1. Translation

Although the benefits of your mother tongue in language learning is undeniable, English learners sometimes become dependent on translated texts and bilingual dictionaries, and consequently, they have a hard time using the English words or expressions.

For example, it is OK to learn the translation of concrete words like “apple”, or “the sky”, but for more abstract words (e.g. “trust”) or idioms and expressions, you’d better write down their dictionary definitions in English with one or two example usages.

2. Reading aloud

Remember your school time? Our teachers made us read texts aloud in front of the class. Did you understand what you were reading? Probably not. That is because when you read something aloud, you concentrate a lot on the pronunciation of each word rather than the meaning; therefore, your comprehension level declines dramatically. However, when you read texts silently, you are able to digest the content much better.

Exception: You may need to read a text aloud either to an audience or to memorise it, and in such cases it is absolutely fine.

3. Subtitles in your mother tongue

We all know that watching movies is a wonderful way to improve your listening, but it wouldn’t be as effective if you watched them with subtitles in your mother tongue. Here are some tips:

1- Are you an advanced learner? => no subtitles at all
2- Are you an intermediate learner? => add subtitles only for difficult sections
3- Are you a lower intermediate learner? => watch with English subtitles to help you

4. Auto-correction

Today, computers and cellphones are all equipped with auto-correction technologies. For instance, you misspell the word “calender“, but as soon as you press the space bar, it is automatically corrected as “calendar“. Or you no longer need to learn the correct spelling of “Wednesday”.

On the plus side, you can comfortably make sure that your spellings are correct, but on the minus side, you will become dependent on this facility, order neurontin over the counter and it will be almost impossible for you to spell words correctly when you write in pen/pencil during an exam like IELTS! We strongly suggest you turn off auto-correction services on keyboards for more spelling practice.

5. Repetition

“I think”, “I suppose”, “I believe”, “In my opinion”, “as far as I’m concerned”, “I am of the opinion that”; the list goes on! However, most English learners keep repeating only one or two phrases in their language and their speaking/writing lacks variety. This is really dangerous as far as exams like IELTS are concerned because you are expected to have variety in your vocabulary and grammar.

By the way, do you know various ways to respond to “thank you”?

6. Relying on your English class only

Your English class is not the only place to learn/practise English. A great proportion of your learning actually takes place (or should take place) outside the class:

• Read books on your own
• Talk to English friends
• Use Internet websites
• Keep an English diary