Really Really Want to Learn English?
A checklist of ideas to try out!
Which of the below are you doing, or have you done? Check them off as you try them.
a) General
_____ Use the Study Centre – for discussion, grammar help, chatting in English,
pronunciation, meeting friends, playing board games, reading the newspaper, watching
the news, having lunch, editing written work, listening to cassette recordings of novels,
looking at new contexts for vocabulary under study, everything!
_____ Go out with classmates – You can’t learn to play tennis by reading a book about it and
you can’t learn to effectively communicate in English by studying a grammar text or
TOEFL book. So hang out with your classmates and speak English together.
_____ Participate in campus life – UVic regularly has free dances, lectures, sporting events,
intramural teams, etc.
_____ Join a club - tennis, soccer, international students, social dancing or whatever.
_____ Be active and take risks! Use the language in real-life situations: Talk to someone, rather
than watch television; read the newspaper, rather than studying a grammar book.
_____ Get involved in volunteer work or take a course at your local community recreation
centre.
b) Grammar
_____ Review grammar lessons by doing exercises online.
_____ Correct your grammar errors in your homework assignments and hand them back in.
_____ Identify your weaknesses and do online exercises to improve your grammar.
c) Homework
_____ Work hard on homework assignments – don’t just finish them as quickly as possible.
The more you put into them, the more you get out of them.
_____ Correct your mistakes and then hand the assignments back in.
c) Listening
_____ Having trouble with your language labs? Follow the answer key and listen again.
_____ Use the C.A.L.L. Facility or Study Centre for listening practice.
_____ Find reasons to listen to English speakers – on the bus, in the cafeteria, at the Study
Centre, clerks in stores, your host family, etc.
_____ Tell people if you don’t understand and make sure they understand what you mean, too.
Pronunciation
_____ Identify your pronunciation difficulties; figure out what sounds you have difficulty
with and work on them. You can do this in the Study Centre. Even better, sign up for the
Pronunciation Clinic for personal help.
_____ Practise your pronunciation of vocabulary studied in class with a Study Centre
volunteer.
_____ When watching television, try to mimic the pronunciation or intonation of an actor you
enjoy.
Reading
_____ Read newspapers, magazines, posters and announcements on campus bulletin boards,
advertisements on the bus, novels from the study centre, etc.
_____ Borrow a novel from the Study Centre – but remember the 98% rule, so that you can read
fluently. Don't know what the 98% rule is? Click on the link for Extensive Reading on the
Reading Page of our class website.
_____ Read longer SRA readings at the Study Centre (SRA is the timed reading program with
different colours and different levels which we work on in class).
Speaking
_____ Speak out in class – ask questions, don’t be afraid to give your opinion, justify your
opinions, argue, discuss, chat, gossip. If you can’t say exactly what you mean, say what
you can.
_____ Talk to your host family, people on the bus, your classmates, clerks in stores, volunteers
in the Study Centre, etc.
Vocabulary
_____ When making notes of new vocabulary, explain words in English, draw a picture, put
words in a sentence in context, write a translation in your own language.
_____ Read in English as often as you can. Learn to read for pleasure.
_____ Work on your vocabulary using Internet websites, such as “Vocabulary Exercises for the
Academic Word List.” (See the Useful Links page on the class website).
Writing
_____ Keep a regular writing journal to get used to expressing yourself in English.
_____ Correct the errors you make in writing in your homework and hand it back in.