For English

"What should I do to be a successful English learner?” “How can I be good at English?” These are the questions that I frequently get from all kinds of people -from university students to eager mothers of toddlers. However, it is a very difficult question. First of all, what do you mean by ‘a successful English learner’ or ‘being good at English’? The answer very much depends on how you define English as a language, and how you set your purpose of studying it. For example, if you define language as a system of parts, structures, and rules, with grammar playing a major role, then I would consider you as a successful English learner. I think most of the students in the University of Seoul would fall into this category of successful English learners. However, if you see language as a means of expressing one’s thoughts and feelings, maintaining relationships, and communicating with other people from different backgrounds, then perhaps you would be considered as a not-so-good English learner. In addition, you must ask yourself, what is your purpose of studying English? If your aim of studying English is to speak fluently with native speakers, and if you are good at speaking even though you are helpless at reading and writing, you are still a successful English learner in a sense. Also, if you are a good English writer, and if that is your primary purpose of using English, then you should be satisfied even though your speaking skills are not as good as your writing skills. Therefore, once again, it is very hard to respond to the question- “How can I be good at English?”

To answer the question at hand, I am going to have to discuss matters in general. Here are some of my suggestions.

First, it is good for you to get input that is around your English proficiency level. Krashen(1985) calls it “comprehensible” input. Language learning is most effective when the input contains some features which are slightly above your current state of proficiency. For example, I often see students listening to the audio tape of ABC News, CNN News and etc., which they do not understand at all. This is not effective. For many people, those scripts are not something that could be easily understood. Listen to something comprehensible to you. Begin from where you stand. If you are on the elementary level in listening, it will be more effective to listen to more simplified materials (and sill authentic). Choose a listening tape that’s not too awfully difficult for you and that you think you will be able to understand if you try enough. And listen to the material repeatedly, and once you have decided that you understood everything you heard on the tape, you can move on to different materials that contain a slightly higher level of English. Also, there is one thing that you might want to consider, other than your English proficiency level, when you choose listening material. Ignore those famous materials that are widely advertised or other people like. Those materials might be useless to you. Choose something that interests you and attracts your attention.

Second, get input from a variety of sources. For example, as listening material, you may think the ‘news’ is good, so you listen to it all the time. Well, this is not bad. However, if you listen to the news only, you will only get familiar with the words used in it. So, it is possible that you understand difficult words in the news, but never understand the casual colloquial expressions people use in real life. Therefore, you need to be exposed to a wide range of speaking styles, for instance, as in English dramas, movies, interviews, talk shows, documentaries, cartoons, and so on.

Third, practice speaking in private and public. For English learners in Korea, speaking seems the most difficult skill to acquire because we seldom have the opportunity to talk with English native speakers. In ESL (English as second language) situations (e.g., in the United States, Britain, Australia, and etc.), English learners have ample opportunities to communicate in English with people around them. However, in EFL (English as foreign language) situations, there is no one speaking English around you. It is a foreign language here! Once you get out of your English classroom, there is no need to use it. This EFL environment makes your speaking improvement awfully difficult. So, what do you do? You have to make opportunities for English speaking by yourselves. Join English conversation clubs, participate in English speaking contests, speak in English when you are on the phone with your close friends. These are the examples of speaking practice in public.

However, what I would like to recommend is to talk in English when you are alone. Most of you are very shy and not confident enough to speak English in public. Talking to yourselves when you are alone could be a solution. When you are alone in your room, in the bathroom, or on the street, speak to yourself! You can create an imaginary situation first. It could be a situation where you introduce yourself in public, or where you call an English native speaker for a job interview. Or you could practice paraphrasing in English what you learned in one of your classes today. Talking to myself in English is the strategy that I most frequently use, and my family members would ask me, “what did you say?”, when I was murmuring in English to myself. And now at times I am not even conscious of the fact that I am talking to myself. This habit has become such a part of me, I don’t even realize I am talking.

The last thing I want to mention is that you should improve your sociolinguistic ability. It means that you should be able to change your speaking style depending on the given situation. For example, you speak differently to your professor than to your younger brother in Korean. This rule of speaking surely applies to English, and you may know this already. For instance, compare “Close the window!” to “Could you please close the window just a little bit?” You just do not know how to say it appropriately in English. What you can do is that when you are watching a movie or a drama, listen carefully how English native speakers interact with each other. Pay attention to the situation. Try to find out the relationship of the interlocutors. Are they close friends? Are they total strangers? How do they speak to each other? Try to find out linguistic features and devices they use under a certain circumstance. In that way, you will be able to improve your sociolinguistic ability.

It takes time and effort to improve your English. But if you keep working harder, it is a sure thing. And the sure thing is sweet.

Moon Young-in
Professor, Dept. of English Language and Literature
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