This lesson offers helpful tips on studying English on your own. You will learn how to: analyze your learning style to determine how you learn best, vary your English study strategies so you won't become bored, and organize your efforts to identify achievable short-term English language goals. The questions at the end of the lesson are designed to guide you as you formulate your plans to learn English through self-study.

ANALYZE

Find out what kind of learner you are. You can learn more effectively if you understand your strengths and use them to help you. Think about what has helped you in the past. Answer these questions to get an idea of how you learn best.

• Do you need to “see” it on paper to understand?
• Do you need to “hear” it to understand?
• Do you learn better when you are having fun?
• Do you remember more when you are moving around?
• Do you need to memorize rules?
• Do you learn by talking to people?

VARY YOUR STRATEGIES

Change your study habits once in a while so you don't get bored. Try new strategies. What worked for you 10 years ago might not work for you now.

• Keep a record of how many people you talked to in one day. Try to break that record.

• Start a blog or personal journal.

• Create your own YouTube instructional videos about something you know a lot about.

• Write comments on news articles.

• Listen to podcasts on a subject you know nothing about.

• Buy a grammar book and review the rules of English grammar.

• Subscribe to a magazine and read the articles every month.

• Join a book club and attend meetings.

• Volunteer at a community event.

• Go to a lecture or talk at a university.

• Join a tour group in the city and learn about your local area.

• Meet a conversation partner at a cafe to simply talk.

• Take an English class at a local school.

• Join a Meetup group and attend events.

• Volunteer to give a presentation at work.

ORGANIZE

Set achievable, short-term goals. (For example: My goal is to finish a book this month; to learn 10 vocabulary words; to be able to tell a story; to be able to ask questions in meetings.)

• Create a study notebook with material that you have studied. Review it every month or two.

• Study in short intervals. (10, 20, or 30 minutes a day)

• Tell someone about your study plan, and talk about it frequently.

• Plan out when, where and how you will study.

QUESTIONS

Answer these questions to help yourself get started on a self-learning program:

• What is your first goal? [Example: I will be able to... by (deadline).]
• When will you study?
• How will you study?
• Who will you study with?
• How will you measure improvement?

Your biggest obstacle is fear. Don’t let it stop you. Good luck!

More Practice
Once you have studied this lesson, you may also want try these pages with related content:
Fluent English

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