written by Lilian Ndongmo. ESL Teacher

When it comes to learning a language, we all have those things we do to help us along the way. Some people read, others just listen, while some prefer to chant words under a tree in the very early hours of the morning. If you are one of those people, you might be asking yourself: “Do I really need to read this?” Yes, you do. Here’s why. Because I’ve spent 10 years of my life in this business. Because during this time, I’ve been a teacher to kids, teens, college and university students, and corporate workers. Because I’ve worked with people from 40 countries and cultures in the world. Because I’ve seen how they learn and how what they do makes them fail or succeed. Because I’ve shared these steps you’re about to read with them and watched them soar. If that doesn’t make you want to continue reading right to the end, I don’t know what will.

 I’ve dabbled in languages myself, mind you. Learning French was easy. As a child, I grew up in a French-speaking neighbourhood, in a French-speaking city, in a French-speaking province. We spoke English at home- all the time, but once I stepped out of the house, I switched to French. The neighbours’ kids with whom I used to play spoke French. People in the streets, in the shops, everywhere, spoke French. I was speaking French before I ever took a French class. Easy. But Chinese… now, that’s something else. French, German, Spanish, Italian all have one thing in common: the latin alphabet. With Chinese, you’ve got nothing. Just sticks and carvings. But after learning for two years, I could speak, read and write at intermediate level; and I did it virtually on my own.

 I succeeded because I applied the steps which I am about to share with you. The good news is: this information is provided to you free of charge. The bad news… well, you will not succeed if you don’t put them into practice. So, you who are learning English for work, pleasure, to get into college, pass that English course, or just looking to up your level, this is what you have to do to get to reach your goals.

 1. Stop complaining. Get to work.

“My English is very bad. My English is poor. I can’t speak well. I don’t like my accent. I really have to work on my English, it’s really not good at all. My English is….. “ Stop! Deep breath in. Breathe out. Relax. If you want to vent, that’s fine. Takes out the negative energy. Helps you feel better? Fine too. When it comes to learning a language all that yapping and none of the action will do you no good. A language is like a muscle. Don’t work it and it goes flabby, stale, and soon enough, it gets covered in layers and layers of fat. It doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do anymore. That’s what happens when you don’t work your English; you start spewing out mistakes all over the place. Don’t use it and you lose it. But if you work it, it becomes stronger, it beefs up, it gets you to those places you want to be. You stand up tall because you feel proud. Complaining will get you nowhere. Taking action will.

2. Find your objective, find your motivation

When I meet students for the first time, one of my get-to-know-you questions is: “Why do you want to learn English?” I usually get very similar responses: business, school and pleasure. Whatever your reasons may be, setting solid objectives is crucial for any undertaking. Where your objectives lead your motivation will follow. I can’t stress this enough. Without good objectives, you’re doomed before you even start. If you haven’t already, take a moment… have a sit-down with yourself, take a ‘me’ time; think about what is it that motivates you to learn English? What drives you? Your motivation is fuelled by your objective. It should be one that will affect your life, your personal growth, your future. At this point, your objectives become needs not wants. Do you need to ace that test so you can get into college? Do you need to provide your customers or clients with better services in order to boost business? Do you need to pass that language test, without which you have no chance of getting to the next level in your career? Have you been eyeing that position for years, and the only thing stopping you from getting it is your English? Do you need to be able to take up those responsibilities that come with your job or risk being replaced by someone else who can? Have you been trying to find a job for months and failing every single time because your English is not good enough?

 You’ve got to set precise objectives.  “I want to improve my English” is too vague. Be precise. What aspect of the English language do you want to improve? Grammar, functions, writing, listening, what? And why?  If you say: “I want to improve my spoken English, especially my pronunciation and my use of English expressions; I need this to be able to communicate well with my clients”, that makes more sense. Set objectives which would keep your motivation going until you get what you set out to.

 Set attainable objectives. “I want to be fluent in two months” is unrealistic. Contrary to what you may have seen or heard, learning a language takes time. You just can’t go to bed and wake up fluent in a new language. Don’t be fooled. It will take time for you to get to the level you want to be. Be patient. Take it one step at a time by setting objectives which are within reach. You will need at least three to six months to move to the next level depending on the frequency of your classes: intensive, weekly or bi-weekly, and time spent learning. Setting clear, precise and attainable objectives keeps your motivation constantly on a high and helps you get to where you want to be.

3. Invest money

Education is not free; neither is learning a language. Learning English will cost you, make no mistake. “I can get it free on Youtube”, you say. Yes, that’s probably true. I know this young man who claimed to have learned English through Youtube watching movies and educational video clips. He spoke quite well, as a matter of fact, but he still did have to take classes. There are lots of resources on the world wide web you can get for free, thanks to those people who have put in time and effort to make them available to the general public. But even then, there’s a catch. 1) The free stuff might be there to entice you to get the whole package, which is not free. 2) Virtual learning doesn’t really appeal to everyone. Some people like to have someone on hand to help. Whatever you do, you will have to spend money at one point or the other.

 Education is a very good investment. You can’t go wrong with that. It’s not like a car which starts depreciating in value from the moment you buy it. Education just keeps getting better with age. However, you’ve got to invest wisely. There are a lot of materials out there that claim to produce this or that result. Many end up gathering dust on your bookshelf or buried deep in your garage – a perfect haven for mice. Good money wasted. Be smart. Find good dictionaries and reference documents. Invest in good learning programs. If you’re not very comfortable in group classes and can afford a private tutor, jump right in. What do you stand to lose? Probably that extra zero behind your annual income, or that promotion you’ve been longing for, or passing the IELTS. Be prepared. A little bit can go a long way.

4. Invest time

Points one to three are useless if you don’t invest time in studying. You may be juggling work and study, work and family, work, health, family and study. Whatever it is you’re juggling, if you make a commitment to learning English or any other language, please take a little time to study. If nothing else drives you, your objectives should; motivation is not far behind. Picture what you want to get. See yourself sitting in that nice new office with a big fat bonus, your admission letter to that school you’ve been dreaming about, or having a conversation with natives in that country you want to visit. This is all possible if you take a moment to do your homework. Don’t have time for homework? No problem. But don’t complain when your English doesn’t improve. If you’re not making progress as fast as you want to, you only have yourself to blame. Make time for English and it would reward you right back.

5. Create your English bubble

Find an environment that would give you the chance to use English. Living in an English-speaking area is ideal. You have plenty of opportunities to practice since everything –TV, radio, communication in general – is practically in English. Your chances at improving faster are much higher under such conditions. If you aren’t living in an English-speaking area, create your bubble. You could decide to watch a TV program twice a week, listen to a radio program in English, make some English-speaking friends, write in English, read books, join an English corner or a group, practice with your colleague at work, do something, anything that would make you use English. That’s what creating a bubble means. If your partner speaks English, take advantage of that too, and practice with them. Making an effort to surround yourself with English is a great way to improving your skills.

 6. Practice

This is where you put words into action. Set points one to five in motion by practising  What a waste it would be if you don’t. All your efforts would be in vain. If you want to see progress, you must keep practising  If your English-speaking friend invites you for lunch, go without hesitation; there’s your chance of at least one hour of practice. You have a text message or an email to send – send it in English. You just practised your writing. Is there’s a nice movie you want to watch? Watch it in English. Your listening skills just got better. Found a good book you want to read? Read it in English. Watch your vocabulary grow.

 A typical example of someone who followed all six steps and succeeded is Catherine. If I had to give any one of my students an A for motivation, Catherine would get an A+ and then some. Catherine, in my book, is the kind of student every teacher wants to work with. She’s a wife, mother, grandmother and holds a senior managerial position in her workplace. All that didn’t stop her from deciding to take classes twice a week, three hours per class. Her objectives: greater comfortability and more effective conversation in order to accomplish her work-related responsibilities more efficiently. Now, three hours is a long time to spend in class with one student, but Catherine would come to class at then end of the day, on time, as fresh as a pie – no signs of fatigue from eight hours of work. Attentive, very participative, and would smile every time I corrected her errors “military style” like she insisted I did. But the real work was out of the classroom. When we would meet for the next class, – only one day apart – Catherine would have done all her homework including extra work I had asked her to do and those I didn’t ask. By the time the program came to an end, she had done a total of 555 exercises – the whole book, pages and pages of extra work. Catherine was able to achieve her objectives after 60 hours of class time because of her dedication, motivation and unrelenting attitude towards learning.

 You can, too. Remember: your English won’t improve itself. If you want to see results, you’ve got to put in the work. That’s the only way you’ll get to where you want to be.