IX. Выберите из текста наиболее подходящие для себя способы совершенствования знаний иностранного языка и прокомментируйте:

40 Ways to improve your english

1. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Be confident. People can only correct your mistakes when they hear you make them.

2. Surround yourself in English. Put yourself in an all English speaking environment where you can learn passively. The best way to learn is through speaking.

3. Practise every day. Make yourself a study plan. Decide how much time a week you are going to spend studying and stick to it.

4 . Tell your family and friends about your study plan. Get them to push you to study and also don’t let them interrupt you.

5. Keep a notebook of new words you learn. Not more than 5-9 new words at a time. Use them in sentences and try to say them at least 3 times when you speak.

6. Visit free learn English website at least once a day.

7. You will find words easier to remember if you try to remember an example sentence using that word rather the word on its own.

8. Create an atmosphere in which you want to learn, not because you have to. You’ll learn more when you’re learning because you want to.

9. Figure out how you learn. It can be by memorising, reading, speaking, summarising or other methods. Find out how you study best. It can be in a quiet place by yourself or with a group.

10. Get help! If you don’t understand something you’ve got to ask someone.

11. Review! Review! Review! Make sure that you take the time to review things you have studied in the past.

12. It’s not a good idea to study on your own for more than 30 minutes at a time. Take regular breaks, get some fresh air and stretch your legs.

13. Don’t be in such a hurry to move up a level. Concentrate on the level you are at now.

14. Watch DVDs rather than TV. It’s better to use something that you can watch over again to catch information you might have missed the first time. Watching TV only gives you the chance to hear something correctly first time. This is better for high level students.

15. Children’s books have easier words and are a good alternative to graded readers.

16. Read for the general meaning first. Don’t worry about understanding every word, then go back and look up new words. For a word you don’t understand in a sentence, look at the other words around it. They will give you a hint. Try to guess the meaning from the context.

17. When you learn a new word, think of all its other forms: Beautiful (adjective), beauty (noun), beautifully (adverb).

18. Learn prefixes (dis-, un-, re-) and suffixes (-ly, -ment, -ful), these will help you to figure out the meaning of words and build your vocabulary.

19. English, unlike Japanese or French, uses word stress. For new words, count the syllables and find where the stress is. Only one stress per word and always on a vowel. Two syllable verbs have a stress on the second syllable (beGIN). 2 syllable nouns (TEAcher) and adjectives (HAPpy) stress the first.

20. Use English whenever you can. Talk to yourself…but not on the bus otherwise people will think you have gone crazy!

21. To become a better writer brainstorm as many ideas and thoughts onto paper without worrying about grammar or spelling. Then think about the structure. After that, write your piece using good grammar and spelling. Finally, read it through or give it to someone else to check for mistakes.

22. Keep an eye on your punctuation as it can totally change what you’re trying to say. Check out the difference in meaning between these two sentences: “A woman without her man is nothing” and “A woman: without her, man is nothing”.

23. Show the world your beautiful voice! Learn English songs and sing along with them to improve fluency and intonation… anyone for Karaoke?

24. Get a penfriend or use chat-rooms, forums and community sites. If you can’t speak to someone in English, this is the next best thing.

25. Have English radio on in your house. Even if you are not actively listening to it, you will still be training your ears.

26. Nobody likes to hear their own voice, but be brave and try it! Record your voice and listen to your pronunciation and intonation. It will help you to identify your problem areas.

27. Use an English/English dictionary as it will help you to keep thinking in English and not translating. If an English/English dictionary seems scary, there are learner’s dictionaries for English students of your level.

28. Don’t give up! Stay positive! Sometimes you will feel that you aren’t learning quickly enough. Everyone feels like this, don’t worry about it. You’ll get there in the end. If you haven’t gotten the results you wanted yet, it’s not because you’re bad at languages, it’s because you haven’t found your own special way of learning yet. Keep in mind that it takes longer to improve when our level is high. Usually the fastest progress is made when we are beginners. Don’t think that you’re suddenly not learning anymore, it’s just a less noticeable progress.

29. If you get nervous when speaking, take two deep breaths before you say something. You’ll speak better when you feel relaxed.

30. You are never too young or too old to start learning English. Don’t make excuses not to learn.

31 Use resources which match your level. Don’t use texts/listening exercises which are too difficult or too easy. Use materials which challenge you but don’t frustrate you.

32. Don’t worry about making your accent perfect. It’s an important part of your cultural identity to keep your accent. Native English speakers enjoy hearing English spoken with an accent.

33. Be aware of the differences in American and British English and use your words accordingly. For example: Elevator (US) / Lift (British).

34. Use post-it notes and stick them around your home. You can use them to label things.

35. It’s not enough to only learn English words. You can teach a parrot English words but that doesn’t mean it can speak English! You still need to have an understanding of grammar.

36. Keep it up! If you take a break from speaking English, you will find that your level decreases and all your hard work has been wasted.

37. Learn English with a friend or relative. You’ll have someone you can practice with and you can motivate each other to study.

38. For fluency, try image training. Before you go to that restaurant think through what the waiter is likely to say to you. Think of what phrases you are going to use.

39. Once you have a basic level of English explore the different ways you can say the same thing. This makes your English more interesting to the listener and it shouldn’t be too difficult for you because you already know the basics. For example, how many ways can we say, ‘Goodbye' in English?

40. When you are on your English course, be prepared for your class. Do your homework as soon as possible and hand it in on time. Review your notes and your last lesson a few minutes before the class. Doing this will refresh your memory and you'll be warmed up for lesson. Don't get distracted in class. Focus on the lesson, don't stare out of the window. Don't be late, arrive a few minutes before the start of the lesson. Switch off your phone. Be organized, remember to take your textbook, notebook and pen.