Study
Skills
Index
Manage your own time 6
Tip 1: Be realistic 7
Tip 2: Use your dead time 8
Tip 3: Schedule your study time 9
Tip 4: Be kind to yourself 10
Practice your reading 12
Tip 1: Read for enjoyment 14
Tip 2: Choose your level carefully 15
Tip 3: Little and often 16
Tip 4: Read what you know 17
Tip 5: Find words you want to use 17
Tip 6: Talk about it 18
Tip 7: Notice, and ask why 19
Recording vocabulary 20
Tip 1: If it lives in your bag, it is no use to you 22
Tip 2: Include the important information 23
Tip 3: Focus on collocations 24
Tip 4: Make notes by topic 25
Tip 5: Word families 26
Spidergrams & Drawing pictures 27
Revising language 28
Tip 1: Use your phone 30
Tip 2: Plan your conversations 31
Tip 3: Try it out 32
Tip 4: Try it out when messaging 33
Writing 34
Tip 1: Remember that you write all the time 36
Tip 2: Make plans before you write 37
Tip 3: Walk away from it before editing 38
Intro
What makes an effective English-language learner? Is it studying
for hours every night? Is it listening to the teacher and writing down
everything they say? Is it speaking English as often as possible?
Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that. Studying English is important
but if you spend all of your time doing grammar exercises but not
actually using the language in your speaking, then it is not effective.
If you write down everything your teacher says but then you close
your notebook, put it in your bag and never look at it again, it is not
effective. If you speak English as often as possible but never try to use
new vocabulary and grammar, then it is not effective.
By developing your study skills, you can learn to be a more effective
language learner. In this book, we will examine some of the key study
skills and give you tips and ideas on how to apply them to your life.
If you want to learn English effectively, read on!
Manage
Your Own
Time
One of the most common reasons why people don’t spend time
studying and revising English is because they “don’t have enough
time!”. This is completely understandable.
We all have jobs, families, school, and social lives. We have to clean
our homes, complete assignments, meet colleagues, friends and
classmates. We have a lot to do. How can we also fit in English study?
Follow our tips and fit English into your busy lives.
TIP 1
Be realistic
You probably don’t have three hours every day to study English. And
that is OK. Even if you did have three hours one day, you won’t have
it the next. And even if you did have three hours every day, you would
soon become exhausted from studying and you would stop.
The trick to effective language study is being realistic. Choose an
amount of time that you will be able to commit to every day or every
week. It is OK to only do a few minutes each day, over time it all
adds up.
TIP 2
Use your
dead time
We all have those moments in our daily lives when we are not doing
anything useful. Maybe we are on a bus or train; maybe we are going
for walking to the shops; maybe we are waiting in a queue. Whatever
it is, it is dead time but it doesn’t have to be.
TIP 3
Schedule your
study time
It is very easy for English study to be replaced with meetings, classes,
housework or just life in general. Try to schedule in some study time
each day and let people know. Tell your family that this is your English
study time or block the time out on your work calendar.
A B
C
TIP 4
Be kind
to yourself
It is OK if you miss a study session. Don’t let it be the end of your
studies. Just start again the next day or the next week. We all fall
behind sometimes, be kind to yourself.
Practice
Your
Reading
Reading is one of the best things you can do to develop your
English. Research has shown that reading regularly not only
helps your reading speed and ability but also your range of
vocabulary and even your writing skills.
TIP 1
Read for
enjoyment
Very often when people think about reading in English, they think
they should be doing comprehension checking questions and
answering vocabulary questions based on what they read. But it’s ok
to read for enjoyment. The more you read, the better you will get, so
choose things you like to read in your language. Choose things you
find interesting. If you like cars, read about cars. If you like Lego, read
about Lego. Follow your heart.
TIP 2
Choose your
level carefully
Whether you’re reading for enjoyment or because you want to learn
new vocabulary, it is important to choose your level carefully. If
you are at an elementary level but trying to read a newspaper, you
will probably struggle and this will probably lead to frustration and
maybe giving up. Very often people try to read children’s books
as they feel it will be of a lower level. Again, choose carefully as
children’s books aren’t necessarily written at a lower language level.
Instead, consider graded readers. There are countless graded
readers written at every level so you can choose the best ones for
you. If you’re just reading for enjoyment, try your level or one below.
If you want a challenge, try your level or one level higher. Don’t be
frustrated if you’re struggling, just stop and try a level below.
TIP 3
Little and often
Reading in a second language can be quite tiring. Try reading a little
bit every day, even just ten to fifteen minutes every day will make a
huge difference over time.
TIP 4
Read what
you know
When you’re a more confident reader, try reading books in English
that you have already read in your language. This way you are
practising your English, but your knowledge of the story will help
your comprehension.
TIP 5
Find words you
want to use
Sometimes when we read, we think we need to write lists of all the
vocabulary we don’t understand. It is great to learn vocabulary when
we read but try to find the ones that excite you. Find words and
phrases that you would like to use in your speaking and then think
about how you can use them.
TIP 6
Talk about it
What do we do when we read in our own language? We tell people
about it. If we’ve read a book or a comic that we enjoyed, we
recommend it to someone. If we read something that we didn’t enjoy,
we tell people why we didn’t enjoy it. If we read an interesting article,
we tell people about it.
While you’re reading, make notes of any key words you would need to
talk about it. Then plan who you’re going to tell and what you’ll say.
TIP 7
Notice, and
ask why
You’re constantly learning grammar structures and phrases in your
English lessons. Reading is the perfect way to see it all being used in
context. If you’ve learnt conditional structures, look out for them in
your reading and ask yourself if they’re being used in the same way
that you learnt or if it’s different.
We can learn so much about language just by asking the question
“why did this writer/speaker use this piece of language in this
situation?”. You don’t need to know everything about the grammar,
you just need to understand the context.
Recording
vocabulary
There are many ways to record your vocabulary, the most important
thing is that you are recording it in a way that works for you and that
you use your lists to revise and try out new language. Try out the tips
below and decide which methods work best for you.
TIP 1
If it lives in
your bag, it is
no use to you
Writing a word down doesn’t mean it has been learnt. It is important
that you regularly return to your vocabulary notes. Check out the
section on revising vocabulary for more ideas on how to make the
most of your notes.
TIP 2
Include the
important
information
Writing a word and what it means in your notes is important but it’s
just the start. Why do we write words down? We write them down
so we can use them again. When you put them in your notes, try to
include some or all of the following:
To include
For example
The word or phrase Words or structures that go
To be into before/after it
Its meaning To be into + noun
To be interested in An example
Its meaning in your language I am really into politics
TIP 3
Focus on
collocations
We don’t learn to speak fluently by speaking one word at a time.
English is made up of pieces of language. In the example above, we
don’t just write down “into” because this won’t help us to use this
piece of language again. We write “to be into + noun”, which helps us
to produce this piece of language again.
We can go even further by writing down common collocations.
Collocations are words that you often find with a piece of English.
Below we show some common collocations for “to be into”.
Piece of language
Common collocations
To be into + this series
sports right now.
country music at the moment.
reading these days.
TIP 4
Make notes
by topic
Divide your notebook up by common topics (e.g. hobbies & activities,
work, study, global issues) and leave a few pages for each one. When
you encounter new words or phrases related to this topic, add it to
the appropriate section. This makes it easier to revise or to access
the information when you want to discuss this topic.
TIP 5
Word families
When you learn a new word, think about all of the other versions of
this word and store them together. That way you can learn a noun,
a verb, and an adjective, or maybe the positive and negative of the
word. With the example of “comfortable” below, we can see that it’s
not just one word, it’s access to many more.
Comfortable
Negative adjective Uncomfortable
-ing adjective Comforting
-ed adjective Comforted
Noun Comfort
Negative noun Discomfort
Adverb Comfortably
Negative adverb Uncomfortably
Spidergrams
Spidergrams are helpful ways of storing vocabulary related to
a particular topic, language area or type of conversation.
Drawing pictures
You don’t have to be a professional artist to draw a picture
that will remind you forever of the word or phrase that
you’re trying to learn. Very basic drawings can help you
recall the meaning at a glance.
Revising
language
It is important that you take notes in class and write down new
language but if you don’t go back and revise it, then why take the notes
in the first place? Revising doesn’t have to take a long time, it can fit in
with your life. Little and often is the key to revising language.
TIP 1
Use your
phone
Our phone is always with us but our vocabulary notebook isn’t. You
can take notes on your phone or share an app between your phone
and your computer. Or, take photos of pages you want to revise.
When you find yourself with five minutes, take out your phone and
go over the language you’ve noted down. Think about how you could
use it in conversation.
TIP 2
Plan your
conversations
When we speak, we usually use the same language over and over. It’s our
safe language. We do it in our own language too. Have you ever heard
someone use a word or phrase in your language and thought, “oh that’s a
good word” and then found yourself using it in conversation the next day.
It’s exactly the same when learning a second language but you have to
work a little harder.
Think about language you’d like to use in conversation. Then think about
how you could use it in conversation. Then go out and try to use it.
TIP 3
Try it out
When children are learning their first language, they hear a word, try
it out and get feedback from the people around them. Then they try it
in a different situation. They keep trying it out and gradually learn to
use the word effectively.
It’s exactly the same when learning a second language. If you don’t
try it out, you’ll never get feedback and learn to use it effectively.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s how we learn.
TIP 4
Try it out when
messaging
The beauty of messaging is that you have more thinking time. You
can plan and check your messages before you send them. Also,
messages are spoken English. They are just written down. This
means messages are the perfect opportunity to try out all of your
new language. If you use it in a few messages, it’ll be on your mind so
the next time you speak, you’ll be able to use it more fluently.
Writing
Writing is an excellent study tool but one that is often avoided.
Writing doesn’t have to be stressful or boring. It can be a great
way to revise and practise language. Below are some tips for
using writing as an effective study tool.
TIP 1
Remember
that you write
all the time
These days we are constantly writing, whether it is a text message,
a social media post, a comment on a video, an email, or an online
review. It doesn’t have to be written with pen and paper to be
considered studying or practising.
Whatever you write in your language, try doing it in English as well. If
you like posting to Twitter, try doing it in English. If you like chatting
with your friends, try doing it in English.
TIP 2
Make plans
before you
write
Effective writers plan their writing before they start, even in our own
language. You don’t have to write a full plan but spend some time
thinking about what you want to say, how you want to say it and what
language you want to use.
It’s a good idea to make a couple of notes before you start.
TIP 3
Walk away
from it before
editing
Even in our first language, it can be hard to see our mistakes
immediately after we’ve written something. Give yourself a little bit
of time before re-reading anything you’ve written. Use the notes
you made when planning to assess your work and decide what
needs changing.
www.ecenglish.com
