Things to do for self-study
I always tell my students that coming for tuition alone is not enough. There must be some self-study done on a daily basis. Below are some things you can do on your own every day to improve your English.
1. Read the papers to gain general knowledge.
This is especially so for O- and A-Level students because of the emphasis on general knowledge in their papers. Without knowledge of general and current affairs, it is difficult to answer the essay questions or the inferential-type questions in the comprehension.
Just to give an example, some students tested me a few years with an actual GP paper. Other than two questions which made reference to something in the passage that I needed to read to find out what, and the summary to know what the exact points were, I answered all the questions correctly, based entirely on my prior knowledge of the topic, yes, even the AQ itself, without looking at the passage first at all. This shows that prior knowledge helps tremendously in understanding and answering the questions correctly. Relying on the text alone is insufficient.
2. Do the vocabulary exercise diligently (see below).
I think it’s obvious how not knowing certain words in the paper can hamper your attempt to do it.
3. Read good, model essays to have a feel of the style and format of the writing requirements.
Many students know the points, but they don’t know how to put them down in writing, especially in argumentative essays. Quite a handful of A-Level students still write O-Level standard essays. So, read good, model essays to have a feel of what is a good essay. Most schools have model essays that they distribute to their students. Read them and analyse the structure carefully. What makes these essays good? Don’t make the mistake of simply reading for the content but how the content is presented that answers the question.
4. Practise writing one essay / comprehension paper a week. Take note of your grammar, spelling, punctuation etc.
Language is a skill, and skills are learnt through practice. Reading an essay is not the same as writing one. Reading about how to answer comprehension papers is not the same as sitting down and actually doing one.
A few years ago, some PRC students from Crescent Girl’s School made headlines by scoring distinctions in the exams. They were weak in the English language when they first arrived here, but they went on to score distinctions in their O-Level English papers a few years later. How did they do it? By doing one full paper (i.e. both compo and compre) a week.
Practice makes perfect. Enough said.
5. Listen to English Language learning mp3s. Read along with the text (if available).
Beginning learners must become familiar with the language, and listening regularly to authentic speakers speaking English is a must to breed this familiarity as quickly as possible. There are lots of English-learning websites on the internet which provide mp3s to download and listen to. Use them. They’re free. One resource I like to use is http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/. They have passages with accompanying mp3s that you can read and listen at the same time.
6. Use a pronouncing dictionary if you don’t know how to pronounce a word.
Students who need to sit for oral examinations must pronounce words correctly. One way to learn to pronounce words is by using online resources like http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ or http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/.
7. Read aloud to burn the sound into your mind.
We may not have the opportunity to listen to authentic speakers / mp3s. One way to practise listening is to read the text aloud yourself. Burn the sound into your mind. This is the best way to pick up sentence structures or grammar and so on.
Language is first learnt through the ears. All babies learn their language from hearing their daddies and mummies speak to them. Name me one child who learnt his language by learning how to read or write ABCs.
Vocabulary Exercise
1. Write down the dictionary definition(s) in a notebook. Write down as many as given.
2. Do not use your native language to translate, unless absolutely necessary.
3. Write down the original sentence where the word appears.
4. Write down the sample sentence x 5 (if available).
5. There must be a minimum of two sentences (original + sample).
6. Review your definitions and sentences three times a day x three days.
7. Try to use the word in your writing and speaking.
E.g. if you have five sentences containing the word you’re learning, and you review it five times a day (total 15 times per day) x 3 days, this means you’d have gone through the meaning and usage of this word 45 times over three days.
After 45 times, can you tell me you still don’t know the meaning of the word and how to use it, even if you cannot remember the technical definition word-for-word?
1. Read the papers to gain general knowledge.
This is especially so for O- and A-Level students because of the emphasis on general knowledge in their papers. Without knowledge of general and current affairs, it is difficult to answer the essay questions or the inferential-type questions in the comprehension.
Just to give an example, some students tested me a few years with an actual GP paper. Other than two questions which made reference to something in the passage that I needed to read to find out what, and the summary to know what the exact points were, I answered all the questions correctly, based entirely on my prior knowledge of the topic, yes, even the AQ itself, without looking at the passage first at all. This shows that prior knowledge helps tremendously in understanding and answering the questions correctly. Relying on the text alone is insufficient.
2. Do the vocabulary exercise diligently (see below).
I think it’s obvious how not knowing certain words in the paper can hamper your attempt to do it.
3. Read good, model essays to have a feel of the style and format of the writing requirements.
Many students know the points, but they don’t know how to put them down in writing, especially in argumentative essays. Quite a handful of A-Level students still write O-Level standard essays. So, read good, model essays to have a feel of what is a good essay. Most schools have model essays that they distribute to their students. Read them and analyse the structure carefully. What makes these essays good? Don’t make the mistake of simply reading for the content but how the content is presented that answers the question.
4. Practise writing one essay / comprehension paper a week. Take note of your grammar, spelling, punctuation etc.
Language is a skill, and skills are learnt through practice. Reading an essay is not the same as writing one. Reading about how to answer comprehension papers is not the same as sitting down and actually doing one.
A few years ago, some PRC students from Crescent Girl’s School made headlines by scoring distinctions in the exams. They were weak in the English language when they first arrived here, but they went on to score distinctions in their O-Level English papers a few years later. How did they do it? By doing one full paper (i.e. both compo and compre) a week.
Practice makes perfect. Enough said.
5. Listen to English Language learning mp3s. Read along with the text (if available).
Beginning learners must become familiar with the language, and listening regularly to authentic speakers speaking English is a must to breed this familiarity as quickly as possible. There are lots of English-learning websites on the internet which provide mp3s to download and listen to. Use them. They’re free. One resource I like to use is http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/. They have passages with accompanying mp3s that you can read and listen at the same time.
6. Use a pronouncing dictionary if you don’t know how to pronounce a word.
Students who need to sit for oral examinations must pronounce words correctly. One way to learn to pronounce words is by using online resources like http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ or http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/.
7. Read aloud to burn the sound into your mind.
We may not have the opportunity to listen to authentic speakers / mp3s. One way to practise listening is to read the text aloud yourself. Burn the sound into your mind. This is the best way to pick up sentence structures or grammar and so on.
Language is first learnt through the ears. All babies learn their language from hearing their daddies and mummies speak to them. Name me one child who learnt his language by learning how to read or write ABCs.
Vocabulary Exercise
1. Write down the dictionary definition(s) in a notebook. Write down as many as given.
2. Do not use your native language to translate, unless absolutely necessary.
3. Write down the original sentence where the word appears.
4. Write down the sample sentence x 5 (if available).
5. There must be a minimum of two sentences (original + sample).
6. Review your definitions and sentences three times a day x three days.
7. Try to use the word in your writing and speaking.
E.g. if you have five sentences containing the word you’re learning, and you review it five times a day (total 15 times per day) x 3 days, this means you’d have gone through the meaning and usage of this word 45 times over three days.
After 45 times, can you tell me you still don’t know the meaning of the word and how to use it, even if you cannot remember the technical definition word-for-word?