Author RSS Feed1 STUDY EVERY DAY. A foreignchinese writing class language course is different from any other course you take. Language learning is cumulative: you cannot put it off until the weekend. Studyor hours for every class hour if you want an A or B. DISTRIBUTE YOUR STUDY TIME in 15- to 30-minute periods throughout the day. Focus on a different task each time: vocabulary now, grammar next, etc. Get an overview during the first half hour: spendchinese writing class minutes reviewing dialog, minutes learning new vocabulary, minutes learning new grammar so you’ll at least have looked at it all. Approximately of your study time should be spent in recitation or practice, including practice in the language lab.3 ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE IN CLASS WITHOUT FAIL — even if you are not well prepared. Class time is your primary opportunity for practice. Learn the grammar and vocabulary outside of class in order to make the most of class time. Spend a few minutes “warming up” before each class by speaking or reading thchinese writing classe language.9 Join a language club.You can sometimes find these at local colleges. I attended a university which had weekly “coffee hours” in several languages during which learners and native speakers could get together and chat. From time to time people from the local community would join us. Take every opportunity to speak the language. Don’t be afraid of mistakes. Just open your mouth and let it come out. You’ll gradually get better at it. Nothing builds confidence more than discovering that you can successfully converse with people in a foreign chinese writing classlanguage.4 MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE IN THE CLASS. Get to know your classmates so you will feel you are among friends. Visit your instructor during office hours to get acquainted: explain your goals and apprehensions about the course.5 LEARN ENGLISH GRAMMAR IF YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW IT. Grammar is the skeleton of a language, its basic structure: you must learn it. Review a simplified English grammar text. Compare new grammatical structures in your foreign language to their English equivalents.6 PRACTICE FOR TESTS by doing what you will have to do on the test. If the techinese writing classst will require you to write, then study by writing — including spelling and accents. If you will be asked to listen, then practice listening. Ask for practice questions; make up your own test questions. Invent variations on patterns and forms. Over-learn: study beyond the point of recognition to mastery.7 DEVELOP A GOOD ATTITUDE. Have a clear personal reason for taking the class. Set personal goals for what you want to learn. Leave perfectionism at the door; give yourself permission to make mistakes and learn from them.8 Join several e-mail discussion lists in the target language.If you’re just starting out, look for lists which have native speakers. At the beginning, you might help them with their English. As you chinese writing classprogress, you should be able to write more and more of your messages in the foreign language. I can’t stress enough the importance of daily e-mail correspondence with native speakers. Not only will this give you regular opportunities to read and write the language, you will also gain invaluable contacts, and learn fascinating things about foreign cultures.11 Chose the right course. This must reflect what you actually need to know, how you best earn and how much time you have available.1 Get equipped. Have a nice notebook for jotting down interesting vocabulary. Invest in the right sort of dictionary and grammar book. Establish a working routine.Consider taking a total immersion course. These are offered at many universities usually during the summer. You can find out what’s available by doing an Internet search or consulting a college foreign language department.13 Make the most of listening. Use the tapes and CDs, which go with your course over and over and over.14 Make the most of speaking. Practise with other learners. Read the dialogues as they are in your textbook. Then change the mood as you read – be polite, enthusiastic, bored, grumpy. Then change the words slightly.17 Get yourself an email partner – someone who is learning English ambitions similar to yours. Write to each other and support each other. Use English half the time and the language you are studying the rest of the time. Correct each other. Do some tandem learning.15 Make the most of reading – look out for “junk mail” and free leaflets everywhere. Go to foreign Internet sites. Look out for reading schemes for foreign language learners and for native speakers who are struggling readers. Then find the type of texts you are familiar with. 16 Make the most of writing. Adapt what you’ve already met and make it your own. Then check you work for the five points of grammar.18 Make the most of your time in the country where they speak that language. Use all of the senses to take in what happens there. Carry on collecting.
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