Speaking rules you need to know! Greetings to all, Hope to be fine and healthy! Today I come up with an issue which is so important for all students especially for ELS students. Wish you have a great time by reading the following issue and get benefits from it. 1. Don’t study grammar too much: These rules might sound strange to many ELS students, but it is one of the most important rules. If you want to pass examinations, then study grammar. However, if you want to become fluent in English, then you should try to learn English without studying the grammar. Studying grammar will only slow you down and confuse you. You will think about the rules when creating sentences instead of naturally saying a sentence like a native. Remember that only a small fraction of English speakers know more the 20% of all the grammar rules. Many ELS students know more grammar than native speakers, majored in English Literature, and have been teaching for more than 10 years. However many of students know more details about English grammar than I do. I can easily look up the definition and apply it, but I don’t know it off the top of my head. I often ask my native English friends some grammar questions, and only a few of them know the correct answer. However, they are fluent in English and can read, speak, listen and communicate effectively. Do you want to able to recite the definition of causative verb, or do you want to be able to speak English fluently? 2. Learn and study phrases: Many students learn vocabulary and try to put many words together to create a proper sentence. It amazes me how many words some of students know, but they cannot create a proper sentence. The reason is because they didn’t study phrases. When children learn a language, they learn both words and phrases together. Likewise, you need to study and learn phrases. If you know 1000 words, you might not be able to say one correct sentence, but if you know 1 phrase, you can make hundreds of correct sentences, if you know 100nphrases, you will be surprised at how many correct sentences you will be able to say. Finally, when you know only a 1000 phrases, you will be almost a fluent English speaker. The English speaking basics section is great example of making numerous sentences with a single phrase, so don’t spend hours and hours learning many different words. Use that time to study phrases instead and you will be closer to English fluency. 3. Don’t translate: When you want to create an English sentences, do not translate the words from your mother tongue. The order of words is probably completely different and you will be both slow and incorrect by doing this. Instead, learn phrases and sentences so you don’t have to think about the words you are saying. It should be automatic. Another problem with translating is that you will be trying to incorporate grammar rules that you have learned. Translating and thinking about the grammar to create English sentences is incorrect and should be avoided. 4. Reading and listening is NOT enough. Practice speaking what you hear! Reading, listening and speaking are the most important aspects of any language. The same true for English. However, speaking is the only requirement to be fluent, it is normal for babies and children to learn speaking first, become fluent, then start reading then writing. So the natural order is listening, speaking, reading then writing. 5. First problem: Isn’t it strange that schools across the world teach reading first, then writing, then listening, and finally speaking? Although it is different, the main reason is because when you learn a second language, you need to read materials to understand and learn it. So even though the natural order is listening, speaking, reading then writing, the order for ESL students is reading, listening, speaking and writing. 6. Second problem: The reason many people can read and listen is because that’s all they practice. But in order to speak English fluently, you need to practice speaking. Don’t stop at the listening portion and when you study, don’t pay attention to your environment. Now Please answer the following questions: 1. Was it beneficial for you? 2. Did you know these steps before? If yes, how? 3. Will you implement these steps on yourself? If yes, why? 4. In which order did you learn English language? (Reading, listening, speaking and writing/ listening, speaking, reading then writing)
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 06:27:39 +0000
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