At English Steward, we have classes for both American kids who need to improve their reading and writing skills and for kids from other countries who have come to visit or live here, and need to learn more English to thrive in school. But we also have adult students who need to learn English to live and be successful here.
The biggest worry I hear from adult students is that they are not learning English quickly enough. My response? Learning English takes time. That is obvious. For adults it takes much longer than for children. I've taught a wide age range of students and found that young children can remember the pronunciation, meaning, and spelling of a word after just seeing the word once or twice. Late Elementary and Jr. High students take four or five times. And High School students can remember more than adults, but definitely must work harder to learn than young Elementary students. So, what does this mean for adults who are learning English? They must remember a few things:
Don't give up in learning English. Even if you just study one new English word or phrase a day, over a year you will learn so many new things. Keep trying! :)
0 Comments
In our advanced Business English ESL class, we have been reading Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. In chapter 5, he uses the phrase, "...we're getting ahead of ourselves." For those who are ESL students, what does this idiom mean?
Usually, when someone wants to explain something that has more than one point, they have to explain it in steps. Sometimes, they get to the end before explaining the earlier points well enough. So, they say, "I'm getting ahead of myself."
On Freedictionary.com they explain it like this: get ahead of oneself Fig. [for someone] to do or say something sooner than it ought to be done so that the proper explanation or preparations have not been made. I have to stick to my notes or I will get ahead of myself in my lecture. When he bought a new little bicycle before the baby was born, he was getting ahead of himself. I hope this short explanation helps you to understand this phrase better. :) |
About Growing Your EnglishEnglish Steward strives to help students to better their abilities in English writing, reading and speaking. Archives
March 2018
Categories
All
|