Study skills tips

Study skills tips

Read the study skills tips to practise and improve your reading skills. You'll learn some great study tips at the same time!

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

Many studies about language learning ask the question: What makes a good language learner? There are some things that good language learners do and some things they don't do. Here are some of the most useful suggestions from studies.

  • Don't be afraid of making mistakes. People often get things wrong. Good language learners notice their mistakes and learn from them.
  • Do group activities. People use language to communicate with other people. A good language learner always looks for opportunities to talk with other students.
  • Make notes during every class. Notes help you to remember new language. Look at your notes when you do your homework.
  • Use a dictionary. Good language learners often use dictionaries to check the meaning of words they don't know. They also make their own vocabulary lists.
  • Think in the language you're learning outside the classroom. When you're shopping or walking down the street, remember useful words and phrases. Sometimes, when you're at home, say new words to practise your pronunciation.
  • Do extra practice. Test and improve your language, reading and listening skills with self-study material. You can find a lot of this online.
  • Imagine yourself speaking in the language. Many good language learners can see and hear themselves speaking in the language. This helps their motivation.
  • Enjoy the process. Good language learners have fun with the language. Watch a TV series or film, listen to songs, play video games or read a book. It's never too late to become a good language learner.

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

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Average: 4.1 (97 votes)
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Submitted by Maksmatt on Sat, 26/10/2019 - 15:21

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When I do my homework I talk to myselv. That helps me with the pronunciation and train the right muscles in my mouth which I need to form the right phonemes and combination between them. I really think that output (also writing) is very important.
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Submitted by drphungmanhtien on Tue, 03/09/2019 - 05:56

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There are good tips for forein language learning. I will try to do that.

Submitted by Rohittttttnair on Tue, 06/08/2019 - 12:35

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Thank you so much for the tips. Can you also suggest me and tell whether I can go with TheScoreBooster's IELTS study plan?

Hello Rohittttttnair

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that site. As with any such site, I'd encourage you to investigate it carefully before subscribing.

What I can recommend is TakeIELTS, where you can find all kinds of information as well as some free practice materials.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by cittàutopica on Thu, 18/07/2019 - 15:51

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The tips given are thorough; but I would like to add a recommendation: it's necessary study continuously, without stop, for the rest of life.

Submitted by ngangan on Mon, 03/06/2019 - 07:58

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I learning English and I want to pronounce better. I can rean, but speak and listen worse. Please help me.
Hello ngangan We are working on some pronunciation materials, but I'm afraid it's going to take us some time to create them. For now, I would recommend our speaking and listening sections in our Skills section (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills). Start with easy pages (in the A1 or A2 sections) and listen to them carefully. Then repeat the phrases you've heard. Repeat them until they are easy for you to say. This will not only help your speaking fluency, but could also expand your vocabulary, because you will learn lots of phrases and sentences that could be useful in your speaking. I'd also recommend checking our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/LearnEnglish.BritishCouncil). From time to time, our social media team posts links to pronunciation resources there. Good luck! All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team
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Submitted by Sandra321 on Mon, 20/05/2019 - 11:14

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Hi :) I started learning English. I understand the text, but I dont know speak or write well. I think, that is good and beneficial to start learning from childhood. I dont need Englist at work, but I would like to understand and communicate in English - at least at B1 level. I am happy and grateful, that there is such a page. :) Have a nice day

Submitted by cuneyt on Sun, 24/03/2019 - 20:48

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Hi everyone, I need to improve my speaking. I search speaking partner too. Because We can say each other our mistakes when We speak something. I guess it is enough for me if we speak ten minutes once a day. I here İf you want. have a good night.
Hey, I guess I can help you with that. I'm an English student and I can speak, write, read English very well, if you need any help with that just send me a message. Have a nice day