IQ is not Always King

Much has been said and written about the strategies in learning another language - in your case, English. Several books already gave the ideal age for learning a language. There are even specialists who teach different learning methods. But, something is often left out. We must not forget that emotional intelligence is also needed.

In studying a language, it's not enough that you learn fast or memorize well. In life, not all people with high IQ succeed. That's because, our IQ level is not the only determining factor. Sometimes, people with high emotional intelligence beat those with high IQ.

That's why you also need to encourage and have faith in yourself. It's alright to have high standards and to keep on improving, but you also need to learn to appreciate your progress and to reward yourself for what you have accomplished. Of course, it's easy to criticize yourself and enumerate your bad points. But will that help you? Remember, we have to believe in ourselves, and not push ourselves down. In fact, if you yourself don't have any confidence in your abilities, then who would?

Many language learners have already stopped because they felt they're not smart enough to master English. Some don't work so hard because they think they are hardly improving. Remember that people don't have the same learning capacity. Others could learn some things faster, while some need to work harder. You should keep this in mind. But, as a consolation, speed is not really the most important thing. Remember the fable about the rabbit and the turtle. In the end, it's the turtle who won the race, right? This only goes to show that you can compensate for your weaknesses in life, as long as you're determined and you don't give up. Even if it could take longer for you to learn a particular lesson, you can still beat fast learners if you study regularly and if you exert more effort.

So, instead of sulking or envying others, why not spend your time wisely, encourage yourself and double your efforts!

Read Up!

So far, I've already given you tips about choosing the right English teacher, improving pronunciation and so on. Now, I'd like to get you to do serious work.

I hope you're still hanging around by now. For most people, this would be one of the most difficult things to do: read. Yes, you heard it right. It's time to work - and work hard at that. But then, the first thing you might need to do is, change your attitude.

When I was younger, I would see people deeply immersed in reading a thick book. I thought to myself: How boring! Why would I read such a thick book when the only things I could see are words. I'd be better off watching a movie and seeing real people, real situations. But, being curious, I thought, I'd want to try reading thick novels like those people. At least, I would be able to see for myself just how boring it could be.

So I did, and I struggled to finish the first 5 pages of the novel. But when I wanted to quit, I told myself if those people can read the whole novel, then at least I should read half. So, I stuck with it. By the 6th page, I was glued. Of course, part of the reason is that the author writes very well, making things more exciting. But aside from that, I discovered the joy of reading and the importance of focusing.

Funny how the thought of trying out something boring actually taught me two important things: 1. reading is important & fun; and 2. focus is necessary in achieving most of your goals in life.

Reading is quite challenging, comparing to just listening to MP3 or watching a movie. When you read, you are forced to be more imaginative and to use your senses more. You have to imagine what the characters in a picture-less book look like. You have to imagine how they speak, how they act and walk. You get to imagine what kind of place they live in, hear them speaking, feel their emotions and touch them. Reading is very intimate. When you watch a movie, you see the characters living their lives and you just watching. But when you read, you can stay with the characters and live where they are. Even if you keep quiet, you are there.

Tell me, does this seem boring? At the end of the day, I became more addicted to reading than those bookworms I criticized at first. I would try to memorize the new words so that I wouldn't have to look them up from the dictionary again and again. Man, I'm too lazy to do that. In effect, I was able to practice my memory without noticing it. I enjoyed living in a different place, different time, different culture, and being deeply immersed. I was having fun.

The bonus: I got even better than my English teacher. I would notice some of her grammatical mistakes and would think to myself how they can be fixed. My classmates started asking me about weird words and calling me 'walking dictionary.' I would go on to join English quiz bees and writing contests. Boy, they must think I'm a nerd and a very boring person. Well, I thought that about other people too. But you know what, they ask the 'nerd' for help.

Is reading hard work? Not if you're enjoying it. So why not make up your mind to enjoy it? So what if they call you the 'nerd.' It's the nerd whom people ask for help.

Listen Up!

As linguists and language teachers keep pointing out, one has to be exposed to the language (i.e. speak or hear it) regularly for him to become fluent. Babies grow up hearing the language that he's later to learn. But for us who are not in English-speaking countries, there has got to be another way.

Most of you might already be listening to English audio files regularly, while commuting to work or while taking your lunch. That's commendable! It's actually the second-best thing to being surrounded by English teachers. So what are you listening to? Maybe you can share with others.

It can be a challenge to maintain your interest when you're listening to the same thing over and over again. Man, I'll get bored then. But you don't have to be. With the millions of podcasts you can choose from, why settle with just a few?

You don't have to spend anything. Just go to www.podbean.com and register for free. Then you can start searching for different podcasts. Now, it may be hard to determine which podcast is good. And I have some recommendations for you.

Try searching for "Joyce Meyer" or "Joel Osteen." I like listening to these two popular speakers as their messages are very inspiring and motivational. It's good to start your day listening to one or two of their speeches. Their messages are full of hope and encouragement that will surely uplift your day. They will also help you excel in the workplace and in whatever you do.

These people have also written and sold millions of books worldwide. I myself have read a few books by Joyce and they open my eyes to a lot of things. Joel Osteen also has a lot of best-sellers. And another person you might want to look up is Myles Munroe.

I like the practical and wise advice they give. It's a wonderful way to get better at English while attaining personal growth. So listen up!

How to Find the Right English Teacher for You

If you're really serious about learning English, it's important to carefully choose the right teacher for you. Studying English is an investment, so it's better to choose your English teacher wisely.

We'll talk about certain things you need to considering when looking for the right teacher. Remember that different students have different needs, so there might not be one perfect teacher for everyone.

Keep in mind though that "you get what you pay for." So while you should not go out looking for the most expensive education, try to achieve a balance and don't aim for the cheapest. Usually, the teachers who offer the cheapest services have little confidence over their ability and would just like to break into the industry. I'm not saying that teachers offering a low rate are not competent enough, but a teacher who's compensated fairly enough is more likely to take care of your needs and keep your goals in mind.

Some teachers specialize in teaching beginners while some are very good in pleasing advanced students. It's always best to try out a teacher's services before deciding once and for all. Some teachers offer free trial lesson, so don't hesitate to sign up, esp. when you're not really required to sign up for his/her lessons after the trial. If there is no trial lesson, ask if the teacher would accept payment for only one lesson, and then see from there whether you'll be better off studying with that teacher in the long run.

First of all, the teacher must be competent enough in the subject matter. If you're just beginning to study English, it might be hard to determine a teacher's competence. In this case, try to ask a friend to help you or ask others what they think about this particular teacher.

Just because a person is a native English speaker doesn't automatically mean he'll be a good English teacher. In fact, some of the native speakers/teachers I've encountered don't know the difference between 'it's' and 'its' or when to use 'loose' or 'lose.' Certainly, a lot of them are qualified to teach, but not all. Remember that a person who's good in a particular subject isn't automatically the best person to teach that subject. For example, not all computer programmers can teach computer programming.

Teaching is a gift, and not all are gifted to teach. Teaching involves imparting one's knowledge the best and easiest way he could. A teacher has to have good communication skills, as well as good people skills. A good teacher can make a very difficult subject seem easy. He/She has an uncanny ability to identify the logic behind something.

A teacher has to be sensitive to the student's needs and should be determined to monitor and ensure his progress. After all, the teacher's main goal should be for you to improve in English. Make sure that you and your teacher know what your goals are.

Look for the English teacher who pays attention to the different areas of learning: grammar, speaking, writing, pronunciation, etc. To be good in a language, one has to work on several areas, not just one. So make sure that you're not neglecting a specific area.

One common mistake that learners of the English language think is that only native English speakers can teach English. Sometimes, non-native speakers of English might be the right teacher for you. Why? Excellence can be achieved by any nationality, given the right talents and opportunities. More often, English teachers whose native language is not English might be more patient with those trying to learn English because they have also experienced learning it at one point in their lives.

Like you, there was a point when they didn't know anything and had to start learning the most basic things. Like you, they didn't grow up with everyone around them speaking in English. They had to work hard and determine which methods and ways are effective for learning English. That is why, they can understand when you find a certain lesson difficult, and when you make mistakes.

But, don't be fooled. Just because the teacher praises your improvement or gives you compliment everytime doesn't mean he/she is the best teacher for you. At the end of the day, what matters is what or how much you learned. It's better to stick to the teacher who gives an honest (although sometimes painful) assessment than to the one who merely does lip service but doesn't deliver.

Learning another language certainly helps a language teacher become better. He/She becomes more familiar with different patterns in languages and their nuances. It's even better if the teacher is familiar with the native language of the student as he/she can compare and or state the differences.

But when you look for an English teacher whose first language is not English, you have to be very careful and to pay attention to the details. As much as possible, choose one who has a neutral or native-like accent. As we often say, it's hard to correct mistakes that you got used to. So try to learn the right way from the start.

It's better to find an English teacher who loves to read as reading is one of the most effective ways to improve grammar. In fact, non-native speakers can beat the native speakers in grammar if the latter hardly read. Aside from that, it'd be easier for bookworms to teach writing. Since they are familiar with different kinds of writing styles and techniques, they're more likely to know how to write well.

These are just some pointers to remember when looking for the right English teacher. There could be many other points to consider. When in doubt, review the basics, or you can ask me a question or two.

Happy hunting!

How to Improve your Pronunciation

Sorry everyone, it's been a while!

One of the obvious ways of mastering English is acquiring proper pronunciation and a neutral accent. By neutral, we mean that there is hardly no trace of a heavy accent (usu. of the speaker's native language).

It's often harder for older people to achieve this because their tongue has been familiar with their native language all along. It's hard to change its ways after so many years of talking in the native language. So, it's always advisable to learn a different language while you're younger. My classmate mentioned about a study in the UP Linguistics department asserting that people can only speak a different language (not their native tongue) like a native speaker when they're exposed to it from childhood until the age 21.

So what does this mean? Does this mean older people, including me (I'm 22) should give up on ever speaking another language like a native speaker? I guess not. As they say, as long as one's alive, there's hope. Haha.. So maybe we couldn't learn a language as fast as younger people can, but we can employ smarter methods.

Of course, we already know that there are many aspects of learning a language, and that we need to do different exercises to improve areas like grammar, writing, speaking, etc. At this point, we'll focus on pronunciation and neutralizing accent. Here are some points to remember:

1. Pay attention to the details. Train your ears and listen carefully at how native English speakers (or those who speak like them) pronounce words. And it doesn't stop there. When you can already distinguish between the right and wrong pronunciation, make sure you make an effort to correct yours.

2. Make sure you're pronouncing the words clearly. While it maybe attractive for some to speak slang or to make short cuts, nothing beats proper enunciation. Most Americans or English speakers tend to eat some words, but you shouldn't always imitate them.

As we often say in writing, you should "know the rules before you break them." In this case, you should learn to pronounce correctly, before you try to speak like native speakers. It's not enough to know the grammar rules and to have a wide vocabulary. As my American business partner used to say, "people respect you if you speak intelligently." And part of speaking intelligently is being clearly understood and enunciating words properly.

3. Learn to imitate. This is very easy. We've been doing this all our lives, imitating our parents, friends, teachers and many other people. How else did babies learn to speak a language? Observe the way English speakers open their mouth and talk. Then, imitate them. You may not get it right the first time, but the good thing is, you can always try again.

4. Read some tips about how to pronounce difficult vowels, letters and words. For sure, it's useful to learn how to utilize your vocal chords and use our mouth and facial parts to speak well. English has been around for a long time, and if you'll make time, you can certainly find guide books on how to pronounce your 'f's, p's, v's, b's, etc. I've given you some tips earlier and for sure you can read other useful tips in comprehensive books.

Maybe I'll give you more next time. But I guess I should say goodbye for now. I'm getting sleepy (it's 1:46 am) and I still have to finish enlisting my subjects tomorrow.