Part 3
Listen over and over. Listen many times to the same things. Listen often during the day. Make sure you always have your MP3 player or CD player with you. You can start with this very article, if you are interested in it.
Listen to get used to the sounds. Imitate the sounds. Imitate the words and the intonation. This will help your pronunciation. Then listen for the meaning. If you do not understand it all, read it. If you read on a computer you can access instant on line dictionaries which is much faster than referring to traditional dictionaries. Use The Linguist system to save new words and phrases for later review and to connect new words to familiar contexts. If you are a member of The Linguist you can even ask your tutor for explanations and help.
Now listen again and read again. Stay relaxed and do not worry if there are always parts that you seem unable to understand. When you listen and read you are training your brain to get used to English. Just keep doing it. This is essentially how I learned nine languages, including my most recent ones, Cantonese and Korean.
Both listening and reading are important learning activities. When they are combined they are even more powerful. Repetitive listening and reading and a system like The Linguist will free you from your dependence on "learner English" and text books. Fascinating authentic content that you thought was too difficult, on subjects from business to history to literature, will become available for you to learn from.
Learn English from the language around you. Modern technology has made authentic English language content a more effective learning resource than ever. These are revolutionary times. This is a great time to be a language learner with your MP3 player, CD player, computer and a system like LingQ. With modern technology I became a more efficient language learner on my own in my fifties than when I was a teenager at school.
You may say that you do not have the time. But you have to find the time if you really want to improve. If you want to be more efficient in your English business correspondence, or if you want to understand what people are saying and participate more effectively in conferences, or if you want to make English presentations, or if you want to be able to read faster you need input. It does not matter what your goal is. If you want to improve you have to put in the time. If your English learning is mostly an enjoyable adventure, listening to interesting content in the car, on the bus, or while doing household chores, then you will be able to find the time.
