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Dear Frank,
So what do you need to do if you want to improve your English? Of course different people have different answers to this question. Someone might say 'you need to learn grammar rules'. Others might answer 'you need to learn vocabulary, especially idioms and phrasal verbs'. And all of them are right. However, only very few people know HOW to learn English, that is how to improve your grammar, writing, speaking, listening and all the other language skills. The answer is surprisingly simple. In order to improve your English you need to change some of your habits. Now, what exactly does this mean? Well, one of your habits is probably watching TV and listening to the news in your native language. That's a habit. It's something you have been doing for many years, which makes it very difficult for you to change. In other words, about 90% of your 'information intake' is in your native language. You feel safe and secure when you communicate in the language you have been using since you were a child. But if you want to learn English, you need to increase your 'English language input' dramatically. This means, instead of listening to the news in your native language, you need to start listening to the news in English. Instead of watching movies in your native language, you need to start watching movies and TV programmes in English. It's a fact that more than 97% of all English learners will never change their habits. They will always struggle with grammar rules and vocabulary. They will always rely on their habit of translating from English into their native language and vice versa. Only about 3% of all the English learners in the world, actually change their communication and language habits. Those are the ones who have full control over their lives because they have learned to manage their habits. Tian, which category do you fall into -- do you belong to the 97% of people who have difficulty changing their habits or do you belong to the small number of winners? You can answer this question yourself: If you have succeeded in the 30/30 Challenge, it's very likely that you will be a very successful learner. If you don't even know what the '30/30 Challenge' is, your chances to score above average are pretty slim to say the least. Now, what exactly was the '30/30 Challenge'? To find out, you can click on this link:.Now, if you remember, I gave you that link in one of our previous emails and I'd really like you to learn English like a winner. I really do want you to belong to the small group of successful English learners. That's why I'm telling you again to start the 30/30 Challenge and develop 'English language habits'. Another thing you need to do on a regular basis is complete our online tests. In my previous emails I have given you the links to several of our tests. How many of them have you completed and how often have you repeated them? You can see your own learning progress by looking at your progress report page. One of the many tests you should complete contains a variety of interesting adjectives such as 'strong', 'powerful', 'bright' and 'pretty. You might be interested in learning that 'pretty' can be an adjective as well as an adverb. For example, you can say 'This is a pretty difficult task'. In this sentence 'pretty' acts as modifying adverb. Or you can say 'Today is a pretty day' using 'pretty' as an adjective. So are you ready for the adjective test? Here it comes: Dear Tian, On our site you ALSO have the opportunity to constantly practise and improve your listening comprehension skills. You will find more than 5 hours of free online listening comprehension tests which are based on the TOEIC/TOEFL exams. There is no other site in the whole wide web that offers you this wealth of free materials. For example, you will find a great variety of 'question response' tests. This type of test is part of the TOEIC exam and has the following structure. You hear a question or statement which is followed by three responses. Only one of the responses makes sense. The other two responses are incorrect. Let's say you hear this question: 'Good morning Jane, how are you?' Then you will hear the three |
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