10 things NOT to do this year (if you want to improve your English) Part I.
New year, new you, new possibilities. The beginning of a new year is sort of a magical time in a way that it usually makes people feel super motivated. The “clean slate” of the new year gives them hope that no matter how many times they failed (or they think they failed), this time they’re going to make it. The internet is full of “Ten things to do if…” articles, so I thought I’d turn it around and give you some tips on what NOT to do if you want to improve your English – or any foreign language you’re learning – not only this year. And some alternatives, of course 🙂
1. Do NOT make New Year’s resolutions
Why? You don’t need a team of British scientists to know that making New Year’s resolutions usually doesn’t work (good for you if you’re an exception). You don’t need a specific date to start working on whatever it is you want to change in your life, it will not help you unless you do it right. I can hear you say “it’s better to try and fail than do nothing” but repeated failing can have a detrimental effect on your motivation, so why not do it better?
Instead: Set yourself the right goals. How? It may be seemingly easy, especially because people often feel wildly optimistic about their possibilities at the beginning of a new period, but do they set their goals well or do they set themselves up for a failure? There’s a relatively simple way to test your goal against a set of rules to find out. Have you ever heard about S.M.A.R.T. goals? Your goal need to have certain characteristics in order to be helpful. They need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-framed. In other words, you need to decided what exactly it is you’re going to work on. There also needs to be a way of measuring your success at attaining your goal. Next, it’s good to consider your resources in order to set yourselves a goal that is realistic and achievable within your own situation. Last but not least, and I dare say we all know this – deadlines help. I’m planning to prepare a post focusing just on goal setting, so please stay tuned 😉
2. Do NOT doubt yourselves
Why? Taking a negative attitude towards your own skills and abilities and possible outcomes of your learning is the least helpful thing you can do if you seriously attempt to improve your English. I had to battle this issue more than once with almost every student I’ve ever worked with. Phrases like, “I will never learn/remember this.”, “I’m not good at languages.”, “I’ll never be fluent.”, “I’m hopeless at learning languages.” and similar in the same spirit is something you hear almost every lesson. I suspect it’s a Czech thing because we naturally have a tendency to doubt and underestimate ourselves. I’d like to hear from EFL teachers working in other countries to get some comparison.
Instead: Whenever I hear some of the said phrases, I tell my students: “OK, if you really think so, you don’t have to come here because it’s just a waste of our time.” Harsh? Maybe, but I think it’s what they need to hear so that they get yanked out of their despair. Negativity blocks your progress. Period. Following the growth mindset theory by Carol Dweck, you can replace the negative thoughts/utterances by something like: “I can’t remember (put an arbitrary piece of grammar/vocabulary here) yet.”, “I will make more effort to get it right next time.” or “I made a mistake. Mistakes help me learn and improve.”. In simple terms, it’s always more beneficial to ask yourself if you’re doing your best and try to find more efficient learning strategies (perhaps with the help of your teacher) rather than cement your conviction that you are bad at it and can’t ever succeed. Believe me, you CAN do it!
3. Do NOT study infrequently in long sessions
Why? There are several reasons. First of all, starting small is less scary and more doable. Doing something with English for 15 minutes every (other) day is certainly less daunting a task than sitting and studying for one or two hours once a week. Long learning sessions are also less likely to make it into your (often very busy) schedule. Secondly, regularity plays a key role in making progress. If you only use your language in whatever way once or twice a week outside your lesson, it’s definitely not enough to make any notable improvement. On top of that, using the language infrequently and irregularly makes you feel guilty, which attaches further negative feelings to your learning experience, decreases motivation and increases the possibility of failing once again.
Instead: Think of short time slots during your weekly schedule where you can insert short activities such as reading an article/blog post/listening to (half of) a podcast episode/watching a video on YouTube, revising notes from your last lesson, organizing your materials, chatting with an English speaking friend/your teacher on Messenger/Skype/over the phone.
Make a pleasant habit of these little moments – the outcome will be at least threefold. Firstly, you will have some fun or take your mind off your duties, especially if you practice using materials that are connected with something that you already enjoy doing (such as one of your hobbies or interests). Also, forming a habit like this will definitely help you stay on top of your learning process and make small steps towards meeting your goals. This, in turn, will boost your “language learner’s confidence” and boost your motivation. Win-win-win, isn’t it?
4. Do NOT let your study materials pile up on your desk/in your drawer
Why? I guess this one doesn’t need much explanation, yet – surprisingly – students often fail to realize how important it is to keep their learning resources organized. If you use a textbook or digital materials, this may be easier for you to do than for people who study from handouts given to them by their teacher(s). If you let all the loose pages heap up randomly on your desk, you’ll soon lose track of what you studied and when. Difficulties with finding your homework for your next lesson may add to your unwillingness to sit down and get to it.
Don’t get mistaken, the same applies to the digital stuff. We live in the digital age and the internet is an invaluable source of materials we can use for learning. But what use is it when you just can’t find the one video/podcast/article that was so interesting and helpful? Plus, do you have time to spare to look for it for ages? To sum it up, creating further obstacles on your way to better English by being disorganized is the last thing you need.
Instead: Even if you’re not a very systematic person, like myself, get organized! Setting up a notebook to take to your lessons is a must (if you’re a digital person, you may prefer using your laptop instead). Even if you work with a textbook, get a file/ring binder with clear pockets where you can store your notes and handouts from each lesson. Labelling the materials helps too. As for grouping your materials, there are several options – by date, topic, area of knowledge or by skills are just some of them. Maybe you can think of other alternatives? Anyway, what I always stress is that it should be pleasant and convenient for you to access the materials and work with them.
5. Do NOT make excuses
Why? Because saying “I don’t have time.” or “I’m sorry, I forgot to do my homework (again).” doesn’t help at all. Students often feel bad themselves when they’re telling me things like that but I’m not the one who gets hurt by their excuses (sorry to reveal the truth). They hinder their own learning and improvement. Not doing anything makes no progress, that’s the bottom line. But how to find the time and remember to do your bit of preparation for your next class?
Instead: Let’s break this thing issue into two parts – time and memory. The time thing is – contrary to what many people think – quite easy. How do you find time for something? It has to be your priority. And how does something move up on your list of priorities? You put it on top. It’s as simple as that. Make sure your motivation to really learn the language is strong enough and you’ll most probably never have to search for extra time for studying again.
If “forgot” really means “didn’t remember” and not – like in many cases – “didn’t care enough to do it”, then all you have to do is to make a note in your textbook or on your handout and stick to the previous point in this article. In case you need an extra reminder, you can set an alarm on your phone or use one of the popular electronic To-do list apps such as Google Keep or Todoist. As most of my students know, I’m a strongly analog person with a thing for stationery, so I swear by my bullet journal (but that’s a topic for some other time).
I guess that’s enough reading for today, I’ll bring you the second half next week. I hope these tips will help you and I’ll be happy if you ask questions or comment below. Good luck and happy learning this year! 🙂
Photo taken from http://flickr.com/eltpics by @vickyloras, used under a CC Attribution Non-Commercial license, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/