Learning English by Listening

Having taught English for a good number of years, I have often reflected on how to help my students learn the language in the quickest way possible. I must say that there's no shortcut to learning English, or any other language for that matter. Much has been written about how one can learn a language through listening, so what I'm about to share here is nothing new. 

Listening. This skill is often overlooked in the school system. Today,students are fortunate in that they have easy access to a wealth of free listening resources on the Internet. A quick search on Youtube using the keywords English listening exercises reveals 140,000 results. Pick the ones that you like which might not be too difficult for you to understand. Listen to each video several times: Understand what is being said, and after having understood it, learn to speak like the person in the video. I'm not saying you should mimic the person's accent because you may end up speaking as though you're parroting the speaker. If the video is good, you'll somehow know it, learn to adopt the speaker's fluency, pacing, and pronunciation. You might also want to pay attention to the speaker's body language, for example, eye contact and hand gestures for emphasis. Do this over several videos. Not only will you learn the language but you'll also become a good public speaker. 

What are you waiting for? Go to Youtube now!

Exercise Your Grammar Muscles 2

Whether you're taking your PMR English or SPM English 1119, you can exercise your grammar muscles doing this and other grammar exercises that'll be coming your way. In this exercise, let's take a look at the use of verb + adjective pattern. Here's an example: He appeared worried when the supervisor asked him for the missing file. Alright, it's your turn. Complete the following sentences with a suitable adjective (one word). I hope you know what an adjective is. In the example above, worried is an adjective as it describes the person. Go to www.pmrenglish.com and www.spmenglish1119.com for additional resources.

1. She looked .......... (not happy)when I told her about her friend who was arrested by the police.
2. Do you feel ............(sure of your ability) about tomorrow's mathematics test?
3. You may become ...........(not well) if you eat the uncooked food.
4. Dahlia seems quite ..........(not happy or satisfied) with the outcome of the interview.
5. My brother's face turned .......... (lacking in colour) when he saw the bully.
6. At the end of the jungle trekking, we felt so .......... (in need of rest or sleep).
7. She seemed ...........(facial expression in the face of something unexpected) when I told her about
    her best friend's wedding.
8. The children remained ..........(not speaking) when their mother asked them about the broken vase.
9. The situation became increasingly ..........(muscles stiffen because you are frightened) when
     the police surrounded the protesters.
10. The little boy felt ..........(not hot or warm) as he was standing in the rain without an umbrella.