All About Learning English is not an English textbook. It is, however, a book designed to help all students who are learning English in ways other books do not. This first edition, which includes Chinese translation, will help students who read either English or Chinese to understand the differences between traditional teaching and learning methods of the past and the current teaching methods thought of as "best practice" today in the West. This book also gives students currently involved in a traditional class tools and techniques they can use to make the learning of English speedier and less of a struggle. Students who read Chinese can fully understand the topics as the translations follow the English text closely, and there are numerous examples illustrating each point. This book teaches a student to understand his own personal learning style and gives him tips and techniques that will make his learning speedier and much more pleasant. This is a unique book-a must read for everyone struggling to learn the English language.

ALL ABOUT LEARNING ENGLISH

Tips, Tricks and TechniquesBy Sandra Price-Hosie

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2012 Sandra Price-Hosie
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-0541-2

Contents

Introduction.....................................................viiAcknowledgements.................................................ixI. About Motivation..............................................1II. About Learning Styles........................................10III. About the English Language..................................21IV. About Spelling...............................................30V. About Pronunciation...........................................48VI. About The English Class......................................69VII. About Grammar...............................................84VIII. About Vocabulary...........................................105Appendix I Evolution of the English Language.....................133Appendix II Regular Verb Conjugation.............................139Sources..........................................................141

Chapter One

About Motivation

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Why do you want to learn English? What is your motivation? The stronger your motivation, the more successful you will be. Most teachers will agree that the students who make the fastest successful progress in learning are the ones with the strongest motivation. The students who do not make progress in learning English usually are the ones without motivation.

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For example, Shelley had to come to the United States because her husband, Joe, was transferred by his employer. Shelley had never wanted to leave her home in China and she had a full life. She was very busy there with her career teaching Chinese history and with raising her daughter who was three. Whenever Shelley had to go to work she always had four grandparents available to care for the child.

Nevertheless, Shelley came to the U.S. with her little girl to join her husband. She had learned some English in school but had never pursued it because she had no thought of ever leaving her home in China. She also thought of Chinese as being the superior language and culture and felt no need to study English.

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Once in the United States, Joe showed Shelley how to tune the TV and the radio to stations broadcasting in Mandarin. She also found a little "Chinatown" where she could shop for food and clothes and buy Chinese newspapers and magazines. She thought they would stay for only a year or two and then they'd return to their homeland. Shelley stayed home with her little girl speaking only Chinese and exposing her only to Chinese media. At her husband's urging, Shelley enrolled in weekly English classes. She enjoyed making a few Chinese friends who helped her by translating what the teacher said. She felt silly going to school at her stage in life and she felt many of the lesson activities were childish. So, she concentrated on simply collecting all the new words by writing them in her lesson book. Then she put her book away until the next class.

After a year, she could read only a little English and say even less, and she was still afraid to answer the phone or the door. She felt quite alone and isolated. She became closer to her little girl reinforcing her Chinese heritage with all the little stories and traditions her mother had taught her. Although Shelley was a highly intelligent and capable woman, she made little, if any, progress in learning English. She had no personal motivation. She was, in fact, rejecting rather than embracing English.

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Shelley's husband, on the other hand, was proud to be asked by his company to transfer to the United States. He was always interested in new ideas and new technology. Although, like his wife, he was proud of everything Chinese, he still thought he could learn much from living abroad. He had learned some English in school and once he knew he would be transferred, he went to night school every evening to learn English as fast as he could. He began listening to English tapes and to English movies whenever he could.

After they settled in to their new home in the States, Joe practiced speaking English as much as possible since most of the people at his office spoke English, even those from China. He watched American TV and practiced saying new phrases that he picked up from television. He practiced speaking English at home to his daughter when his wife was busy elsewhere. Soon he joined a community soccer team and found he was learning to speak English spontaneously in the excitement of the game. Joe needed English for his career and he was strongly motivated. Joe learned English quickly.

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What is your attitude toward the English language and its speakers? Negativity could hinder your learning. Positive imaging can help you to learn English quickly.

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Another student, Magda, was a senior citizen from Russia. She had a PHD and had been an engineer. She had come to the west to join her children and grandchildren. Her family brought her to the English class so she could communicate with her grandchildren and also so she could become independent and go shopping or to the doctor on her own.

She was a wonderful person with a great sense of humour and a strong personality. Unfortunately, she made it quite clear in the class that Russian was a far superior language and English was inferior and far too difficult to learn. She would often interrupt the lesson to give the class the Russian equivalent of the vocabulary.

One day I came into the class early and found Magda conducting a class in Russian! Needless to say, her motivation to learn English was decidedly lacking and, despite her intellectual capability, she made no progress at all in learning English. And we will never know how many of her classmates learned Russian!

If you find you dislike learning English you must ask yourself "Why?" If, for example, you are like May who dislikes American culture with its loudness, boldness, and Hollywood crudeness, yet you know you must learn English, perhaps you should search for something in the American culture that you can embrace.

You might want to look at the American struggle for independence from England, the fight against slavery and racism, the doctrine of individualism, or the careers of the great entrepreneurs. Or, you might want to focus on a particular career field or on one of the arts. You must find a way to motivate yourself to learn English to be able to communicate.

If you feel negative about the U.S., you can even switch your focus to another country where English is spoken and where the culture is different. Although Canada is close to and similar to the United States, the cultural differences are great. The same applies, of course, to England, Australia, New Zealand, some Caribbean islands, and partly to South Africa. May found learning English difficult because in her heart she did not want to become like an American. Once she decided she could become a proud Chinese-Canadian her attitude toward learning changed and she found herself progressing rapidly.

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Lily, too, was having trouble learning English. She had been taught by teachers in Hong Kong that British English with its "r-less" dialect was correct and superior to other types of English. So, she felt her Canadian and American teachers were not up to the proper standard. Sadly, her negative attitude held her back from participating fully in classes and led to her criticising her teachers instead of cooperating.

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WHAT PARTS OF THE LANGUAGE DO YOU NEED TO LEARN? What can you ignore? This naturally depends on why you are studying English and what your personal goal is.

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If you are expecting to work or travel in an English speaking country and need current, functional English, try the newspaper of the area you will be visiting as a useful guide to the grammar and vocabulary of language used. If you want to understand and speak English in London, England or New York, U.S.A., for example, then read the most popular daily newspapers published for those places. You can obtain copies of these papers at special news agents' shops, at the public library, or on the internet.

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If you are on an academic path and must pass a formal examination in English, such as IELTS, TOEFL, SAT or GMAT, you must rely on your instructor and your textbook to prepare you for that specific test. When you are preparing for formal examinations, it is not the time to dwell on the irregularities and peculiarities of English. You must learn the rules of spelling and grammar and their exceptions.

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WHAT KIND OF ENGLISH DO YOU WANT TO LEARN?

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There are differences in pronunciation and vocabulary in the English used in the many countries. If you are planning to work or go to school in a specific English speaking country, try to concentrate your studies on the English specifically used in that country. If you are heading for London, England focus on British or "Oxford English" (Received English) but if you are heading for the United States then American or Canadian English studies will help you more. You can search out textbooks and reading materials in the type of English you need. You can also search for a teacher who speaks the dialect you are intending to learn.

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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO?

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Do you need to concentrate on all four skills, reading, writing, listening, speaking, or are certain specific skills more important to your needs? Do you need to understand, and speak, English at the casual level, at the business level, or at the academic level? Do you need to compose and understand written English in casual notes, academic works, or business letters and reports? Are you studying English for a certain specific career such as tourism, medicine or piloting?

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If you search for a course or instructor that can help you toward your personal goals, you will be more strongly motivated and make better progress. While aptitude for language, competent teaching, and opportunity to practise are all important, success in learning English is chiefly governed by student motivation and determination.

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How strong is your motivation?

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Why do you want to learn English?

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How much time do you have?

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Make a note of your own purpose in Learning English:

Indicate your personal planned Timeline:

Beginner Intermediate Advanced 3 Months 1 yr 5 yrs

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Chapter Two

About Learning Styles

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What type of learner are you? Your learning style is the way you best take in and process new knowledge. Psychologists now have many ways of examining and labelling learning styles. Marlene Le Feber (Learning Styles) gives us one of the simplest and easiest methods. She gives us three modalities: tactile/kinaesthetic, visual, and auditory. She says that the average class of 20 students will have four auditory learners, eight visual learners, and eight tactile/kinaesthetic learners.

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Visual learners need to have things presented in visual form. They will listen to the teacher intently but need to see real articles, pictures, diagrams, word cards, charts or maps to take in and retain the new knowledge. Having the teacher repeat and repeat an instruction does not help this type of learner.

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Auditory learners will listen to the teacher intently and retain what is presented orally. They benefit from repeated spoken instructions and explanations. Pictures, diagrams and written instructions are not enough for the auditory learner. They benefit also from chants, songs, rhymes, clapping and sound clues to help them retain information.

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Tactile/kinaesthetic learners will certainly listen to the teacher's oral presentation and they will certainly look at the visual materials. But they will take in and retain the knowledge best when they can be physically involved. They will retain the new information when they can use their fingers, manipulate items with their hands, hold items or pictures or word cards in their hands, or when they can act out the ideas with their entire bodies. They need to hold things in their grasp, point to words or pictures with their fingers, move their arms and legs, using gestures to accompany language learning. If they sit passively at their desk listening and watching, not only will they become restless and anxious, they will be less successful in taking in and retaining new language.

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For example, if the subject is "the Canadian parliamentary system," some students will understand it completely after silently reading an explanation. Most of the average class would do the reading but not understand or remember it. More students will grasp it if the teacher produces a large diagram with different parties being represented by different coloured "stick-ons". However, a large segment of the class would need to manipulate the diagram with the coloured "stick-ons" for themselves and then to act out a parliamentary scene themselves taking the roles of government members, opposition members, speaker of the house etc. Then, when the students are able to interact with each other explaining different parts of the parliamentary system, most of the students will have learned the material—they will have "made it their own".

So, the effective teacher presents the new information and language to be learned in several different ways in order to reach each type of learner successfully.

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FIND YOUR OWN LEARNING STYLE:

A. VISUAL LEARNER

My mind wanders when the teacher talks too much. I remember the pictures. I seem to learn from word cards, and from matching pictures to words. I don't remember what I'm told—I have to see it written down. I try to see a new word in my mind. I learn from reading the text book. If I can "see" the word I can spell it. I keep all my new words in a book—but I have trouble saying them out loud.

B. AUDITORY LEARNER

I learn from listening to tapes and from listening to the teacher. When the teacher just hands out reading material and diagrams I feel confused. I learn to speak more when we do oral reading together. I remember what I'm told. I have to sound out new words. I like phonics—it helps me a lot. But English spelling drives me crazy.

C. TACTILE/KINAESTHETIC

I remember more when we do actions with the words. I make drawings and diagrams while the teacher talks. I have to touch pictures and hold them in my hands. I remember more if I can handle coloured word cards and real objects. I learn when we clap, chant, sing or act out scenes. I have to write new words down to learn them. I can't think without a pencil or pen in my hand. Cutting, pasting, and painting pictures all help me to learn.

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Left Brain-Right Brain

Another way of looking at learning styles is the approach known as Right or Left Brain Dominance.

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Scientists have determined that different areas of the human brain govern different functions and that the two sides of the brain, the left and the right sides, are different in how they govern us. Also, it appears that some people have a right side dominant while others have a left side dominant and that this variation is evident in personality and in learning style.

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LEFT BRAIN LIKES:

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numbers, time, lists, order, calculations, series, sequencing, memory, data, reciting, organizing categories, logic, analysis, details, rules, grammar, mechanics, classifying, patterns, punctuality

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RIGHT BRAIN LIKES:

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space, intuition, emotions, speaking freely, attitudes, synthesis, integration, whole concepts, the big picture, abstractions, generalizations, music, dance

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If you are a left-brained learner you may prefer an orderly, structured class with clearly defined activities and finishing times. You may be uncomfortable in a relaxed class where everyone works on activities of their choice and finishes what they can when they can. You probably enjoy making lists, graphs and charts. You may prefer spelling and grammar rules.

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Excerpted from ALL ABOUT LEARNING ENGLISHby Sandra Price-Hosie Copyright © 2012 by Sandra Price-Hosie. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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