online Resources to Correct your Grammar
Yes, grammar is a pain. You don’t need to know everything about English grammar.

6. Think Outside the Box (or Lines)
Don’t write about the same thing every day or you will get bored. Try writing the same story from different perspectives or different tenses. If you are writing a story about a baby that won’t stop crying; first, it could be the mother telling the story; then from the perspective of the baby. Or you could write it in present moment…. ‘My baby hasn’t stopped crying in five days…’ and then write in the perspective of a pregnant woman that is thinking about having a baby that won’t stop crying. Don’t write about topics in the obvious way. Be creative!

7. Have a Friend Edit Your Writing
Have a friend that knows English correct or edit your work. Having another person read your work helps generate more ideas to better your writing. You could have them edit everything or just a part that you are stuck on. Often having another set of eyes look at your writing helps find mistakes that you have overlooked.

8. Find the Best Place for You to Write
You should try writing in different places or at different times of the day. Maybe you have writer’s block at night; try getting up 15 minutes earlier and writing in the morning. Maybe you have trouble writing where there is a lot of noise; try writing in a quiet and comfortable place. Experiment in finding the right (or write?) environment for you to write.

Comparative and Superlative Rules

We use the comparative forms (ER or MORE) to make a comparison between

two things or people:

 

     My brother is BIGGER THAN I am. He's SMARTER THAN me, too.

     The winter of '96 was a SNOWIER winter THAN the winter of '97.

     I have two sons. My MORE INTELLIGENT son is in college.

 

Sometimes we don't name the second person or thing, but we are thinking

about it, and we know the listener is thinking about it:

 

     I'll see you LATER (than now).

     Your work is getting BETTER (than your previous work).

     I need a BIGGER hat (than the one I have now).

BETTER is the form that means "more good."

WORSE is the form that means "more bad."

We use the superlative forms (EST or MOST) to single out one thing or

person in a group. We use THE with the superlative:

     My brother is THE BIGGEST boy in the family.

     Last winter was THE SNOWIEST winter in many years.

     These girls are THE MOST INTELLIGENT girls in the school.

THE BEST= "the most good."   THE WORST= "the most bad."

We usually name the group or place that the superlative person or thing

is the best or most of something in. If we don't do that, we often

use the present perfect with the superlative:

     He's the smartest guy in the class. (but not in the school)

     That's the most beautiful sunset [that] I've ever seen!

     She's the most beautiful woman in town. (but not in the world)

If you use possessive adjectives (my, his, John's), don't use THE:

     She's MY OLDEST daughter. (NOT *She's the my oldest daughter.)

     Somebody stole JOHN'S MOST EXPENSIVE pen. (NOT *the John's...)

               Spelling Rules for Comparative/Superlative

no. of syllables                         comparative                                         superlative

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1 syllable                                    add ER                                               add EST

           

   fast                                       faster than                                              the fastest

   big                                         bigger than                                            the biggest

   

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2 syllables that

end in y                                   change Y to I and                                              change Y to I and

                                                           add ER                                              add EST

   heavy                                     heavier than                                         the heaviest

   snowy                                  snowier than                                          the snowiest

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  2 or more syllables                comparative                                         superlative

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2 syllables that

don't end in y                             use MORE and                              use THE MOST and

                                                             don't add ER!                       don't add EST!

           

   modern                                    more modern than                         the most common

   common                                  more common than                          the most modern

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3 or more syllables                  use MORE and                                 use THE MOST and

                                                don't add ER!                                    don't add EST!

   beautiful                               more beautiful than                                        the most beautiful

   enjoyable                                more enjoyable than                       the most enjoyable

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