Make a behavioral change to improve English
A lot of people tell me they want to improve their English. I ask them how they are going to do it. They tell me something like, “spend more time studying”. Their intentions are good but they are likely to fail. Their plan is not specific enough. They don’t have a plan for how they will study and when they will study. You need to know exactly what you will do and when you will do if you want to be successful.
Let’s look at this plan: “I’m going to read for 1 hour every night”. Is that a good plan? It’s better than the first one but still not good enough. You need to know what you are going to read and when exactly you will read it. If you say you will read at 8:00-9:00 every night then if it is 8:05, you know that you should be reading. If you just say you will read for an hour every night, what is likely to happen is you will keep delaying the reading until you are too tired, and then go to bed thinking that you will just start tomorrow.
Here is an an example of a good plan: “I will listen to one English podcast everyday starting at 8:00 pm. I will then go on the China232.com forum and ask any questions I have about the podcast, and if I have no questions, I’ll practice writing by answering one of the other questions, or writing my opinion on one of the topics”.
Now you have a good plan that you can put into action. Use this plan or make another one equally specific for your English study. Make sure you write down exactly what you will do and when you will do it. Try it for 30 days. See if you can do it everyday for 30 days. Once it becomes a habit it will be easier to maintain.
Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Andy
Learning and Improving English Phrases and idioms Self Improvement
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:13 am
sounds like a terrific idea. thanks Andy!
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
yes! i am the people :”learn 1 hours everyday” but no specific time, you are right , make sure to start to learn at a specific time is better, or else, something will go like”oh yeah , do this tomorrow~~~~” .
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Thanks Andy, I going to start the plan and make a commintment with myself to improve my vocabulary and all my English as 2 language. Today I just say “do it”.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:23 am
i have to say, the continuous driving force to learn english should be preparing for some tests, or need of using it everyday, or huge enthusiasm.
otherwise there are always so many other things around which we must handle as well.
but what you suggested here is indeed a wonderful idea, practical and efficient plans ought to be like this one.
June 4th, 2008 at 3:56 am
Thanks guys. its just a great idea… thanks…….
June 5th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Hello everyone!
I am learning English a few months and my teacher said about this site.
It is amazing!
I hope to improve my English.
If someone want to speak with me I would like it.
Thanks and best wishes.
Jorge - Brazil - Sao Paulo
June 6th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Thanks Andy. Ya, the problem which you mentioned, is my big problem exactly. I am that sort of girl who would like to make many plans but never do after that. I note that’ why my English is still keeping the orginal step. I must to do the action from now. Thank you guys.
June 7th, 2008 at 1:01 am
It sounds realistic.But here’s a question,what am I gonna do to improve the oral part efficiently.
June 7th, 2008 at 2:08 am
You used to post something about this smiliar subject.
Every day, 20 min.
It is not hard as long as it became my habit.
June 8th, 2008 at 1:48 am
yeah exactly. Specific plans kill procrastination!! I got really bad words spelling recently…
Btw my favorite part on this site is “Video”.
June 10th, 2008 at 1:13 am
I’ve listened to many podcasts produced by you guys. They’re really great! This is a good suggestion for learning English! But always working overtime makes it hard for me to carry out the “plan” and I’m trying to find a way out to enhace my English!
June 18th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Hi, Andrew and Andy,
You guys are doing great job there to help people improving their English. I am a Chinese who immigrated to Canada several years. I found your Podcasts really help me becoming familiar with some words that Canadians always talk in common life but I could not catch the really meaning. Keep on the good job!
Just a small recommendation: I think the voice of breaking something at the beginning of each lesson is a little bit noisy. Would you guys mind to change it into a short sweet music or… Of course, this is my personal opinion.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Thanks for your advice. I always set my plan generally like you say “1 hour for reading, 1 hour for studying Enlish,…”. As the result, my English skills doesn’t still improve a lot. I will change my behavior to suit my request that I set for myself. Thank you once again.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Andy,
I like your English lessons very much but this idea is entirely shitty idea (pardon my French). Have you ever tried to do something espessially study any foreign language every day by schedule for a month? I promise, you’ll hate this language and you’ll hate your life. Learning foreign language should be interesting, funny, emotinal process for the student. This process should touch your feelings and then it will be very effective.
That’s why I really like to listen your lessons by the way.
Thanks for your work!
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:09 am
hi,
well, it is not that i am not agree with andy, but it must be a little different i think. In my opinion, to learn a foreign language, we should spend time. And if this prosess is boring, then it is certain that we are going to fail. Doing something for everyday is a little bit tough. it should be somehow interesting as Alexander said.
I have learned a foreing language before and i am learning english as a second language. For this reason i know how hard i had to work to learn a foreign language. Since the podcasts are hilarious, and it is the almost best way to learn different vocabulary and phrases (i have got to admit, i have ever seen better way than this), we are lucky.
But the little problem is, this is not just about hearing and writing. it is about speaking either. maybe this guys find smthg for this problem as well.
take care you all. and thnks a lot for your effort.
bye
August 17th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Hello, I think the behavioral change might be merely temporary if you are forcing it. If you constrain yourself learning English although you don’t enjoy it at all you won’t likely learn that much.
But - I don’t want to generalize. People are different.
The succes of the mentioned method also depends on your daily routine. For instance if there is a lot of time you are procrastinating you could create inducements that get you back on the learning path, like setting china232.com as the first website when you are opening your browser. That method probably keep you away from random surfing and consequently wasting time.
Ca