Friday, June 8, 2018

Are you memorizing more incorrect English sentences???

For most people trying to learn English, tests are a fact of life. TOEIC, IELTS, TOEFL, CELPIP, CAE...the list is long. Unfortunately, studying to do well on a test will probably not help you to improve your English communication skills and I am going to show you why!

Try to remember how you studied for an English test in your school. Did your teacher show you lots of incorrect sentences and ask you to change the sentence to make it correct? Did you have to look at jumbled words and try to make a sentence? How much time have you spent staring at incorrect English?

Yes.
Yes.
Way too much!

Think about the following grammar exercise.

Make a correct sentence using the following words:

fox dog over the jumped the
________________________

For most students, this is an activity they have done many times. Think about how you remember something. Usually, if it is written we read it over and over until the sentence stays in our mind. This is exactly what you do in the above grammar exercise, but the sentence you are reading over and over is not "The dog jumped over the fox." Most students read "fox dog over the jumped the" many times and only read the correct sentence one time.

Another common exercise for English learners is to try to find the mistakes in an incorrect sentence. For example:

Look for the mistake in this sentence and write the correct sentence below.
"I am go to shopping."

______________________

If you want to know why you still make basic grammar mistakes when you speak, it is probably because you have memorized more errors than corrections. You will read "I am go to shopping" many times to try to find the mistake. Your brain will remember anything that is repeated often.

So what should you do? Are you in a school where you are memorizing bad English sentences for a test? Do you have to study to prepare for a level test so you can memorize even longer incorrect sentences? Let me tell you how to improve, even if you are not a student at Real English Victoria.

Stop doing homework. Yes. STOP DOING HOMEWORK.

Wait until the teacher gives you the correct sentences in class. If the teacher asks you why you did not do your homework, tell them that you did not have time because you were spending time speaking English with friends or your homestay family. You came to Victoria to practice English with people in Victoria. So spend your valuable time after school talking with sales clerks, people at the bus stop, or friends you have made.

Don't waste time memorizing more incorrect English sentences.


www.realenglishvictoria.com

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