It is a good idea to prepare one’s own questions and answers with helpful practical important content on daily life topics and issues. I’ve almost completed this project of mine.
Let me give you a sample of my questions on the topic titled Learning English that are suitable for classroom use:
For what purpose do you learn English? (What do you learn English for? How do you plan to use English in practice?)
Do you attend English classes at school, learn English with a tutor (private teacher) or study English yourself (on your own)?
What materials (aids) do you use for learning English?
Since when (how long) have you been learning English?
Do you practise self-control to check your learning progress?
Do you know the articulation of English vowels and consonants to pronounce English words correctly?
Do you do grammar exercises based on real life situations?
How do you practise speaking English?
Do you listen to English conversations and texts on audio and video aids?
In what ways do you expand your English vocabulary?
Do you practise revision of previous material?
Do you also make up your own samples of conversation sentences and examples of vocabulary usage in sentences for your own potential practical use?
How do you practise listening comprehension in English?
How do you work on a conversation topic to master it?
Do you sometimes communicate in English with native English speakers? In what ways?
Do you do oral and written translation exercises from your native language into English?
What is difficult for you in learning and using English? (What difficulties do you experience in learning and using English?)
What typical mistakes in English do you make?
How good is your knowledge of English as to pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing?
What is your level of knowledge of English? (beginning, intermediate, advanced)
These are excellent questions and I look forward to the answers our users are going to provide. Many thanks for sharing these ideas. Maybe you could start by answering some those questions yourself?
1-We learn English as a second language to support our knowledge. When you learn a new language you will turn to a new person. i.e you will gain additional ability.
By learning language we can communicate people and make choice to live.
Language for me is the water I drink, the air I inspire or inhale.
My previous posts provide answers to my important questions on learning various aspects of English (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading, writing and the value of oral translation into English).
I believe my previous posts containing practical suggestions clearly explain how to learn and to master various aspects of English. If learners still have questions on those issues I could answer them as clearly and easily understandable as I can. Of course all users of this forum can join discussions on those issues.
I take it you are an English teacher? If so, how many students have you taught so far? What would you say are their biggest problems in learning English?
I am a former teacher of English. Now I only teach English to learners privately.
In the past for many years I taught English to international students and immigrants.
Different students can have different difficulties and problems in learning English. They can make different mistakes in English pronunciation, grammar, orthography and vocabulary usage.
There is a connection between the native language of a learner and particular difficulties in learning and using English and the kind of mistakes a learner typically makes in English pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary as there is native language interference in learning and using English.
Listening comprehension and speaking in English are the skills generally more frequently used than reading and writing in daily living in an English speaking country. Listening comprehension and speaking in English are more difficult and more important for learners to master than reading and writing. When reading and writing a text a learner has more time for thinking and pauses than when listening and speaking in English in daily living.
A learner can also look up unknown vocabulary in English dictionaries and use other English reference books when reading and writing a text in English which is impossible when listening and speaking in English. Therefore listening comprehension and speaking in English are more difficult than reading and writing.
English vocabulary for daily living requires more time and is more difficult to master by foreign learners than English grammar. One of my articles in this forum describes difficulties in learning English vocabulary.
I highly recommend learners the reference book titled Practical English Usage by Michael Swan to read to reduce making mistakes in English.
I hope my messages (submissions, contributions) on the issues of learning and using English are helpful to learners and even teachers of English as a second or a foreign language. People can forget or may not take into consideration or may not know some important points in their English language activities. I do not claim that I am more knowledgeable in issues of mastering English and of course I do not try to impose a thought that my suggestions are to be followed. I accept valid critical assessments (judgements) of my views and my opinions. I just want to exchange views and opinions and discuss issues of English with other users and to give them helpful implementable creative ideas in mastering English.
I have created some additional materials for learning English but I haven’t typed all of them on my computer. My other thorough English materials are available in different books and other aids as I combine different materials to cover each topic thoroughly.
I also upgrade my English materials with selective borrowing of online English material.
I do not have my own online English learning or teaching materials and I prefer private teaching of English to learners in person as it is more convenient for me to use my own materials with better more helpful practical and more comprehensive content for daily living than online English materials.
I am quite busy with my own English language projects and teaching. I cannot participate in spoken discussions in your speaking programmes.
In my view it is helpful for all participants to think through in advance their own questions, answers and messages for discussions on important topics and issues to benefit as much as possible from those speaking programmes.
It would be great if you could gradually present in different programmes all my questions on the topic titled Learning English as well as all my suggestions and views on learning various aspects of English that I posted in your forum in the past.
I’d like to receive responses from participants in your speaking programmes to my highly relevant issues raised in my posts in this forum. For that purpose you may even give them my username Competent to post their messages to me in this forum.
Many of your participants may not have read my posts and may be interested in corresponding with me by email on issues of English.
Do you plan how many participants will speak, how long they will speak and what issues will be discussed on each programme? Maybe it would be better to let participants know in advance each programme schedule and issues so that they could better prepare for each programme and to know in advance who will participate, how long and their issues for each programme. Organisation and reasonable planning will not hurt this project.
In the future I’d like to exchange with you information and ideas on materials for mastering various aspects of English with comprehensive, relevant and practically useful content. As you know the content of English materials matters a great deal.
Both words can have different meanings depending on the subject context as they can be used in mathematics and in other subjects. Good special subject English dictionaries
can explain the meanings of “method” and “algorithm” better than large general English dictionaries, let alone English speakers non-specialists in the corresponding subject.
Yes we are creating a course structure with materials and training plans. Next week, an ESL professional from Canada is going to join our team. Linda has been giving online ESL instruction since 2004 and so far has delivered more than 2000 hours of training to learners from South Korea, China, India, Vietnam and Eastern Europe.
Of course it would be great if you could share some of your expertise with us. How do you feel about having an online meeting at some point this month?
In the past I used to receive by mail ESL catalogues from Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Longman publishing companies. The catalogues are published every year. They contain the most important publications and other aids for both learners and teachers of English. Below are their websites. Do you browse them periodically?
Do you know some other ESL/EFL catalogues in the UK or USA?
Using those ESL catalogues of internationally known ESL publishing companies may be the best way to know about the most important ESL/EFL publications and other aids.
Many thanks for posting these catalogues. I knew some of them but many were new to me so I look forward to exploring them more thoroughly. It seems to me that the vast majority of all English learners as the following questions over and over again:
How can I improve my speaking skills?
How can I learn to understand native speakers?
How can I improve my pronunciation?
Why do you think so many learners ask these questions? Where would they find answers to them?
Thank you for sharing your experience and expertise with us.
I’ve been trying to explain how to learn, how to practise and how to eventually master various aspects of English. In my view listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing skills in English are based on knowledge of English phonetics, grammar and vocabulary. Some time ago I published my Practical Plan for mastering English on one’s own here and explained the sequence and suggested the kinds of effective exercises for mastering all aspects of English by learners on their own. In addition I posted separate short but clear practical articles on learning and practising English grammar, vocabulary, listening comprehension, speaking and reading.
Learners can combine various materials to have more helpful practical and comprehensive content to cover each topic thoroughly.
Of course I haven’t developed (created) any general English courses (sets of separate lessons) for each level because this work would require quite a lot of time and using various existing materials and my own English learning content. But I am busy with other projects. I’ve also prepared my own list of the most important English learning aids. Not all learners of English especially those living in non-English speaking countries can attend English classes or learn English with tutor’s help for some reasons.
To accelerate success in learning English I suggest that learners have (get and also prepare) ready made materials and practise English with self-check (including listening comprehension and speaking) which I explained in my articles especially in my article on the value of oral translation from a native language into English. Maybe my articles on some websites have generated more interest in the issue of oral translation into English as I’ve noticed some more research on this issue on the Internet and I’ve been receiving mostly positive emails from both teachers and learners interested in my suggestions.
I think your articles will generate more interest and responses when we post them in our articles section instead of on the forum where they soon are buried by other threads. Also, if you send me all your articles in the form of a handbook or a guideline on how to learn English we can feature it in our email newsletter which is read by more than 200,000 readers.
