Students of English Should Not Listen to English Says English Study Website

One of the Internet’s leading websites for ESL (English as a Second Language) tells students they could learn English faster if they don’t listen to it. The advice is contained in EnglishClub.com’s “7 Secrets for ESL Learners”, a series of free tips and mini-lessons that are emailed weekly to subscribing English learners worldwide.

But the advice is not as crazy as it sounds says EnglishClub.com founder and publisher Josef Essberger. “This particular secret emphasizes the importance of hearing English as opposed to listening to it. It encourages students to relax and worry less about whether they understand every word. Students often say things like ‘I don’t listen to the news in English because I can’t understand it.’ So that’s what we mean when we say they should just spend more time soaking up the music of the language and less time desperately listening for the meaning. The difference between passive hearing and active listening. Of course, listening is important, and in fact one of the secrets encourages listening, but students shouldn’t get hung up on it.”

Other secrets reveal some of the best ways to improve pronunciation fast, and how to improve vocabulary with 5 simple words. The first seven emails are tips on the best ways to learn English, followed by weekly mini-lessons, each one built around seven items such as the 7 Days of the Week, 7 Wonders of the World, 7 Seas, 7 Colours of the Rainbow, 7 Ways to Say “Ough” and so on. According to Essberger students love their “7 Secrets” and get distraught if one week’s email fails to arrive. “I receive more emails thanking me for the “7 Secrets” than for anything else,” says Essberger. “ESL students write in from all over the world. Teachers too, quite often, as they like to use them in class.”

In fact the “7 Secrets” are just a small part of EnglishClub.com, which has 30 sections with everything for ESL learners and teachers from lessons, forums, games and quizzes to lesson plans and teaching jobs.

Asked about plans for the future of “7 Secrets”, Essberger says: “I’ll probably put the ‘7 Secrets’ all together in a book one day, but for the moment students will have to carry on waiting a year to receive all their secrets.”

“7 Secrets for ESL Learners” can be found at:
http://www.englishclub.com/7