Improve Your English by Connecting to What You Know

English learners can improve their ability to remember words by making connections to what they already know.

That idea comes Sarah Lynn, an educational consultant and teacher at the Harvard University Bridge Program.

She says that she wants to help learners to take control of their learning. Learning begins with the learner, she adds, not with the teacher.

Learning new material is difficult

If you are like many language learners, you have probably had an experience like this one:

Person 1: How was school yesterday?

Person 2: My teacher… uh…

I can't remember the word. You know, my teacher … uh … my homework.

Person 1: Oh! Your teacher returned your homework!

Person 2: Yes, my teacher returned my homework!

This conversation shows a common problem that all language learners face: remembering vocabulary words.

Part of the reason that remembering new words is difficult is because the learning process takes effort.

This process takes effort because you are growing new connections in your brain when you learn new information, says Sarah Lynn.

Scientists who study the brain call these connections dendrites. They say that dendrite connections grow thicker and stronger with practice.

This mental strengthening process is why some teachers, such as Sal Khan of Khan Academy, say that training your brain is like training your muscles: you put your brain under stress and it adapts over time.

Lynn suggests that making strong connections in the brain is important for retrieval– the ability to remember words.

What can you do?

So, if learning takes effort, and it requires people to develop connections in their brains, what can you do to improve your ability to remember words?

Lynn had several recommendations, which we will explore in future Education stories. Her first recommendation is this: make connections when you first learn a word.

Our minds, she says, carry a large amount of information. By linking new information to background knowledge, you may be able to remember new information better.

Sarah Lynn is not the only person who recommends that English learners make connections.

Experts who study learning strategies -- the thoughts and actions that can help people learn better -- also recommend making connections.

One learning strategy approach, the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA), calls this "Using Background Knowledge."

CALLA founder Anna Uhl Chamot says that learners should think about and use what they already know to help them do a task. They can also use new information to clarify or modify what they know already.

English learners can use this idea to improve their ability to remember new words, Lynn says.

A learner who wants to learn a new word, such as sunglasses, for example, can use many strategies to connect background knowledge to new information.

You probably know what sunglasses look like, even if you do not know the word in English. You probably know which sunglasses you like. You probably also have an idea about what sunglasses looked like in the past.

All of this information is old information – in other words, the background knowledge you have about sunglasses.

English learners can use background knowledge and make connections among different ideas to improve their ability to remember words.

Lynn explains:

“Well, what does 'sunglasses' mean? Oh! Glasses for sun. How interesting... To think about the word is useful. To hold something that means the word is useful. To draw a picture of the word is useful. To think about the sunglasses you want is useful. To think about how sunglasses have changed over time. All of these things are part of remembering the word 'sunglasses.’"

The important point, Lynn says, is that English learners should not just translate new words from English into their native language.

Instead, by really thinking about what the word means, by drawing connections between new words and ideas, you can make your learning more durable, adds Lynn.

Durable learning is what you want when you study a language.

So, the next time you learn a new word, try making connections. As Lynn suggests, if you are learning the name of an object, pick it up and examine it. Draw a picture of it. Imagine different kinds of the object. Consider its history. Ask how the object relates to your life. Or think of an image that relates to the word.

You can draw a semantic map to remember how you connected the new and old information. Or you can even use free software that draws a semantic map for you.

You might spend more time studying, but the investment should help you remember new words better.

Try it, and let us know how it works for you!

I'm John Russell.

John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

English learners interested in using semantic maps can use this tool: https://www.text2mindmap.com/

How do you make connections to new information? Write to us in the Comments Section.

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Words in This Story

consultant – n. a person who gives professional advice or services to companies for a fee

dendrite – n. a short branched extension of a nerve cell, along which impulses received from other cells at synapses are transmitted to the cell body

muscle – n. a body tissue that can contract and produce movement

adapt – v. to change your behavior so that it is easier to live in a particular place or situation

retrieval – n. the act or process of getting and bringing back something

background – n. the experiences, knowledge, education, etc., in a person's past

durable – adj. staying strong and in good condition over a long period of time

Source : http://scotsenglish.edu.au/improve-your-english-connecting-what-you-know

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Living and Working in Australia: Important Notes

Coming to live in a new country and adapting to a new culture are experiences that you must be very excited and enthusiastic about.

Don’t worry – Scots English College is are always here to help you overcome those challenges to get you involved in the  Australian lifestyle.

You may also like reading:

Living in Australia: Why Global Millennials Rate It as Paradise?

1. Life at Scots

We will have students from over 50 nations with various social and religious backgrounds, and we are waiting for you to become a part of our community.

Our student population is the centre of everything we do College. Therefore, we take pride to deliver the best experiences to you.

• Food and shops
  You can get everything you need right close to Scots English College (Scots), from grabbing a cup of take-away coffee in the morning to a late-night supper.
  Need student essentials? You can find learning equipment and IT access on campus. Also, York Street has an abundance of food stores for snacks, books, bus tickets and everything.  Furthermore, there are numerous recreational centres and shopping malls nearby Scots, just taking several minutes of walking, where you can enjoy and relax after your studies.

• Events and Activities
  There are loads of events which are held right in Scots campus to ignite your enthusiasm. Scots will let you know what there activities are on campus and on emails… check them out every week!

• Student Support
  You will certainly feel like home during your study here. Our Student Support Team will give you the best advice on both academic and student life aspects. For any details of our student support and how to book an appointment with our advisors, please email us at Contact Us.

 

2. Working in Australia

Part–time job opportunities

Studying and living in a foreign country is absolutely challenging to any student not only regarding lifestyle and culture but also financial issues. Therefore, numerous overseas students coming to Australia to pursue their academic and career dreams decide to take part-time jobs to both complement living expenses and accumulate work experience.

Students on a study visa are able to work a maximum of 40 hours every two weeks while taking courses. During any scheduled course break, students may work more hours. Nevertheless, just remember to always check the validity of your student visa before getting a paid job.

When living and working part-time in Australia, you are entitled the minimum wage and basic rights as full-time employees: check this out at  https://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/minimum-wages

3. Things to do in Australia

As the largest city in Australia, Sydney is often referred as the educational and multicultural hub. According to a Mercer 2015 Quality of Living Survey, Sydney has been ranked as one of the most worth-living city in Australia, the only Australian cite among the top 10 most livable ones in the world. Sydney is home to 37 beaches spreading over a large area, historic landmarks, award-winning recreational centers and various cultures.

In Sydney, you are not only provided with the best public facilities, but also a lively social life with sightseeing, shopping, joining entertainment activities and enjoying a diverse spread of food culture here. There is an abundance of breathtaking landscapes in Sydney that you should explore and enjoy, namely The Sydney Habour, Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Darling Habour, Sydney Habour Bridge, Sydney Tower, Sydney Aquarium, Queen Victoria Building, Luna Park Sydney, and much more.

There is nothing more wonderful than hanging out with your friends in Sydney to enjoy cuisines in restaurants and supermarkets made up from many nationalities. Many kinds of food are available for you to choose, from Japanese, Korean to Vietnamese to Spanish and Moroccan. Moreover, Sydney is home to stylish fashion from luxurious brands to the mass-produced. Hardly can a person resist a day full of shopping centres and when coming to Sydney. Some famous centres for shopping and recreation that can be named here are Westfield Sydney Central Plaza, Queen Victoria Building, The Strand Arcade, Mid-City Shopping Centre, The Rocks Foodies Market.

Moreover, Scots also offers many Study City-Tours for students to open up opportunities for you to improve your English skills via face-to-face experience and to cultivate your knowledge of Australian people and lifestyle.

 

Useful links

Before kicking off your study at Scots, let’s have a glance at the following useful webpages that may be useful for you during your study at Scots in Sydney.

Overview of Sydney http://www.sydney.com/ Rich information of things to do in Sydney along with official guides of destinations, events and latest deals in Sydney http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/  Official information of Sydney City  http://www.sydneyairport.com.au/ Information of Sydney Airport https://www.dss.gov.au Official guides to start a new life in Australia by the Australian Government https://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au Official webpage of Australian Education by the Australian Government Transportation   http://www.transportnsw.info/ Transport information of Train, Bus, Ferry, Light Rail  http://www.sydneybuses.info/  Bus service information  http://www.sydneytrains.info/ Sydney Train information http://www.metrolightrail.com.au/ Sydney Light Rail : Metro Transport http://www.transportnsw.info/ Information of Sydney Ferry https://www.opal.com.au/  Information of Opal card used for public transport http://ptv.vic.gov.au/  Useful information of Melbourne trains, trams, buses and the ‘Myki card’ Visa and Immigration  http://www.border.gov.au/ Official website and available information of Department of Immigration and Border Protection Work  https://www.ato.gov.au/ Official webpage of Australian Taxation Office http://www.seek.com.au/  The biggest Job Search site in Australia http://www.gumtree.com.au/ One of the best Job search or Accommodation Travel  http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/ NSW Roads and Maritime Services (Driver’s Licence)  http://www.lonelyplanet.com/  Lonely Planet Sydney Guide http://wikitravel.org/en/Sydney  Wiki travel guide in Sydney   http://wikitravel.org/en/Melbourne  Wiki travel guide in Melbourne Weather http://www.bom.gov.au/ Updated information of weather forecast in Australia

Being a safe and welcoming country with its top ranking of living standards worldwide, Australia is always a favourite destination for many students worldwide! 

Cr: http://scotsenglish.edu.au/students-living-australia/living-australia

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Why is English so hard to learn?

Most of us who have tried it probably feel that learning a new language is difficult, even if that new language is similar to our own. So how difficult is it to learn English and especially if your first language is quite different?

The prime minister, David Cameron, wants more Muslim women in the UK to be taught English to reduce segregation between different linguistic communities and even limit the lure of extremism.

Most of us who have tried it probably feel that learning a new language is difficult, even if that new language is similar to our own. So how difficult is it to learn English and especially if your first language is quite different?

The difficulty of learning a new language will depend on how similar that language is to one you already know. Despite English speakers often rating certain languages as being particularly difficult – languages such as French, which indicate the gender of nouns with articles like le and la, and the Chinese writing system – there are similarities between these languages.

If you were to learn French you’d immediately recognise many words, because the English equivalents have French Latin roots, such as ballet or amiable. If you were to learn Chinese you’d find that its grammar is similar to English in many ways – for example each Chinese sentence has a subject, a predicate and an object (though an English speaker would most likely find learning French easier than Chinese).

The most difficulty arises when people learn English when they don’t have the advantage of sharing many borrowed words or grammatical patterns with English. This will include speakers of Arabic, Urdu and Bengali – three of the most common languages spoken by Muslim immigrants in Britain.

Baffling spellings

In my experience, the most common complaint language learners make about English is that the spelling of words often has little or nothing to do with their pronunciation. It’s easy enough to teach someone how to write the letter “a”, for example, but then they must be taught that its pronunciation changes in words like hat, hate and father. In oak it isn’t pronounced at all.

Compare this to the simplicity of Spanish, a language in which an “a” and other vowels rarely change pronunciation from word to word.

Laugh is pronounced larf but the similar-sounding half is not written haugh – but of course there are regional differences in accent too. Like the “l” in half, there are silent letters sprinkled throughout English words: the “k” in knife and knead, the “s” in island, the “p” in receipt, and so on.

A recent poem of unknown origin, a favourite of English language teachers who want to amuse their students, contains tongue twisters such as:

I take it you already know
of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
on hiccough, thorough, slough and through.

Another area of difficulty that learners of English often comment on is the prevalence of irregular past verbs in English. It’s simple enough to remember that the past tense of walk iswalked, shout is shouted and pick is picked.

But what about all the irregular verbs, like hit, read and think? For hit, the past tense looks and sounds the same as the present tense. For read, the past tense looks the same, but is pronounced differently. For think, the past tense thought involves substantial change to both the spelling and the pronunciation.

There’s not always a pattern to many of these irregular verbs. For verbs ending with “ink” we have “think/thought”, but another irregular pattern “drink/drank” and a regular pattern “wink/winked”. English has several hundred such irregular verbs for learners to look forward to memorising, and many of them are very frequently used: be, get, have, see, eat, and so on.

Being polite

A delicate difficulty concerns how English speakers show politeness. Some languages have quite clear ways for their users to do this. In French you can use the pronoun vous instead of tu to be polite.

flickr.com

English only has you, so that doesn’t work. In Japanese you can substitute polite forms of words, so that although kuu, taberu and meshiagaru all mean “eat” in Japanese, the longer words are more polite.

In English we can use longer words: “Would you like to consume nourishment?” instead of “Would you like to eat?” – but it doesn’t sound polite, rather a bit awkward.

There are less obvious ways of marking politeness in English: use a question (“Could you pass the … ” instead of “Pass the …”), express some doubt (“I don’t suppose you could … ”) and apologise, even for small requests (“Sorry to bother you, but …”).

If subtleties aren’t mastered then otherwise-fluent learners of English (or any other language) – even if they don’t intend to be impolite – may unintentionally appear rude.

So spare a thought for those picking up an English textbook for the first time – mastering the quirks of the language is tough (pronounced tuff).

In Summary

Cr: http://scotsenglish.edu.au/why-english-so-hard-learn

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Improve Your English By Using Common Objects

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. 

Pronouncing English can be difficult. One reason is because English has some difficult sounds that are – unfortunately for English learners – very common.

But English learners can improve their pronunciation by using simple, everyday objects. These objects include candy, a pencil, and a mirror.

What are some of these common difficult sounds? Well, you have already heard or read them several times in this story.

The "th" sounds

In English, two different sounds are spelled with the same pair of letters: "th." You hear (/ð/) in the word "this," and (/θ/) in the word "thing."

When you say "this," your voice box moves. When you say "thing," air moves freely through your throat.

Marla Yoshida teaches English as a foreign language at the University of California, Irvine. She notes how strange these sounds are:

"Those [sounds] are hard for speakers of a lot of languages, because they are very unusual sounds... Very rare. I don't want to hurt those sounds' feelings by saying that they're strange... but, they're [strange]..."

Sometimes, “th” sounds are difficult for English learners to make because saying them seems impolite, or rude.

All cultures have rules about polite ways to speak to each other. When speaking English, learners may need to break some of the rules of politeness they use in their native language.

Tamara Jones, a program coordinator at the English Language Center at Howard Community College, explains. She tells why English learners might feel uncomfortable making the "th" (/ð/) and "th" (/θ/) sounds:

"This can be really tricky for lots of different speakers because in many languages, it's not polite to stick your tongue out of your mouth when you are speaking. But in English, to make the "th" (/θ/) or "th" (/ð/) sound, you have to put your tongue between your teeth."

So how can English learners teach their tongues to pronounce "th" (/ð/) and "th" (/θ/) correctly?

Tamara Jones recommends a tasty, fun way to get in the habit of sticking your tongue between your teeth: using a lollipop.

"I like to give my students lollipops, and they hold the candy right in front of their mouth and they can practice saying words like "thanks" or "there" or "this," and they can practice sticking their tongue out between their teeth far enough so that they can taste the candy. So, this is another fun way to practice saying that tricky sound."

The "-er" sound

Other sounds in English may not be as strange as "th" (/ð/) or "th" (/θ/), but they can still be difficult to pronounce. One example is the "er" (ɚ) sound. English speakers often use “–er” (ɚ) when they make comparisons.

Here is an example of an “–er” (ɚ) sound in a popular song by Britney Spears:

Stronger than yesterday 
Now it’s nothing but my way 
My loneliness ain’t killing me no more 
I’m stronger

Tamara Jones at Howard Community College says many English learners have problems clearly pronouncing the "-er" (ɚ) sound.

Part of the difficulty is finding the right tongue placement. To practice using the tongue correctly, Jones recommends that English learners use a pencil.

"But one little trick that students might find useful is to put a pencil in their mouth lengthwise. So they're biting down on the pencil, and the pencil is sticking out of both sides of their mouth.

"And then saying the sound "-er" (ɚ)​. When they say the "er" (ɚ) sound, their tongue should not touch the pencil. It should be down, under, or around the pencil, but it shouldn't touch the pencil.

"So this is a nice way, kind of a fun way, to make sure that they are pronouncing that sound correctly."

Common problems with vowel sounds

Consonant sounds are not the only common difficult sounds for English learners. Vowel sounds are often difficult, too.

Marla Yoshida, the teacher at the University of California, Irvine, points out that English has many vowel sounds. She says that English dialects can include between 13 and 15 vowel sounds. By comparison, some languages, such as Japanese and Spanish, have only five vowel sounds.

Two of the hardest challenges for English learners are pronouncing the "i" (ɪ) and "ee" (iː) vowel sounds.

Listen for the difference between the "i" (ɪ) and "ee" (iː) sounds in popular music, such as in Tom

Waits' song "All the World Is Green."
Pretend that you owe me nothing 
And all the world is green 
We can bring back the old days again 
When all the world is green 

Tamara Jones at Howard Community College says one way English learners can start improving their pronunciation of the "i" (ɪ) and "ee" (iː) sounds is to use another common object. Look in a mirror, she says, while you say the words “pin” and “green.”

"Because to say "i" (ɪ), your face is very relaxed, but to say “ee" (iː), you are pulling the sides of your mouth, almost like you're smiling – it's a bigger mouth movement; it's a tenser sound "ee," “ee” versus "i" (ɪ) that is more relaxed. So, looking in a mirror can help students verify that they are saying the sound correctly because their mouth is moving in the correct position."

Using these tips

Clearly pronouncing common but difficult sounds can help you communicate better in English. Improving your pronunciation will take time and hard work, but a few basic objects will help.

•  Touch a lollipop with the tip of your tongue to practice "th" (/ð/) and "th" (/θ/) sounds
•  Bite a pencil but do not touch it with your tongue when saying the “er” (ɚ) sound
•  Use a mirror to make sure your face is relaxed when you say "i" (ɪ), and that your face is tense when you say "ee" (iː)

As you learned in the previous Education Tips story, pronouncing individual sounds correctly is only part of the pronunciation puzzle.

Future Education Tips stories will give you more suggestions for how to improve your pronunciation.

I'm John Russell.

John Russell wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Kelly J Kelly was the editor. 

Did this method help you? What other things do you do to improve your pronunciation? Let us know in the Comments section or on our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story 

pronunciation – n. the way in which a word or name is pronounced

candy – n. a sweet food made with sugar or chocolate

mirror – n. a piece of glass that reflects images

tricky – adj. difficult to do or deal with

stick – v. to put something or someone in a specified place

lollipop – n. a round piece of hard candy on the end of a stick

tongue – n. the soft, movable part in the mouth that is used for tasting and eating food and in human beings for speaking

relaxed – adj. not strict or carefully controlled

tense – adj. not relaxed but hard and tight

Cr: http://scotsenglish.edu.au/improve-your-english-using-common-objects

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Living in Australia: Why Global Millennials Rate It as Paradise?

Australia is rated as the best place to live by 6,000 people under 35 in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. Keep scrolling to see why.

You may also be interested in:
Living and Working in Australia: Important Notes

Cr: http://scotsenglish.edu.au/benefits-of-living-in-australia

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