listening is a more complex process than hearing. true or false
How to Learn EnglishThis page is for people who already know some English, and can read a page like this written in basic English. It shows you how to organize your learning for maximum results. You may also want to read these 5 tips for learning English later. Show Where do I start?Why do you want to learn English? Set goals Make an agenda Make a commitment Have fun learning English! Study a Balance of the Four Key Skills - listening, speaking, reading, writingMost students want to communicate better in English. If this is one of your goals, it is important to study a balance of the four major skills. Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing are the main (macro) skills you need to communicate in any language. Being very good at only one of these skills will not help you to communicate. For example you need to be able to read well before you can write well. You also need to be able to listen before you can speak. It helps to think of these communicative skills in two groups.
It's simple. Think of it this way. First you have input. Next you have output. First you listen to someone ask you a question. Second you speak and give them your answer. First you read a letter from someone. After that you write back to them. These are examples of communicating. Input and output don't necessarily go in a specific order. Sometimes you speak first and then you listen. Sometimes you write about something you hear. During communication, the person you are communicating with uses one of the opposite skills. Therefore, in order to understand each other, everyone must be skillful in all four areas. Some students want to know which skill is the most important. Since all of the skills rely on each other, they are all important. However, to communicate we do use some skills more often than others. For example, about 40% of the time that we spend communicating we are simply listening. We speak for about 35% of the time. Approximately 16% of communication comes from reading, and about 9% from writing. These statistics are for an average communicator in English. Depending on someone's job or situation, these numbers may vary. Each of these main skills have micro skills within them. For example, pronunciation is a type of speaking skill that must be practised in order to improve communication. Spelling is a skill that makes understanding the written word easier. Grammar and vocabulary are other micro skills. Micro doesn't mean they are unimportant. Macro skills such as listening are very general, while micro skills are more specific. More about input and output For the best results, create an agenda that combines all four areas of study. Allow one type of studying to lead into another. For example, read a story and then talk about it with a friend. Watch a movie and then write about it. This is what teachers in an English class would have you do, right? EnglishClub.com has lessons in all 4 key skills (and all minor skills), as well as many outside links to help you study further. ESL Internet resources 1. How to learn LISTENINGListen to the radio Watch English TV Call Automated Answering Machine recordings Watch English-language movies Use Internet listening resources Useful Listening links:
2. How to learn SPEAKING and pronunciationTalk to yourself Record your own voice Use the telephone. Participate in class Learn common idioms Understand the sounds that your language doesn't have Recognize that teachers are trained to understand you Practise minimal pairs Study word and sentence stress Practice tongue-twisters Useful Speaking links:
3. How to learn READING and vocabularyRead something every day Read what interests you. Read at the appropriate level Review Who, What, Where, When, Why for each story you read Always have an English-English dictionary nearby Record vocabulary in your "personal dictionary" Keep this notebook separate from other work. Record vocabulary in alphabetical order (an English address book works well because it has letters of the alphabet). Record the part of speech (sometimes there is more than one). Write a sample sentence for yourself (don't use the one from the dictionary). Review your personal dictionary (especially new entries) every night before bed. Useful Reading links:
4. How to learn WRITING and spellingKeep a diary/journal Write emails in English Rewrite your local news in English Learn important spelling rules Learn commonly misspelled words Learn about confusing words Get an ESL penpal Useful Writing links:
You may also like to check out these 5 handy tips on learning English.
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