3 Time Management Tips for When You Learn English Abroad
The motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said, “motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” What did he mean by this?
You will be motivated to learn English if you plan to visit or live in an English-speaking country. This kind of motivation gets lots of people started. But how will you keep going?
Even when you want to do something, you still need energy and willpower to do it. One of the keys to becoming fluent in a language is practice, and you will get more practice if you have good habits. You can develop positive language learning habits through time management skills. Here are a few tips to get you started,and keep you going!
1. Dedicate Time to Language Learning Every Day
Life is busy! It can be difficult to find time to work on your language skills. A full-time program at an English school and good time management will help. When you take a class, it is a guarantee that you will dedicate a significant amount of time to learning English.However, many people also set up a schedule for learning outside of the classroom as well.
Choose a comfortable place at school or at home where you can study each day
For example, if you attend class in the evening five days a week, you could decide to dedicate time to studying for 25 minutes every morning after you have a coffee. When you set a regular time to work on English, studying can become a habit, like eating breakfast.If you stick to the schedule, you will you notice your skills improve.
2. Pick Exercises that Build on Your ESL Program Work
If you register for an ESL program, you will have the opportunity to work on listening, speaking, reading and writing in a variety of ways with experienced teachers. These classes will give you an idea of what you might want to work on outside of class.
For example, if you study for 25 minutes each morning, you could set the following tasks:
- Monday: vocabulary review with flashcards
- Tuesday: listen to an English podcast, write down a few new words and look them up
- Wednesday: read the newspaper and write a one sentence summary of one article
- Thursday: more vocabulary review with flashcards
- Friday: watch an English TV show
After you pick a time and the tasks you want to do, doing them will be easier. It takes energy to make a decision about how to spend your time.When you have good habits, it means you have already planned to make your life easier.
3. Reward Yourself and Adjust Your Goals
At the end of the week, take a look at what you have accomplished and give yourself a reward. It is important to recognize improvement and celebrate it. It is also possible that you will find that 25 minutes felt like too much practice every day, or not enough. Don’t be afraid to adjust and try out a new schedule.
Find out how classmates manage their time and learn from each other
You may also want to change the time of day you study or the type of tasks that you do. When you take classes to improve your English, your classmates and teacher will have more ideas about fun and useful activities to help you outside of the classroom. The main idea is to make sure that you practice regularly and be proud of your achievements as you progress.
Do you want to learn English abroad?
The American Learning Institute has classes for you!
Read More