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Raquel
What is the best way to study English?
The best way to study English is by 3 ways:
reading, listening and practice more. Reading newspapers,
magazines and books widen your vocabulary. Circle the unfamiliar
words you will encounter; then try to look for the meaning when
you're done reading and use it by your own. Read this over and
over until you familiarize the word.
Listening is important too when you want to
learn English. When someone is speaking, listen carefully and try
to remember what he/she says. Every person has a different level
of IQ and you might learn something from that
person. Practice makes perfect. Join a discussion, and don't be
afraid to commit a
mistakes. Besides, there's no harm in trying.
How do you prepare for the TOEFL test?
Study your English. Research. Practice.
How do you overcome culture shock?
I suggest that before you go to another place,
do a research for that specific place. That way you will have the
knowledge about that place and
you could prepare.
Catherine Rau, Taiwan
How do you overcome culture shock?
I have visited many countries such as
United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, United States and most of
Asian countries. Therefore, I am not afraid of any kind of
culture shock because when I prepare to visit foreign countries, I
usually do some
homework for those countries. The fact is that I always
collect some information carefully through internet about what
country I would like to go and try to understand its local customs
and practices first. Second, I will ask some of my friends
who have been to the country that I would go and request them to
share their experiences or opinions. Their precious
experiences are not only the efficient and easy ways which can
help me to know the country deeply, but they also tell me what
kind of things I should pay attention to or watch out
for. In addition, when I see the culture shock really
happening in front of me, I always clam up, cool down my mind and
don’t think too much because it is the culture of the
country! If you can take my example for your references, it
will let you keep a easy and cheerful mood to visit foreign
countries!!!
What is the best way to study English?
There is no short cut to learn English.
It means that English learners need to take advantage of every
opportunity to practice. An old English
proverb says “Do in Rome as the Romans do.” Therefore,
the most
effective way for me to study English is to keep an easy mind by
using my
ears to listen, using my mouth to speak, and using my eyes to
observe!!
Mayu Dotan, Japan
What is the best way to study English?
I'm sending this mail to tell you about my
reading. I read four pages the day before yesterday and two pages
yesterday. And I will do that tonight,too! I understand why you
recommended for us to read books. It's helps our English a lot! I
found a good sentence. "Even Bill Gates, who dropped out of
Harvard, founded Microsoft; he is now the richest man in America,
and he's still in his 30s."
This sentence teaches me how to use who and
semicolon. I think reading helps my grammer! So I would like to
keep reading books!
I'm living in a dorm now. And I was going to
live in an apartment with my Japanese
friends after this quarter. But I changed my mind. Of course, it's
easy for me to live with Japanese. However, I use a lot of
Japanese in ACLP now. So, I
don't need to speak Japanese any more. I have to speak English
after school! I have some American friends in this university.
They are very nice. I hope I can make more friends next month!!
Keizo Ogawa , Japan
How do you prepare for the
TOEFL test? Keizo
Listening
- I always listened to conversation tape of
TOEFL rather than listen to music whenever I went to the
class. (Sometimes someone asked me that " what kind of
music are you listening to?" But, you know, I could not
say, " I am listening to conversation." So, I said
that " I am listening to Maria Carey or something" )
- I always wrote down good idioms that teacher
said in class. This helped me answer the questions on the
listening part because conversation in listening part usually
comes from lecture (computer based). I did not use idiom book
published by ETS or something.
- I took three university classes last quarter.
And I listened to what the teacher said carefully. This helped
me answer the questions in long conversation part.
Grammar
- I concentrated on this section because this
part may drive my score up. And this helped me write the paper
in the class.
- Grammar is important to write the paper. If you
know English grammar well, you can drive your score in section
two up because section two depends on TWE. I had bad experience.
When I took TOEFL, my score in section two was from 20 to 28. If
I got 21 which is the second worst one, I could pass TOEFL.
Unfortunately, my score was 20 in section 2, the worst one
because of TWE (3.0).
- This section has a definite pattern. So, I
remembered that kind of pattern. Since I spent much time on this
part, finally I found that it has the same pattern. Grammar is
almost same. The difference is merely in terms of the sentence.
So to speak, they, ETS, only change vocabulary. ( I think so, I
can not say that )
Reading
I just memorized many vocabularies. And I read
text over 1000 pages last quarter. Since then, it is not difficult
to read English text. Indeed, I used to be afraid.
Diago Hada, Japan
1. What is the best way to study English?
The best way to study English is THINKING, READING, WRITING
everything in English. If you can not understand ENGLISH, you
can talk to friends in the new country who are native
speakers.
2. How do you prepare for the TOEFL test?
Read any sentence. Many people say READ MANY BOOKS, but I do not
think so. Because I do not like READING, so I studied many long
sentences.
3. How do you overcome culture shock?
I am an Asian, so sometimes I can not understand what
Americans do. But I am a Foreigner in this country, so I
think, a Foreigner MUST understand AMERICAN CULTURE, but it
is so hard for many foreigners. For example, WHEN IN ROME DO AS
THE ROMANS DO =).
Bundit Suewirotjanakun, Thailand
What is the best way to study English?
Practice your English as much as you can. For example, try to
speak English every day. Speak it slowly and clearly until you get
familiar with it.
How do you prepare for the TOEFL test?
I prefer to prepare for it by myself. I read TOEFL test
preparations every day.
How do you overcome culture shock?
Keep busy and make friends.
Aya Fujimura, Japan
What is the best way to study English?
My best way to learn English is thinking everything in English.
At the same time, I always look for suitable words and sentences
for the situation. I think this is the best way to be familiar
with English.
How do you overcome culture shock?
Keep busy. Don't think about particular things too much.
Because when we are in culture shock, we always become sensitive
for everything in the new environment. As the result of that, we
will mind and be worried about small things a lot. That's the
hardest part of culture shock.
Showyi Chou, Taiwan
How do you best learn English?
Speaking English whenever possible is one effective way to
learn English. I always speak English with people no matter what
their nationalities are. To tell the truth, I had a difficult time
to do so because of the reaction of some Chinese. I seemed bizarre
to them that I didn't use my own mother tongue with them.
A couple of months ago, I looked for furniture inasmuch as my
landlord didn't provide it in my room. I saw the poster revealing
the number of furniture that someone was trying to sell. The host
I met, from Taiwan too, would graduate from the MBA program
shortly. All I could describe her English was horribly terrible. I
was shocked she would graduate despite her poor English speaking
skills. Afterwards, besides my study, I hold my determination even
steadier on speaking English to whomever I talk. My English is
still limited currently; however, I believe that the more I speak,
the more fluent my English will be. After that encounter I told
myself I didn't want to become a person like her.
How do you best prepare for TOEFL?
I still struggle on the TOEFL test. In fact, I was tired of
preparing it after months of study. I always thought I was smart
when in my country. Nowadays, I am not so sure since I have
commenced to learn a second language. I felt deeply desperate most
of all and even abandoned myself to despair. And then, I read
Michael’s e-mail messages that he sent to us. That encouraged me
a great deal. If I give it up, the time I have spent on the past
seems nothing and empty. I will keep my head up and keep trying
until I reach the score I wish. That is a long way for everyone,
but I won't be the one who gives up in the middle of the way. I
will finish my studies and achieve my desired score.
How do you overcome culture shock?
I understood every country held his own distinctive culture.
Although I intended to sense everything here normally, I was still
shocked by some in this strange land. In my opinion, to make some
good friends and talk to them when encountering something that
hard to be accepted is somewhat capable of relieving the stress.
Indeed, I discovered that lessened the burden I bore in emotion
after talking to a friend.
I'd certainly like to express my gratitude to Michael who
taught us with the myriads of patience and enthusiasm. I realize
the best way to express my appreciation is to pass the TOEFL test.
And believe me that I will. I did enjoy being his student this
quarter. He is one of my favorite instructors in my whole school
time after all. Michael, thank you!
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Ajana Ouersoontornwatana, Thailand
What is the best way to study English?
The best way to learn English is to be curious to learn every
thing about English. Practice English skills every day little by
little and live in the country that speaks English as the official
language.
How do you prepare for the TOEFL test?
To prepare for the TOEFL, it is important that you practice
TOEFL every day.
How do you overcome culture shock?
Overcoming culture shock is hard. However, there are some
things that you can do. Try to adapt your characteristics to the
new culture and learn the different ways to communicate between
two cultures. Moreover, try not to be prejudiced when
communicating in the new culture.
Toshinori Kawai, Japan
What is the best way to study English?
The best way to learn English is to make friends with kids.
How do you prepare for the TOEFL test?
To prepare for the TOEFL, it is important to increase your
vocabulary.
How do you overcome culture shock?
Overcoming culture shock is hard. However, there is a thing
that you can do. It is to recognize the differences and to
understand they are not bad.
Xiao Dong Gu, P.R. of China
How do you best learn English?
In my opinion, the best way to learn English is to speak
English every time and to study a little bit each day: grammar,
vocabulary, and reading (i.e. novels). It is better to write down
the main idea about the novel that you read. It will be helpful in
your writing.
What is the best way to prepare for the TOEFL test?
To prepare for the TOEFL, it is important that do not study too
hard the day before the test. However, you could study the chart
outlines and TOEFL test taking strategies on the TOEFL books
before the test. Remember: you cannot learn TOEFL in one day.
How do you overcome culture shock?
Overcoming culture shock is really difficult, and it is hard to
answer also. However, there are some things that you can do. The
first is that you can try to talk with some Americans and ask them
about American culture. The second is living with an American
family. They will help you and you might learn some American
culture. But I think feeling shock about culture depends on the
person. The third thing is about being flexible. Do not think too
much about the new culture. Just relax and have fun with your
friends in whatever you would like to do.
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Cristina, Italy
What is the best way to study English?
I think the best way to study English is to do what you like to do in
your own language, but in English (watch tv, listening to music...) One
thing that helped me very much was write down song lyrics and learn them
by heart: it is a constant source of grammar example (be careful not to
learn by heart slang songs!)
How do you overcome culture?
The best way to overcome culture shock is to think that an experience
abroad really gives something more to your life, you learn about other
cultures... You
must look for what you like in the other culture and enjoy it, then you
will get to like evrything about it!
I am a university student, I'm 21, Italian and I study foreign
languages. I built up a site about travel tips and email exchange, the
url is www.geocities.com/tipsandfriends
here's an example of doing what I like in English! Please take a look at
the site and maybe send your own tip.
Thanks
Cookie 2000/8/6, Taiwan
1. How do I best learn English?
Making native English speakers as friends is a good way. Most
international students will accompany with their fellows who are the
same language speakers. It is hard to practice English anytime if they
do this. It may be difficult to make the first step. Try to make native
English speakers treat you like a friend not an international student. I
think it will help you a lot.
2. How do you overcome culture shock?
Try to figure out the most important things in Americans' mind; for
example, politeness, honesty, and hard work. Understand the reason why
they are so important and not to disobey.
3. How do you prepare for TOEFL?
Concentrate on the TOEFL guide and practice as much as possible. It is
impossible to pass the test if you relax yourself too much.
Hwa Saup Lee, South Korea
What is the best way to study English?
The purpose of studying English is to understand English language
more quickly and more correctly. For international students especially
whose mother tongue has a different word order than English, it is
difficult to understand the order of written or spoken English. The most
common mistake for these students is a translation from the end of each
sentence. This way can reduce the misunderstanding of English sentences,
but it requires more time, because to understand a sentence, one must
wait until the end of a sentence. And this way makes easily misleading
which point is emphasized in the sentence.
I think the first step in studying English is translation into one's
mother tongue. Many people say that thinking in English is very
important and useful to improve English skills. I also agree this
opinion, but there must be another step before thinking in English. How
can insist to non-native English speaker on thinking in English from the
first step? When one reads a book or watches TV in English, he/she tries
to understand its meaning. The first step in understanding is a
translation. I think translation can be applied to hearing.
During the hearing progress, nonnative speaker translates each
meaning to understand. The more quickly one can translate, the more
meaning one can get. But the translation must be made by in order not by
reverse order. It is hard for non-native speakers to translate English
sentences from the first of sentence in order. But it is a very useful
training to improve one's English skills.
Without this training, studying English requires more time. I think
the most effective translation training is translation not just in head
but with speaking, but without reading in English. When one reads
sentences in English, it is useful for pronunciation but it is not good
for translation training. When one translates with speaking in mother
tongue, one should translate every part of each sentence, even if it is
a preposition or an article. So this training makes a student look into
each sentence more carefully.
This means it can be a useful grammar study. By this training, one
can reduce the time to translate. At some day, one might feel that
he/she understands English sentences in English without translation.
He/she naturally translates from translating to thinking in English.
After this step, thinking in English can be possible. I think English is
a language, so grammar, reading, hearing, and writing must be understood
as one thing. The person who can quickly read is able to hear correctly
and able to write correctly and quickly. The training for grammar,
reading, hearing, and writing can not be divided. I saw many students
who study grammar very hard without reading training. I think they lose
their point. Why do they study English? I am sure how clearly and how
quickly understand English sentences, whatever they are written or
spoken ones, is determined by the quantity of reading. How much one
reads carefully determines one's English ability. So the first step that
non-native speaker should take is careful and correct translation into
one's mother tongue.
Pepe Malik, Indonesia
How do you best learn English?
I say through the American Culture and Language Program at Cal State,
San Bernardino. I mean students can learn English best through the best
English education institution that provides the best program. In this
institution, students can learn English in a structured way of learning.
How do you best prepare for TOEFL?
For me, it is practice, practice, and practice. However, students
must familiarize themselves to TOEFL test by doing any TOEFL test
preparation exercises. Then, students can improve their English by
reading, writing, listening, and talking to others. Reading newspaper is
one way to improve their English because it provides students with a lot
of new vocabularies and many different sentence structures. This may
improve their grammar and writing sections. Another way is to listen to
television or radio that provides good English speaking programs. This
should improve their listening section. Finally, the best way to improve
conversational skills is to speak to native speakers.
How do you overcome culture shock?
I would recommend living with a host family. Living with a host
family provides a supportive environment to overcome culture shock. For
example, the host family might introduce American family values.
Qin Zhang,
China
How do you best learn English?
About how to learn English, in my opinion, the best way is to
practise, practise, and practise. Don't hesitate to talk with a
native English speaker ( actually I haven't done very well in this
aspect.) Watch movies and TV programs in English, and try to speak
word by word after the speakers, and pay attention to their tones.
Vocabulary is important. Unfortunately, I think I need some
progress in this section. I think satisfying vocabulary comes from hard
study. And I also hope someone may
have efficient ways about gaining vocabulary.
How do you overcome culture shock?
Actually, I haven't experienced many culture shocks since I came to
America. It is true that I had to deal with a lot of things that I had
never dealt with when I was in China. Things are completely different.
But I think I can manage to get them done since I have already prepared
for them. I read a lot of books and articles about America when I
was in China, I watched quite a number of American movies when I was in
China -- for many years. You know, American culture is spreading all
over the world today. It is not difficult to find some materials
about it. I came here after I thought I was quite familiar with
this country. And what I have already known helped me get used to this
country's culture without too much difficulty.
Esti Pratiwi, Indonesia
How do you best learn English?
To learn English (a language, in general), basically, we have to
study and practice all areas of the language itself: speaking,
listening, reading and writing, and grammar. Which area we have to
stress/study more depends on which one makes the most sense to us. When
we can feel the language sense, automatically we can start thinking in
English.
This is my experience. At the first quarter I learned English in ACLP,
I studied English based on “TOEFL requirements”: listening, grammar,
and how to answer the reading questions. I just studied English to
create strategies on how to answer the TOEFL’s questions. As a result,
although I got 550 TOEFL, I still had a big problems with speaking. I
still had to translate the words most of the time.
On the second quarter, I didn’t as many burdens on my mind because
I had already passed the TOEFL. I just concentrated on how I could
improve my English. At the same time, I took mgt 306 (Mrs. Eller’s
class). To be honest, her lectures changed my language sense. Through
her writing assignments, I was pushed to express my ideas in English and
to think in English. Another thing that generated my language sense when
Michael taught me how to read the sentences. Michael taught me how to
break sentences into thought groups consisting of six stressed syllables
or less. He also showed me the intonation and sentence rhythms patterns
in English. In the form of reading aloud every day, I practiced those
ideas. I grabbed a book (I used a Bible) and I read it at least one
chapter a day. Unconsciously, a pattern developed in my mind that now
enables me to speak more naturally.
How do you best study for TOEFL?
Listen to the radio at least 1 hour a day. Read a book or an article
(without taking break) at least 1 and half hour a day. Make a summary of
what you read in a piece of paper and try to use a variation of
transition words and effective sentences. I use A Writer’s Reference
by Diana Hacker as guide. To recap, a good student is one who seeks
knowledge through a learning process instead of a grade to be achieved.