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Language is an essential tool of communication. Imagine a world without spoken and written language, do you think men could have invented Information Communications Technology (ICT) that we are enjoying right now? I guess, not! It is very impossible to have any scientific discoveries without language, for scientists based their experiments on other scientific findings and inventions. That's how important language is for mankind.
With English as an international language, everyone in whatever race he or she belongs may desire to learn English, knowing that being competent in this language will make one globally competitive. It is through this language that we are able to llearn and discover new knowledge; communicate to the world through social networking sites; and engage in E-commerce or market our products globally. Thus, the English language has been the most significant language of communication either for academic or business purposes.
Today, many Asians have already recognized the importance of English. Our neighboring countries like Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia among others have been investing much to teach their people the English language. Why is that so? The reason is that they want to become competitive. For instance, how can they market their products internationally, if there is no English translation of the products usage?
Knowing that English is essential, everyone now puts preimum in learning this foreign language. But how can one learn it, especially so if this language is very different from their native language. Take for instance, Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Taiwanese language; these languages are entirely different from English. English is phonetics whereas Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean are ideographics. So, how can they learn English? The truth is English can be learned or acquired.
I have Chinese and Korean students who have been in the Philippines for about five years, and I have seen their progress in learning the language. When asked how they did it, their response is they really exerted much effort in learning English. They hired private English tutors to teach them for two hours a day. It has not been easy, but they said that it was their motivation or intense desire to learn the language which helped them the most in this feat.
Thus, with my experience as a language teacher and my interviews with Asians like Chinese and Koreans, I came up with these useful tips in learning a foreign language like English easily:
For intermediate learners of English
1. Devote one hour a day in learning the rules of the language -particularly grammar rules.
2. Apply whatever rules learned in both oral and written discourse.
3. Read English books, magazines, or newspapers and pay close attention to the structures and styles of writers. Try to imitate them in your own writings.
4. Have an English mentor to check your progress and to correct your flaws in speech and in written discourse.
5. To develop your speaking skills, engage in conversation with your peers, classmates and teachers using English. Do not code switch, try to speak in straight English, no matter how simple your utterances are.
6. Listen to CNN news and watch English movies so that you will get used to the native speakers' accent and you will get know correct pronunciation of words and intonation as well.
7. Write newly learned vocabulary in a notebook, and strive to use them every day so as not to forget their meanings.
For beginners:
1. Hire the best English tutor to teach you basic rules and to correct your mistakes especially in oral and written forms of expression.
2. Have patience to use the language daily though your English may not sound good at first, later on, you will be able to develop your spoken English.
3. Keep a record of the newly learned English words, then try to use them in sentences either in oral or written form.
4. Develop the habit of reading. Start reading simple books like children's books as starting point. Then, gradually, move on to higher level reading materials like newspapers, magazines, and textbooks.
Aside from doing those aforementioned tips, you also need to have a strong passion to learn the language, because if you don't have any interest, then, no matter what you do, it will be in vain. Develop positive attitude first toward learning the English language, then all the things you need to know about the language will follow suit.
Enjoy learning!
