About “Learning Strategies”

Strategic Minds

Good learners are strategic that is, they know what to do, they choose from several options the approach to their learning which best suits them.

Learning strategies allow you to acquire the knowledge (the formal linguistic system)  and the skills (of oral and written production, of reading and listening comprehension) which in turn will allow you to communicate in English.

Learning strategies are about learning how to learn: you take responsibility for your own learning and become independent learners.

It is also about learning awareness: to think about what happens after an activity or after a whole lesson. For instance, after reading a text you ask yourself: did I get it? How do I know? What do I do if I didn’t get it?  You use skills for planning, monitoring, and evaluating your learning activity.

Other types of strategies operate directly on incoming information; they refer to: a)  repetition, imitating others’ speech; b) resourcing: dictionaries and other materials; c)  translation; d) note-taking, e) deduction; f) contextualization: putting a word or phrase in a meaningful sequence; g) asking for clarification: asking the teacher to explain.

Motivation and attitude as a strategy to develop self-confidence: the importance of having a positive attitude towards your learning , e.g. to have a positive aproach towards partial comprehension and errors (to learn from our mistakes). Attitude also means that you can appreciate effort as central to learning.

Have fun as you learn, search for opportunities to practice: use and enjoy communicative English in class with your peers but also outside the classroom. Here some ideas: If you like reading, why not joining a reading club? You may also want to exchange English conversation for Spanish. Easy! watch films or tv in English, and obviously! one of the best ways of learning a language: travelling abroad from time to time! I’m sure you can think and make a list with your own suggestions. Check that list from time to time to remind you of what you like doing in Enlgish!

So, be strategic!  Analyse yourself as a learner and find the most comfortable way of learning.  Make the most of the time you are investing in your English learning, and most importantly: have fun.

Cheers,

Sonia