Millions (potentially billions) of people around the world are keenly seeking ways to improve their English language proficiency. What advice can you give them?
Please post your articles about English Tips and Tricks in this thread. Be sure to include an appropriate heading to show which area of English study your tips are aimed at (i.e., reading, listening, writing, speaking, grammar, vocabulary).
English Tips and Tricks – Reading
By JIHYE SEOK
Reading is often considered to be one of the most fundamental English skills. And the advent of the Internet has dramatically increased this access to text-based English. Now, even though there are a variety of English reading materials available, many people probably have a hard time reading newspapers or magazines in English. In this sense, knowing some tips and tricks to improve reading skills can be very helpful to English learners.
1. ENCOURAGE EXTENSIVE READING
Have you ever heard the saying, "Practicing makes you perfect."? As you know, it means that if you try hard, you can do it! And it could also apply to improve your reading ability. The more you read, the faster your English reading ability will grow up. In addition to that, you have to check your reading level and start with more difficult books than those in your level. When you read those, it feels a little hard to understand whole stories, but it could help you improve reading ability.
2. READ ENGLISH BOOKS OR WHATEVER MATERIALS THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN
It may be said in this connection that you have to read a lot. With a desire to improve reading ability, it is hard to study or read some English materials steadily. English is a language, so we must study it in real situation. And if you don't have any interest in materials that you are reading, you will become bored. In short, selecting the material that can attract someone's interest is really important because that is the way of keeping your motivation for reading high.
3. LEARN HOW TO IDENTIFY A TOPIC SENTENCE
There must be one main idea in each well-written paragraph, and that main idea is expressed in the topic sentence of each paragraph. Also, there are some sentences that dilate upon the main idea in a topic sentence or tell us some examples related with a topic sentence. So it is important to identify a topic sentence at first to understand the main idea of the text. If you can find what the topic sentence is in each paragraph, it will become lot easier to understand what an author wants to tell the readers.
4. EXPAND YOUR ENGLISH VOCABULARY
Most of us feel that reading is one of the most difficult parts in learning English because of unfamiliar vocabulary. I agree to some extent reading is closely related to vocabulary. Of course, it is impossible to know every single word in reading texts, but to comprehend what the author wants to tell, we should know basic vocabularies used very commonly. Also, knowing variety kinds of transition words can give us a lot of help. You can also find some tips and tricks on studying vocabulary in this newspaper.
English Tips and Tricks (Vocabulary) by YoonjiBae
The most vital thing in learning vocabulary is diligent. Virtually, whereas you memorize vocabulary repeatedly, it is difficult to remember apparently. So you had better learn through these specific ways.
1. STUDY REPEATEDLY AND CONTINUOUSLY.
Choose one vocabulary book first and memorize 10-20 words per day. If you do it for 3-5 months, you can master vocabulary in your level completely. For example, you have to memorize 10 words in the first day and then in the next day, you should both review the previous words and memorize new 10 words. It is very important not to promptly forget the words you memorized. Research shows that it takes about 10 to 20 repetitions to really memorize a word. Just looking up a word once does not make it part of your vocabulary.
2. MAKE GOOD USE OF VARIETY METHODS.
In advance, read a word repeatedly to be accustomed to that. Then, listen to the word several times with the cassette tape or MP3. It is important to hear how the word is being pronounced. Also, it is better to remember the word effectively by speaking out this word and writing it many times. By saying the word out loud, you actually activate your auditory memory. Writing the word with both its definition and a sentence you make up using the word helps you to remember it more efficiently.
3. READ AND IMPROVE YOUR CONTEXT SKILLS.
One of the best ways to learn vocabulary is learning it from context. Most vocabulary words are learned from context. When thinking about learning your mother tongue, you probably would not remember spending a lot of time memorizing vocabulary. You are genuinely exposed to words, and this helps you to build up your vocabulary. This is same with learning other languages. While you read, pay close attention to words you are not familiar with. First, try to guess their meanings from context. Then look them up in dictionary. This will actually help you remember the words better and also improve your context skills.
4. MAKE YOUR OWN VOCA NOTE.
You should bring a handy note which you write difficult words occasionally. And in your home, you can attach some word paper all around your house. For instance, it is effective that you put the word 'broadcast' in front of the TV or 'reflect' at the mirror. This helps you memorize vocabulary words by associating the words with their meanings. Also, carrying vocabulary note cards and looking them up in your spare time will definitely help you build up your vocabulary.
Tips and Tricks for English Listening
People usually envy the person who has good speaking ability and talks about something fluently. But, if you ask people of good utterance about a secret method related with being good at speaking, they will answer the key point is "Listening." As this saying, listening is basic in all part of language such as writing and reading as well as speaking. So is English listening. However, at the same time, I think the most difficult part of learning English seems "listening." because speaking is somewhat possible by using some key words and ordering them though stumbling, or reading and writing are likewise feasible by using a dictionary at that moment. But, in case of listening, the methods above are impossible during watching TV, listening to the radio and even talking with a foreigner. Anyone who is learning and studying English has been in the trouble for improving listening ability. Everyone is inclined to approve that it is hard to open their ears for English listening. So, I'll show you some English listening tips and tricks. Frankly speaking, I will present some effective instruments for English listening with their method to use and the 5 basic principles regarding English listening.
Actually, the best tip of advancing listening skill is listening "over and over again, day after day." Everything is all right if it is relevant to English. So, what kinds of instruments are possible? The first thing I recommend is only watching "television." Of course, it doesn't mean that only "watching TV" will improve your English listening ability. It is necessary to make your effort, concentration and so on. Recently, in Korea, we can watch many foreign broadcasting programs from sitcom to CNN news. But, when watch the foreign broadcast, you must not attempt too much to listen to every word at the first time, rather, you need to catch some key words. Throw away your greed about listening, and if not, it can be a kind of stress or pressure. One of the advantages of using TV for improving listening skill is to grasp the situation through the each scene, so, though you can't understand all of the speaking and talking, you can match a few key words with that situation you are watching. If necessary, dictation is a good method. And, when you watch certain program recorded — if you recorded the program for practicing your English listening skill — again, you can pay more attention to several speaking and conversation in that program than last watching, as considering the scene and situation. Of course, what is important is to "listen everyday." So, it is all right that you always keep TV turning on and make you expose yourself to English environment constantly. As time goes by, you will get comfortable about listening English.
The next tip is to use "only listening instruments" such as radio player, CD player, and MP3 player etc. Different from TV, that kind of the player related with only listening gives you more chance for advancing your hearing ability. In other words, those players have more advantages than when you practice English listening by watching TV, because, in the case of TV, you may seem not to concentrate on speaking or conversation owing to a variety of visual information such as colorful scenes and big and small subtitles and in TV screen. In addition, TV is not portable. On the contrary, you can listen to English anywhere, anytime. There is no screen or pictures on the player that's why you will center your attention on your listening material. So, you will hear "more and exact" vocabulary, phrases and pronunciation than when watching TV. What is also important thing to do by using the player is "listening from day to day.
The last instrument I'll introduce for improving your English listening skill effectively is "audio book" (for children). Audio book is a kind of audio recordings by a dubbing artist who is reading a book. Among a lot of audio books, the best for advancing English listening is a fairy tale audio book which has a lot of interesting background music and funny reader's voice. But, we must not look down on the audio book for only "children." Because most of the audio books are basically for (native) children speaking English as their mother tongue, it is not easy to understand whole things and contents to learners studying English as second language. If such an audio book is hard to listen for you, you can also choose the audio book for "only people learning English as second language." For example, there are "Audio Book Series for learning English at Oxford University Press" or "Readers Series at Penguin Press." Another advantage of the audio book is to offer script of the audio book with the recording for English learners. Especially, for the beginner, it is not easy to listen to all stories in English that's why the script is very useful to improve listening ability.
Finally, I'll present "5 principles" for listening English simply. If you keep the followings in mind when you practice English listening, you are able to improve your listening ability more effectively and easily. Please remember the followings. When you practice English listening, be careful about :
(1) A Contracted Form in Verbs
You have to consider that the verbs are likely to be heard in a or shortened forms.
ex) I am —> I'm / Who does —> Who's / You will —> You'll
(2) Negative
You will listen to the negative forms with "stress".
ex) "can't" has stronger stress than "can"
(3) Accent
The key of English listening is "accent". Each sentence has the parts which are read "strongly".
ex) Let us suppose that there is a sentence as "My parents live in New York City." Then, which words will we have to accent? Maybe, the important words are "parents" and "New York City." So, when you listen to this sentence, these words sound strong for you.
(4) Linking
You have to pay attention to "linking" pronunciation in a colloquial style.
ex) "take it" —> [teik_it](X) / [teikit](O)
(5) Intonation
Another key of English listening is "intonation". You can usually hear that a native English speakers' statement has "rhythm" or "up and down" when they talk about something. So you will must to make an effort to listen English as considering "rhythm" of "up and down."
ex) If a foreigner speak the following declarative sentence with a rising tone at the end of sentence : "He went there(?)", that sentence will change into an interrogative sentence like "Did he go there?"
Perfect listening is not made in a day as Rome is not built in a day. No matter how you know lots of method and have many instruments for advancing listening ability, if you don't practice and listen day by day, they are of no use. Likewise, no matter how nice and original tips and tricks for hearing English you acquaint yourself with, if you don't carry into practice, they are "not yours." Those I presented above will be same as other useless tips and tricks if you don't make an effort. The most important thing for your improving English listening skill is "listen and listen, practice and practice" over and over again, and let's add these tips and tricks above to your efforts and passion for improving your listening ability.
Tips and Tricks for English Speaking
Can you speak English well? No? Although we have learned and studied English for more than 10 years, we are not inclined to speak English well and express your intention freely in front of a foreigner or in the English conversation class. As you know, most of Korean people seem to be ashamed of speaking English before a native speaker — me too —. But, if you change your thought a little, it is natural of a second language learner not to speak English fluently! Well, now, let us put ourselves in a foreigner's position. Here is a foreigner learning and speaking Korean. We will regard the foreigner's mistakes in speaking Korean as natural phenomena. Like this, a native English speaker will also understand our mistakes when we speak English. We can't do anything and talk with anyone if we are ashamed of speaking English before a foreigner. As considering this aspect, let's think and see how to improve your English speaking skill and ability. Here are some English speaking tips and tricks I will present. However, as reading the followings, the belief you must not forget is "not shameful, but be Confident!"
The first and the most important tip I'll present is "Back to Baby!" Back to baby? What does it mean? So, Let us look into the process of babies' learning and speaking a language. In case of babies' learning language, they can't speak well to begin with. But, mothers and fathers let their babies repeat after them, saying "Say, baby! mom, mom, and dad, dad." But, as you know, babies don't say something at that moment when hearing their parents and only listen to their parents' saying. However, parents don't stop saying for their children. Then, suddenly, babies blurt out "mom, dad." even stammers more words out than what their parents speak. As a baby learns and speaks certain language in this way, we should turn back to baby's process of acquiring the language, which means we have to "listen English and imitate what a native speaker says everyday" steadily than we intend to speak English immediately. For showing this principle concretely, I'll present how to adapt this method to practical situation. For example, how about improving English speaking ability "by using television" among a variety of methods dealing with speaking tips? The first thing you have to do is to select program such as sitcom, movie something like that, considering your English level and taste. And, as you watch that program day after day, you have to be accustomed to situation, characters and mood of that program, even though you can't understand all kinds of conversation. Don't worry. But, you must not only watch and hear that. You should focus on English speech or conversation from that. It is important to struggle to remind you of some words and phrases over and over again. Moreover, in case of the sitcom and movie, for better listening practice, you can watch the scene with English subtitles if you can. Of course, the dictation is also very nice method for listening. Ultimately, both dictation and using subtitle are very useful for improving speaking ability as well as listening skill. So you'd better use both of them together. And what is the most important is that you have to make an effort to speak the practiced expressions in real situation though it is very tough. If those kinds of efforts and practices are piled up, your mouth will speak English freely and confidently some day.
The next tip for speaking English is to "forget the English grammar." Of course, it is desirable and important to follow the grammar rules when we read and write something in English. However, at the first time when we practice speaking English, you had better forget the English (grammar) rules. So to speak, if you pay attention to follow the English grammar rules too much, you will hesitate to speak and, in the end, lose your tongue. So, it is meaningful to speak anything in English even though you can't follow the English grammar. Namely, it is a good way to be familiar with English as itself, at the same time, being familiar with English is essential way to improve your English speaking ability. After that, you are able to make your English exact and skillful. If you only use and speak short and simple words, you don't have to be ashamed of those. It’s because, rather, using several and simple words is good for a (native) listener as well as a speaker. In parallel, we have to know many short expression, such as "Pardon", "Take care of", "Never mind" etc. what is called "Chunk(s)". By using these kinds of chunks you don't need to consider English grammar too much. The reason why we can speak some expression such as "Hello," "Thank you." and "You're welcome" and so on "freely and without hesitation", is that we have learned and memorized such expressions as itself, that is "Chunk". Of course, we have to repeat and practice in real situation repeatedly after learning some words or chunks.
Thirdly, people are inclined to think that they have to use difficult vocabulary when they speak English. Because if they use difficult words, they imagine that a native speaker will regard them as good speakers. But, rather, that is counteractive. If you speak some statements with difficult vocabulary, maybe, the foreigner will think suspiciously how you know such a difficult word, though you can't speak English well. Then, now, you have to realize the importance of using easy words. First of all, with confidence, let's practice and speak English by using the words you know! Of course, it is not easy but tough. But that kind of activity and attitude seems meaningful because speaking anything in English is very important as itself. Don't hesitate to speak English and don't be afraid of talking with a native speaker. In addition to that, I want to recommend some book for better English speaking. It is all right to use and study a book which deals with a variety meaning of simple words such as nouns and verbs and their usages. And, these days, there are a lot of books related to way to speak and converse in probable and practical situation with simple words and phrases. So, you can find and choose any book you want as considering your interests and weaknesses in English speaking.
The last tip for better English speaking is that English pronunciation is also important for improving English speaking ability. People who learn English don't regard pronunciation as precious element for speaking English, because we have paid attention to speaking fluently and following grammar rules until now. But it is surprising that most foreigners speaking English complain Korean people's wrong and poor pronunciation because there are many cases in which native speakers don't listen and understand Koreans' pronunciation, accent, and intonation something like that. In other words, because we were not born in the countries using English, we have to make more efforts to pronounce English words correctly. So, how should we do to practice pronunciation? Above all, you have to forget humiliation for advancing speaking ability. And I want to present "two specific and practical tips" for practicing pronunciation and accent or stress. The first thing is to hold "a pencil" between your mouth and, after that, let's practice and speak all kinds of English words from alphabet letters to difficult vocabulary "loudly" and "widely", as if a native speaker pronounces. Of course, it will need lots of repetition. And the next method is to use stretch "a rubber band." That is to say, when you speak and pronounce the parts of certain sentence or statement with stress or accents, you can stretch a rubber band. It will be funny! As you do it over and over again, you will pronounce and speak English exactly as if you are a native speaker. Moreover, I'm sure that you will be confident in speaking English after you practice English pronunciation or accent.
As you know and every people learning English approve, Speaking English is very hard to master because we aren't native speakers. But, remember the following saying, "Practice makes perfect." So, you have to listen to a variety of English materials and speak out what you learned and practiced with confidence. Of course, don't afraid of making many mistakes because ― as I emphasize that point again ― you aren't native speaker and you are only learner. So it is natural to make mistakes in speaking English for people learning English. Therefore, you need to turn "back to baby" ― I presented above ― and you have to repeat after and imitate what a native speaker say over and over again. And keep in order and follow determined steps. In other words, you must not speak English fluently and exactly from the first time. You will have to practice speaking English with easy and simple words, and also practice English pronunciation, accent, intonation which is essential for speaking English but is possible to ignore. Above all, what is the most important is "repetition" and “steady attitude". Through these, and to conclude, "you can be a native speaker" though you aren't a native speaker.
English Tips and Tricks – Listening
By Saebom Kim
Listening skills mean not that you can understand everything when you are learning English, but that you can catch some important information from what you have heard while you are doing it. It is because we have been exposed English often in real life, and then we should find out what is the most necessary thing to learn English or to understand situation. Even though when we listen to our mother language, we can not often memorize specific information like a certain place, a date and a number. By keeping listening English, we can get accurate information. There are several tips for improving listening skills. They consist of repeating until you figure out the situation and enjoying listening.
First of all, if you are practicing listening, you don’t have to write down every word you have been hearing. It would be very stressful and make you depressed. Some people might recommend us a kind of dictation if you want to improve your listening skill. It is just for getting a high score in an test. The more important purpose of studying listening is to catch the intention or reason in a dialogue or statement rather than to write it down and memorize all the information from the dialogue. I believe that recognizing the situation should be easily applied in real situation and have an advantage in listening comprehension.
Next, we can improve English listening skills by listening to interesting materials like songs, soap-dramas, movie, and documentary. The most important reason I suggest this tip to you is that you become less stressful when you practice it to improve the skills by listening some songs and soap-dramas that you like. They can be good listening materials that native speakers listen generally. We can follow their normal speed and intonation by doing it. Even though the same expressions are used in two dialogues they might have different meanings and various definitions by the situation. So, we should learn real material, the same thing native speakers’ watch and listen in their real native speaker’s life.
Thirdly, it could be a profitable method to improve your listening skill by repeating scripts again and again until you catch the main idea. We should keep in mind that no pains and no gains in not only in learning English but learning any kinds of language. If you listen and speak what you listen over and over you can be familiar with English easily. Don’t you remember that how long does it take you to master Korean? Without repetition, we can’t get a high listening skill. It is the same principle when we learn Korean as our mother language. Nowadays, we usually use mp3 files to study listening pare, so it is easy to control repetition function. As a result, we can practice as much as we could to reach the high-level of English.
To sum up, some people say listening is easy to study comparing with writing or speaking, but it requires more difficulties if you are going to achieve high level of English because of speed and amounts of listening material. You should try to focus on not detail things in the dialogue but the main idea. Moreover, through enjoying lots of songs, soap-drama and interesting materials, you can develop your listening skill too. Lastly, there is an old say that practices make perfects. If you listen over and over again, your listening skill must be improved. Even you can speak and write English more fluently too. These tips help you get a great listening ability. Listening skill is one of the most vital and fundamental abilities in communication so you should try to listen as much as you can.
English Tips and Tricks – Grammar
By Saebom Kim
Some people ask you whether you studied Sung-Moon grammar book or not when you were in secondary school, if you say so, they might consider you’ll be good at English. They admit your English ability by how difficult grammar books you have read and studied. That is absolutely wrong way to figure out their English ability. That, however, doesn’t mean that grammar is useless and unnecessary to learn English. Still people might have an idea that studying grammar is just memorizing rules. In my opinion, that’s wrong. Studying grammar is related all the fields of improving English ability. Here are a couple of tips for learning grammar in effective; to study grammar with easy and simple book; to practice grammar by making example sentences applied what you learned before; to make a note, which is collected your grammatical error in using English.
First, you had better study grammar with easy and simple book. I believe that we don’t have to study grammar deeply. Grammar materials which use in these days are getting simpler and soften among native speakers. The ultimate goal for studying grammar is to make fewer mistakes while speaking and writing in English. For this goal it is not necessary to use difficult grammar books. With too specific and difficult grammar books, it must be too stressful to learn grammar. Moreover, non practical grammar structures might cause a couple of confusion in writing and speaking. Therefore you should keep in mind that learning grammar several times with easy and simple book is better than reading once a difficult one.
Secondly, you practice grammar by making example sentences applied what you learned before. For the first time, it is okay to write down several sentences you learned. It is helpful for you to remind what you’ve studied. Furthermore, you can make dialogues or keep a diary by putting grammar contents which you learned before. It makes your English fluent even it is very complicated grammar rules. So, we should practice it as many times as you can. You should speak out even one sentence before grammar book close. If you keep in mind you should practice and repeat the grammar structures as possible as you can, you will accomplish much high level of English grammar.
Finally, you should make a note for your grammatical error in using English. It is obvious that no one has perfect grammatical knowledge because of its change as time goes by. We should focus on making fewer mistakes whenever we use in English. As you know, people have inclinations to do again the same mistakes they had already did. To prevent it, it might be one of the beneficial ways to collect your errors in a note book and check whenever you can. By doing this, we are able to find out your weakness in grammar section and easy to make up our grammar skills rather than starting the first chapter in grammar book whenever you decide to start studying grammar. Through this note, we can find out our weakness easily and also, we can utilize it as a feedback book to improve our English skill.
To sum up, grammar is essential part of English for who are learning English as a second language. By learning grammar as general rules in language, we don’t have to memorize all cases in using grammar. A good way to learn English should be more organized and practical by making example sentences, an error-note and using simple and easy grammar book. I believe that people who want to master English grammar ought to start studying grammar in this way. It might work more than you expect.
<ENGLISH TIPS&TRICKS-GRAMMAR>
Are you having hard time studying English grammar? Grammar is one of the most important parts when it comes to improving your English ability. Actually, it is considered as the fundamental skill for learning English. Moreover, it is impossible to learn any language without learning grammar at the first place. Also, other parts of English skills are relatively easy because all you have to do is memorize and repeat constantly. However, it is quite different with grammar. As people are accustomed to their own linguistic habits, it is extremely hard to change them if it is necessary. It will be like a right-handed person trying to be a left hander. As explained, changing linguistic habits is tough. The point is that unalterable linguistic habits are the main reason for poor English grammar skill. For that reason, I’m going to tell you three tips and tricks; study basic principles; transcribe articles; do writing and get feedbacks.
First of all, you should study basic principles of English grammar. Although there are so many things to study, you can still categorize them into several basic principles. In fact, grammar of every language is actually built on few basic principles. That’s because language is a promise between users. Just like a language, grammar is a promise as well. However, as you can not make every single promise on every specifics of grammar, it will be desirable for learners to make some basic principles and then apply them to other cases. To do so, you should study the organization. As English word order is very different from that of Korean, it can be confusing. Still, you have to be familiar with it. Then you can study rules of grammar such as conjugation and declension. As you can see, organization and rules about the grammar are the most important basic principles. Furthermore, they can be applied to other grammar specifics as well. In short, by studying basic principles, you can be ready to master grammar.
Secondly, you should transcribe articles to improve your English grammar. It helps you to overcome your own linguistic habits. Linguistic habits have been accumulated through your whole life. So transcribing other English writings are the best way to know how the English grammar works because you can review basic principles of English grammar that you have been studied. Especially I recommend you to transcribe news articles because they contain many well-organized sentences. By transcribing it, you can also practice grammar with the actual sentences. Also by writing down them with your hands, you can make English grammar into one of your own linguistic habits as well.
Last but absolutely not least, you should also write and get many feedbacks. After you studying English just as I mentioned, writing feedbacks to other people is required. Even though you have tried your best to overcome the obstacles, it is hard to solve since it has caused by your own linguistic habits. There are big difference between studying grammar and writing. No matter how hard you try or no matter how much you care, there are mistakes and faults for sure. In this sense, as you can realize that you have not recognized before, you should write and get feedbacks from others.
Studying English grammar is definitely a tough work. I hope tips and tricks I mentioned above make your studying easier. However there is one thing that you should always keep in mind. No matter how easy and efficient those tips and tricks would be, you’re the one who study English grammar. So it’s the most important for you to try hard. Be strongly motivated and study steadily. Your English grammar skill won’t improve in short term and sometimes, you can even hardly notice your progress. You may feel that your ways to study are wrong and you are wasting your time, but keep trying. No pain no gain. The old saying is always true. Effort will never betray you.
English Tips and Tricks (Vocabulary) by YoonjiBaeThe most vital thing in learning vocabulary is diligent. Virtually, whereas you memorize vocabulary repeatedly, it is difficult to remember apparently. So you had better learn through these specific ways.
1. STUDY REPEATEDLY AND CONTINUOUSLY.Choose one vocabulary book first and memorize 10-20 words per day. If you do it for 3-5 months, you can master vocabulary in your level completely. For example, you have to memorize 10 words in the first day and then in the next day, you should both review the previous words and memorize new 10 words. It is very important not to promptly forget the words you memorized. Research shows that it takes about 10 to 20 repetitions to really memorize a word. Just looking up a word once does not make it part of your vocabulary.
2. MAKE GOOD USE OF VARIETY METHODS.In advance, read a word repeatedly to be accustomed to that. Then, listen to the word several times with the cassette tape or MP3. It is important to hear how the word is being pronounced. Also, it is better to remember the word effectively by speaking out this word and writing it many times. By saying the word out loud, you actually activate your auditory memory. Writing the word with both its definition and a sentence you make up using the word helps you to remember it more efficiently.
3. READ AND IMPROVE YOUR CONTEXT SKILLS.One of the best ways to learn vocabulary is learning it from context. Most vocabulary words are learned from context. When thinking about learning your mother tongue, you probably would not remember spending a lot of time memorizing vocabulary. You are genuinely exposed to words, and this helps you to build up your vocabulary. This is same with learning other languages. While you read, pay close attention to words you are not familiar with. First, try to guess their meanings from context. Then look them up in dictionary. This will actually help you remember the words better and also improve your context skills.
4. MAKE YOUR OWN VOCA NOTE.You should bring a handy note which you write difficult words occasionally. And in your home, you can attach some word paper all around your house. For instance, it is effective that you put the word 'broadcast' in front of the TV or 'reflect' at the mirror. This helps you memorize vocabulary words by associating the words with their meanings. Also, carrying vocabulary note cards and looking them up in your spare time will definitely help you build up your vocabulary.
-yoonjibae
English Tips and Tricks - Speaking
by Youjin Lee
Don't you have any experience you became frozen in front of foreigners? Or haven’t you ever stammered to speak full sentences in English while you are communicating with foreigners? You have learned English for many years in elementary, middle and high school and taken lessons from famous English academy. If you got high score in English tests you might experienced those situation. It's still very common phenomenon that many Koreans can't express what they want to say in English regardless of time or money they have spent. The ultimate purpose of learning English is to express our idea or opinion to foreigners and communicate with them. However, it seems that English don’t operate its own sake in Korea. Then, how can we escape from mute of English? How to improve our speaking skill? Here are some tips I propose; to make foreign friends; to watch English TV program and follow it; to record your speaking.
Firstly, making foreign friends is one of the helpful ways to practice speaking. There are not many chances for Koreans to speak English in their daily life. If you have friends who speak English, your speaking skill will be improved day by day because you can use English whenever you want. In my school, there's a program named "KNU Buddy" This program match one Korean student with a foreign student from other country. A Korean student helps "buddy" to adapt easily in Korea. Through this activity, you can communicate with him/her in English and ask what you don't know well. It is helpful to both of students. There are various opportunities you can make foreign friends such as pen-pal site, internet messenger and so on.
Secondly, watching English TV programs and following them is profitable way to improve speaking ability. These days, American dramas such as ‘Friends’, ‘Prison Break’, ‘Gossip Girl’ and etc are very popular in Korea. If you use them wisely, you can get both amusement and great English speaking skill. Through those programs, we can learn practical English which use in daily life. It would be very useful to learn common expressions. Moreover, by following the words of actors and actresses, you can be accustomed to the various tones and intonations of English. Your English would be more natural as you mock them.
Last but not least, Recording your speaking and listen it can also promote your English speaking ability. Numerous people are afraid of speaking English because of their pronunciations. If you can be sure that your pronunciation is fluent, you'll get much confident on speaking English. It may be ashamed to listen what you speak at first, but through this process, you can realize which part is your weakness and which part needs more practice. I've once taken English lesson from native teacher. He told me that I spoke English in Korean style. I didn't understand what he meant. However, after I listened my recorded English, I found what "Korean style English" is. My accent and intonation are mild as I speak Korean. So I keep that in mind and try to correct those mistakes until now.
The importance of speaking English is getting intensified nowadays. In many English proficiency tests, speaking part is more accentuated than before. Many companies try to pick up the applicants who can speak English fluently. In Korea, English education’s importance is prevailed but there are not many opportunities to speak that. Therefore, we should try hard to make more chance to speak English. By communicating with foreign friends, watching English drama and movies, recording spoken English by oneself and checking it, we can practice speaking easily. Don't be afraid making mistake and be confident, and you can speak English fluently in the future.
English Tips and Tricks – Vocabulary
By Sangwook Park
Do you have any problem in studying and memorizing English words? When it comes to vocabulary, perhaps, most ESL or EFL students have struggled to reach the level where they want to be in terms of vocabulary. There are a number of books that cover how to study English vocabulary, but actually it is usually said that there is no such a useful book published for us to study words with. In this circumstance, should we decide to give up studying English vocabulary? The answer would be ‘No, you should not.’ I am sure that there certainly are some ways for you to improve your English vocabulary. These consist of using a paperback dictionary, guessing the meaning of a word in the context, and reading a lot of books. From now on I will explain them to you in detail to help you improve your vocabulary.
First, use a paperback dictionary rather than an electronic dictionary. You may think that using a paperback is out of date and inconvenient, but we can certainly get some advantages by using it. When you look up a word in the dictionary, it would be better to mark the word with any kind of highlighter. You can use various colors to mark the words so that you can find them easily next time. Researches have shown that marking vocabularies and memorizing at the same time is much more effective than rote learning in memorizing words. Using only an electronic dictionary must be less helpful than using a paperback dictionary. Although using the latter takes more time to find a word, we should use it instead of an electronic one if we want to improve our vocabulary.
Second, guess the meaning of a word in the context. Of course, you should memorize the word ‘IN THE CONTEXT’ to do that. There are numerous words and phrases in English and you cannot remember all of them. A word can have several or sometimes even more than ten meanings; so memorizing all the meanings of a word would require us to spend much time and energy, and we know that it is meaningless. However, there is the way to memorize words easily. You can infer at least a vague meaning of a word from the context in a sentence or a paragraph, and then we can look up the meaning in a paperback dictionary. If you try to memorize isolated items of words without any help from the contexts, we would certainly have difficulties in doing it. Another thing we should keep in mind is that we can learn a number of usages of words through the context.
Finally, read a lot of books. You may think that it is so obvious that this tip is not very helpful to you. However, reading a lot is the key to success in learning English vocabulary. As seen in the previous paragraph, it is certain that we can benefit from memorizing words in the context. Then, how can we make use of the contexts in studying words? There is no special solution to it, and the answer can be the fact that we should read a lot. By doing so, you can improve your reading skills as well. Of course, it is well known to people but in fact, there are few people who read many books to improve their vocabulary and reading skills. Though two tips above are very important, I assert that the most important thing in learning vocabulary is to read a lot.
So far, we have explored some tips for improving our English vocabulary; to use a traditional dictionary, to infer the meaning of a word in the context, and to read a lot. In addition to those tips, there can be other ways to help us to study words well, but I think the three tips I suggested would be enough for learners to advance in their vocabulary. Words are fundamental elements in every language. Therefore, you should conquer them if you want to be fluent in a language. I totally sympathize with the saying “There is no royal road to learning (English).” No one can achieve his/her goal without taking some time and efforts in any field. I hope that my advice would help you to improve your vocabulary and finally to have a good command of English. Good luck!
Writing tips and tricks
For university students, essay writing is very important and crucial element that they have to acquire. However, most of the students do not know how to write a well-structured and logical essay. They usually panic when a professor assigns homework that requires writing a formal essay. Here are some tips and tricks on writing a five paragraph essay.
Firstly, you have to brainstorm your ideas and gather you materials. It is important that you do this, since it will expend your ideas, making your writing to become more diverse. When you do brainstorming you can write down anything that comes up to your mind, and then you can pick ideas that you like and are going to use. Also, researching about your topic and finding some examples or statistics are both important. In order to write an informative and convincing essay, you have to be aware of your topic. By researching it and finding some information, you can write a good piece of writing.
Second, after brainstorming, it is important that you make an outline of your essay. This activity will guide you when you start writing your essay. There is no fixed format, you can write or draw your outlines in your own style. However, there are few things that need to be in your outline. Since you are writing a five paragraph essay, there should be one main idea, then three reasons or supporting points should be included. If you can you can write down examples, statistics, or some quotes that you are going to use in your essay.
Lastly, it is time to write your essay. Your first paragraph should be an introduction, which presents main topic and a thesis statement. It is good to write some interesting backgrounds in your introduction that can catch readers’ attention. Also, briefly mentioning your three reasons or supporting points can make your essay much easier to read. Then, write your three body paragraphs. You have to start each of your body paragraphs with one of your sub-points. Each body paragraph should be dedicated into one idea. You can back up your points with examples. It will make your essay more persuasive. In conclusion, you can sum up things that you have talked about in your body paragraphs.
After completing your essay, it is a good idea to read it again to see if it flows well. You might find some errors in your writing or parts that do not flow very well; you can fix it by prof-reading the essay. You can edit your essay to make it flow more smoothly. By doing this, you will makes sure your writing consists of everything that is needed and flows well. Essay writing might be difficult at first, but practice makes perfect! As you practice it over and over again, you will become better at writing an essay.
Hello, I am Sangwook Park from English education department.
Above all, I would like to tell you that the length of the essay really overwhelmed(?) me. That is a kind of joke, and I was very impressed by what you wrote here. I think that the way you presented the detailed ways to improve our English speaking was impressive. Those are phrases such as "Back to Baby!" and "forget the English grammar." I think it conveyed well what you want to tell the readers.
Thank you for writing this good essay.
Tips and Tricks for English SpeakingCan you speak English well? No? Although we have learned and studied English for more than 10 years, we are not inclined to speak English well and express your intention freely in front of a foreigner or in the English conversation class. As you know, most of Korean people seem to be ashamed of speaking English before a native speaker — me too —. But, if you change your thought a little, it is natural of a second language learner not to speak English fluently! Well, now, let us put ourselves in a foreigner's position. Here is a foreigner learning and speaking Korean. We will regard the foreigner's mistakes in speaking Korean as natural phenomena. Like this, a native English speaker will also understand our mistakes when we speak English. We can't do anything and talk with anyone if we are ashamed of speaking English before a foreigner. As considering this aspect, let's think and see how to improve your English speaking skill and ability. Here are some English speaking tips and tricks I will present. However, as reading the followings, the belief you must not forget is "not shameful, but be Confident!"The first and the most important tip I'll present is "Back to Baby!" Back to baby? What does it mean? So, Let us look into the process of babies' learning and speaking a language. In case of babies' learning language, they can't speak well to begin with. But, mothers and fathers let their babies repeat after them, saying "Say, baby! mom, mom, and dad, dad." But, as you know, babies don't say something at that moment when hearing their parents and only listen to their parents' saying. However, parents don't stop saying for their children. Then, suddenly, babies blurt out "mom, dad." even stammers more words out than what their parents speak. As a baby learns and speaks certain language in this way, we should turn back to baby's process of acquiring the language, which means we have to "listen English and imitate what a native speaker says everyday" steadily than we intend to speak English immediately. For showing this principle concretely, I'll present how to adapt this method to practical situation. For example, how about improving English speaking ability "by using television" among a variety of methods dealing with speaking tips? The first thing you have to do is to select program such as sitcom, movie something like that, considering your English level and taste. And, as you watch that program day after day, you have to be accustomed to situation, characters and mood of that program, even though you can't understand all kinds of conversation. Don't worry. But, you must not only watch and hear that. You should focus on English speech or conversation from that. It is important to struggle to remind you of some words and phrases over and over again. Moreover, in case of the sitcom and movie, for better listening practice, you can watch the scene with English subtitles if you can. Of course, the dictation is also very nice method for listening. Ultimately, both dictation and using subtitle are very useful for improving speaking ability as well as listening skill. So you'd better use both of them together. And what is the most important is that you have to make an effort to speak the practiced expressions in real situation though it is very tough. If those kinds of efforts and practices are piled up, your mouth will speak English freely and confidently some day.
The next tip for speaking English is to "forget the English grammar." Of course, it is desirable and important to follow the grammar rules when we read and write something in English. However, at the first time when we practice speaking English, you had better forget the English (grammar) rules. So to speak, if you pay attention to follow the English grammar rules too much, you will hesitate to speak and, in the end, lose your tongue. So, it is meaningful to speak anything in English even though you can't follow the English grammar. Namely, it is a good way to be familiar with English as itself, at the same time, being familiar with English is essential way to improve your English speaking ability. After that, you are able to make your English exact and skillful. If you only use and speak short and simple words, you don't have to be ashamed of those. It’s because, rather, using several and simple words is good for a (native) listener as well as a speaker. In parallel, we have to know many short expression, such as "Pardon", "Take care of", "Never mind" etc. what is called "Chunk(s)". By using these kinds of chunks you don't need to consider English grammar too much. The reason why we can speak some expression such as "Hello," "Thank you." and "You're welcome" and so on "freely and without hesitation", is that we have learned and memorized such expressions as itself, that is "Chunk". Of course, we have to repeat and practice in real situation repeatedly after learning some words or chunks.
Thirdly, people are inclined to think that they have to use difficult vocabulary when they speak English. Because if they use difficult words, they imagine that a native speaker will regard them as good speakers. But, rather, that is counteractive. If you speak some statements with difficult vocabulary, maybe, the foreigner will think suspiciously how you know such a difficult word, though you can't speak English well. Then, now, you have to realize the importance of using easy words. First of all, with confidence, let's practice and speak English by using the words you know! Of course, it is not easy but tough. But that kind of activity and attitude seems meaningful because speaking anything in English is very important as itself. Don't hesitate to speak English and don't be afraid of talking with a native speaker. In addition to that, I want to recommend some book for better English speaking. It is all right to use and study a book which deals with a variety meaning of simple words such as nouns and verbs and their usages. And, these days, there are a lot of books related to way to speak and converse in probable and practical situation with simple words and phrases. So, you can find and choose any book you want as considering your interests and weaknesses in English speaking.
The last tip for better English speaking is that English pronunciation is also important for improving English speaking ability. People who learn English don't regard pronunciation as precious element for speaking English, because we have paid attention to speaking fluently and following grammar rules until now. But it is surprising that most foreigners speaking English complain Korean people's wrong and poor pronunciation because there are many cases in which native speakers don't listen and understand Koreans' pronunciation, accent, and intonation something like that. In other words, because we were not born in the countries using English, we have to make more efforts to pronounce English words correctly. So, how should we do to practice pronunciation? Above all, you have to forget humiliation for advancing speaking ability. And I want to present "two specific and practical tips" for practicing pronunciation and accent or stress. The first thing is to hold "a pencil" between your mouth and, after that, let's practice and speak all kinds of English words from alphabet letters to difficult vocabulary "loudly" and "widely", as if a native speaker pronounces. Of course, it will need lots of repetition. And the next method is to use stretch "a rubber band." That is to say, when you speak and pronounce the parts of certain sentence or statement with stress or accents, you can stretch a rubber band. It will be funny! As you do it over and over again, you will pronounce and speak English exactly as if you are a native speaker. Moreover, I'm sure that you will be confident in speaking English after you practice English pronunciation or accent.
As you know and every people learning English approve, Speaking English is very hard to master because we aren't native speakers. But, remember the following saying, "Practice makes perfect." So, you have to listen to a variety of English materials and speak out what you learned and practiced with confidence. Of course, don't afraid of making many mistakes because ― as I emphasize that point again ― you aren't native speaker and you are only learner. So it is natural to make mistakes in speaking English for people learning English. Therefore, you need to turn "back to baby" ― I presented above ― and you have to repeat after and imitate what a native speaker say over and over again. And keep in order and follow determined steps. In other words, you must not speak English fluently and exactly from the first time. You will have to practice speaking English with easy and simple words, and also practice English pronunciation, accent, intonation which is essential for speaking English but is possible to ignore. Above all, what is the most important is "repetition" and “steady attitude". Through these, and to conclude, "you can be a native speaker" though you aren't a native speaker.
-jinmooryu
Hello Seungug, I am Sangwook Park.
First, I would like to tell you that I am really impressed by your writing skill. Though there can ba some grammatical problems in your essay, I could not find any errors in your writing. In terms of the content of your essay, I totally agree with your opinion. The ways you presented seem to be very helpful in learnign English! Thank you for your valuable essay!
<ENGLISH TIPS&TRICKS-GRAMMAR>Are you having hard time studying English grammar? Grammar is one of the most important parts when it comes to improving your English ability. Actually, it is considered as the fundamental skill for learning English. Moreover, it is impossible to learn any language without learning grammar at the first place. Also, other parts of English skills are relatively easy because all you have to do is memorize and repeat constantly. However, it is quite different with grammar. As people are accustomed to their own linguistic habits, it is extremely hard to change them if it is necessary. It will be like a right-handed person trying to be a left hander. As explained, changing linguistic habits is tough. The point is that unalterable linguistic habits are the main reason for poor English grammar skill. For that reason, I’m going to tell you three tips and tricks; study basic principles; transcribe articles; do writing and get feedbacks.
First of all, you should study basic principles of English grammar. Although there are so many things to study, you can still categorize them into several basic principles. In fact, grammar of every language is actually built on few basic principles. That’s because language is a promise between users. Just like a language, grammar is a promise as well. However, as you can not make every single promise on every specifics of grammar, it will be desirable for learners to make some basic principles and then apply them to other cases. To do so, you should study the organization. As English word order is very different from that of Korean, it can be confusing. Still, you have to be familiar with it. Then you can study rules of grammar such as conjugation and declension. As you can see, organization and rules about the grammar are the most important basic principles. Furthermore, they can be applied to other grammar specifics as well. In short, by studying basic principles, you can be ready to master grammar.
Secondly, you should transcribe articles to improve your English grammar. It helps you to overcome your own linguistic habits. Linguistic habits have been accumulated through your whole life. So transcribing other English writings are the best way to know how the English grammar works because you can review basic principles of English grammar that you have been studied. Especially I recommend you to transcribe news articles because they contain many well-organized sentences. By transcribing it, you can also practice grammar with the actual sentences. Also by writing down them with your hands, you can make English grammar into one of your own linguistic habits as well.
Last but absolutely not least, you should also write and get many feedbacks. After you studying English just as I mentioned, writing feedbacks to other people is required. Even though you have tried your best to overcome the obstacles, it is hard to solve since it has caused by your own linguistic habits. There are big difference between studying grammar and writing. No matter how hard you try or no matter how much you care, there are mistakes and faults for sure. In this sense, as you can realize that you have not recognized before, you should write and get feedbacks from others.
Studying English grammar is definitely a tough work. I hope tips and tricks I mentioned above make your studying easier. However there is one thing that you should always keep in mind. No matter how easy and efficient those tips and tricks would be, you’re the one who study English grammar. So it’s the most important for you to try hard. Be strongly motivated and study steadily. Your English grammar skill won’t improve in short term and sometimes, you can even hardly notice your progress. You may feel that your ways to study are wrong and you are wasting your time, but keep trying. No pain no gain. The old saying is always true. Effort will never betray you.
-seunguglee
Hi younji! I am Sangwook!
Above all, I would like to tell you your essay is very helpful though it seems to be somewhat short. I have written about the same topic as yours and I have some other ways to improve our English vocabulary. For instance, I have suggested a paperback dictionary is more helpful than an electronic one. What do you think of it? I want to hear your opinion about it.
English Tips and Tricks (Vocabulary) by YoonjiBaeThe most vital thing in learning vocabulary is diligent. Virtually, whereas you memorize vocabulary repeatedly, it is difficult to remember apparently. So you had better learn through these specific ways.
1. STUDY REPEATEDLY AND CONTINUOUSLY.Choose one vocabulary book first and memorize 10-20 words per day. If you do it for 3-5 months, you can master vocabulary in your level completely. For example, you have to memorize 10 words in the first day and then in the next day, you should both review the previous words and memorize new 10 words. It is very important not to promptly forget the words you memorized. Research shows that it takes about 10 to 20 repetitions to really memorize a word. Just looking up a word once does not make it part of your vocabulary.
2. MAKE GOOD USE OF VARIETY METHODS.In advance, read a word repeatedly to be accustomed to that. Then, listen to the word several times with the cassette tape or MP3. It is important to hear how the word is being pronounced. Also, it is better to remember the word effectively by speaking out this word and writing it many times. By saying the word out loud, you actually activate your auditory memory. Writing the word with both its definition and a sentence you make up using the word helps you to remember it more efficiently.
3. READ AND IMPROVE YOUR CONTEXT SKILLS.One of the best ways to learn vocabulary is learning it from context. Most vocabulary words are learned from context. When thinking about learning your mother tongue, you probably would not remember spending a lot of time memorizing vocabulary. You are genuinely exposed to words, and this helps you to build up your vocabulary. This is same with learning other languages. While you read, pay close attention to words you are not familiar with. First, try to guess their meanings from context. Then look them up in dictionary. This will actually help you remember the words better and also improve your context skills.
4. MAKE YOUR OWN VOCA NOTE.You should bring a handy note which you write difficult words occasionally. And in your home, you can attach some word paper all around your house. For instance, it is effective that you put the word 'broadcast' in front of the TV or 'reflect' at the mirror. This helps you memorize vocabulary words by associating the words with their meanings. Also, carrying vocabulary note cards and looking them up in your spare time will definitely help you build up your vocabulary.
-yoonjibae
Hello Jihye. I am Sangwook!
First of all, I would like to thank you for your invaluable effors to write this good essay. I totally agree with your opinion in terms of using materials we are interested in. When I was in the Airforce, I decided to read a soccer magazine written in English in order to improve my reading skill, but I gave up doing it a few days later. Reading your essay, I am encouraged a lot to do it. Thank you again for precious information.
English Tips and Tricks – ReadingBy JIHYE SEOK
Reading is often considered to be one of the most fundamental English skills. And the advent of the Internet has dramatically increased this access to text-based English. Now, even though there are a variety of English reading materials available, many people probably have a hard time reading newspapers or magazines in English. In this sense, knowing some tips and tricks to improve reading skills can be very helpful to English learners.
1. ENCOURAGE EXTENSIVE READINGHave you ever heard the saying, "Practicing makes you perfect."? As you know, it means that if you try hard, you can do it! And it could also apply to improve your reading ability. The more you read, the faster your English reading ability will grow up. In addition to that, you have to check your reading level and start with more difficult books than those in your level. When you read those, it feels a little hard to understand whole stories, but it could help you improve reading ability.
2. READ ENGLISH BOOKS OR WHATEVER MATERIALS THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED INIt may be said in this connection that you have to read a lot. With a desire to improve reading ability, it is hard to study or read some English materials steadily. English is a language, so we must study it in real situation. And if you don't have any interest in materials that you are reading, you will become bored. In short, selecting the material that can attract someone's interest is really important because that is the way of keeping your motivation for reading high.
3. LEARN HOW TO IDENTIFY A TOPIC SENTENCEThere must be one main idea in each well-written paragraph, and that main idea is expressed in the topic sentence of each paragraph. Also, there are some sentences that dilate upon the main idea in a topic sentence or tell us some examples related with a topic sentence. So it is important to identify a topic sentence at first to understand the main idea of the text. If you can find what the topic sentence is in each paragraph, it will become lot easier to understand what an author wants to tell the readers.
4. EXPAND YOUR ENGLISH VOCABULARYMost of us feel that reading is one of the most difficult parts in learning English because of unfamiliar vocabulary. I agree to some extent reading is closely related to vocabulary. Of course, it is impossible to know every single word in reading texts, but to comprehend what the author wants to tell, we should know basic vocabularies used very commonly. Also, knowing variety kinds of transition words can give us a lot of help. You can also find some tips and tricks on studying vocabulary in this newspaper.
-jihyeseok
English Tips and Tricks - Writing
These days, there are numerous people who want to improve their English writing skills. When you search information about English writing through the Internet, books and whatever you can touch, you can easily get to know how much information is there. But the amount is too immense to be sort out into essential points of English writing. Now, I’m going to suggest English Writing Tips & Tricks to help improve your English writing skills.
First, you should read article, editorial, commencement, essay, etc a lot. Because this kind of article, editorial, comment and essay are well organized and polished, the more you are exposed to them, the more you can learn practical grammar and structure naturally. There are a number of English expressions used in specific situations. Once you get to know them, you can easily apply them to other different situations and write sophisticated sentences. What’s more, you can meet various styles of writing that contain their thoughts and experiences, so you can get more than you expected.
Secondly, it would be better for you to write something everyday. Even though they are trivial things, writing them down in your diary or note would be a good way to acquire a lot of sentence patterns. If you try this, you might have trouble at first because it is not easy to make this habit, but if you do this consciously constantly, you would soon find out that what you are willing to write flows smoothly. So as soon as you read this article, write your thought on the paper without much caring grammar. Only after these notes are accumulated, you could realize your English writing skills have been improved gradually.
Lastly, using English dictionary effectively will also help you get more English writing skills. Dictionary contains a lot of information you should know when you use English. It involves many sample sentences, synonyms and antonyms, and irregular form. Once you get to know this wide range of vocabulary and sentence pattern, your English writing skills will improve beyond your recognition. In addition, through dictionary, you easily learn delicate shades of meaning between a word and a word, so you can write appropriate words from situation to situation.
You might know more than those, but it is difficult to try to perform constantly. It is useless to just know ways to writing skills. The most important thing is to act right after knowing tips. If you follow just those three suggestions, I’m sure that you will have more confidence in yourself, and will be able to good writer than any other person.
Hello, Sangwook!:)
How was your tutoring yesterday?
First of all, thank you for giving me this feedback. And sorry for not having read your essay though your topic were same with me.
A paperback dictionary!! Wow! I totally agree with that!! I heard this method from my teachers many times. ><And I think English-English one is more better to study vocabulary effectively.:)
Thank you, Sangwook!!>.<
Take care!!
Hi younji! I am Sangwook!Above all, I would like to tell you your essay is very helpful though it seems to be somewhat short. I have written about the same topic as yours and I have some other ways to improve our English vocabulary. For instance, I have suggested a paperback dictionary is more helpful than an electronic one. What do you think of it? I want to hear your opinion about it.
-sangwookpark
English Tips and Tricks - WritingThese days, there are numerous people who want to improve their English writing skills. When you search information about English writing through the Internet, books and whatever you can touch, you can easily get to know how much information is there. But the amount is too immense to be sort out into essential points of English writing. Now, I’m going to suggest English Writing Tips & Tricks to help improve your English writing skills.
First, you should read article, editorial, commencement, essay, etc a lot. Because this kind of article, editorial, comment and essay are well organized and polished, the more you are exposed to them, the more you can learn practical grammar and structure naturally. There are a number of English expressions used in specific situations. Once you get to know them, you can easily apply them to other different situations and write sophisticated sentences. What’s more, you can meet various styles of writing that contain their thoughts and experiences, so you can get more than you expected.
Secondly, it would be better for you to write something everyday. Even though they are trivial things, writing them down in your diary or note would be a good way to acquire a lot of sentence patterns. If you try this, you might have trouble at first because it is not easy to make this habit, but if you do this consciously constantly, you would soon find out that what you are willing to write flows smoothly. So as soon as you read this article, write your thought on the paper without much caring grammar. Only after these notes are accumulated, you could realize your English writing skills have been improved gradually.
Lastly, using English dictionary effectively will also help you get more English writing skills. Dictionary contains a lot of information you should know when you use English. It involves many sample sentences, synonyms and antonyms, and irregular form. Once you get to know this wide range of vocabulary and sentence pattern, your English writing skills will improve beyond your recognition. In addition, through dictionary, you easily learn delicate shades of meaning between a word and a word, so you can write appropriate words from situation to situation.
You might know more than those, but it is difficult to try to perform constantly. It is useless to just know ways to writing skills. The most important thing is to act right after knowing tips. If you follow just those three suggestions, I’m sure that you will have more confidence in yourself, and will be able to good writer than any other person.
-junghwajung
It is very useful report for improving writing skills. Even though we are taking English writing class, we still have some difficulty in writing English essey. To develop English writing skills, English learners should be dilligent. Without the dilligence, it is impossible for learners to develop their writing skills.
Thanks for good tips.
Hi Yoonji. I am Sangwook.
Yes. I forgot to mention that English-English dictionaries are much more effective than English-Korean dictionaries in learning English vocabulary. Thank you for letting me know what I have forgotten.
Hello, Sangwook!:)How was your tutoring yesterday? First of all, thank you for giving me this feedback. And sorry for not having read your essay though your topic were same with me. A paperback dictionary!! Wow! I totally agree with that!! I heard this method from my teachers many times. ><And I think English-English one is more better to study vocabulary effectively.:)Thank you, Sangwook!!>.<Take care!!
-yoonjibae
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