1

Magazine for and by

English learners and teachers

Editors

Maja Ivanović prof

Komercijalna i trgovačka škola Bjelovar

Irena Pavlović prof mentor

Srednja škola Čazma

email sparklesnewslettergmailcom

Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomSparklesnewsletter

Let the sunshine in CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Lara Lovrić

High School ldquoAugust Šenoardquo

Garešnica

Leonarda Grandverger

High School Čazma

Or Did they

is proud to present Alternative fairy tales

written by second grade grammar school students from High

school in Čazma

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Written by Lovro Nekić

httpissuucommajaivanovic1docsthe_legend_of_sleepy_hollow1

Sleeping Beauty

Written by Anita Hanak Marija Isabela Markovinović Ivana Božić amp Lucija Mađerić

httpissuucommajaivanovic1docssleeping_beauty_2

I dont know about you but Im ready for spring The second

semester is in full mode and everyone is working really hard The

EPC is blossoming and the students are preparing for the county

competition With all the changes on the political scene and all the

drama regarding the possible cancellation of the Curriculum

reform which is almost ready to be sent out into the public I have

a strong need for some sunshine positivity and good news

Well Sparklescopy is here bringing good things for you to help you

make the most out of your learning and teaching experience Find

out what not to do when learning a language and how to improve

your learning skills by finding out how you learn best Teachers try

out the 5-a-day tips for teachers so your students begin learning

English at a much faster and easier pace

Read about alternative lifestylesmdash different communities eating

habits life choices Who knows you might be inspired to try out

someting new

Our dear columnist Lara is here again with some wonderful

insights into growing up and dealing with lifes difficulties

And be sure to check out the new set of fairy tales from Čazmas

very own story tellers

See you in two months MI

NewsflashmdashČelfograd 2

Not lost just wandering 3

Alternative lifestyles 4

Learning styles 6

What not to do when

learning English

7

Understanding how

people learn

9

Inside this issue

2

January 22nd was the day the shool level of the English language

competition was held across the state In our Bjelovar-bilogora county

according to their test scores 13 students in category 2A have succeeded

to pass to the next level 10 students in 2B 8 in 4A and 10 in 4B The

county level of the competition will be held in High school Čazma on

February 24 Good luck everyoneMI

For the beginning Im not the biggest fan of kids ndash not at all

Buthellip one day in December when I was checking my Facebook feed I saw an

interesting offer The Facebook page of our town Čazma announced a contest

for elves ndash better to say Čelfs I decided to contact them and then after ten

hours of education I started with my first job as an elf (kids would say ndash as

Čelfonarda)

First three days were very exhausting because lots of children came to our

workshops I slept like a baby after these days but I quickly accommodated to

that pace

Even my parents were really surprised with my elf skills I enjoyed every

single day with all those kids from every part of our country and wider

My dirty face and hands started to be something usual and I didnt even care

about it It was like a relaxing therapy for somebody who goes to high school

The best part was that I made so many friends We helped each other from

the first day to the last

I have to say that I like kids much more now than I did before It was a great

experience for a young person like me and I would recommend it to my school

friends too

There is only one bad thinghellip it took me days to remove that annoying smile

of my face I forgot how to talk with adults After Čelfograd closed the

doors I was like WHO WANTS TO PLAY WITH ME LG

3

L ately Ive been feeling like I dont really know

who I am I know my name I know my age and

date of birth I know that my favourite colour is

grey and I know that my hair is always a mess

What else Im not exactly sure People keep telling

me their opinion of me but I refuse to think that this

is what defines me There are so many things about

me that they dont see yet I keep wondering what

kind of a person I am based on what they said Just

by writing this I realize how wrong it actually was

O ne Tuesday I decided that I have to change

something Why Tuesday Well simply

because I hate Tuesdays On that particular day I

found myself sitting on the floor in my room and

feeling bitter about every single thing in my life At

one point I walked to the mirror looked at myself

and decided that this was not the way I wanted to

live Im someone who always smiles so the grumpy

cat face looks terrible on me Besides Im a dog

person and if you dont like dogs Im wishing you

good luck living your life without a soul The point is

I realized that Id been losing myself in order to

become good enough for others You may think that

theres nothing wrong with that as long as people

like you but I disagree Besides you can never ever

be good enough for everyone Someone will

always find a tiny little thing they dislike about

you probably just because they want to bring you

down I tried to be good enough for others but I

started hating myself and thats when I knew that I

needed to stop So heres what I think now First of

all dont you dare do something only to make

people have a better opinion of you If you do that

youll soon find yourself hating everything you do

and all that you are Trust me its not a nice feeling

Another important thing to understand (and I cannot

stress this enough) is that its okay to feel absolutely

lost and confused I felt that way because I didnt

know what I wanted or who I was I didnt know

whether I can trust people and had no clue what

was going on with my life There was a bunch of

questions I couldnt answer and it made me feel

uncomfortable Lost Totally lost

You may be lying in bed at night wondering

whether Freddie Mercury liked pizza 20 minutes

later you might find yourself crying because

Freddie Mercury isnt here anymore (I feel you)

How do our brains choose who we are going to

fall in love with Does time even exist Why does

the sky turn grey before a storm Where does

your soul go when you die Where am I going to

be in five years Ten Thirty Well those (and

many more) are the things I think about on a daily

basis If this seems weird to you youre lucky If

you can relate to what Ive just said I want you to

know its okay to feel like your head is about to

explode every single day but mostly at night

There are so many answers we will never get to

hear and it might make you feel helpless and

useless Thats how it makes me feel anyway

Thinking about future is extremely common since

most of us are at the crucial age to decide what

we want to do with our lives and who we want to

become I know its stressful but apparently youll

be just as confused in your twenties as you are

now The only difference is that youll be expected

to act like an adult or thats at least what Ive

heard Whatever the truth is I want you to know

that its okay to be confused Things change and

something that once seemed certain can now be

the biggest mystery and you have to be okay with

that

T ake a deep breath and remind yourself that

youre exactly where youre supposed to be in

life Whats coming is better than whats gone so

dont worry about the past when you could be

building your future instead Be brave and step

out of your comfort zone I like to think that you

can truly find yourself only when you get lost so

dont be scared to think about the universe and

whether Freddie Mercury liked pizza or not

Wander through your mind relax and enjoy every

second of it Be who you want to be and as long

as youre putting yourself and your happiness first

I pinky swear that everything will be fine LL

4

Identifying a vegetarian According to a vegetarian is someone who lives on a diet of grains pulses nuts seeds vegetables and fruits with or without the use of dairy products and eggs A vegetarian does not eat any meat poultry game fish shellfish or by-products of slaughter

Vegetarian or Vegan Neither vegans nor vegetarians eat meat However while vegetarians tend to consume dairy products and eggs a vegan avoids all animal products including eggs and dairy and often inedible animal-based products such as leather wool and silk Vegetarianism is usually a diet while veganism is a lifestyle Vegetarians often choose their diet based on its reported health benefits or for religious or political reasons In general vegans have much stronger political beliefs regarding their diet with some believing animals should be protected under many of the same laws as humans

Why go vegetarian Yoursquoll ward off disease

Yoursquoll keep your weight down Yoursquoll live longer

Yoursquoll build strong bones

Yoursquoll have more energy Yoursquoll help reduce pollution

Yoursquoll help reduce famine Yoursquoll spare animals

Yoursquoll save money Your dinner plate will be full of colour

What is Macrobiotics

Macrobiotics is a system that can be used to create extraordinary health through using both traditional wisdom and modern knowledge to ascertain the underlying causes of an individuals current health challenges and make adjustments to their food and lifestyle choices that support health improvement Not simply a ldquodietrdquo macrobiotic recognizes the profound effects food environment activities and attitude all have on our body-mind-

Why try it Because of the cleansing that happens to the body of all stored up toxins excess fat and

even stored up darksad emotions It is a very sattvic diet that helps you keep a calm mind

and soul It heals illnesses without medicines or needing very little medication Macrobiotic

diet is very popular with cancer patients as they are usually recommended high fiber and

low fat foods

Vegetables beans and whole grains in the macrobiotic diet guarantee high fiber and low fat

content thus avoiding high fat and saturated fat There is also the presence of

phytoestrogens in this diet with soyfood and this is known to mitigate the menstrual

problems that bother women most often

Raw foodism (or following a raw food diet) is the dietary practice of eating only uncooked unprocessed foods

Depending on the exact philosophy or type of lifestyle and results

desired raw food diets may include a selection of fruits vegetables

nuts seeds eggs fish meat and dairy products

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet So far scientific support for the claims that the raw

food diet can treat any condition is lacking Proponents of the diet often claim it has certain health benefits

such as

Increased energy

Clearer skin

Weight loss

Reduced risk of disease

5

The Art of Living Yoga The Art of Living Yoga is a holistic way of life that integrates all elements of ancient knowledge of Yoga to make a prayerful discipline uniting the body mind and soul Along with the series of simple yet effective yoga postures and breathing techniques a greater emphasis is placed on the inner experience of meditation for the well-being of mind and other hidden elements of human existence We believe when one is in harmony within the journey through life becomes calmer happier and more fulfilled

Ayurveda Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of natural

and holistic medicine Ayurveda means the science of life (the Sanskrit root ayur means

longevity or life and veda means science) Ayurveda provides guidance on how

to improve our lifestyle while living a healthy and zestful life Practicing ayurveda also improves

your yoga practice a perfect win-win situation This section sheds light on how ayurveda can

uplift our life in every sphere

Tai chi A gentle way to fight stress Tai chi helps reduce stress and anxiety And it also helps increase flexibility and balance Tai chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that today is practiced as a graceful form of exercise It involves a series of movements performed in a slow focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing Tai chi also called tai chi chuan is a noncompetitive self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching Each posture flows into the next without pause ensuring that your body is in constant motion

Why try tai chi Decreased stress anxiety and depression

Improved mood Improved aerobic capacity

Increased energy and stamina Improved flexibility balance and agility

Improved muscle strength and definition Enhanced quality of sleep

Enhanced immune system Lower blood pressure

Improved overall well-being

Intentional Communities The mother of all alternative lifestyles There is a community out there for everyone just choose your interest Some are stranger than others and in some you may need to be on guard for funny behavior but joining an intentional community can change your life quickly Communities may be focused on permaculture religion nudity living off the grid survival skills polyamory extra-terrestrials and many variations of counterculture beliefs Caveat emptor Go at your own risk but have a blast

Co-ops Co-ops are groups of people who combine resources to share needed goods and services such as food shelter

health care etc Cooperative housing provides a community feel while still allowing you to live in a town or

urban area Co-ops share chores such as cleaning and shopping and often rotate meal duties so you might have

one night of the week to cook with a partner Meals are often eaten together although co-op members typically have more diverse individual schedules and activities as

compared to living in a commune and members are always free to do their own thing Co-ops are a great way to

reduce costs and live with a sense of community Some co-ops have a focused sense of purpose as well such as to recycle or a charitable cause which can make life more

Native villages They offer the ultimate in a change of pace and cultural experience If you are accepted you can live as many did centuries ago Chop wood carry water Grind corn flour build a fire Have slow conversations watch the sky and the weather People in these villages live on a different timeline than the rest of us Probably a healthier one Fishing hunting and cooking take up much of the day As does sharing time with others learning telling stories playing with children It may seem at times there is nothing else to do on this planet but eat tell stories and play

Organic Farms Organic sustainable farms across the world are often in need of skilled and unskilled physical labor particularly

during the growing and harvest seasons Getting up early is the norm as is the physical labor But you learn the important skill of growing food

naturally you engage in a healthy activity that builds strength and stamina and

typically eat very healthily The farm circuit is full of intelligent caring folks who like to

work have strong bodies and smile broadly as they greet the day Working on

the farm should be enough to offset any rent and food costs and if you contribute enough you might even gain a paid

position

Ashrams Temples amp Communes Hindu ashrams are known for offering a serene contemplative life while also engaging in healthy active community work You often donrsquot need any money to participate assuming you can help out with chores are an asset to the community and get along well with others Buddhist temples offer a similar lifestyle as do some Sufi retreats Modern Christian monasteries often allow one to live in total silence which can be really nice if yoursquore dropping out to lsquoget away from it allrsquo including talking to people Life can be nice at spiritual communes involving daily practice working in the garden and kitchen and countless spiritual and self-help conversations with others

6

Read the questions and choose the answer (a b or c) that is true for you

1 What is the easiest way for you to remember something

a to picture it in my head or write it down several times

b to listen to someone talking about it

c to actively participate in an activity to learn how to do it

2 What kind of lectures do you enjoy the most

a those that involve reading and writing

b those that involve listening and discussing things

c those that involve working with your hands making or repairing things

3 When studying what kind of information do you prefer

a information presented visually (eg on whiteboard computer screen or flipcharts)

b auditory information (eg from a CD a podcast or the radio)

c all kinds similar to real life that call for some action (eg maps jigsaws or diagrams)

4 What do you think which of the statements best describes your behaviour in school

a I take notes during lectures or discussions to review them later

b I enjoy participating in debates and discussions in and out of classroom

c I just canrsquot keep still and am constantly fidgeting (eg tapping pen playing with pens)

5 What are you really good at

a I excel at visual arts andor in foreign languages

b I excel at music

c I excel at sports

6 What do you think which of the statements best describes you in your free time

a I love reading both poetry and prose and I sometimes write things myself

b I enjoy listening to music singing andor playing a musical instrument

c I am always on the move actively exploring the world around me

In order to discover your learning style look at your answers and

see how many times you have chosen each letter It is possible

that you do not have just one learning style but a combination of

two or even all three

If your answers are mostly A you are a visual learner

Visual learners learn best through seeing They may think in

pictures and remember most easily from visual displays such

as illustrated text books overhead transparencies videos

flipcharts and hand-outs During a lecture or classroom

discussion visual learners often take notes because it helps

them to take in the information

If your answers are mostly B you are an auditory learner

Auditory learners learn best through listening ie verbal

lectures discussions talking things through and listening to

what others say They focus on listening to tone of voice pitch

and speed Written information may have little meaning to

them until it is heard so they can benefit from reading texts

aloud and recording lectures

If your answers are mostly C you are a tactilekinaesthetic

learner

Kinaesthetic learners learn best through moving doing and

touching or through a so-called hands-on approach actively

exploring the physical world around them They may find it

hard to sit still for long periods of time and may become

distracted by their need for activity and exploration

7

We spend most of the time talking about things you should do in order to accomplish this or that However we rarely stop and think about

things that impede our improvement ndash especially when it comes to learning So here is the list of seven things you should NOT do when

learning English

Donrsquot be (too) ashamed to speak

Courage is resistance to fear mastery of fear ndash not absence of fear ndash Mark Twain

There is only one way to learn how to speak English and that is to open your mouth and speak English The only way you will ever get

better at speaking is by speaking and speaking a lot You can make excuses for why you donrsquot want to speak like saying that yoursquore too

embarrassed to speak but these wonrsquot get you any closer to your goal of achieving English fluency It doesnrsquot matter if you have no

vocabulary or if your pronunciation isnrsquot perfect you need to open your mouth and speak if you want to improve Whatever you do donrsquot

say that you canrsquot speak English because this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy By believing that you canrsquot speak English you close

your mind to trying and never give yourself the opportunity to improve The only way to improve your English is to practice it no matter

how bad you may (not) be at it

Donrsquot be afraid of making mistakes

Irsquove missed more than 9000 shots in my career Irsquove lost almost 300 games 26 times Irsquove been trusted to take the game winning shot and

missed Irsquove failed over and over and over again in my life And that is why I succeed ndash Michael Jordan

The one thing you shouldnrsquot do when speaking English is to be afraid of making mistakes Part of being human is making mistakes and

sooner or later yoursquore going to have to accept the fact that yoursquore not perfect and that you will always make mistakes The only way you

can avoid making mistakes is by not trying at all If you follow this approach yoursquoll avoid making mistakes but yoursquoll never improve either

This may seem counter-intuitive but you should try making as many mistakes as possible If you are making mistakes that means you are

actually speaking English and improving If you arenrsquot making mistakes every day then you arenrsquot speaking enough Of course you

shouldnrsquot intentionally make mistakes and you should try to be aware of your mistakes so you can learn from them and improve your skills

Grammar is the last thing you should be worried about when speaking English You donrsquot need to have perfect grammar in order to

communicate with someone in English Native speakers arenrsquot going to judge you for having bad grammar they are going to be more

focused on understanding meaning and continuing the conversation As long as you speak clearly and confidently it doesnrsquot matter if you

use the wrong article adjective ending or sentence order

Many language programs put too much emphasis on grammar and not enough emphasis on speaking They spread the idea that you have

to know all the grammar rules before you can start speaking which can have the effect of reducing your confidence when you finally start

speaking This is backwards You should learn to speak first to build your confidence and then work on correcting your grammar after

yoursquove reached a basic level of fluency Everybody makes mistakes even native speakers of English Nobody is born speaking perfect

English fluency is something that takes time and hard work to achieve There are many Americans who go through 13 years of schooling

and still donrsquot learn how to speak English properly So donrsquot be discouraged by your mistakes Learn to embrace them and value them for

the role they play in your learning

Donrsquot apologize for your level

Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English It means they know another language - H Jackson Brown Jr

Something that really annoys native speakers of English is when non-native speakers apologize for how much English they speak If you

talk to someone and they do get offended or upset because of your level of English they are an evil person who probably tortures kittens

in their spare time Most of the people who apologize for their level of English feel like they should speak better than they do It is fine to

think this but donrsquot get upset at yourself for not knowing more than you do Achieving fluency in any language is a process that takes time

and you canrsquot expect to become fluent overnight Whether yoursquove been studying English for years or only for a few months yoursquove put in a

lot of work to get where you are so donrsquot underestimate yourself

Donrsquot get frustrated with yourself

Learning English will come with a certain amount of frustration At some point you will come to a stage where you wonrsquot be able to fully

express yourself like you would be able to in your mother tongue and there will be times when you wonrsquot be able to find the right word to

say Nearly everyone who learns English goes through this phase itrsquos just a natural part of the language learning process This stage may

last only a few weeks if you are completely immersed in English but it could last years if you only use English twice a week at school The

only way to overcome this frustration is by practice practice practice Keep in mind that this frustration isnrsquot because yoursquore not smart

enough or because the language is too difficult it is something that many people have to go through By embracing this frustration and

feeling it more intensely through increased exposure you can pass through this stage more rapidly

8

If you are one of those students who have no problems learning English then you know youre successful because you remember new

words easily which probably means you understand most of what you read and hear and can communicate almost everything you want

If yoursquore not so lucky you have probably realized that your biggest problem is ndash understanding Perhaps you can form different tenses and

use them correctly perhaps you know how to transform sentences from active to passive or how to make indirect questions but it cannot be

of any use unless you actually understand the topic

The key Acquiring new vocabulary Here are 15 tips to help you remember words more easily

1) Make word association webs ndash our brain takes what we readhear and makes it into ideas images feelings etc and then makes

connections between what we knew before and new information

2) Try to keep a personal diary ndash write two or three new words a day and reread them every week Yoursquoll learn almost 20 words per

week which is one thousand per year

3) Learning the roots of the words is also a good way of permanently etching new words into your mind and in some cases it can do

wonders

4) Make a crazy story that uses all the words Picture it in your mind as you make a story Our brains remember stories easily ndash the

crazier they are the more easy to remember

5) Read in English As often as you can Use all kinds of texts you can find

6) Watch subtitled movies to master pronunciation

7) Make vocabulary flip cards from index cards Write the word and its pronunciation on the one side and the meaning and the

explanation on the other

8) Use a Thesaurus That way yoursquoll learn the synonyms and related concepts for words

9) Learn antonyms and synonyms together with the words

10) Play words games Use good old Scrabble or find something online

11) Practice with a native English speaker There are millions of people online ndash surely you can find someone you can talk and write to

12) Use a trick to remember word quickly and permanently use the new word immediately then 10 minutes later then one hour later

then one day later and then again one week later

13) Think in English Yoursquoll develop the basics

14) Find the method that works best for you There are numerous options ndash try them out and see which one does it for you

15) Donrsquot give up

Donrsquot take it personally when people donrsquot understand you

At some point in your English speaking career you are going to speak to someone who no matter how hard you try just canrsquot seem to

understand you Due to the large number of English speakers in the world there are a wide range of accents some of which are hard to

understand Yoursquoll have this problem a lot when talking with people who arenrsquot used to dealing with foreigners If they donrsquot have this

experience they will be used to hearing English spoken in a very specific way and they wonrsquot have any frame of reference when talking to

you Realize that this isnrsquot a reflection of your language skills but rather a reflection of this personrsquos lack of exposure to different people This

can also happen when talking to English learners who have a lower level of English than you They wonrsquot be able to understand everything

you say because of your more advanced vocabulary Try to remember that you were once at their level and not everyone is at the same

place on their language journey

Donrsquot compare yourself to other English Speakers

No matter what level your English is at you had to work hard to bring yourself to that level Be proud of what yoursquove accomplished and donrsquot

be too concerned with what other people think about it They donrsquot know how many hours yoursquove had to work to get to where you are they

donrsquot know all the struggles yoursquove been through to get there This also means you shouldnrsquot go around comparing yourself to other people

Everybody is different some people learn languages more easily than others and some people have spent more time working to improve

their English Some people like to see others fail and by paying any attention to these people you are just feeding their negativity Any time

you spend worrying about what they think of you is the time wasted it could be better spent by working to improve your English

If you are fluent (or just think you are) donrsquot get cocky

English is not a chip in your brain Itrsquos a learning process Maybe this is going to seem harsh and definitely a bit paradoxical but for the rare

English Jedi breed they realize that therersquos never really perfect fluency only the impassioned and ever-approaching journey toward it This

means that when you finally become fluent (whatever that really means to you or to the world) you shouldnrsquot adopt the attitude of somebody

who thinks ldquoI already learned Englishrdquo because there are some fundamental problems and limitations that come from this assumption

Here are just a few

Yoursquore living a lie because you never stop learning a language It is like calling yourself a fully-realized human being Therersquos always the

next level up and the current level always needs practice

The learner tends to get lazy and itrsquos a universal fact about any learning process that if you arenrsquot growing you are probably getting worse

The inflated ego prevents you from recognizing the final 5 or 10 that separates you from the master Jedi breed of English speakers

There is a tendency to treat other English learners (or people who are learning their language) in a condescending totally idiotic way

forgetting what it is like to learn because they themselves are no longer connected to their own learning process

Cultural Understanding You can know everything about grammar but that doesnrsquot mean you are fluent You need to be constantly connected

to the source of the language (culture) so that it flows from who you really are IP

9

Though Different strokes for different folks applies to learning techniques as well since everyone has their own learning

style the evidence suggests some learning strategies work better than the other Of course that just because a technique

works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or wonrsquot work well for you Two years ago a

group of authors published ldquoImproving Students Learning with Effective Learning Techniques Promising Directions from

Cognitive and Educational Psychology Psychological Science in the Public Interestrdquo and presented the results of recent

research Though the text seems to be written to learners they may find it a bit too demanding Thatrsquos why it is here ndash on

teachersrsquo pages since we are the ones who should guide our students and among many other things help them become

better learners in general And of course since we should be (lifelong) learners as well IP

Ten techniques for improving learning evaluated based on recent research

Practice Testing

Testing is often seen as a necessary evil of education since traditionally it consists of rare but massively important lsquohigh

stakesrsquo assessments There is however an extensive literature demonstrating the benefits of testing for learning ndash but

importantly not in the format of lsquohigh stakesrsquo exams All testing including lsquolow stakesrsquo practice testing seems to result in

benefits Unlike many of the other techniques the benefits of practice testing are not modest ndash studies have found that a

practice test can double free recall Research has found that though multiple choice testing is indeed effective practice tests

that require more detailed answers to be generated are more effective Importantly practice testing is effective when you

create the questions yourself

Distributed Practice

Have you ever wondered whether it is best to do your studying in large chunks or divide your studying over a period of

time Research has found that the optimal level of distribution of sessions for learning is 10-20 of the length of time that

something needs to be remembered So if you want to remember something for a year you should study at least every

month if you want to remember something for five years you should space your learning every six to twelve months If you

want to remember something for a week you should space your learning 12-24 hours apart It does seem however that the

distributed-practice effect may work best when processing information deeply ndash so for best results you might want to try a

distributed practice and self-testing combo There is however a major catch the amount of studying ldquomassively increasesrdquo

before an exam Or it seems so because most students fall in to the ldquoprocrastination scalloprdquo ndash we are all guilty at one point

of cramming all the knowledge in right before an exam but the evidence is pretty conclusive that this is the worst way to

study certainly when it comes to remembering for the long term Students should understand the benefits of distributed

practice and take it upon themselves to space their learning over time and are then pretty much guaranteed to see

improvements

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true The method involves concentrating on why

questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task To do this

yourself after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain ldquowhy does x = yrdquo and use your answers to form your

notes This is a good method because it is simple so anyone can apply it easily It does however require enough prior

knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself so this method may be best for learners with experience

in a subject The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time one study found that elaborative learning took 32

minutes as opposed to 28 minutes simply reading

Self-Explanation

A technique that is useful for abstract learning The technique involves explaining and recording how one solves or understands problems as they work and giving reasons for choices that are made This was found to be more effective if done

while learning as opposed to after learning Self-explanation has been found to be effective with learners ranging from children in kindergarten to older students working on algebraic formulas and geometric theorems Like elaborative

interrogation self-explanation benefits from its simplicity but unlike elaborative learning it was found to double the amount of time spent on a task in comparison to a reading control group

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

2

January 22nd was the day the shool level of the English language

competition was held across the state In our Bjelovar-bilogora county

according to their test scores 13 students in category 2A have succeeded

to pass to the next level 10 students in 2B 8 in 4A and 10 in 4B The

county level of the competition will be held in High school Čazma on

February 24 Good luck everyoneMI

For the beginning Im not the biggest fan of kids ndash not at all

Buthellip one day in December when I was checking my Facebook feed I saw an

interesting offer The Facebook page of our town Čazma announced a contest

for elves ndash better to say Čelfs I decided to contact them and then after ten

hours of education I started with my first job as an elf (kids would say ndash as

Čelfonarda)

First three days were very exhausting because lots of children came to our

workshops I slept like a baby after these days but I quickly accommodated to

that pace

Even my parents were really surprised with my elf skills I enjoyed every

single day with all those kids from every part of our country and wider

My dirty face and hands started to be something usual and I didnt even care

about it It was like a relaxing therapy for somebody who goes to high school

The best part was that I made so many friends We helped each other from

the first day to the last

I have to say that I like kids much more now than I did before It was a great

experience for a young person like me and I would recommend it to my school

friends too

There is only one bad thinghellip it took me days to remove that annoying smile

of my face I forgot how to talk with adults After Čelfograd closed the

doors I was like WHO WANTS TO PLAY WITH ME LG

3

L ately Ive been feeling like I dont really know

who I am I know my name I know my age and

date of birth I know that my favourite colour is

grey and I know that my hair is always a mess

What else Im not exactly sure People keep telling

me their opinion of me but I refuse to think that this

is what defines me There are so many things about

me that they dont see yet I keep wondering what

kind of a person I am based on what they said Just

by writing this I realize how wrong it actually was

O ne Tuesday I decided that I have to change

something Why Tuesday Well simply

because I hate Tuesdays On that particular day I

found myself sitting on the floor in my room and

feeling bitter about every single thing in my life At

one point I walked to the mirror looked at myself

and decided that this was not the way I wanted to

live Im someone who always smiles so the grumpy

cat face looks terrible on me Besides Im a dog

person and if you dont like dogs Im wishing you

good luck living your life without a soul The point is

I realized that Id been losing myself in order to

become good enough for others You may think that

theres nothing wrong with that as long as people

like you but I disagree Besides you can never ever

be good enough for everyone Someone will

always find a tiny little thing they dislike about

you probably just because they want to bring you

down I tried to be good enough for others but I

started hating myself and thats when I knew that I

needed to stop So heres what I think now First of

all dont you dare do something only to make

people have a better opinion of you If you do that

youll soon find yourself hating everything you do

and all that you are Trust me its not a nice feeling

Another important thing to understand (and I cannot

stress this enough) is that its okay to feel absolutely

lost and confused I felt that way because I didnt

know what I wanted or who I was I didnt know

whether I can trust people and had no clue what

was going on with my life There was a bunch of

questions I couldnt answer and it made me feel

uncomfortable Lost Totally lost

You may be lying in bed at night wondering

whether Freddie Mercury liked pizza 20 minutes

later you might find yourself crying because

Freddie Mercury isnt here anymore (I feel you)

How do our brains choose who we are going to

fall in love with Does time even exist Why does

the sky turn grey before a storm Where does

your soul go when you die Where am I going to

be in five years Ten Thirty Well those (and

many more) are the things I think about on a daily

basis If this seems weird to you youre lucky If

you can relate to what Ive just said I want you to

know its okay to feel like your head is about to

explode every single day but mostly at night

There are so many answers we will never get to

hear and it might make you feel helpless and

useless Thats how it makes me feel anyway

Thinking about future is extremely common since

most of us are at the crucial age to decide what

we want to do with our lives and who we want to

become I know its stressful but apparently youll

be just as confused in your twenties as you are

now The only difference is that youll be expected

to act like an adult or thats at least what Ive

heard Whatever the truth is I want you to know

that its okay to be confused Things change and

something that once seemed certain can now be

the biggest mystery and you have to be okay with

that

T ake a deep breath and remind yourself that

youre exactly where youre supposed to be in

life Whats coming is better than whats gone so

dont worry about the past when you could be

building your future instead Be brave and step

out of your comfort zone I like to think that you

can truly find yourself only when you get lost so

dont be scared to think about the universe and

whether Freddie Mercury liked pizza or not

Wander through your mind relax and enjoy every

second of it Be who you want to be and as long

as youre putting yourself and your happiness first

I pinky swear that everything will be fine LL

4

Identifying a vegetarian According to a vegetarian is someone who lives on a diet of grains pulses nuts seeds vegetables and fruits with or without the use of dairy products and eggs A vegetarian does not eat any meat poultry game fish shellfish or by-products of slaughter

Vegetarian or Vegan Neither vegans nor vegetarians eat meat However while vegetarians tend to consume dairy products and eggs a vegan avoids all animal products including eggs and dairy and often inedible animal-based products such as leather wool and silk Vegetarianism is usually a diet while veganism is a lifestyle Vegetarians often choose their diet based on its reported health benefits or for religious or political reasons In general vegans have much stronger political beliefs regarding their diet with some believing animals should be protected under many of the same laws as humans

Why go vegetarian Yoursquoll ward off disease

Yoursquoll keep your weight down Yoursquoll live longer

Yoursquoll build strong bones

Yoursquoll have more energy Yoursquoll help reduce pollution

Yoursquoll help reduce famine Yoursquoll spare animals

Yoursquoll save money Your dinner plate will be full of colour

What is Macrobiotics

Macrobiotics is a system that can be used to create extraordinary health through using both traditional wisdom and modern knowledge to ascertain the underlying causes of an individuals current health challenges and make adjustments to their food and lifestyle choices that support health improvement Not simply a ldquodietrdquo macrobiotic recognizes the profound effects food environment activities and attitude all have on our body-mind-

Why try it Because of the cleansing that happens to the body of all stored up toxins excess fat and

even stored up darksad emotions It is a very sattvic diet that helps you keep a calm mind

and soul It heals illnesses without medicines or needing very little medication Macrobiotic

diet is very popular with cancer patients as they are usually recommended high fiber and

low fat foods

Vegetables beans and whole grains in the macrobiotic diet guarantee high fiber and low fat

content thus avoiding high fat and saturated fat There is also the presence of

phytoestrogens in this diet with soyfood and this is known to mitigate the menstrual

problems that bother women most often

Raw foodism (or following a raw food diet) is the dietary practice of eating only uncooked unprocessed foods

Depending on the exact philosophy or type of lifestyle and results

desired raw food diets may include a selection of fruits vegetables

nuts seeds eggs fish meat and dairy products

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet So far scientific support for the claims that the raw

food diet can treat any condition is lacking Proponents of the diet often claim it has certain health benefits

such as

Increased energy

Clearer skin

Weight loss

Reduced risk of disease

5

The Art of Living Yoga The Art of Living Yoga is a holistic way of life that integrates all elements of ancient knowledge of Yoga to make a prayerful discipline uniting the body mind and soul Along with the series of simple yet effective yoga postures and breathing techniques a greater emphasis is placed on the inner experience of meditation for the well-being of mind and other hidden elements of human existence We believe when one is in harmony within the journey through life becomes calmer happier and more fulfilled

Ayurveda Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of natural

and holistic medicine Ayurveda means the science of life (the Sanskrit root ayur means

longevity or life and veda means science) Ayurveda provides guidance on how

to improve our lifestyle while living a healthy and zestful life Practicing ayurveda also improves

your yoga practice a perfect win-win situation This section sheds light on how ayurveda can

uplift our life in every sphere

Tai chi A gentle way to fight stress Tai chi helps reduce stress and anxiety And it also helps increase flexibility and balance Tai chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that today is practiced as a graceful form of exercise It involves a series of movements performed in a slow focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing Tai chi also called tai chi chuan is a noncompetitive self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching Each posture flows into the next without pause ensuring that your body is in constant motion

Why try tai chi Decreased stress anxiety and depression

Improved mood Improved aerobic capacity

Increased energy and stamina Improved flexibility balance and agility

Improved muscle strength and definition Enhanced quality of sleep

Enhanced immune system Lower blood pressure

Improved overall well-being

Intentional Communities The mother of all alternative lifestyles There is a community out there for everyone just choose your interest Some are stranger than others and in some you may need to be on guard for funny behavior but joining an intentional community can change your life quickly Communities may be focused on permaculture religion nudity living off the grid survival skills polyamory extra-terrestrials and many variations of counterculture beliefs Caveat emptor Go at your own risk but have a blast

Co-ops Co-ops are groups of people who combine resources to share needed goods and services such as food shelter

health care etc Cooperative housing provides a community feel while still allowing you to live in a town or

urban area Co-ops share chores such as cleaning and shopping and often rotate meal duties so you might have

one night of the week to cook with a partner Meals are often eaten together although co-op members typically have more diverse individual schedules and activities as

compared to living in a commune and members are always free to do their own thing Co-ops are a great way to

reduce costs and live with a sense of community Some co-ops have a focused sense of purpose as well such as to recycle or a charitable cause which can make life more

Native villages They offer the ultimate in a change of pace and cultural experience If you are accepted you can live as many did centuries ago Chop wood carry water Grind corn flour build a fire Have slow conversations watch the sky and the weather People in these villages live on a different timeline than the rest of us Probably a healthier one Fishing hunting and cooking take up much of the day As does sharing time with others learning telling stories playing with children It may seem at times there is nothing else to do on this planet but eat tell stories and play

Organic Farms Organic sustainable farms across the world are often in need of skilled and unskilled physical labor particularly

during the growing and harvest seasons Getting up early is the norm as is the physical labor But you learn the important skill of growing food

naturally you engage in a healthy activity that builds strength and stamina and

typically eat very healthily The farm circuit is full of intelligent caring folks who like to

work have strong bodies and smile broadly as they greet the day Working on

the farm should be enough to offset any rent and food costs and if you contribute enough you might even gain a paid

position

Ashrams Temples amp Communes Hindu ashrams are known for offering a serene contemplative life while also engaging in healthy active community work You often donrsquot need any money to participate assuming you can help out with chores are an asset to the community and get along well with others Buddhist temples offer a similar lifestyle as do some Sufi retreats Modern Christian monasteries often allow one to live in total silence which can be really nice if yoursquore dropping out to lsquoget away from it allrsquo including talking to people Life can be nice at spiritual communes involving daily practice working in the garden and kitchen and countless spiritual and self-help conversations with others

6

Read the questions and choose the answer (a b or c) that is true for you

1 What is the easiest way for you to remember something

a to picture it in my head or write it down several times

b to listen to someone talking about it

c to actively participate in an activity to learn how to do it

2 What kind of lectures do you enjoy the most

a those that involve reading and writing

b those that involve listening and discussing things

c those that involve working with your hands making or repairing things

3 When studying what kind of information do you prefer

a information presented visually (eg on whiteboard computer screen or flipcharts)

b auditory information (eg from a CD a podcast or the radio)

c all kinds similar to real life that call for some action (eg maps jigsaws or diagrams)

4 What do you think which of the statements best describes your behaviour in school

a I take notes during lectures or discussions to review them later

b I enjoy participating in debates and discussions in and out of classroom

c I just canrsquot keep still and am constantly fidgeting (eg tapping pen playing with pens)

5 What are you really good at

a I excel at visual arts andor in foreign languages

b I excel at music

c I excel at sports

6 What do you think which of the statements best describes you in your free time

a I love reading both poetry and prose and I sometimes write things myself

b I enjoy listening to music singing andor playing a musical instrument

c I am always on the move actively exploring the world around me

In order to discover your learning style look at your answers and

see how many times you have chosen each letter It is possible

that you do not have just one learning style but a combination of

two or even all three

If your answers are mostly A you are a visual learner

Visual learners learn best through seeing They may think in

pictures and remember most easily from visual displays such

as illustrated text books overhead transparencies videos

flipcharts and hand-outs During a lecture or classroom

discussion visual learners often take notes because it helps

them to take in the information

If your answers are mostly B you are an auditory learner

Auditory learners learn best through listening ie verbal

lectures discussions talking things through and listening to

what others say They focus on listening to tone of voice pitch

and speed Written information may have little meaning to

them until it is heard so they can benefit from reading texts

aloud and recording lectures

If your answers are mostly C you are a tactilekinaesthetic

learner

Kinaesthetic learners learn best through moving doing and

touching or through a so-called hands-on approach actively

exploring the physical world around them They may find it

hard to sit still for long periods of time and may become

distracted by their need for activity and exploration

7

We spend most of the time talking about things you should do in order to accomplish this or that However we rarely stop and think about

things that impede our improvement ndash especially when it comes to learning So here is the list of seven things you should NOT do when

learning English

Donrsquot be (too) ashamed to speak

Courage is resistance to fear mastery of fear ndash not absence of fear ndash Mark Twain

There is only one way to learn how to speak English and that is to open your mouth and speak English The only way you will ever get

better at speaking is by speaking and speaking a lot You can make excuses for why you donrsquot want to speak like saying that yoursquore too

embarrassed to speak but these wonrsquot get you any closer to your goal of achieving English fluency It doesnrsquot matter if you have no

vocabulary or if your pronunciation isnrsquot perfect you need to open your mouth and speak if you want to improve Whatever you do donrsquot

say that you canrsquot speak English because this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy By believing that you canrsquot speak English you close

your mind to trying and never give yourself the opportunity to improve The only way to improve your English is to practice it no matter

how bad you may (not) be at it

Donrsquot be afraid of making mistakes

Irsquove missed more than 9000 shots in my career Irsquove lost almost 300 games 26 times Irsquove been trusted to take the game winning shot and

missed Irsquove failed over and over and over again in my life And that is why I succeed ndash Michael Jordan

The one thing you shouldnrsquot do when speaking English is to be afraid of making mistakes Part of being human is making mistakes and

sooner or later yoursquore going to have to accept the fact that yoursquore not perfect and that you will always make mistakes The only way you

can avoid making mistakes is by not trying at all If you follow this approach yoursquoll avoid making mistakes but yoursquoll never improve either

This may seem counter-intuitive but you should try making as many mistakes as possible If you are making mistakes that means you are

actually speaking English and improving If you arenrsquot making mistakes every day then you arenrsquot speaking enough Of course you

shouldnrsquot intentionally make mistakes and you should try to be aware of your mistakes so you can learn from them and improve your skills

Grammar is the last thing you should be worried about when speaking English You donrsquot need to have perfect grammar in order to

communicate with someone in English Native speakers arenrsquot going to judge you for having bad grammar they are going to be more

focused on understanding meaning and continuing the conversation As long as you speak clearly and confidently it doesnrsquot matter if you

use the wrong article adjective ending or sentence order

Many language programs put too much emphasis on grammar and not enough emphasis on speaking They spread the idea that you have

to know all the grammar rules before you can start speaking which can have the effect of reducing your confidence when you finally start

speaking This is backwards You should learn to speak first to build your confidence and then work on correcting your grammar after

yoursquove reached a basic level of fluency Everybody makes mistakes even native speakers of English Nobody is born speaking perfect

English fluency is something that takes time and hard work to achieve There are many Americans who go through 13 years of schooling

and still donrsquot learn how to speak English properly So donrsquot be discouraged by your mistakes Learn to embrace them and value them for

the role they play in your learning

Donrsquot apologize for your level

Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English It means they know another language - H Jackson Brown Jr

Something that really annoys native speakers of English is when non-native speakers apologize for how much English they speak If you

talk to someone and they do get offended or upset because of your level of English they are an evil person who probably tortures kittens

in their spare time Most of the people who apologize for their level of English feel like they should speak better than they do It is fine to

think this but donrsquot get upset at yourself for not knowing more than you do Achieving fluency in any language is a process that takes time

and you canrsquot expect to become fluent overnight Whether yoursquove been studying English for years or only for a few months yoursquove put in a

lot of work to get where you are so donrsquot underestimate yourself

Donrsquot get frustrated with yourself

Learning English will come with a certain amount of frustration At some point you will come to a stage where you wonrsquot be able to fully

express yourself like you would be able to in your mother tongue and there will be times when you wonrsquot be able to find the right word to

say Nearly everyone who learns English goes through this phase itrsquos just a natural part of the language learning process This stage may

last only a few weeks if you are completely immersed in English but it could last years if you only use English twice a week at school The

only way to overcome this frustration is by practice practice practice Keep in mind that this frustration isnrsquot because yoursquore not smart

enough or because the language is too difficult it is something that many people have to go through By embracing this frustration and

feeling it more intensely through increased exposure you can pass through this stage more rapidly

8

If you are one of those students who have no problems learning English then you know youre successful because you remember new

words easily which probably means you understand most of what you read and hear and can communicate almost everything you want

If yoursquore not so lucky you have probably realized that your biggest problem is ndash understanding Perhaps you can form different tenses and

use them correctly perhaps you know how to transform sentences from active to passive or how to make indirect questions but it cannot be

of any use unless you actually understand the topic

The key Acquiring new vocabulary Here are 15 tips to help you remember words more easily

1) Make word association webs ndash our brain takes what we readhear and makes it into ideas images feelings etc and then makes

connections between what we knew before and new information

2) Try to keep a personal diary ndash write two or three new words a day and reread them every week Yoursquoll learn almost 20 words per

week which is one thousand per year

3) Learning the roots of the words is also a good way of permanently etching new words into your mind and in some cases it can do

wonders

4) Make a crazy story that uses all the words Picture it in your mind as you make a story Our brains remember stories easily ndash the

crazier they are the more easy to remember

5) Read in English As often as you can Use all kinds of texts you can find

6) Watch subtitled movies to master pronunciation

7) Make vocabulary flip cards from index cards Write the word and its pronunciation on the one side and the meaning and the

explanation on the other

8) Use a Thesaurus That way yoursquoll learn the synonyms and related concepts for words

9) Learn antonyms and synonyms together with the words

10) Play words games Use good old Scrabble or find something online

11) Practice with a native English speaker There are millions of people online ndash surely you can find someone you can talk and write to

12) Use a trick to remember word quickly and permanently use the new word immediately then 10 minutes later then one hour later

then one day later and then again one week later

13) Think in English Yoursquoll develop the basics

14) Find the method that works best for you There are numerous options ndash try them out and see which one does it for you

15) Donrsquot give up

Donrsquot take it personally when people donrsquot understand you

At some point in your English speaking career you are going to speak to someone who no matter how hard you try just canrsquot seem to

understand you Due to the large number of English speakers in the world there are a wide range of accents some of which are hard to

understand Yoursquoll have this problem a lot when talking with people who arenrsquot used to dealing with foreigners If they donrsquot have this

experience they will be used to hearing English spoken in a very specific way and they wonrsquot have any frame of reference when talking to

you Realize that this isnrsquot a reflection of your language skills but rather a reflection of this personrsquos lack of exposure to different people This

can also happen when talking to English learners who have a lower level of English than you They wonrsquot be able to understand everything

you say because of your more advanced vocabulary Try to remember that you were once at their level and not everyone is at the same

place on their language journey

Donrsquot compare yourself to other English Speakers

No matter what level your English is at you had to work hard to bring yourself to that level Be proud of what yoursquove accomplished and donrsquot

be too concerned with what other people think about it They donrsquot know how many hours yoursquove had to work to get to where you are they

donrsquot know all the struggles yoursquove been through to get there This also means you shouldnrsquot go around comparing yourself to other people

Everybody is different some people learn languages more easily than others and some people have spent more time working to improve

their English Some people like to see others fail and by paying any attention to these people you are just feeding their negativity Any time

you spend worrying about what they think of you is the time wasted it could be better spent by working to improve your English

If you are fluent (or just think you are) donrsquot get cocky

English is not a chip in your brain Itrsquos a learning process Maybe this is going to seem harsh and definitely a bit paradoxical but for the rare

English Jedi breed they realize that therersquos never really perfect fluency only the impassioned and ever-approaching journey toward it This

means that when you finally become fluent (whatever that really means to you or to the world) you shouldnrsquot adopt the attitude of somebody

who thinks ldquoI already learned Englishrdquo because there are some fundamental problems and limitations that come from this assumption

Here are just a few

Yoursquore living a lie because you never stop learning a language It is like calling yourself a fully-realized human being Therersquos always the

next level up and the current level always needs practice

The learner tends to get lazy and itrsquos a universal fact about any learning process that if you arenrsquot growing you are probably getting worse

The inflated ego prevents you from recognizing the final 5 or 10 that separates you from the master Jedi breed of English speakers

There is a tendency to treat other English learners (or people who are learning their language) in a condescending totally idiotic way

forgetting what it is like to learn because they themselves are no longer connected to their own learning process

Cultural Understanding You can know everything about grammar but that doesnrsquot mean you are fluent You need to be constantly connected

to the source of the language (culture) so that it flows from who you really are IP

9

Though Different strokes for different folks applies to learning techniques as well since everyone has their own learning

style the evidence suggests some learning strategies work better than the other Of course that just because a technique

works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or wonrsquot work well for you Two years ago a

group of authors published ldquoImproving Students Learning with Effective Learning Techniques Promising Directions from

Cognitive and Educational Psychology Psychological Science in the Public Interestrdquo and presented the results of recent

research Though the text seems to be written to learners they may find it a bit too demanding Thatrsquos why it is here ndash on

teachersrsquo pages since we are the ones who should guide our students and among many other things help them become

better learners in general And of course since we should be (lifelong) learners as well IP

Ten techniques for improving learning evaluated based on recent research

Practice Testing

Testing is often seen as a necessary evil of education since traditionally it consists of rare but massively important lsquohigh

stakesrsquo assessments There is however an extensive literature demonstrating the benefits of testing for learning ndash but

importantly not in the format of lsquohigh stakesrsquo exams All testing including lsquolow stakesrsquo practice testing seems to result in

benefits Unlike many of the other techniques the benefits of practice testing are not modest ndash studies have found that a

practice test can double free recall Research has found that though multiple choice testing is indeed effective practice tests

that require more detailed answers to be generated are more effective Importantly practice testing is effective when you

create the questions yourself

Distributed Practice

Have you ever wondered whether it is best to do your studying in large chunks or divide your studying over a period of

time Research has found that the optimal level of distribution of sessions for learning is 10-20 of the length of time that

something needs to be remembered So if you want to remember something for a year you should study at least every

month if you want to remember something for five years you should space your learning every six to twelve months If you

want to remember something for a week you should space your learning 12-24 hours apart It does seem however that the

distributed-practice effect may work best when processing information deeply ndash so for best results you might want to try a

distributed practice and self-testing combo There is however a major catch the amount of studying ldquomassively increasesrdquo

before an exam Or it seems so because most students fall in to the ldquoprocrastination scalloprdquo ndash we are all guilty at one point

of cramming all the knowledge in right before an exam but the evidence is pretty conclusive that this is the worst way to

study certainly when it comes to remembering for the long term Students should understand the benefits of distributed

practice and take it upon themselves to space their learning over time and are then pretty much guaranteed to see

improvements

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true The method involves concentrating on why

questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task To do this

yourself after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain ldquowhy does x = yrdquo and use your answers to form your

notes This is a good method because it is simple so anyone can apply it easily It does however require enough prior

knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself so this method may be best for learners with experience

in a subject The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time one study found that elaborative learning took 32

minutes as opposed to 28 minutes simply reading

Self-Explanation

A technique that is useful for abstract learning The technique involves explaining and recording how one solves or understands problems as they work and giving reasons for choices that are made This was found to be more effective if done

while learning as opposed to after learning Self-explanation has been found to be effective with learners ranging from children in kindergarten to older students working on algebraic formulas and geometric theorems Like elaborative

interrogation self-explanation benefits from its simplicity but unlike elaborative learning it was found to double the amount of time spent on a task in comparison to a reading control group

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

3

L ately Ive been feeling like I dont really know

who I am I know my name I know my age and

date of birth I know that my favourite colour is

grey and I know that my hair is always a mess

What else Im not exactly sure People keep telling

me their opinion of me but I refuse to think that this

is what defines me There are so many things about

me that they dont see yet I keep wondering what

kind of a person I am based on what they said Just

by writing this I realize how wrong it actually was

O ne Tuesday I decided that I have to change

something Why Tuesday Well simply

because I hate Tuesdays On that particular day I

found myself sitting on the floor in my room and

feeling bitter about every single thing in my life At

one point I walked to the mirror looked at myself

and decided that this was not the way I wanted to

live Im someone who always smiles so the grumpy

cat face looks terrible on me Besides Im a dog

person and if you dont like dogs Im wishing you

good luck living your life without a soul The point is

I realized that Id been losing myself in order to

become good enough for others You may think that

theres nothing wrong with that as long as people

like you but I disagree Besides you can never ever

be good enough for everyone Someone will

always find a tiny little thing they dislike about

you probably just because they want to bring you

down I tried to be good enough for others but I

started hating myself and thats when I knew that I

needed to stop So heres what I think now First of

all dont you dare do something only to make

people have a better opinion of you If you do that

youll soon find yourself hating everything you do

and all that you are Trust me its not a nice feeling

Another important thing to understand (and I cannot

stress this enough) is that its okay to feel absolutely

lost and confused I felt that way because I didnt

know what I wanted or who I was I didnt know

whether I can trust people and had no clue what

was going on with my life There was a bunch of

questions I couldnt answer and it made me feel

uncomfortable Lost Totally lost

You may be lying in bed at night wondering

whether Freddie Mercury liked pizza 20 minutes

later you might find yourself crying because

Freddie Mercury isnt here anymore (I feel you)

How do our brains choose who we are going to

fall in love with Does time even exist Why does

the sky turn grey before a storm Where does

your soul go when you die Where am I going to

be in five years Ten Thirty Well those (and

many more) are the things I think about on a daily

basis If this seems weird to you youre lucky If

you can relate to what Ive just said I want you to

know its okay to feel like your head is about to

explode every single day but mostly at night

There are so many answers we will never get to

hear and it might make you feel helpless and

useless Thats how it makes me feel anyway

Thinking about future is extremely common since

most of us are at the crucial age to decide what

we want to do with our lives and who we want to

become I know its stressful but apparently youll

be just as confused in your twenties as you are

now The only difference is that youll be expected

to act like an adult or thats at least what Ive

heard Whatever the truth is I want you to know

that its okay to be confused Things change and

something that once seemed certain can now be

the biggest mystery and you have to be okay with

that

T ake a deep breath and remind yourself that

youre exactly where youre supposed to be in

life Whats coming is better than whats gone so

dont worry about the past when you could be

building your future instead Be brave and step

out of your comfort zone I like to think that you

can truly find yourself only when you get lost so

dont be scared to think about the universe and

whether Freddie Mercury liked pizza or not

Wander through your mind relax and enjoy every

second of it Be who you want to be and as long

as youre putting yourself and your happiness first

I pinky swear that everything will be fine LL

4

Identifying a vegetarian According to a vegetarian is someone who lives on a diet of grains pulses nuts seeds vegetables and fruits with or without the use of dairy products and eggs A vegetarian does not eat any meat poultry game fish shellfish or by-products of slaughter

Vegetarian or Vegan Neither vegans nor vegetarians eat meat However while vegetarians tend to consume dairy products and eggs a vegan avoids all animal products including eggs and dairy and often inedible animal-based products such as leather wool and silk Vegetarianism is usually a diet while veganism is a lifestyle Vegetarians often choose their diet based on its reported health benefits or for religious or political reasons In general vegans have much stronger political beliefs regarding their diet with some believing animals should be protected under many of the same laws as humans

Why go vegetarian Yoursquoll ward off disease

Yoursquoll keep your weight down Yoursquoll live longer

Yoursquoll build strong bones

Yoursquoll have more energy Yoursquoll help reduce pollution

Yoursquoll help reduce famine Yoursquoll spare animals

Yoursquoll save money Your dinner plate will be full of colour

What is Macrobiotics

Macrobiotics is a system that can be used to create extraordinary health through using both traditional wisdom and modern knowledge to ascertain the underlying causes of an individuals current health challenges and make adjustments to their food and lifestyle choices that support health improvement Not simply a ldquodietrdquo macrobiotic recognizes the profound effects food environment activities and attitude all have on our body-mind-

Why try it Because of the cleansing that happens to the body of all stored up toxins excess fat and

even stored up darksad emotions It is a very sattvic diet that helps you keep a calm mind

and soul It heals illnesses without medicines or needing very little medication Macrobiotic

diet is very popular with cancer patients as they are usually recommended high fiber and

low fat foods

Vegetables beans and whole grains in the macrobiotic diet guarantee high fiber and low fat

content thus avoiding high fat and saturated fat There is also the presence of

phytoestrogens in this diet with soyfood and this is known to mitigate the menstrual

problems that bother women most often

Raw foodism (or following a raw food diet) is the dietary practice of eating only uncooked unprocessed foods

Depending on the exact philosophy or type of lifestyle and results

desired raw food diets may include a selection of fruits vegetables

nuts seeds eggs fish meat and dairy products

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet So far scientific support for the claims that the raw

food diet can treat any condition is lacking Proponents of the diet often claim it has certain health benefits

such as

Increased energy

Clearer skin

Weight loss

Reduced risk of disease

5

The Art of Living Yoga The Art of Living Yoga is a holistic way of life that integrates all elements of ancient knowledge of Yoga to make a prayerful discipline uniting the body mind and soul Along with the series of simple yet effective yoga postures and breathing techniques a greater emphasis is placed on the inner experience of meditation for the well-being of mind and other hidden elements of human existence We believe when one is in harmony within the journey through life becomes calmer happier and more fulfilled

Ayurveda Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of natural

and holistic medicine Ayurveda means the science of life (the Sanskrit root ayur means

longevity or life and veda means science) Ayurveda provides guidance on how

to improve our lifestyle while living a healthy and zestful life Practicing ayurveda also improves

your yoga practice a perfect win-win situation This section sheds light on how ayurveda can

uplift our life in every sphere

Tai chi A gentle way to fight stress Tai chi helps reduce stress and anxiety And it also helps increase flexibility and balance Tai chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that today is practiced as a graceful form of exercise It involves a series of movements performed in a slow focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing Tai chi also called tai chi chuan is a noncompetitive self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching Each posture flows into the next without pause ensuring that your body is in constant motion

Why try tai chi Decreased stress anxiety and depression

Improved mood Improved aerobic capacity

Increased energy and stamina Improved flexibility balance and agility

Improved muscle strength and definition Enhanced quality of sleep

Enhanced immune system Lower blood pressure

Improved overall well-being

Intentional Communities The mother of all alternative lifestyles There is a community out there for everyone just choose your interest Some are stranger than others and in some you may need to be on guard for funny behavior but joining an intentional community can change your life quickly Communities may be focused on permaculture religion nudity living off the grid survival skills polyamory extra-terrestrials and many variations of counterculture beliefs Caveat emptor Go at your own risk but have a blast

Co-ops Co-ops are groups of people who combine resources to share needed goods and services such as food shelter

health care etc Cooperative housing provides a community feel while still allowing you to live in a town or

urban area Co-ops share chores such as cleaning and shopping and often rotate meal duties so you might have

one night of the week to cook with a partner Meals are often eaten together although co-op members typically have more diverse individual schedules and activities as

compared to living in a commune and members are always free to do their own thing Co-ops are a great way to

reduce costs and live with a sense of community Some co-ops have a focused sense of purpose as well such as to recycle or a charitable cause which can make life more

Native villages They offer the ultimate in a change of pace and cultural experience If you are accepted you can live as many did centuries ago Chop wood carry water Grind corn flour build a fire Have slow conversations watch the sky and the weather People in these villages live on a different timeline than the rest of us Probably a healthier one Fishing hunting and cooking take up much of the day As does sharing time with others learning telling stories playing with children It may seem at times there is nothing else to do on this planet but eat tell stories and play

Organic Farms Organic sustainable farms across the world are often in need of skilled and unskilled physical labor particularly

during the growing and harvest seasons Getting up early is the norm as is the physical labor But you learn the important skill of growing food

naturally you engage in a healthy activity that builds strength and stamina and

typically eat very healthily The farm circuit is full of intelligent caring folks who like to

work have strong bodies and smile broadly as they greet the day Working on

the farm should be enough to offset any rent and food costs and if you contribute enough you might even gain a paid

position

Ashrams Temples amp Communes Hindu ashrams are known for offering a serene contemplative life while also engaging in healthy active community work You often donrsquot need any money to participate assuming you can help out with chores are an asset to the community and get along well with others Buddhist temples offer a similar lifestyle as do some Sufi retreats Modern Christian monasteries often allow one to live in total silence which can be really nice if yoursquore dropping out to lsquoget away from it allrsquo including talking to people Life can be nice at spiritual communes involving daily practice working in the garden and kitchen and countless spiritual and self-help conversations with others

6

Read the questions and choose the answer (a b or c) that is true for you

1 What is the easiest way for you to remember something

a to picture it in my head or write it down several times

b to listen to someone talking about it

c to actively participate in an activity to learn how to do it

2 What kind of lectures do you enjoy the most

a those that involve reading and writing

b those that involve listening and discussing things

c those that involve working with your hands making or repairing things

3 When studying what kind of information do you prefer

a information presented visually (eg on whiteboard computer screen or flipcharts)

b auditory information (eg from a CD a podcast or the radio)

c all kinds similar to real life that call for some action (eg maps jigsaws or diagrams)

4 What do you think which of the statements best describes your behaviour in school

a I take notes during lectures or discussions to review them later

b I enjoy participating in debates and discussions in and out of classroom

c I just canrsquot keep still and am constantly fidgeting (eg tapping pen playing with pens)

5 What are you really good at

a I excel at visual arts andor in foreign languages

b I excel at music

c I excel at sports

6 What do you think which of the statements best describes you in your free time

a I love reading both poetry and prose and I sometimes write things myself

b I enjoy listening to music singing andor playing a musical instrument

c I am always on the move actively exploring the world around me

In order to discover your learning style look at your answers and

see how many times you have chosen each letter It is possible

that you do not have just one learning style but a combination of

two or even all three

If your answers are mostly A you are a visual learner

Visual learners learn best through seeing They may think in

pictures and remember most easily from visual displays such

as illustrated text books overhead transparencies videos

flipcharts and hand-outs During a lecture or classroom

discussion visual learners often take notes because it helps

them to take in the information

If your answers are mostly B you are an auditory learner

Auditory learners learn best through listening ie verbal

lectures discussions talking things through and listening to

what others say They focus on listening to tone of voice pitch

and speed Written information may have little meaning to

them until it is heard so they can benefit from reading texts

aloud and recording lectures

If your answers are mostly C you are a tactilekinaesthetic

learner

Kinaesthetic learners learn best through moving doing and

touching or through a so-called hands-on approach actively

exploring the physical world around them They may find it

hard to sit still for long periods of time and may become

distracted by their need for activity and exploration

7

We spend most of the time talking about things you should do in order to accomplish this or that However we rarely stop and think about

things that impede our improvement ndash especially when it comes to learning So here is the list of seven things you should NOT do when

learning English

Donrsquot be (too) ashamed to speak

Courage is resistance to fear mastery of fear ndash not absence of fear ndash Mark Twain

There is only one way to learn how to speak English and that is to open your mouth and speak English The only way you will ever get

better at speaking is by speaking and speaking a lot You can make excuses for why you donrsquot want to speak like saying that yoursquore too

embarrassed to speak but these wonrsquot get you any closer to your goal of achieving English fluency It doesnrsquot matter if you have no

vocabulary or if your pronunciation isnrsquot perfect you need to open your mouth and speak if you want to improve Whatever you do donrsquot

say that you canrsquot speak English because this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy By believing that you canrsquot speak English you close

your mind to trying and never give yourself the opportunity to improve The only way to improve your English is to practice it no matter

how bad you may (not) be at it

Donrsquot be afraid of making mistakes

Irsquove missed more than 9000 shots in my career Irsquove lost almost 300 games 26 times Irsquove been trusted to take the game winning shot and

missed Irsquove failed over and over and over again in my life And that is why I succeed ndash Michael Jordan

The one thing you shouldnrsquot do when speaking English is to be afraid of making mistakes Part of being human is making mistakes and

sooner or later yoursquore going to have to accept the fact that yoursquore not perfect and that you will always make mistakes The only way you

can avoid making mistakes is by not trying at all If you follow this approach yoursquoll avoid making mistakes but yoursquoll never improve either

This may seem counter-intuitive but you should try making as many mistakes as possible If you are making mistakes that means you are

actually speaking English and improving If you arenrsquot making mistakes every day then you arenrsquot speaking enough Of course you

shouldnrsquot intentionally make mistakes and you should try to be aware of your mistakes so you can learn from them and improve your skills

Grammar is the last thing you should be worried about when speaking English You donrsquot need to have perfect grammar in order to

communicate with someone in English Native speakers arenrsquot going to judge you for having bad grammar they are going to be more

focused on understanding meaning and continuing the conversation As long as you speak clearly and confidently it doesnrsquot matter if you

use the wrong article adjective ending or sentence order

Many language programs put too much emphasis on grammar and not enough emphasis on speaking They spread the idea that you have

to know all the grammar rules before you can start speaking which can have the effect of reducing your confidence when you finally start

speaking This is backwards You should learn to speak first to build your confidence and then work on correcting your grammar after

yoursquove reached a basic level of fluency Everybody makes mistakes even native speakers of English Nobody is born speaking perfect

English fluency is something that takes time and hard work to achieve There are many Americans who go through 13 years of schooling

and still donrsquot learn how to speak English properly So donrsquot be discouraged by your mistakes Learn to embrace them and value them for

the role they play in your learning

Donrsquot apologize for your level

Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English It means they know another language - H Jackson Brown Jr

Something that really annoys native speakers of English is when non-native speakers apologize for how much English they speak If you

talk to someone and they do get offended or upset because of your level of English they are an evil person who probably tortures kittens

in their spare time Most of the people who apologize for their level of English feel like they should speak better than they do It is fine to

think this but donrsquot get upset at yourself for not knowing more than you do Achieving fluency in any language is a process that takes time

and you canrsquot expect to become fluent overnight Whether yoursquove been studying English for years or only for a few months yoursquove put in a

lot of work to get where you are so donrsquot underestimate yourself

Donrsquot get frustrated with yourself

Learning English will come with a certain amount of frustration At some point you will come to a stage where you wonrsquot be able to fully

express yourself like you would be able to in your mother tongue and there will be times when you wonrsquot be able to find the right word to

say Nearly everyone who learns English goes through this phase itrsquos just a natural part of the language learning process This stage may

last only a few weeks if you are completely immersed in English but it could last years if you only use English twice a week at school The

only way to overcome this frustration is by practice practice practice Keep in mind that this frustration isnrsquot because yoursquore not smart

enough or because the language is too difficult it is something that many people have to go through By embracing this frustration and

feeling it more intensely through increased exposure you can pass through this stage more rapidly

8

If you are one of those students who have no problems learning English then you know youre successful because you remember new

words easily which probably means you understand most of what you read and hear and can communicate almost everything you want

If yoursquore not so lucky you have probably realized that your biggest problem is ndash understanding Perhaps you can form different tenses and

use them correctly perhaps you know how to transform sentences from active to passive or how to make indirect questions but it cannot be

of any use unless you actually understand the topic

The key Acquiring new vocabulary Here are 15 tips to help you remember words more easily

1) Make word association webs ndash our brain takes what we readhear and makes it into ideas images feelings etc and then makes

connections between what we knew before and new information

2) Try to keep a personal diary ndash write two or three new words a day and reread them every week Yoursquoll learn almost 20 words per

week which is one thousand per year

3) Learning the roots of the words is also a good way of permanently etching new words into your mind and in some cases it can do

wonders

4) Make a crazy story that uses all the words Picture it in your mind as you make a story Our brains remember stories easily ndash the

crazier they are the more easy to remember

5) Read in English As often as you can Use all kinds of texts you can find

6) Watch subtitled movies to master pronunciation

7) Make vocabulary flip cards from index cards Write the word and its pronunciation on the one side and the meaning and the

explanation on the other

8) Use a Thesaurus That way yoursquoll learn the synonyms and related concepts for words

9) Learn antonyms and synonyms together with the words

10) Play words games Use good old Scrabble or find something online

11) Practice with a native English speaker There are millions of people online ndash surely you can find someone you can talk and write to

12) Use a trick to remember word quickly and permanently use the new word immediately then 10 minutes later then one hour later

then one day later and then again one week later

13) Think in English Yoursquoll develop the basics

14) Find the method that works best for you There are numerous options ndash try them out and see which one does it for you

15) Donrsquot give up

Donrsquot take it personally when people donrsquot understand you

At some point in your English speaking career you are going to speak to someone who no matter how hard you try just canrsquot seem to

understand you Due to the large number of English speakers in the world there are a wide range of accents some of which are hard to

understand Yoursquoll have this problem a lot when talking with people who arenrsquot used to dealing with foreigners If they donrsquot have this

experience they will be used to hearing English spoken in a very specific way and they wonrsquot have any frame of reference when talking to

you Realize that this isnrsquot a reflection of your language skills but rather a reflection of this personrsquos lack of exposure to different people This

can also happen when talking to English learners who have a lower level of English than you They wonrsquot be able to understand everything

you say because of your more advanced vocabulary Try to remember that you were once at their level and not everyone is at the same

place on their language journey

Donrsquot compare yourself to other English Speakers

No matter what level your English is at you had to work hard to bring yourself to that level Be proud of what yoursquove accomplished and donrsquot

be too concerned with what other people think about it They donrsquot know how many hours yoursquove had to work to get to where you are they

donrsquot know all the struggles yoursquove been through to get there This also means you shouldnrsquot go around comparing yourself to other people

Everybody is different some people learn languages more easily than others and some people have spent more time working to improve

their English Some people like to see others fail and by paying any attention to these people you are just feeding their negativity Any time

you spend worrying about what they think of you is the time wasted it could be better spent by working to improve your English

If you are fluent (or just think you are) donrsquot get cocky

English is not a chip in your brain Itrsquos a learning process Maybe this is going to seem harsh and definitely a bit paradoxical but for the rare

English Jedi breed they realize that therersquos never really perfect fluency only the impassioned and ever-approaching journey toward it This

means that when you finally become fluent (whatever that really means to you or to the world) you shouldnrsquot adopt the attitude of somebody

who thinks ldquoI already learned Englishrdquo because there are some fundamental problems and limitations that come from this assumption

Here are just a few

Yoursquore living a lie because you never stop learning a language It is like calling yourself a fully-realized human being Therersquos always the

next level up and the current level always needs practice

The learner tends to get lazy and itrsquos a universal fact about any learning process that if you arenrsquot growing you are probably getting worse

The inflated ego prevents you from recognizing the final 5 or 10 that separates you from the master Jedi breed of English speakers

There is a tendency to treat other English learners (or people who are learning their language) in a condescending totally idiotic way

forgetting what it is like to learn because they themselves are no longer connected to their own learning process

Cultural Understanding You can know everything about grammar but that doesnrsquot mean you are fluent You need to be constantly connected

to the source of the language (culture) so that it flows from who you really are IP

9

Though Different strokes for different folks applies to learning techniques as well since everyone has their own learning

style the evidence suggests some learning strategies work better than the other Of course that just because a technique

works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or wonrsquot work well for you Two years ago a

group of authors published ldquoImproving Students Learning with Effective Learning Techniques Promising Directions from

Cognitive and Educational Psychology Psychological Science in the Public Interestrdquo and presented the results of recent

research Though the text seems to be written to learners they may find it a bit too demanding Thatrsquos why it is here ndash on

teachersrsquo pages since we are the ones who should guide our students and among many other things help them become

better learners in general And of course since we should be (lifelong) learners as well IP

Ten techniques for improving learning evaluated based on recent research

Practice Testing

Testing is often seen as a necessary evil of education since traditionally it consists of rare but massively important lsquohigh

stakesrsquo assessments There is however an extensive literature demonstrating the benefits of testing for learning ndash but

importantly not in the format of lsquohigh stakesrsquo exams All testing including lsquolow stakesrsquo practice testing seems to result in

benefits Unlike many of the other techniques the benefits of practice testing are not modest ndash studies have found that a

practice test can double free recall Research has found that though multiple choice testing is indeed effective practice tests

that require more detailed answers to be generated are more effective Importantly practice testing is effective when you

create the questions yourself

Distributed Practice

Have you ever wondered whether it is best to do your studying in large chunks or divide your studying over a period of

time Research has found that the optimal level of distribution of sessions for learning is 10-20 of the length of time that

something needs to be remembered So if you want to remember something for a year you should study at least every

month if you want to remember something for five years you should space your learning every six to twelve months If you

want to remember something for a week you should space your learning 12-24 hours apart It does seem however that the

distributed-practice effect may work best when processing information deeply ndash so for best results you might want to try a

distributed practice and self-testing combo There is however a major catch the amount of studying ldquomassively increasesrdquo

before an exam Or it seems so because most students fall in to the ldquoprocrastination scalloprdquo ndash we are all guilty at one point

of cramming all the knowledge in right before an exam but the evidence is pretty conclusive that this is the worst way to

study certainly when it comes to remembering for the long term Students should understand the benefits of distributed

practice and take it upon themselves to space their learning over time and are then pretty much guaranteed to see

improvements

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true The method involves concentrating on why

questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task To do this

yourself after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain ldquowhy does x = yrdquo and use your answers to form your

notes This is a good method because it is simple so anyone can apply it easily It does however require enough prior

knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself so this method may be best for learners with experience

in a subject The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time one study found that elaborative learning took 32

minutes as opposed to 28 minutes simply reading

Self-Explanation

A technique that is useful for abstract learning The technique involves explaining and recording how one solves or understands problems as they work and giving reasons for choices that are made This was found to be more effective if done

while learning as opposed to after learning Self-explanation has been found to be effective with learners ranging from children in kindergarten to older students working on algebraic formulas and geometric theorems Like elaborative

interrogation self-explanation benefits from its simplicity but unlike elaborative learning it was found to double the amount of time spent on a task in comparison to a reading control group

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

4

Identifying a vegetarian According to a vegetarian is someone who lives on a diet of grains pulses nuts seeds vegetables and fruits with or without the use of dairy products and eggs A vegetarian does not eat any meat poultry game fish shellfish or by-products of slaughter

Vegetarian or Vegan Neither vegans nor vegetarians eat meat However while vegetarians tend to consume dairy products and eggs a vegan avoids all animal products including eggs and dairy and often inedible animal-based products such as leather wool and silk Vegetarianism is usually a diet while veganism is a lifestyle Vegetarians often choose their diet based on its reported health benefits or for religious or political reasons In general vegans have much stronger political beliefs regarding their diet with some believing animals should be protected under many of the same laws as humans

Why go vegetarian Yoursquoll ward off disease

Yoursquoll keep your weight down Yoursquoll live longer

Yoursquoll build strong bones

Yoursquoll have more energy Yoursquoll help reduce pollution

Yoursquoll help reduce famine Yoursquoll spare animals

Yoursquoll save money Your dinner plate will be full of colour

What is Macrobiotics

Macrobiotics is a system that can be used to create extraordinary health through using both traditional wisdom and modern knowledge to ascertain the underlying causes of an individuals current health challenges and make adjustments to their food and lifestyle choices that support health improvement Not simply a ldquodietrdquo macrobiotic recognizes the profound effects food environment activities and attitude all have on our body-mind-

Why try it Because of the cleansing that happens to the body of all stored up toxins excess fat and

even stored up darksad emotions It is a very sattvic diet that helps you keep a calm mind

and soul It heals illnesses without medicines or needing very little medication Macrobiotic

diet is very popular with cancer patients as they are usually recommended high fiber and

low fat foods

Vegetables beans and whole grains in the macrobiotic diet guarantee high fiber and low fat

content thus avoiding high fat and saturated fat There is also the presence of

phytoestrogens in this diet with soyfood and this is known to mitigate the menstrual

problems that bother women most often

Raw foodism (or following a raw food diet) is the dietary practice of eating only uncooked unprocessed foods

Depending on the exact philosophy or type of lifestyle and results

desired raw food diets may include a selection of fruits vegetables

nuts seeds eggs fish meat and dairy products

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet So far scientific support for the claims that the raw

food diet can treat any condition is lacking Proponents of the diet often claim it has certain health benefits

such as

Increased energy

Clearer skin

Weight loss

Reduced risk of disease

5

The Art of Living Yoga The Art of Living Yoga is a holistic way of life that integrates all elements of ancient knowledge of Yoga to make a prayerful discipline uniting the body mind and soul Along with the series of simple yet effective yoga postures and breathing techniques a greater emphasis is placed on the inner experience of meditation for the well-being of mind and other hidden elements of human existence We believe when one is in harmony within the journey through life becomes calmer happier and more fulfilled

Ayurveda Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of natural

and holistic medicine Ayurveda means the science of life (the Sanskrit root ayur means

longevity or life and veda means science) Ayurveda provides guidance on how

to improve our lifestyle while living a healthy and zestful life Practicing ayurveda also improves

your yoga practice a perfect win-win situation This section sheds light on how ayurveda can

uplift our life in every sphere

Tai chi A gentle way to fight stress Tai chi helps reduce stress and anxiety And it also helps increase flexibility and balance Tai chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that today is practiced as a graceful form of exercise It involves a series of movements performed in a slow focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing Tai chi also called tai chi chuan is a noncompetitive self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching Each posture flows into the next without pause ensuring that your body is in constant motion

Why try tai chi Decreased stress anxiety and depression

Improved mood Improved aerobic capacity

Increased energy and stamina Improved flexibility balance and agility

Improved muscle strength and definition Enhanced quality of sleep

Enhanced immune system Lower blood pressure

Improved overall well-being

Intentional Communities The mother of all alternative lifestyles There is a community out there for everyone just choose your interest Some are stranger than others and in some you may need to be on guard for funny behavior but joining an intentional community can change your life quickly Communities may be focused on permaculture religion nudity living off the grid survival skills polyamory extra-terrestrials and many variations of counterculture beliefs Caveat emptor Go at your own risk but have a blast

Co-ops Co-ops are groups of people who combine resources to share needed goods and services such as food shelter

health care etc Cooperative housing provides a community feel while still allowing you to live in a town or

urban area Co-ops share chores such as cleaning and shopping and often rotate meal duties so you might have

one night of the week to cook with a partner Meals are often eaten together although co-op members typically have more diverse individual schedules and activities as

compared to living in a commune and members are always free to do their own thing Co-ops are a great way to

reduce costs and live with a sense of community Some co-ops have a focused sense of purpose as well such as to recycle or a charitable cause which can make life more

Native villages They offer the ultimate in a change of pace and cultural experience If you are accepted you can live as many did centuries ago Chop wood carry water Grind corn flour build a fire Have slow conversations watch the sky and the weather People in these villages live on a different timeline than the rest of us Probably a healthier one Fishing hunting and cooking take up much of the day As does sharing time with others learning telling stories playing with children It may seem at times there is nothing else to do on this planet but eat tell stories and play

Organic Farms Organic sustainable farms across the world are often in need of skilled and unskilled physical labor particularly

during the growing and harvest seasons Getting up early is the norm as is the physical labor But you learn the important skill of growing food

naturally you engage in a healthy activity that builds strength and stamina and

typically eat very healthily The farm circuit is full of intelligent caring folks who like to

work have strong bodies and smile broadly as they greet the day Working on

the farm should be enough to offset any rent and food costs and if you contribute enough you might even gain a paid

position

Ashrams Temples amp Communes Hindu ashrams are known for offering a serene contemplative life while also engaging in healthy active community work You often donrsquot need any money to participate assuming you can help out with chores are an asset to the community and get along well with others Buddhist temples offer a similar lifestyle as do some Sufi retreats Modern Christian monasteries often allow one to live in total silence which can be really nice if yoursquore dropping out to lsquoget away from it allrsquo including talking to people Life can be nice at spiritual communes involving daily practice working in the garden and kitchen and countless spiritual and self-help conversations with others

6

Read the questions and choose the answer (a b or c) that is true for you

1 What is the easiest way for you to remember something

a to picture it in my head or write it down several times

b to listen to someone talking about it

c to actively participate in an activity to learn how to do it

2 What kind of lectures do you enjoy the most

a those that involve reading and writing

b those that involve listening and discussing things

c those that involve working with your hands making or repairing things

3 When studying what kind of information do you prefer

a information presented visually (eg on whiteboard computer screen or flipcharts)

b auditory information (eg from a CD a podcast or the radio)

c all kinds similar to real life that call for some action (eg maps jigsaws or diagrams)

4 What do you think which of the statements best describes your behaviour in school

a I take notes during lectures or discussions to review them later

b I enjoy participating in debates and discussions in and out of classroom

c I just canrsquot keep still and am constantly fidgeting (eg tapping pen playing with pens)

5 What are you really good at

a I excel at visual arts andor in foreign languages

b I excel at music

c I excel at sports

6 What do you think which of the statements best describes you in your free time

a I love reading both poetry and prose and I sometimes write things myself

b I enjoy listening to music singing andor playing a musical instrument

c I am always on the move actively exploring the world around me

In order to discover your learning style look at your answers and

see how many times you have chosen each letter It is possible

that you do not have just one learning style but a combination of

two or even all three

If your answers are mostly A you are a visual learner

Visual learners learn best through seeing They may think in

pictures and remember most easily from visual displays such

as illustrated text books overhead transparencies videos

flipcharts and hand-outs During a lecture or classroom

discussion visual learners often take notes because it helps

them to take in the information

If your answers are mostly B you are an auditory learner

Auditory learners learn best through listening ie verbal

lectures discussions talking things through and listening to

what others say They focus on listening to tone of voice pitch

and speed Written information may have little meaning to

them until it is heard so they can benefit from reading texts

aloud and recording lectures

If your answers are mostly C you are a tactilekinaesthetic

learner

Kinaesthetic learners learn best through moving doing and

touching or through a so-called hands-on approach actively

exploring the physical world around them They may find it

hard to sit still for long periods of time and may become

distracted by their need for activity and exploration

7

We spend most of the time talking about things you should do in order to accomplish this or that However we rarely stop and think about

things that impede our improvement ndash especially when it comes to learning So here is the list of seven things you should NOT do when

learning English

Donrsquot be (too) ashamed to speak

Courage is resistance to fear mastery of fear ndash not absence of fear ndash Mark Twain

There is only one way to learn how to speak English and that is to open your mouth and speak English The only way you will ever get

better at speaking is by speaking and speaking a lot You can make excuses for why you donrsquot want to speak like saying that yoursquore too

embarrassed to speak but these wonrsquot get you any closer to your goal of achieving English fluency It doesnrsquot matter if you have no

vocabulary or if your pronunciation isnrsquot perfect you need to open your mouth and speak if you want to improve Whatever you do donrsquot

say that you canrsquot speak English because this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy By believing that you canrsquot speak English you close

your mind to trying and never give yourself the opportunity to improve The only way to improve your English is to practice it no matter

how bad you may (not) be at it

Donrsquot be afraid of making mistakes

Irsquove missed more than 9000 shots in my career Irsquove lost almost 300 games 26 times Irsquove been trusted to take the game winning shot and

missed Irsquove failed over and over and over again in my life And that is why I succeed ndash Michael Jordan

The one thing you shouldnrsquot do when speaking English is to be afraid of making mistakes Part of being human is making mistakes and

sooner or later yoursquore going to have to accept the fact that yoursquore not perfect and that you will always make mistakes The only way you

can avoid making mistakes is by not trying at all If you follow this approach yoursquoll avoid making mistakes but yoursquoll never improve either

This may seem counter-intuitive but you should try making as many mistakes as possible If you are making mistakes that means you are

actually speaking English and improving If you arenrsquot making mistakes every day then you arenrsquot speaking enough Of course you

shouldnrsquot intentionally make mistakes and you should try to be aware of your mistakes so you can learn from them and improve your skills

Grammar is the last thing you should be worried about when speaking English You donrsquot need to have perfect grammar in order to

communicate with someone in English Native speakers arenrsquot going to judge you for having bad grammar they are going to be more

focused on understanding meaning and continuing the conversation As long as you speak clearly and confidently it doesnrsquot matter if you

use the wrong article adjective ending or sentence order

Many language programs put too much emphasis on grammar and not enough emphasis on speaking They spread the idea that you have

to know all the grammar rules before you can start speaking which can have the effect of reducing your confidence when you finally start

speaking This is backwards You should learn to speak first to build your confidence and then work on correcting your grammar after

yoursquove reached a basic level of fluency Everybody makes mistakes even native speakers of English Nobody is born speaking perfect

English fluency is something that takes time and hard work to achieve There are many Americans who go through 13 years of schooling

and still donrsquot learn how to speak English properly So donrsquot be discouraged by your mistakes Learn to embrace them and value them for

the role they play in your learning

Donrsquot apologize for your level

Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English It means they know another language - H Jackson Brown Jr

Something that really annoys native speakers of English is when non-native speakers apologize for how much English they speak If you

talk to someone and they do get offended or upset because of your level of English they are an evil person who probably tortures kittens

in their spare time Most of the people who apologize for their level of English feel like they should speak better than they do It is fine to

think this but donrsquot get upset at yourself for not knowing more than you do Achieving fluency in any language is a process that takes time

and you canrsquot expect to become fluent overnight Whether yoursquove been studying English for years or only for a few months yoursquove put in a

lot of work to get where you are so donrsquot underestimate yourself

Donrsquot get frustrated with yourself

Learning English will come with a certain amount of frustration At some point you will come to a stage where you wonrsquot be able to fully

express yourself like you would be able to in your mother tongue and there will be times when you wonrsquot be able to find the right word to

say Nearly everyone who learns English goes through this phase itrsquos just a natural part of the language learning process This stage may

last only a few weeks if you are completely immersed in English but it could last years if you only use English twice a week at school The

only way to overcome this frustration is by practice practice practice Keep in mind that this frustration isnrsquot because yoursquore not smart

enough or because the language is too difficult it is something that many people have to go through By embracing this frustration and

feeling it more intensely through increased exposure you can pass through this stage more rapidly

8

If you are one of those students who have no problems learning English then you know youre successful because you remember new

words easily which probably means you understand most of what you read and hear and can communicate almost everything you want

If yoursquore not so lucky you have probably realized that your biggest problem is ndash understanding Perhaps you can form different tenses and

use them correctly perhaps you know how to transform sentences from active to passive or how to make indirect questions but it cannot be

of any use unless you actually understand the topic

The key Acquiring new vocabulary Here are 15 tips to help you remember words more easily

1) Make word association webs ndash our brain takes what we readhear and makes it into ideas images feelings etc and then makes

connections between what we knew before and new information

2) Try to keep a personal diary ndash write two or three new words a day and reread them every week Yoursquoll learn almost 20 words per

week which is one thousand per year

3) Learning the roots of the words is also a good way of permanently etching new words into your mind and in some cases it can do

wonders

4) Make a crazy story that uses all the words Picture it in your mind as you make a story Our brains remember stories easily ndash the

crazier they are the more easy to remember

5) Read in English As often as you can Use all kinds of texts you can find

6) Watch subtitled movies to master pronunciation

7) Make vocabulary flip cards from index cards Write the word and its pronunciation on the one side and the meaning and the

explanation on the other

8) Use a Thesaurus That way yoursquoll learn the synonyms and related concepts for words

9) Learn antonyms and synonyms together with the words

10) Play words games Use good old Scrabble or find something online

11) Practice with a native English speaker There are millions of people online ndash surely you can find someone you can talk and write to

12) Use a trick to remember word quickly and permanently use the new word immediately then 10 minutes later then one hour later

then one day later and then again one week later

13) Think in English Yoursquoll develop the basics

14) Find the method that works best for you There are numerous options ndash try them out and see which one does it for you

15) Donrsquot give up

Donrsquot take it personally when people donrsquot understand you

At some point in your English speaking career you are going to speak to someone who no matter how hard you try just canrsquot seem to

understand you Due to the large number of English speakers in the world there are a wide range of accents some of which are hard to

understand Yoursquoll have this problem a lot when talking with people who arenrsquot used to dealing with foreigners If they donrsquot have this

experience they will be used to hearing English spoken in a very specific way and they wonrsquot have any frame of reference when talking to

you Realize that this isnrsquot a reflection of your language skills but rather a reflection of this personrsquos lack of exposure to different people This

can also happen when talking to English learners who have a lower level of English than you They wonrsquot be able to understand everything

you say because of your more advanced vocabulary Try to remember that you were once at their level and not everyone is at the same

place on their language journey

Donrsquot compare yourself to other English Speakers

No matter what level your English is at you had to work hard to bring yourself to that level Be proud of what yoursquove accomplished and donrsquot

be too concerned with what other people think about it They donrsquot know how many hours yoursquove had to work to get to where you are they

donrsquot know all the struggles yoursquove been through to get there This also means you shouldnrsquot go around comparing yourself to other people

Everybody is different some people learn languages more easily than others and some people have spent more time working to improve

their English Some people like to see others fail and by paying any attention to these people you are just feeding their negativity Any time

you spend worrying about what they think of you is the time wasted it could be better spent by working to improve your English

If you are fluent (or just think you are) donrsquot get cocky

English is not a chip in your brain Itrsquos a learning process Maybe this is going to seem harsh and definitely a bit paradoxical but for the rare

English Jedi breed they realize that therersquos never really perfect fluency only the impassioned and ever-approaching journey toward it This

means that when you finally become fluent (whatever that really means to you or to the world) you shouldnrsquot adopt the attitude of somebody

who thinks ldquoI already learned Englishrdquo because there are some fundamental problems and limitations that come from this assumption

Here are just a few

Yoursquore living a lie because you never stop learning a language It is like calling yourself a fully-realized human being Therersquos always the

next level up and the current level always needs practice

The learner tends to get lazy and itrsquos a universal fact about any learning process that if you arenrsquot growing you are probably getting worse

The inflated ego prevents you from recognizing the final 5 or 10 that separates you from the master Jedi breed of English speakers

There is a tendency to treat other English learners (or people who are learning their language) in a condescending totally idiotic way

forgetting what it is like to learn because they themselves are no longer connected to their own learning process

Cultural Understanding You can know everything about grammar but that doesnrsquot mean you are fluent You need to be constantly connected

to the source of the language (culture) so that it flows from who you really are IP

9

Though Different strokes for different folks applies to learning techniques as well since everyone has their own learning

style the evidence suggests some learning strategies work better than the other Of course that just because a technique

works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or wonrsquot work well for you Two years ago a

group of authors published ldquoImproving Students Learning with Effective Learning Techniques Promising Directions from

Cognitive and Educational Psychology Psychological Science in the Public Interestrdquo and presented the results of recent

research Though the text seems to be written to learners they may find it a bit too demanding Thatrsquos why it is here ndash on

teachersrsquo pages since we are the ones who should guide our students and among many other things help them become

better learners in general And of course since we should be (lifelong) learners as well IP

Ten techniques for improving learning evaluated based on recent research

Practice Testing

Testing is often seen as a necessary evil of education since traditionally it consists of rare but massively important lsquohigh

stakesrsquo assessments There is however an extensive literature demonstrating the benefits of testing for learning ndash but

importantly not in the format of lsquohigh stakesrsquo exams All testing including lsquolow stakesrsquo practice testing seems to result in

benefits Unlike many of the other techniques the benefits of practice testing are not modest ndash studies have found that a

practice test can double free recall Research has found that though multiple choice testing is indeed effective practice tests

that require more detailed answers to be generated are more effective Importantly practice testing is effective when you

create the questions yourself

Distributed Practice

Have you ever wondered whether it is best to do your studying in large chunks or divide your studying over a period of

time Research has found that the optimal level of distribution of sessions for learning is 10-20 of the length of time that

something needs to be remembered So if you want to remember something for a year you should study at least every

month if you want to remember something for five years you should space your learning every six to twelve months If you

want to remember something for a week you should space your learning 12-24 hours apart It does seem however that the

distributed-practice effect may work best when processing information deeply ndash so for best results you might want to try a

distributed practice and self-testing combo There is however a major catch the amount of studying ldquomassively increasesrdquo

before an exam Or it seems so because most students fall in to the ldquoprocrastination scalloprdquo ndash we are all guilty at one point

of cramming all the knowledge in right before an exam but the evidence is pretty conclusive that this is the worst way to

study certainly when it comes to remembering for the long term Students should understand the benefits of distributed

practice and take it upon themselves to space their learning over time and are then pretty much guaranteed to see

improvements

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true The method involves concentrating on why

questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task To do this

yourself after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain ldquowhy does x = yrdquo and use your answers to form your

notes This is a good method because it is simple so anyone can apply it easily It does however require enough prior

knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself so this method may be best for learners with experience

in a subject The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time one study found that elaborative learning took 32

minutes as opposed to 28 minutes simply reading

Self-Explanation

A technique that is useful for abstract learning The technique involves explaining and recording how one solves or understands problems as they work and giving reasons for choices that are made This was found to be more effective if done

while learning as opposed to after learning Self-explanation has been found to be effective with learners ranging from children in kindergarten to older students working on algebraic formulas and geometric theorems Like elaborative

interrogation self-explanation benefits from its simplicity but unlike elaborative learning it was found to double the amount of time spent on a task in comparison to a reading control group

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

5

The Art of Living Yoga The Art of Living Yoga is a holistic way of life that integrates all elements of ancient knowledge of Yoga to make a prayerful discipline uniting the body mind and soul Along with the series of simple yet effective yoga postures and breathing techniques a greater emphasis is placed on the inner experience of meditation for the well-being of mind and other hidden elements of human existence We believe when one is in harmony within the journey through life becomes calmer happier and more fulfilled

Ayurveda Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of natural

and holistic medicine Ayurveda means the science of life (the Sanskrit root ayur means

longevity or life and veda means science) Ayurveda provides guidance on how

to improve our lifestyle while living a healthy and zestful life Practicing ayurveda also improves

your yoga practice a perfect win-win situation This section sheds light on how ayurveda can

uplift our life in every sphere

Tai chi A gentle way to fight stress Tai chi helps reduce stress and anxiety And it also helps increase flexibility and balance Tai chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that today is practiced as a graceful form of exercise It involves a series of movements performed in a slow focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing Tai chi also called tai chi chuan is a noncompetitive self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching Each posture flows into the next without pause ensuring that your body is in constant motion

Why try tai chi Decreased stress anxiety and depression

Improved mood Improved aerobic capacity

Increased energy and stamina Improved flexibility balance and agility

Improved muscle strength and definition Enhanced quality of sleep

Enhanced immune system Lower blood pressure

Improved overall well-being

Intentional Communities The mother of all alternative lifestyles There is a community out there for everyone just choose your interest Some are stranger than others and in some you may need to be on guard for funny behavior but joining an intentional community can change your life quickly Communities may be focused on permaculture religion nudity living off the grid survival skills polyamory extra-terrestrials and many variations of counterculture beliefs Caveat emptor Go at your own risk but have a blast

Co-ops Co-ops are groups of people who combine resources to share needed goods and services such as food shelter

health care etc Cooperative housing provides a community feel while still allowing you to live in a town or

urban area Co-ops share chores such as cleaning and shopping and often rotate meal duties so you might have

one night of the week to cook with a partner Meals are often eaten together although co-op members typically have more diverse individual schedules and activities as

compared to living in a commune and members are always free to do their own thing Co-ops are a great way to

reduce costs and live with a sense of community Some co-ops have a focused sense of purpose as well such as to recycle or a charitable cause which can make life more

Native villages They offer the ultimate in a change of pace and cultural experience If you are accepted you can live as many did centuries ago Chop wood carry water Grind corn flour build a fire Have slow conversations watch the sky and the weather People in these villages live on a different timeline than the rest of us Probably a healthier one Fishing hunting and cooking take up much of the day As does sharing time with others learning telling stories playing with children It may seem at times there is nothing else to do on this planet but eat tell stories and play

Organic Farms Organic sustainable farms across the world are often in need of skilled and unskilled physical labor particularly

during the growing and harvest seasons Getting up early is the norm as is the physical labor But you learn the important skill of growing food

naturally you engage in a healthy activity that builds strength and stamina and

typically eat very healthily The farm circuit is full of intelligent caring folks who like to

work have strong bodies and smile broadly as they greet the day Working on

the farm should be enough to offset any rent and food costs and if you contribute enough you might even gain a paid

position

Ashrams Temples amp Communes Hindu ashrams are known for offering a serene contemplative life while also engaging in healthy active community work You often donrsquot need any money to participate assuming you can help out with chores are an asset to the community and get along well with others Buddhist temples offer a similar lifestyle as do some Sufi retreats Modern Christian monasteries often allow one to live in total silence which can be really nice if yoursquore dropping out to lsquoget away from it allrsquo including talking to people Life can be nice at spiritual communes involving daily practice working in the garden and kitchen and countless spiritual and self-help conversations with others

6

Read the questions and choose the answer (a b or c) that is true for you

1 What is the easiest way for you to remember something

a to picture it in my head or write it down several times

b to listen to someone talking about it

c to actively participate in an activity to learn how to do it

2 What kind of lectures do you enjoy the most

a those that involve reading and writing

b those that involve listening and discussing things

c those that involve working with your hands making or repairing things

3 When studying what kind of information do you prefer

a information presented visually (eg on whiteboard computer screen or flipcharts)

b auditory information (eg from a CD a podcast or the radio)

c all kinds similar to real life that call for some action (eg maps jigsaws or diagrams)

4 What do you think which of the statements best describes your behaviour in school

a I take notes during lectures or discussions to review them later

b I enjoy participating in debates and discussions in and out of classroom

c I just canrsquot keep still and am constantly fidgeting (eg tapping pen playing with pens)

5 What are you really good at

a I excel at visual arts andor in foreign languages

b I excel at music

c I excel at sports

6 What do you think which of the statements best describes you in your free time

a I love reading both poetry and prose and I sometimes write things myself

b I enjoy listening to music singing andor playing a musical instrument

c I am always on the move actively exploring the world around me

In order to discover your learning style look at your answers and

see how many times you have chosen each letter It is possible

that you do not have just one learning style but a combination of

two or even all three

If your answers are mostly A you are a visual learner

Visual learners learn best through seeing They may think in

pictures and remember most easily from visual displays such

as illustrated text books overhead transparencies videos

flipcharts and hand-outs During a lecture or classroom

discussion visual learners often take notes because it helps

them to take in the information

If your answers are mostly B you are an auditory learner

Auditory learners learn best through listening ie verbal

lectures discussions talking things through and listening to

what others say They focus on listening to tone of voice pitch

and speed Written information may have little meaning to

them until it is heard so they can benefit from reading texts

aloud and recording lectures

If your answers are mostly C you are a tactilekinaesthetic

learner

Kinaesthetic learners learn best through moving doing and

touching or through a so-called hands-on approach actively

exploring the physical world around them They may find it

hard to sit still for long periods of time and may become

distracted by their need for activity and exploration

7

We spend most of the time talking about things you should do in order to accomplish this or that However we rarely stop and think about

things that impede our improvement ndash especially when it comes to learning So here is the list of seven things you should NOT do when

learning English

Donrsquot be (too) ashamed to speak

Courage is resistance to fear mastery of fear ndash not absence of fear ndash Mark Twain

There is only one way to learn how to speak English and that is to open your mouth and speak English The only way you will ever get

better at speaking is by speaking and speaking a lot You can make excuses for why you donrsquot want to speak like saying that yoursquore too

embarrassed to speak but these wonrsquot get you any closer to your goal of achieving English fluency It doesnrsquot matter if you have no

vocabulary or if your pronunciation isnrsquot perfect you need to open your mouth and speak if you want to improve Whatever you do donrsquot

say that you canrsquot speak English because this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy By believing that you canrsquot speak English you close

your mind to trying and never give yourself the opportunity to improve The only way to improve your English is to practice it no matter

how bad you may (not) be at it

Donrsquot be afraid of making mistakes

Irsquove missed more than 9000 shots in my career Irsquove lost almost 300 games 26 times Irsquove been trusted to take the game winning shot and

missed Irsquove failed over and over and over again in my life And that is why I succeed ndash Michael Jordan

The one thing you shouldnrsquot do when speaking English is to be afraid of making mistakes Part of being human is making mistakes and

sooner or later yoursquore going to have to accept the fact that yoursquore not perfect and that you will always make mistakes The only way you

can avoid making mistakes is by not trying at all If you follow this approach yoursquoll avoid making mistakes but yoursquoll never improve either

This may seem counter-intuitive but you should try making as many mistakes as possible If you are making mistakes that means you are

actually speaking English and improving If you arenrsquot making mistakes every day then you arenrsquot speaking enough Of course you

shouldnrsquot intentionally make mistakes and you should try to be aware of your mistakes so you can learn from them and improve your skills

Grammar is the last thing you should be worried about when speaking English You donrsquot need to have perfect grammar in order to

communicate with someone in English Native speakers arenrsquot going to judge you for having bad grammar they are going to be more

focused on understanding meaning and continuing the conversation As long as you speak clearly and confidently it doesnrsquot matter if you

use the wrong article adjective ending or sentence order

Many language programs put too much emphasis on grammar and not enough emphasis on speaking They spread the idea that you have

to know all the grammar rules before you can start speaking which can have the effect of reducing your confidence when you finally start

speaking This is backwards You should learn to speak first to build your confidence and then work on correcting your grammar after

yoursquove reached a basic level of fluency Everybody makes mistakes even native speakers of English Nobody is born speaking perfect

English fluency is something that takes time and hard work to achieve There are many Americans who go through 13 years of schooling

and still donrsquot learn how to speak English properly So donrsquot be discouraged by your mistakes Learn to embrace them and value them for

the role they play in your learning

Donrsquot apologize for your level

Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English It means they know another language - H Jackson Brown Jr

Something that really annoys native speakers of English is when non-native speakers apologize for how much English they speak If you

talk to someone and they do get offended or upset because of your level of English they are an evil person who probably tortures kittens

in their spare time Most of the people who apologize for their level of English feel like they should speak better than they do It is fine to

think this but donrsquot get upset at yourself for not knowing more than you do Achieving fluency in any language is a process that takes time

and you canrsquot expect to become fluent overnight Whether yoursquove been studying English for years or only for a few months yoursquove put in a

lot of work to get where you are so donrsquot underestimate yourself

Donrsquot get frustrated with yourself

Learning English will come with a certain amount of frustration At some point you will come to a stage where you wonrsquot be able to fully

express yourself like you would be able to in your mother tongue and there will be times when you wonrsquot be able to find the right word to

say Nearly everyone who learns English goes through this phase itrsquos just a natural part of the language learning process This stage may

last only a few weeks if you are completely immersed in English but it could last years if you only use English twice a week at school The

only way to overcome this frustration is by practice practice practice Keep in mind that this frustration isnrsquot because yoursquore not smart

enough or because the language is too difficult it is something that many people have to go through By embracing this frustration and

feeling it more intensely through increased exposure you can pass through this stage more rapidly

8

If you are one of those students who have no problems learning English then you know youre successful because you remember new

words easily which probably means you understand most of what you read and hear and can communicate almost everything you want

If yoursquore not so lucky you have probably realized that your biggest problem is ndash understanding Perhaps you can form different tenses and

use them correctly perhaps you know how to transform sentences from active to passive or how to make indirect questions but it cannot be

of any use unless you actually understand the topic

The key Acquiring new vocabulary Here are 15 tips to help you remember words more easily

1) Make word association webs ndash our brain takes what we readhear and makes it into ideas images feelings etc and then makes

connections between what we knew before and new information

2) Try to keep a personal diary ndash write two or three new words a day and reread them every week Yoursquoll learn almost 20 words per

week which is one thousand per year

3) Learning the roots of the words is also a good way of permanently etching new words into your mind and in some cases it can do

wonders

4) Make a crazy story that uses all the words Picture it in your mind as you make a story Our brains remember stories easily ndash the

crazier they are the more easy to remember

5) Read in English As often as you can Use all kinds of texts you can find

6) Watch subtitled movies to master pronunciation

7) Make vocabulary flip cards from index cards Write the word and its pronunciation on the one side and the meaning and the

explanation on the other

8) Use a Thesaurus That way yoursquoll learn the synonyms and related concepts for words

9) Learn antonyms and synonyms together with the words

10) Play words games Use good old Scrabble or find something online

11) Practice with a native English speaker There are millions of people online ndash surely you can find someone you can talk and write to

12) Use a trick to remember word quickly and permanently use the new word immediately then 10 minutes later then one hour later

then one day later and then again one week later

13) Think in English Yoursquoll develop the basics

14) Find the method that works best for you There are numerous options ndash try them out and see which one does it for you

15) Donrsquot give up

Donrsquot take it personally when people donrsquot understand you

At some point in your English speaking career you are going to speak to someone who no matter how hard you try just canrsquot seem to

understand you Due to the large number of English speakers in the world there are a wide range of accents some of which are hard to

understand Yoursquoll have this problem a lot when talking with people who arenrsquot used to dealing with foreigners If they donrsquot have this

experience they will be used to hearing English spoken in a very specific way and they wonrsquot have any frame of reference when talking to

you Realize that this isnrsquot a reflection of your language skills but rather a reflection of this personrsquos lack of exposure to different people This

can also happen when talking to English learners who have a lower level of English than you They wonrsquot be able to understand everything

you say because of your more advanced vocabulary Try to remember that you were once at their level and not everyone is at the same

place on their language journey

Donrsquot compare yourself to other English Speakers

No matter what level your English is at you had to work hard to bring yourself to that level Be proud of what yoursquove accomplished and donrsquot

be too concerned with what other people think about it They donrsquot know how many hours yoursquove had to work to get to where you are they

donrsquot know all the struggles yoursquove been through to get there This also means you shouldnrsquot go around comparing yourself to other people

Everybody is different some people learn languages more easily than others and some people have spent more time working to improve

their English Some people like to see others fail and by paying any attention to these people you are just feeding their negativity Any time

you spend worrying about what they think of you is the time wasted it could be better spent by working to improve your English

If you are fluent (or just think you are) donrsquot get cocky

English is not a chip in your brain Itrsquos a learning process Maybe this is going to seem harsh and definitely a bit paradoxical but for the rare

English Jedi breed they realize that therersquos never really perfect fluency only the impassioned and ever-approaching journey toward it This

means that when you finally become fluent (whatever that really means to you or to the world) you shouldnrsquot adopt the attitude of somebody

who thinks ldquoI already learned Englishrdquo because there are some fundamental problems and limitations that come from this assumption

Here are just a few

Yoursquore living a lie because you never stop learning a language It is like calling yourself a fully-realized human being Therersquos always the

next level up and the current level always needs practice

The learner tends to get lazy and itrsquos a universal fact about any learning process that if you arenrsquot growing you are probably getting worse

The inflated ego prevents you from recognizing the final 5 or 10 that separates you from the master Jedi breed of English speakers

There is a tendency to treat other English learners (or people who are learning their language) in a condescending totally idiotic way

forgetting what it is like to learn because they themselves are no longer connected to their own learning process

Cultural Understanding You can know everything about grammar but that doesnrsquot mean you are fluent You need to be constantly connected

to the source of the language (culture) so that it flows from who you really are IP

9

Though Different strokes for different folks applies to learning techniques as well since everyone has their own learning

style the evidence suggests some learning strategies work better than the other Of course that just because a technique

works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or wonrsquot work well for you Two years ago a

group of authors published ldquoImproving Students Learning with Effective Learning Techniques Promising Directions from

Cognitive and Educational Psychology Psychological Science in the Public Interestrdquo and presented the results of recent

research Though the text seems to be written to learners they may find it a bit too demanding Thatrsquos why it is here ndash on

teachersrsquo pages since we are the ones who should guide our students and among many other things help them become

better learners in general And of course since we should be (lifelong) learners as well IP

Ten techniques for improving learning evaluated based on recent research

Practice Testing

Testing is often seen as a necessary evil of education since traditionally it consists of rare but massively important lsquohigh

stakesrsquo assessments There is however an extensive literature demonstrating the benefits of testing for learning ndash but

importantly not in the format of lsquohigh stakesrsquo exams All testing including lsquolow stakesrsquo practice testing seems to result in

benefits Unlike many of the other techniques the benefits of practice testing are not modest ndash studies have found that a

practice test can double free recall Research has found that though multiple choice testing is indeed effective practice tests

that require more detailed answers to be generated are more effective Importantly practice testing is effective when you

create the questions yourself

Distributed Practice

Have you ever wondered whether it is best to do your studying in large chunks or divide your studying over a period of

time Research has found that the optimal level of distribution of sessions for learning is 10-20 of the length of time that

something needs to be remembered So if you want to remember something for a year you should study at least every

month if you want to remember something for five years you should space your learning every six to twelve months If you

want to remember something for a week you should space your learning 12-24 hours apart It does seem however that the

distributed-practice effect may work best when processing information deeply ndash so for best results you might want to try a

distributed practice and self-testing combo There is however a major catch the amount of studying ldquomassively increasesrdquo

before an exam Or it seems so because most students fall in to the ldquoprocrastination scalloprdquo ndash we are all guilty at one point

of cramming all the knowledge in right before an exam but the evidence is pretty conclusive that this is the worst way to

study certainly when it comes to remembering for the long term Students should understand the benefits of distributed

practice and take it upon themselves to space their learning over time and are then pretty much guaranteed to see

improvements

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true The method involves concentrating on why

questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task To do this

yourself after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain ldquowhy does x = yrdquo and use your answers to form your

notes This is a good method because it is simple so anyone can apply it easily It does however require enough prior

knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself so this method may be best for learners with experience

in a subject The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time one study found that elaborative learning took 32

minutes as opposed to 28 minutes simply reading

Self-Explanation

A technique that is useful for abstract learning The technique involves explaining and recording how one solves or understands problems as they work and giving reasons for choices that are made This was found to be more effective if done

while learning as opposed to after learning Self-explanation has been found to be effective with learners ranging from children in kindergarten to older students working on algebraic formulas and geometric theorems Like elaborative

interrogation self-explanation benefits from its simplicity but unlike elaborative learning it was found to double the amount of time spent on a task in comparison to a reading control group

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

6

Read the questions and choose the answer (a b or c) that is true for you

1 What is the easiest way for you to remember something

a to picture it in my head or write it down several times

b to listen to someone talking about it

c to actively participate in an activity to learn how to do it

2 What kind of lectures do you enjoy the most

a those that involve reading and writing

b those that involve listening and discussing things

c those that involve working with your hands making or repairing things

3 When studying what kind of information do you prefer

a information presented visually (eg on whiteboard computer screen or flipcharts)

b auditory information (eg from a CD a podcast or the radio)

c all kinds similar to real life that call for some action (eg maps jigsaws or diagrams)

4 What do you think which of the statements best describes your behaviour in school

a I take notes during lectures or discussions to review them later

b I enjoy participating in debates and discussions in and out of classroom

c I just canrsquot keep still and am constantly fidgeting (eg tapping pen playing with pens)

5 What are you really good at

a I excel at visual arts andor in foreign languages

b I excel at music

c I excel at sports

6 What do you think which of the statements best describes you in your free time

a I love reading both poetry and prose and I sometimes write things myself

b I enjoy listening to music singing andor playing a musical instrument

c I am always on the move actively exploring the world around me

In order to discover your learning style look at your answers and

see how many times you have chosen each letter It is possible

that you do not have just one learning style but a combination of

two or even all three

If your answers are mostly A you are a visual learner

Visual learners learn best through seeing They may think in

pictures and remember most easily from visual displays such

as illustrated text books overhead transparencies videos

flipcharts and hand-outs During a lecture or classroom

discussion visual learners often take notes because it helps

them to take in the information

If your answers are mostly B you are an auditory learner

Auditory learners learn best through listening ie verbal

lectures discussions talking things through and listening to

what others say They focus on listening to tone of voice pitch

and speed Written information may have little meaning to

them until it is heard so they can benefit from reading texts

aloud and recording lectures

If your answers are mostly C you are a tactilekinaesthetic

learner

Kinaesthetic learners learn best through moving doing and

touching or through a so-called hands-on approach actively

exploring the physical world around them They may find it

hard to sit still for long periods of time and may become

distracted by their need for activity and exploration

7

We spend most of the time talking about things you should do in order to accomplish this or that However we rarely stop and think about

things that impede our improvement ndash especially when it comes to learning So here is the list of seven things you should NOT do when

learning English

Donrsquot be (too) ashamed to speak

Courage is resistance to fear mastery of fear ndash not absence of fear ndash Mark Twain

There is only one way to learn how to speak English and that is to open your mouth and speak English The only way you will ever get

better at speaking is by speaking and speaking a lot You can make excuses for why you donrsquot want to speak like saying that yoursquore too

embarrassed to speak but these wonrsquot get you any closer to your goal of achieving English fluency It doesnrsquot matter if you have no

vocabulary or if your pronunciation isnrsquot perfect you need to open your mouth and speak if you want to improve Whatever you do donrsquot

say that you canrsquot speak English because this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy By believing that you canrsquot speak English you close

your mind to trying and never give yourself the opportunity to improve The only way to improve your English is to practice it no matter

how bad you may (not) be at it

Donrsquot be afraid of making mistakes

Irsquove missed more than 9000 shots in my career Irsquove lost almost 300 games 26 times Irsquove been trusted to take the game winning shot and

missed Irsquove failed over and over and over again in my life And that is why I succeed ndash Michael Jordan

The one thing you shouldnrsquot do when speaking English is to be afraid of making mistakes Part of being human is making mistakes and

sooner or later yoursquore going to have to accept the fact that yoursquore not perfect and that you will always make mistakes The only way you

can avoid making mistakes is by not trying at all If you follow this approach yoursquoll avoid making mistakes but yoursquoll never improve either

This may seem counter-intuitive but you should try making as many mistakes as possible If you are making mistakes that means you are

actually speaking English and improving If you arenrsquot making mistakes every day then you arenrsquot speaking enough Of course you

shouldnrsquot intentionally make mistakes and you should try to be aware of your mistakes so you can learn from them and improve your skills

Grammar is the last thing you should be worried about when speaking English You donrsquot need to have perfect grammar in order to

communicate with someone in English Native speakers arenrsquot going to judge you for having bad grammar they are going to be more

focused on understanding meaning and continuing the conversation As long as you speak clearly and confidently it doesnrsquot matter if you

use the wrong article adjective ending or sentence order

Many language programs put too much emphasis on grammar and not enough emphasis on speaking They spread the idea that you have

to know all the grammar rules before you can start speaking which can have the effect of reducing your confidence when you finally start

speaking This is backwards You should learn to speak first to build your confidence and then work on correcting your grammar after

yoursquove reached a basic level of fluency Everybody makes mistakes even native speakers of English Nobody is born speaking perfect

English fluency is something that takes time and hard work to achieve There are many Americans who go through 13 years of schooling

and still donrsquot learn how to speak English properly So donrsquot be discouraged by your mistakes Learn to embrace them and value them for

the role they play in your learning

Donrsquot apologize for your level

Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English It means they know another language - H Jackson Brown Jr

Something that really annoys native speakers of English is when non-native speakers apologize for how much English they speak If you

talk to someone and they do get offended or upset because of your level of English they are an evil person who probably tortures kittens

in their spare time Most of the people who apologize for their level of English feel like they should speak better than they do It is fine to

think this but donrsquot get upset at yourself for not knowing more than you do Achieving fluency in any language is a process that takes time

and you canrsquot expect to become fluent overnight Whether yoursquove been studying English for years or only for a few months yoursquove put in a

lot of work to get where you are so donrsquot underestimate yourself

Donrsquot get frustrated with yourself

Learning English will come with a certain amount of frustration At some point you will come to a stage where you wonrsquot be able to fully

express yourself like you would be able to in your mother tongue and there will be times when you wonrsquot be able to find the right word to

say Nearly everyone who learns English goes through this phase itrsquos just a natural part of the language learning process This stage may

last only a few weeks if you are completely immersed in English but it could last years if you only use English twice a week at school The

only way to overcome this frustration is by practice practice practice Keep in mind that this frustration isnrsquot because yoursquore not smart

enough or because the language is too difficult it is something that many people have to go through By embracing this frustration and

feeling it more intensely through increased exposure you can pass through this stage more rapidly

8

If you are one of those students who have no problems learning English then you know youre successful because you remember new

words easily which probably means you understand most of what you read and hear and can communicate almost everything you want

If yoursquore not so lucky you have probably realized that your biggest problem is ndash understanding Perhaps you can form different tenses and

use them correctly perhaps you know how to transform sentences from active to passive or how to make indirect questions but it cannot be

of any use unless you actually understand the topic

The key Acquiring new vocabulary Here are 15 tips to help you remember words more easily

1) Make word association webs ndash our brain takes what we readhear and makes it into ideas images feelings etc and then makes

connections between what we knew before and new information

2) Try to keep a personal diary ndash write two or three new words a day and reread them every week Yoursquoll learn almost 20 words per

week which is one thousand per year

3) Learning the roots of the words is also a good way of permanently etching new words into your mind and in some cases it can do

wonders

4) Make a crazy story that uses all the words Picture it in your mind as you make a story Our brains remember stories easily ndash the

crazier they are the more easy to remember

5) Read in English As often as you can Use all kinds of texts you can find

6) Watch subtitled movies to master pronunciation

7) Make vocabulary flip cards from index cards Write the word and its pronunciation on the one side and the meaning and the

explanation on the other

8) Use a Thesaurus That way yoursquoll learn the synonyms and related concepts for words

9) Learn antonyms and synonyms together with the words

10) Play words games Use good old Scrabble or find something online

11) Practice with a native English speaker There are millions of people online ndash surely you can find someone you can talk and write to

12) Use a trick to remember word quickly and permanently use the new word immediately then 10 minutes later then one hour later

then one day later and then again one week later

13) Think in English Yoursquoll develop the basics

14) Find the method that works best for you There are numerous options ndash try them out and see which one does it for you

15) Donrsquot give up

Donrsquot take it personally when people donrsquot understand you

At some point in your English speaking career you are going to speak to someone who no matter how hard you try just canrsquot seem to

understand you Due to the large number of English speakers in the world there are a wide range of accents some of which are hard to

understand Yoursquoll have this problem a lot when talking with people who arenrsquot used to dealing with foreigners If they donrsquot have this

experience they will be used to hearing English spoken in a very specific way and they wonrsquot have any frame of reference when talking to

you Realize that this isnrsquot a reflection of your language skills but rather a reflection of this personrsquos lack of exposure to different people This

can also happen when talking to English learners who have a lower level of English than you They wonrsquot be able to understand everything

you say because of your more advanced vocabulary Try to remember that you were once at their level and not everyone is at the same

place on their language journey

Donrsquot compare yourself to other English Speakers

No matter what level your English is at you had to work hard to bring yourself to that level Be proud of what yoursquove accomplished and donrsquot

be too concerned with what other people think about it They donrsquot know how many hours yoursquove had to work to get to where you are they

donrsquot know all the struggles yoursquove been through to get there This also means you shouldnrsquot go around comparing yourself to other people

Everybody is different some people learn languages more easily than others and some people have spent more time working to improve

their English Some people like to see others fail and by paying any attention to these people you are just feeding their negativity Any time

you spend worrying about what they think of you is the time wasted it could be better spent by working to improve your English

If you are fluent (or just think you are) donrsquot get cocky

English is not a chip in your brain Itrsquos a learning process Maybe this is going to seem harsh and definitely a bit paradoxical but for the rare

English Jedi breed they realize that therersquos never really perfect fluency only the impassioned and ever-approaching journey toward it This

means that when you finally become fluent (whatever that really means to you or to the world) you shouldnrsquot adopt the attitude of somebody

who thinks ldquoI already learned Englishrdquo because there are some fundamental problems and limitations that come from this assumption

Here are just a few

Yoursquore living a lie because you never stop learning a language It is like calling yourself a fully-realized human being Therersquos always the

next level up and the current level always needs practice

The learner tends to get lazy and itrsquos a universal fact about any learning process that if you arenrsquot growing you are probably getting worse

The inflated ego prevents you from recognizing the final 5 or 10 that separates you from the master Jedi breed of English speakers

There is a tendency to treat other English learners (or people who are learning their language) in a condescending totally idiotic way

forgetting what it is like to learn because they themselves are no longer connected to their own learning process

Cultural Understanding You can know everything about grammar but that doesnrsquot mean you are fluent You need to be constantly connected

to the source of the language (culture) so that it flows from who you really are IP

9

Though Different strokes for different folks applies to learning techniques as well since everyone has their own learning

style the evidence suggests some learning strategies work better than the other Of course that just because a technique

works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or wonrsquot work well for you Two years ago a

group of authors published ldquoImproving Students Learning with Effective Learning Techniques Promising Directions from

Cognitive and Educational Psychology Psychological Science in the Public Interestrdquo and presented the results of recent

research Though the text seems to be written to learners they may find it a bit too demanding Thatrsquos why it is here ndash on

teachersrsquo pages since we are the ones who should guide our students and among many other things help them become

better learners in general And of course since we should be (lifelong) learners as well IP

Ten techniques for improving learning evaluated based on recent research

Practice Testing

Testing is often seen as a necessary evil of education since traditionally it consists of rare but massively important lsquohigh

stakesrsquo assessments There is however an extensive literature demonstrating the benefits of testing for learning ndash but

importantly not in the format of lsquohigh stakesrsquo exams All testing including lsquolow stakesrsquo practice testing seems to result in

benefits Unlike many of the other techniques the benefits of practice testing are not modest ndash studies have found that a

practice test can double free recall Research has found that though multiple choice testing is indeed effective practice tests

that require more detailed answers to be generated are more effective Importantly practice testing is effective when you

create the questions yourself

Distributed Practice

Have you ever wondered whether it is best to do your studying in large chunks or divide your studying over a period of

time Research has found that the optimal level of distribution of sessions for learning is 10-20 of the length of time that

something needs to be remembered So if you want to remember something for a year you should study at least every

month if you want to remember something for five years you should space your learning every six to twelve months If you

want to remember something for a week you should space your learning 12-24 hours apart It does seem however that the

distributed-practice effect may work best when processing information deeply ndash so for best results you might want to try a

distributed practice and self-testing combo There is however a major catch the amount of studying ldquomassively increasesrdquo

before an exam Or it seems so because most students fall in to the ldquoprocrastination scalloprdquo ndash we are all guilty at one point

of cramming all the knowledge in right before an exam but the evidence is pretty conclusive that this is the worst way to

study certainly when it comes to remembering for the long term Students should understand the benefits of distributed

practice and take it upon themselves to space their learning over time and are then pretty much guaranteed to see

improvements

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true The method involves concentrating on why

questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task To do this

yourself after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain ldquowhy does x = yrdquo and use your answers to form your

notes This is a good method because it is simple so anyone can apply it easily It does however require enough prior

knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself so this method may be best for learners with experience

in a subject The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time one study found that elaborative learning took 32

minutes as opposed to 28 minutes simply reading

Self-Explanation

A technique that is useful for abstract learning The technique involves explaining and recording how one solves or understands problems as they work and giving reasons for choices that are made This was found to be more effective if done

while learning as opposed to after learning Self-explanation has been found to be effective with learners ranging from children in kindergarten to older students working on algebraic formulas and geometric theorems Like elaborative

interrogation self-explanation benefits from its simplicity but unlike elaborative learning it was found to double the amount of time spent on a task in comparison to a reading control group

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

7

We spend most of the time talking about things you should do in order to accomplish this or that However we rarely stop and think about

things that impede our improvement ndash especially when it comes to learning So here is the list of seven things you should NOT do when

learning English

Donrsquot be (too) ashamed to speak

Courage is resistance to fear mastery of fear ndash not absence of fear ndash Mark Twain

There is only one way to learn how to speak English and that is to open your mouth and speak English The only way you will ever get

better at speaking is by speaking and speaking a lot You can make excuses for why you donrsquot want to speak like saying that yoursquore too

embarrassed to speak but these wonrsquot get you any closer to your goal of achieving English fluency It doesnrsquot matter if you have no

vocabulary or if your pronunciation isnrsquot perfect you need to open your mouth and speak if you want to improve Whatever you do donrsquot

say that you canrsquot speak English because this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy By believing that you canrsquot speak English you close

your mind to trying and never give yourself the opportunity to improve The only way to improve your English is to practice it no matter

how bad you may (not) be at it

Donrsquot be afraid of making mistakes

Irsquove missed more than 9000 shots in my career Irsquove lost almost 300 games 26 times Irsquove been trusted to take the game winning shot and

missed Irsquove failed over and over and over again in my life And that is why I succeed ndash Michael Jordan

The one thing you shouldnrsquot do when speaking English is to be afraid of making mistakes Part of being human is making mistakes and

sooner or later yoursquore going to have to accept the fact that yoursquore not perfect and that you will always make mistakes The only way you

can avoid making mistakes is by not trying at all If you follow this approach yoursquoll avoid making mistakes but yoursquoll never improve either

This may seem counter-intuitive but you should try making as many mistakes as possible If you are making mistakes that means you are

actually speaking English and improving If you arenrsquot making mistakes every day then you arenrsquot speaking enough Of course you

shouldnrsquot intentionally make mistakes and you should try to be aware of your mistakes so you can learn from them and improve your skills

Grammar is the last thing you should be worried about when speaking English You donrsquot need to have perfect grammar in order to

communicate with someone in English Native speakers arenrsquot going to judge you for having bad grammar they are going to be more

focused on understanding meaning and continuing the conversation As long as you speak clearly and confidently it doesnrsquot matter if you

use the wrong article adjective ending or sentence order

Many language programs put too much emphasis on grammar and not enough emphasis on speaking They spread the idea that you have

to know all the grammar rules before you can start speaking which can have the effect of reducing your confidence when you finally start

speaking This is backwards You should learn to speak first to build your confidence and then work on correcting your grammar after

yoursquove reached a basic level of fluency Everybody makes mistakes even native speakers of English Nobody is born speaking perfect

English fluency is something that takes time and hard work to achieve There are many Americans who go through 13 years of schooling

and still donrsquot learn how to speak English properly So donrsquot be discouraged by your mistakes Learn to embrace them and value them for

the role they play in your learning

Donrsquot apologize for your level

Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English It means they know another language - H Jackson Brown Jr

Something that really annoys native speakers of English is when non-native speakers apologize for how much English they speak If you

talk to someone and they do get offended or upset because of your level of English they are an evil person who probably tortures kittens

in their spare time Most of the people who apologize for their level of English feel like they should speak better than they do It is fine to

think this but donrsquot get upset at yourself for not knowing more than you do Achieving fluency in any language is a process that takes time

and you canrsquot expect to become fluent overnight Whether yoursquove been studying English for years or only for a few months yoursquove put in a

lot of work to get where you are so donrsquot underestimate yourself

Donrsquot get frustrated with yourself

Learning English will come with a certain amount of frustration At some point you will come to a stage where you wonrsquot be able to fully

express yourself like you would be able to in your mother tongue and there will be times when you wonrsquot be able to find the right word to

say Nearly everyone who learns English goes through this phase itrsquos just a natural part of the language learning process This stage may

last only a few weeks if you are completely immersed in English but it could last years if you only use English twice a week at school The

only way to overcome this frustration is by practice practice practice Keep in mind that this frustration isnrsquot because yoursquore not smart

enough or because the language is too difficult it is something that many people have to go through By embracing this frustration and

feeling it more intensely through increased exposure you can pass through this stage more rapidly

8

If you are one of those students who have no problems learning English then you know youre successful because you remember new

words easily which probably means you understand most of what you read and hear and can communicate almost everything you want

If yoursquore not so lucky you have probably realized that your biggest problem is ndash understanding Perhaps you can form different tenses and

use them correctly perhaps you know how to transform sentences from active to passive or how to make indirect questions but it cannot be

of any use unless you actually understand the topic

The key Acquiring new vocabulary Here are 15 tips to help you remember words more easily

1) Make word association webs ndash our brain takes what we readhear and makes it into ideas images feelings etc and then makes

connections between what we knew before and new information

2) Try to keep a personal diary ndash write two or three new words a day and reread them every week Yoursquoll learn almost 20 words per

week which is one thousand per year

3) Learning the roots of the words is also a good way of permanently etching new words into your mind and in some cases it can do

wonders

4) Make a crazy story that uses all the words Picture it in your mind as you make a story Our brains remember stories easily ndash the

crazier they are the more easy to remember

5) Read in English As often as you can Use all kinds of texts you can find

6) Watch subtitled movies to master pronunciation

7) Make vocabulary flip cards from index cards Write the word and its pronunciation on the one side and the meaning and the

explanation on the other

8) Use a Thesaurus That way yoursquoll learn the synonyms and related concepts for words

9) Learn antonyms and synonyms together with the words

10) Play words games Use good old Scrabble or find something online

11) Practice with a native English speaker There are millions of people online ndash surely you can find someone you can talk and write to

12) Use a trick to remember word quickly and permanently use the new word immediately then 10 minutes later then one hour later

then one day later and then again one week later

13) Think in English Yoursquoll develop the basics

14) Find the method that works best for you There are numerous options ndash try them out and see which one does it for you

15) Donrsquot give up

Donrsquot take it personally when people donrsquot understand you

At some point in your English speaking career you are going to speak to someone who no matter how hard you try just canrsquot seem to

understand you Due to the large number of English speakers in the world there are a wide range of accents some of which are hard to

understand Yoursquoll have this problem a lot when talking with people who arenrsquot used to dealing with foreigners If they donrsquot have this

experience they will be used to hearing English spoken in a very specific way and they wonrsquot have any frame of reference when talking to

you Realize that this isnrsquot a reflection of your language skills but rather a reflection of this personrsquos lack of exposure to different people This

can also happen when talking to English learners who have a lower level of English than you They wonrsquot be able to understand everything

you say because of your more advanced vocabulary Try to remember that you were once at their level and not everyone is at the same

place on their language journey

Donrsquot compare yourself to other English Speakers

No matter what level your English is at you had to work hard to bring yourself to that level Be proud of what yoursquove accomplished and donrsquot

be too concerned with what other people think about it They donrsquot know how many hours yoursquove had to work to get to where you are they

donrsquot know all the struggles yoursquove been through to get there This also means you shouldnrsquot go around comparing yourself to other people

Everybody is different some people learn languages more easily than others and some people have spent more time working to improve

their English Some people like to see others fail and by paying any attention to these people you are just feeding their negativity Any time

you spend worrying about what they think of you is the time wasted it could be better spent by working to improve your English

If you are fluent (or just think you are) donrsquot get cocky

English is not a chip in your brain Itrsquos a learning process Maybe this is going to seem harsh and definitely a bit paradoxical but for the rare

English Jedi breed they realize that therersquos never really perfect fluency only the impassioned and ever-approaching journey toward it This

means that when you finally become fluent (whatever that really means to you or to the world) you shouldnrsquot adopt the attitude of somebody

who thinks ldquoI already learned Englishrdquo because there are some fundamental problems and limitations that come from this assumption

Here are just a few

Yoursquore living a lie because you never stop learning a language It is like calling yourself a fully-realized human being Therersquos always the

next level up and the current level always needs practice

The learner tends to get lazy and itrsquos a universal fact about any learning process that if you arenrsquot growing you are probably getting worse

The inflated ego prevents you from recognizing the final 5 or 10 that separates you from the master Jedi breed of English speakers

There is a tendency to treat other English learners (or people who are learning their language) in a condescending totally idiotic way

forgetting what it is like to learn because they themselves are no longer connected to their own learning process

Cultural Understanding You can know everything about grammar but that doesnrsquot mean you are fluent You need to be constantly connected

to the source of the language (culture) so that it flows from who you really are IP

9

Though Different strokes for different folks applies to learning techniques as well since everyone has their own learning

style the evidence suggests some learning strategies work better than the other Of course that just because a technique

works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or wonrsquot work well for you Two years ago a

group of authors published ldquoImproving Students Learning with Effective Learning Techniques Promising Directions from

Cognitive and Educational Psychology Psychological Science in the Public Interestrdquo and presented the results of recent

research Though the text seems to be written to learners they may find it a bit too demanding Thatrsquos why it is here ndash on

teachersrsquo pages since we are the ones who should guide our students and among many other things help them become

better learners in general And of course since we should be (lifelong) learners as well IP

Ten techniques for improving learning evaluated based on recent research

Practice Testing

Testing is often seen as a necessary evil of education since traditionally it consists of rare but massively important lsquohigh

stakesrsquo assessments There is however an extensive literature demonstrating the benefits of testing for learning ndash but

importantly not in the format of lsquohigh stakesrsquo exams All testing including lsquolow stakesrsquo practice testing seems to result in

benefits Unlike many of the other techniques the benefits of practice testing are not modest ndash studies have found that a

practice test can double free recall Research has found that though multiple choice testing is indeed effective practice tests

that require more detailed answers to be generated are more effective Importantly practice testing is effective when you

create the questions yourself

Distributed Practice

Have you ever wondered whether it is best to do your studying in large chunks or divide your studying over a period of

time Research has found that the optimal level of distribution of sessions for learning is 10-20 of the length of time that

something needs to be remembered So if you want to remember something for a year you should study at least every

month if you want to remember something for five years you should space your learning every six to twelve months If you

want to remember something for a week you should space your learning 12-24 hours apart It does seem however that the

distributed-practice effect may work best when processing information deeply ndash so for best results you might want to try a

distributed practice and self-testing combo There is however a major catch the amount of studying ldquomassively increasesrdquo

before an exam Or it seems so because most students fall in to the ldquoprocrastination scalloprdquo ndash we are all guilty at one point

of cramming all the knowledge in right before an exam but the evidence is pretty conclusive that this is the worst way to

study certainly when it comes to remembering for the long term Students should understand the benefits of distributed

practice and take it upon themselves to space their learning over time and are then pretty much guaranteed to see

improvements

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true The method involves concentrating on why

questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task To do this

yourself after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain ldquowhy does x = yrdquo and use your answers to form your

notes This is a good method because it is simple so anyone can apply it easily It does however require enough prior

knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself so this method may be best for learners with experience

in a subject The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time one study found that elaborative learning took 32

minutes as opposed to 28 minutes simply reading

Self-Explanation

A technique that is useful for abstract learning The technique involves explaining and recording how one solves or understands problems as they work and giving reasons for choices that are made This was found to be more effective if done

while learning as opposed to after learning Self-explanation has been found to be effective with learners ranging from children in kindergarten to older students working on algebraic formulas and geometric theorems Like elaborative

interrogation self-explanation benefits from its simplicity but unlike elaborative learning it was found to double the amount of time spent on a task in comparison to a reading control group

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

8

If you are one of those students who have no problems learning English then you know youre successful because you remember new

words easily which probably means you understand most of what you read and hear and can communicate almost everything you want

If yoursquore not so lucky you have probably realized that your biggest problem is ndash understanding Perhaps you can form different tenses and

use them correctly perhaps you know how to transform sentences from active to passive or how to make indirect questions but it cannot be

of any use unless you actually understand the topic

The key Acquiring new vocabulary Here are 15 tips to help you remember words more easily

1) Make word association webs ndash our brain takes what we readhear and makes it into ideas images feelings etc and then makes

connections between what we knew before and new information

2) Try to keep a personal diary ndash write two or three new words a day and reread them every week Yoursquoll learn almost 20 words per

week which is one thousand per year

3) Learning the roots of the words is also a good way of permanently etching new words into your mind and in some cases it can do

wonders

4) Make a crazy story that uses all the words Picture it in your mind as you make a story Our brains remember stories easily ndash the

crazier they are the more easy to remember

5) Read in English As often as you can Use all kinds of texts you can find

6) Watch subtitled movies to master pronunciation

7) Make vocabulary flip cards from index cards Write the word and its pronunciation on the one side and the meaning and the

explanation on the other

8) Use a Thesaurus That way yoursquoll learn the synonyms and related concepts for words

9) Learn antonyms and synonyms together with the words

10) Play words games Use good old Scrabble or find something online

11) Practice with a native English speaker There are millions of people online ndash surely you can find someone you can talk and write to

12) Use a trick to remember word quickly and permanently use the new word immediately then 10 minutes later then one hour later

then one day later and then again one week later

13) Think in English Yoursquoll develop the basics

14) Find the method that works best for you There are numerous options ndash try them out and see which one does it for you

15) Donrsquot give up

Donrsquot take it personally when people donrsquot understand you

At some point in your English speaking career you are going to speak to someone who no matter how hard you try just canrsquot seem to

understand you Due to the large number of English speakers in the world there are a wide range of accents some of which are hard to

understand Yoursquoll have this problem a lot when talking with people who arenrsquot used to dealing with foreigners If they donrsquot have this

experience they will be used to hearing English spoken in a very specific way and they wonrsquot have any frame of reference when talking to

you Realize that this isnrsquot a reflection of your language skills but rather a reflection of this personrsquos lack of exposure to different people This

can also happen when talking to English learners who have a lower level of English than you They wonrsquot be able to understand everything

you say because of your more advanced vocabulary Try to remember that you were once at their level and not everyone is at the same

place on their language journey

Donrsquot compare yourself to other English Speakers

No matter what level your English is at you had to work hard to bring yourself to that level Be proud of what yoursquove accomplished and donrsquot

be too concerned with what other people think about it They donrsquot know how many hours yoursquove had to work to get to where you are they

donrsquot know all the struggles yoursquove been through to get there This also means you shouldnrsquot go around comparing yourself to other people

Everybody is different some people learn languages more easily than others and some people have spent more time working to improve

their English Some people like to see others fail and by paying any attention to these people you are just feeding their negativity Any time

you spend worrying about what they think of you is the time wasted it could be better spent by working to improve your English

If you are fluent (or just think you are) donrsquot get cocky

English is not a chip in your brain Itrsquos a learning process Maybe this is going to seem harsh and definitely a bit paradoxical but for the rare

English Jedi breed they realize that therersquos never really perfect fluency only the impassioned and ever-approaching journey toward it This

means that when you finally become fluent (whatever that really means to you or to the world) you shouldnrsquot adopt the attitude of somebody

who thinks ldquoI already learned Englishrdquo because there are some fundamental problems and limitations that come from this assumption

Here are just a few

Yoursquore living a lie because you never stop learning a language It is like calling yourself a fully-realized human being Therersquos always the

next level up and the current level always needs practice

The learner tends to get lazy and itrsquos a universal fact about any learning process that if you arenrsquot growing you are probably getting worse

The inflated ego prevents you from recognizing the final 5 or 10 that separates you from the master Jedi breed of English speakers

There is a tendency to treat other English learners (or people who are learning their language) in a condescending totally idiotic way

forgetting what it is like to learn because they themselves are no longer connected to their own learning process

Cultural Understanding You can know everything about grammar but that doesnrsquot mean you are fluent You need to be constantly connected

to the source of the language (culture) so that it flows from who you really are IP

9

Though Different strokes for different folks applies to learning techniques as well since everyone has their own learning

style the evidence suggests some learning strategies work better than the other Of course that just because a technique

works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or wonrsquot work well for you Two years ago a

group of authors published ldquoImproving Students Learning with Effective Learning Techniques Promising Directions from

Cognitive and Educational Psychology Psychological Science in the Public Interestrdquo and presented the results of recent

research Though the text seems to be written to learners they may find it a bit too demanding Thatrsquos why it is here ndash on

teachersrsquo pages since we are the ones who should guide our students and among many other things help them become

better learners in general And of course since we should be (lifelong) learners as well IP

Ten techniques for improving learning evaluated based on recent research

Practice Testing

Testing is often seen as a necessary evil of education since traditionally it consists of rare but massively important lsquohigh

stakesrsquo assessments There is however an extensive literature demonstrating the benefits of testing for learning ndash but

importantly not in the format of lsquohigh stakesrsquo exams All testing including lsquolow stakesrsquo practice testing seems to result in

benefits Unlike many of the other techniques the benefits of practice testing are not modest ndash studies have found that a

practice test can double free recall Research has found that though multiple choice testing is indeed effective practice tests

that require more detailed answers to be generated are more effective Importantly practice testing is effective when you

create the questions yourself

Distributed Practice

Have you ever wondered whether it is best to do your studying in large chunks or divide your studying over a period of

time Research has found that the optimal level of distribution of sessions for learning is 10-20 of the length of time that

something needs to be remembered So if you want to remember something for a year you should study at least every

month if you want to remember something for five years you should space your learning every six to twelve months If you

want to remember something for a week you should space your learning 12-24 hours apart It does seem however that the

distributed-practice effect may work best when processing information deeply ndash so for best results you might want to try a

distributed practice and self-testing combo There is however a major catch the amount of studying ldquomassively increasesrdquo

before an exam Or it seems so because most students fall in to the ldquoprocrastination scalloprdquo ndash we are all guilty at one point

of cramming all the knowledge in right before an exam but the evidence is pretty conclusive that this is the worst way to

study certainly when it comes to remembering for the long term Students should understand the benefits of distributed

practice and take it upon themselves to space their learning over time and are then pretty much guaranteed to see

improvements

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true The method involves concentrating on why

questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task To do this

yourself after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain ldquowhy does x = yrdquo and use your answers to form your

notes This is a good method because it is simple so anyone can apply it easily It does however require enough prior

knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself so this method may be best for learners with experience

in a subject The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time one study found that elaborative learning took 32

minutes as opposed to 28 minutes simply reading

Self-Explanation

A technique that is useful for abstract learning The technique involves explaining and recording how one solves or understands problems as they work and giving reasons for choices that are made This was found to be more effective if done

while learning as opposed to after learning Self-explanation has been found to be effective with learners ranging from children in kindergarten to older students working on algebraic formulas and geometric theorems Like elaborative

interrogation self-explanation benefits from its simplicity but unlike elaborative learning it was found to double the amount of time spent on a task in comparison to a reading control group

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

9

Though Different strokes for different folks applies to learning techniques as well since everyone has their own learning

style the evidence suggests some learning strategies work better than the other Of course that just because a technique

works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or wonrsquot work well for you Two years ago a

group of authors published ldquoImproving Students Learning with Effective Learning Techniques Promising Directions from

Cognitive and Educational Psychology Psychological Science in the Public Interestrdquo and presented the results of recent

research Though the text seems to be written to learners they may find it a bit too demanding Thatrsquos why it is here ndash on

teachersrsquo pages since we are the ones who should guide our students and among many other things help them become

better learners in general And of course since we should be (lifelong) learners as well IP

Ten techniques for improving learning evaluated based on recent research

Practice Testing

Testing is often seen as a necessary evil of education since traditionally it consists of rare but massively important lsquohigh

stakesrsquo assessments There is however an extensive literature demonstrating the benefits of testing for learning ndash but

importantly not in the format of lsquohigh stakesrsquo exams All testing including lsquolow stakesrsquo practice testing seems to result in

benefits Unlike many of the other techniques the benefits of practice testing are not modest ndash studies have found that a

practice test can double free recall Research has found that though multiple choice testing is indeed effective practice tests

that require more detailed answers to be generated are more effective Importantly practice testing is effective when you

create the questions yourself

Distributed Practice

Have you ever wondered whether it is best to do your studying in large chunks or divide your studying over a period of

time Research has found that the optimal level of distribution of sessions for learning is 10-20 of the length of time that

something needs to be remembered So if you want to remember something for a year you should study at least every

month if you want to remember something for five years you should space your learning every six to twelve months If you

want to remember something for a week you should space your learning 12-24 hours apart It does seem however that the

distributed-practice effect may work best when processing information deeply ndash so for best results you might want to try a

distributed practice and self-testing combo There is however a major catch the amount of studying ldquomassively increasesrdquo

before an exam Or it seems so because most students fall in to the ldquoprocrastination scalloprdquo ndash we are all guilty at one point

of cramming all the knowledge in right before an exam but the evidence is pretty conclusive that this is the worst way to

study certainly when it comes to remembering for the long term Students should understand the benefits of distributed

practice and take it upon themselves to space their learning over time and are then pretty much guaranteed to see

improvements

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true The method involves concentrating on why

questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task To do this

yourself after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain ldquowhy does x = yrdquo and use your answers to form your

notes This is a good method because it is simple so anyone can apply it easily It does however require enough prior

knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself so this method may be best for learners with experience

in a subject The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time one study found that elaborative learning took 32

minutes as opposed to 28 minutes simply reading

Self-Explanation

A technique that is useful for abstract learning The technique involves explaining and recording how one solves or understands problems as they work and giving reasons for choices that are made This was found to be more effective if done

while learning as opposed to after learning Self-explanation has been found to be effective with learners ranging from children in kindergarten to older students working on algebraic formulas and geometric theorems Like elaborative

interrogation self-explanation benefits from its simplicity but unlike elaborative learning it was found to double the amount of time spent on a task in comparison to a reading control group

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

10

Interleaved Practice

Have you ever wondered whether you are best off studying topics in blocks or ldquointerleavingrdquo topics ndash studying problems of

different types in a slightly more haphazard fashion Unlike the other methods discussed above there is far less evidence to

go on The research that has so far been conducted seems to suggest that interleaving is useful for motor learning (learning

involving physical movement) and cognitive tasks (such as maths problems) ndash where benefits of up to 43 have been

reported It also seems that like distributed practice interleaved practice seems to benefit longer term retention ldquoAccuracy

during practice was greater during block trials but accuracy a day later was far higher for students who had received inter-

leaved problemsrdquo

Summarisation

Summarising and note taking were found to be beneficial for preparing for written exams but less useful for types of tests

that do not require students to generate information ndash such as multiple choice tests Summarising was rated as being likely

less beneficial than other methods available but more useful than the most common methods students use ndash highlighting

underlining and rereading

Highlighting and underlining

The runaway favourite technique of students was found to perform spectacularly poorly when done on its own under

controlled conditions It seems pretty intuitive that highlighting alone is ineffective for the same reasons it is so popular ndash it

requires no training it takes practically no additional time and crucially it involves very little thought above the effort taken

to simply read a piece of text

The keyword mnemonic

A technique for memorising information involving linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word

sounds and creating imagery for specific words Much research has found that mnemonics are useful for memorising

information in the short term in a range of situations including learning foreign language learning peoplersquos names and

occupations learning scientific terms etc However it seems the keyword mnemonic is only effective in instances where

keywords are important and the material includes keywords which are inherently easy to memorise The review cites one

study that required students to use mnemonics to memorise definitions that were not well suited to keyword generation ndash

the study found that the control group outperformed the group using mnemonics More worrying ndash it seems that though

the keyword mnemonic has been found effective for aiding short term recall it has been demonstrated to actually have a

negative effect when compared to rote learning in the long term So the mnemonic might be useful for remembering

definitions the week before an exam but it doesnrsquot seem to be much use when used in any scale as a long term memory aid

Imagery for Text Learning

Experiments asking students to simply imagine clear visual images as they are reading texts have found advantages when

memorising sentences but these advantages seem much less pronounced when longer pieces of text are involved

Interestingly visualisation was found to be more effective when students listened to a text than when they read text

themselves implying the act of reading may make it harder to focus on visualising

Rereading

Overall rereading is found to be much less effective than other techniques ndash however the research has drawn some

interesting conclusions Massed rereading ndash rereading immediately after reading - has been found more effective than

outlining and summarising for the same amount of time It does seem however that rereading spaced over a longer amount

of time has a much stronger effect than massed rereading

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

11

Using the ldquo5 A Dayrdquo analogy from the various campaigns to encourage the consumption of

at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day following a recommendation by the

World Health Organization educational experts have come up with 5-a-day tips for the

teachers of English A quick and easy way to help your students learn the language quickly

and more easily

12

12