MASTERING ENGLISH QUICKLY
The Biggest Fault
There are some faults in a process of learning English, they are:
1. Students think that language is a knowledge
They are trying hard to memorize the formula of grammar, doing many exercises like study mathematic and finally they will be bored and give up. That’s because they didn’t learn English itself, but they just studying the knowledge about English
2. They don’t use English as like its purpose
The nature of language is as a vehicle of communication. From the earlier, English learners should use it as a vehicle of communication, and the only one way practice it in our daily conversations.
3. Skills are constructed by only one smart way
The only way to master it is by practice it. Do you still remember when the first time you train to ride your bicycle? That is the way of learning English should be done. Practice!
4. Afraid to be false and have the principle of “silence is golden”
It is connected with the fault number 1. Students think that English are about formulas. They think hard to memorize it when they want to speak. They are afraid to be false, and finally they prefer to be silent rather than being false.
English is Unique
According to Teguh Handoko, English is unique. There is no consistent rule in it. These are the example:
1. English is a contextual language, it means that every word can be interpreted when it have been in the sentences. For example:
That is my mother : that means itu
I know that you are tired : that means bahwa
She was so angry that she cried : that means sehingga
2. There is no consistency among the letter and its sound
Bahasa Indonesia has consistency among its letter and its sound. It’s very different with English, look at these examples!
put
cut
burn
tune
building
car
man
fate
village
sma
Are You Ready for Revolution?
Now we know what language is for. Learning language is learning how to use it with four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. And those are done by practice, because skill is the domain of motoric sense.
Practically way to master English:
1. Make sure that you have talent
It is very important. You must believe that you have talent. This is the main point, build the positive mindset. You have talent.
2. To love English
According to Teguh Handoko, knowledge is the sweet heart. If you want to have it, you must love it, be close to it and get it.
By the way, why do we must love English?
I learned that mastering English will bring us much money, for examples: become an instructor, translator, course teacher, etc.
And the most important ideas in this book are when the writer said that someone who has skill or capability will have more honor than someone who has not.
3. Action to get it
The most important thing, stops doing exercise on the book, then practice it!
4. Open the dictionary
These parts told about the failed learners are they who never open their dictionary. Dictionary is a holy book for English Language Learners.
Only One Way to Rome
These are the quickest and easiest way to come to Rome:
1. Passive Vocabulary
Passive vocabulary is vocabularies which you understanding before you can’t apply it. Check how the babies learn the language! They just heard the vocabulary and connect it with the event they saw.
2. Active Vocabulary
After got a lot of vocabularies, the babies will try to used it into the sentences or conversations.
Anyway, how’s the way to get a lot of vocabularies?
If you join an English community, you can hear how they speak. If your environment didn’t support it, the simplest way is READING.
How to Win Speaking Skill?
There are 3 kinds of conversations: structural conversation, functional conversation and situational conversation. And pronunciation is an important skill to support your speaking skill. In a conversation between English learner and native speaker usually there are many misunderstanding among them, that was because the faults on pronunciation. Remember, different pronunciation has different meaning. Examples: day-they, tank-thank, see-she, dead-dad, leaf-leave.
What are the advantageous mastering pronunciations?
Your English will be different with others, you will be better than others, you will not make misunderstanding between you and listener, and your friends will be amazed on you.
Steps to Construct Speaking Skill
1. Receptive Speaking
This is the first skill you must have. Receptive speaking is a speaking skill that you have to receive the attack or the ability to answer the questions.
2. Productive Speaking
The second step is constructing your productive speaking, or attack or ask. Here you learn how to make questions with the various sentences.
3. Descriptive Speaking
The last step is merging the first and second step, make the simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence, and compound complex sentence.
The key to master speaking step is having as much as possible passive vocabulary.
1. Reading is a stepping stone
reading is the quickest and easiest trick to construct the others skills, because reading has decoders to comprehend the words, phrases, sentence, the several of language, and grammar.
How to Win Writing Skill
Writing skill is the last skill. The steps to construct skill are Listening before Speaking, Speaking before Reading, Reading before Writing. Writing is a productive skill. To product it, you must have much passive vocabularies and the structural comprehension of:
1. Simple sentence is a sentence which consist of single subject and predicate
2. Compound sentence is the unity of some simple sentences
3. Complex sentence is a sentence which has subordinate clause.
4. Compound complex sentence is the unity of complex sentences.
The last of all, the most important is intention, having much curiosity and be active. As an English Language Learners, we do not have to memorizing the complicated grammars. The only ways to do is collecting as much as possible the passive vocabularies and practice it. Do not be afraid of the faults of grammar. Just practice it.
