ESL Blogs

                         For sure, most of us know that any language deals with four skills ,namely listening ,speaking,reading and writing .Two skills dealing with the input : listening and reading while the other two  remaining  skills dealing with the output.Let me clarify! let's take the  baby ,s/he is born with no specific  phonological or linguistic system .That  is to say ,the baby is not born speaking a certain language but s/he acquires it from the surrounding.And if you take ,for instance, a baby born in England and brought s/he up in France what language does the baby speak? French is the answer as it becomes the baby's native language.For more explanation, we are all born with an empty phonological box as children we start  listening to our native language gradually  filling this empty box that is why a child starts by uttering separate words  moving to simple sentences jumping to incorrect complex  sentences reaching to a whole correct complex ones . We not only acquire languages but also the dialects as well.To summarize, listening and hearing  lead to speaking.You may notice that I introduced another  term:hearing.Do not worry ,it is not separated  from listening with a slight  difference.Hearing is receiving sounds with the ear but listening is doing the same but with attention.Clear?So let's follow this natural way in our learning English .let's hear and listen  a lot to English native speakers through media , tapes, videos,songs and whatsoever .If you have a native speaker friend  with whom you can practice your spoken English ,then lucky you!This cuts the long distance short  .( I stress the word native as I do not want you to have a distorted ,exotic,awkward spoken  English.)The point is the more you listen,the better you speak.                                                                                  Reading not only the second input skill but also the main source of knowledge .It is your mean to build up vocabulary in different fields and understand the applying of   grammar rules.Pick up a series of learning books(They are written in a professional way to take  you  bit by bit from one level to the upper next one and most of them have a  glossary at the end containing the new words you have to learn )For example, there are The Ladybird series .stick to one of these series and study them by heart and try to analyze the sentence structure and grasp it .I have a lot to say about reading with its two main ways skimming and scanning  ,however I think this is enough for now.Writing is the out come of reading .You should learn academic writing .One should confess although writing is a talent ,it can be mastered by continuous practice.                                                                                                                                                                                                               Practical tips :                                                                                                               1_ Listen to  English native speakers a lot  through an available media                                    2_Try to concentrate an pick up  new  words                                                                                   3_Read  books, try to understand what you are reading and make up your own personal dictionary                                                                                                                                                     4_Try to speak English with a friend and practice what you learn