What are the advantages of using music to work on grammar?
1. Enhanced Memory Retention: Research suggests that music can aid in memory retention by creating strong neural connections. When grammar rules are set to music, learners may find it easier to recall and apply them in real-life language situations.
2. Increased Engagement: Music has the power to captivate learners’ attention and create an immersive learning experience. By incorporating music into grammar lessons, educators can boost student engagement and motivation, leading to more effective learning outcomes.
3. Improved Pronunciation: Music often emphasizes rhythm and melody, which can help learners improve their pronunciation and intonation. By singing along to grammatically correct lyrics, students can practice proper pronunciation patterns in a natural and enjoyable way.
4. Enhanced Vocabulary Acquisition: Many songs feature rich and varied vocabulary, providing learners with exposure to new words and expressions. By listening to and analyzing song lyrics, students can expand their vocabulary and deepen their understanding of grammatical structures in context.
5. Cultural Understanding: Music is deeply intertwined with culture, offering learners valuable insights into the customs, traditions, and values of English-speaking communities. By exploring music from different genres and time periods, students can develop a richer appreciation for the cultural nuances of the English language.
6. Positive Emotional Association: Music has the ability to evoke emotions and create positive associations with learning experiences. By incorporating music into grammar lessons, educators can create a supportive and enjoyable learning environment that encourages risk-taking and experimentation.
7. Increased Fluency: Singing along to songs can help improve fluency by promoting natural rhythm and flow in language production. Through repeated exposure to grammatically correct lyrics, learners can develop a greater sense of fluency and confidence in their speaking and writing abilities.
8. Cross-Cultural Connections: Music is a universal language that transcends cultural boundaries. By exploring English-language music from different cultures and regions, learners can develop a deeper understanding of global perspectives and forge connections with speakers of English around the world.
9. Personalized Learning: Music offers learners the opportunity to engage with language in a personalized and self-directed manner. By selecting songs that resonate with their interests and preferences, students can take ownership of their learning and tailor their study materials to suit their individual needs.
10. Long-Term Retention: Studies have shown that information learned through music tends to be retained for longer periods compared to traditional learning methods. By integrating music into grammar instruction, educators can help students build a solid foundation of language skills that will endure over time.
In summary, scientific evidence supports the use of music as a valuable tool for working on grammar for learners of English. By harnessing the power of music, educators can create engaging and effective learning experiences that enhance memory retention, increase engagement, improve pronunciation, and foster cultural understanding and fluency.
Episode 210: Language learning strategies and tips for busy lifestyles
Welcome to another episode of English Podcasts the podcast where we unravel the secrets to mastering English.
Your hosts Chris and Sue today give some language learning tip for busy people with hectic lifestyles to learn English and we look at 16 idiomatic English expressions linked with being busy and how to effectively learn English.
Today, we’re diving deep into the world of language learning, offering not only ten incredible tips for those with hectic schedules but also throwing in a delightful mix of 16 idiomatic expressions to spice up your language skills!
Sounds good – then listen or watch the Youtube video to find out more… and please subscribe to our channel on Youtube ????????
Notes
Episode Highlights: 1. **Time Mastery:** Chris and Sue share their top ten time-tested tips to help you seamlessly weave language learning into your busy lifestyle.
2. **Express Yourself:** Immerse yourself in the richness of language with 16 idiomatic expressions that add flair to your conversations.
Recap & Takeaways
Ten Tips for Busy Learners: –
**Microlearning Magic:** Discover how short, focused bursts of learning can make a significant impact. –
**Daily Dose:** Uncover the power of consistent, small efforts each day for steady progress.
**Tech Tools Triumph:** Explore the latest language learning apps that fit seamlessly into your on-the-go lifestyle.
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Episode 209: Ten tips to stop translating when you speak English
Welcome to another episode of English Podcasts the podcast where we unravel the secrets to mastering English.
I’m your host Chris, and today, we’ve got a gem of a topic: “How to Speak Directly in English Without Translating.”
In this podcast we talk about the problems that many learners of English face – translating in your head into your own language when listening and speaking English. If you feel tired when speaking or listening to English after a certain time, this could be you.
Don’t worry we have ten actionable tips that you can use to avoid this and to feel less tired, increase the fluidity, accuracy and ease of your English and help you improve your English skills?
Sounds good – then listen or watch the Youtube video to find out more…
Notes
The problem faced by a lot of learners is that they often translate into their own language when speaking English ) which is a big barrier to fluency, fluidity and to actually progressing in a language.
If you think about it, sometimes when you are speaking English, you feel tired.
Well, it’s not a surprise if you translate as you are trying to accomplish at least two or three things at a time – translating into your own language, then translating it back into English, which causes a problem due to response time, accuracy of your response and also that most languages differ grammatically from English, which leaves it open to many mistakes.
Recap & Takeaways
Let’s see what you can do if you don’t translate -Stick around because I’ve got 10 fantastic tips coming your way. Let’s dive right in!
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Episode 101: What can I listen to to learn English?
Welcome, English enthusiasts, language learners, and word wizards from around the globe! You’re tuning in to the one and only English-Podcasts.com, your go-to source for leveling up your English skills, no matter where you are on your language journey. We are here to help you with ideas and tips and today, we’re going to be looking at what you can listen to to level-up and improve your English listening skills.
What can I listen to to learn English
by English-Podcasts.com | Episode 101: What can I listen to to learn English
Are you struggling with phrasal verbs? Puzzled by pronunciation? Fumbling with grammar? Lost in the maze of what is out there to listen to?Or simply looking to finesse your fluency and sound like a native?
Whether you’re an absolute beginner or an advanced learner looking to sharpen your listening skills, we are talking about YOU and what you can do to keep your listening skills as sharp as a pin!
If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the content that is available on the web, on streaming services or on the radio, it can be difficult to find out what is the best way to improve your listening skills.
 Fear not! We’ve got a little something for everyone. You can pick and choose, mix and match, and discover the English that suits you best.
Notes
So, no matter where you are, whether you’re commuting, sipping tea  or coffee at home, listening on the go, or chilling at the beach, let us help give you some ideas and to navigate all of the material and resources out there. We promise to motivate, inspire, and keep you coming back for more.
Recap & Takeaways
We give you some tips on what you should be listening to along with some ideas of links that you can visit to help improve your listening.
Remember that you can suggest topics, subjects or specific learning points that you would like us to explore – and we will mention you on our podcasts, so get involved, drop us a line and let’s help you to improve your English learning!
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One of the hardest things to do alone is to effectively carry out a skills self-evaluation before setting up clear objectives towards a Personal Learning Plan (PLP).
Knowing where one is at a given time is not an easy task due to a variety of reasons, one being the difficulty in being objective with oneself – the ability to take a step back and see things as they are, without being overshadowed by emotive aspects.
It also depends a lot on how we are as a person:
A confident person and a person with lower self-esteem, will have diametrically opposed difficulties in evaluating themselves both realistically and objectively.
Embarking on this task, alone is quite a challenging undertaking.
Using a SWOT to enhance personal learning –Â SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis can really help in gaining clarity and setting realistic objectives and is a simple tool that can be used alone, but which can be further exploited with the help of a coach.
The SWOT analysis is a simple matrix as shown below:
EXTERNAL
INTERNAL
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
The idea is to start out by looking at where you are now in terms of your goals, aims and objectives and to discover where effort needs to be focued in order to reach your goals.
The process is reflective and involves a certain degree of metacognition (thinking about your own thinking) in order to be able to effectively accomplish the task.
In order to demonstrate the concept, let’s take Claire, a working mum, who wants to progress in her job – this is just to illustrate an example – it could be any subject and a SWOT can also be used in other contexts.
Using a SWOT to enhance personal learning is great for strategic planning and project feasibility studies as the focus is largely a 360° approach and very analytical, but one which entails action steps and change as a consequence.
Claire has a strong desire to progress in her job, but she has never really been able to succeed due to many barriers which systematically get in the way, and which she cannot seem to surmount, at least on her own.
She has never really been obsessively nor aggressively ambitious and has always put her family before herself, but now wants to move to a more interesting job with more responsibility.
When embarking on a SWOT, it is easy to fall into the trap of being able to fill the Weaknesses section easily and then be short of Strengths – it is sometimes dialectic, in as much as a Weakness can also be an Opportunity as a Threat can also become a Strength.
She has decided to start work with a coach to be able to get things moving as she has never quite got there alone and feels that this is a good opportunity for her, both in her life and in her career.
Her coach has asked her to fill in the SWOT matrix, which she does before they meet again.
STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES are known as Internal elements that either create or reduce value, whilst OPPORTUNITIES and THREATS are known as External elements that can form barriers to learning but that are often not fully controlled by the learner.
The questions to ask are: What am I good at / what qualities or skills do I possess?
STRENGTHS
What are the qualities / skills that I need to develop that I am aware of ?
WEAKNESSES
How can I use my STRENGTHS to overcome my weaknesses, to move into new areas of learning?
OPPORTUNITIES
What hinders or prevents me from reaching my goals?
THREATS
STRENGTHS
Communication, Punctual, Telephone manner, Organised, Conscientious, Experience in the company, Motivated
WEAKNESSES
IT Skills, Foreign Language skills, Time Management, Management skills, Lack of experience of team management Gets easily stressed, Lack of self-confidence
OPPORTUNITIES
More responsibilities, Variety in new job, Learn new skills, Higher salary, Company car, be part of the decision making process
THREATS
Lives far from work, Difficulty to travel, Family commitments, Age, etc.
Coaching a person through a SWOT analysis is both a negotiated and an awareness process, predominately made up of questioning, but essentially, it must be free of judgement or preconceived ideas.
The coach decides to use another tool to complement the SWOT process, a Confrontation Matrix, which is used to offset the Strengths with Opportunities and Threat, and the Weaknesses with the same, as shown below:
EXTERNAL /INTERNAL
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
STRENGTHS
ATTACK STRATEGY
ADJUSTMENT STRATEGY
WEAKNESSES
DEFENCE STRATEGY
SURVIVAL STRATEGY
In the SWOT matrix, the coach helps the learner to offset STRENGTHS with OPPORTUNITIES / STRENGTHS with THREATS and consequently, WEAKNESSES with OPPORTUNITIES / WEAKNESSES with THREATS in order to produce a set of action steps or a PLP to help the learner progress to the next step, which, in this case, will be a set of decisions and plans to move into the new job.
The value of a SWOT is that it is a way of seeing where a learner is at a given point in time and where they need to be in the future.
It can help build a clear Learning Action Plan with specific goals, timescales and measurement variables built in.
If you intend using a SWOT analysis there are some do’s and don’ts to be aware of in order to guarantee the success of the process:
Don’t expect people to be able to fill in the matrix without a clear briefing of how it will be used and the type of elements that it should include.
Ensure that there is adequate thought and process time to be able to complete the matrix.
Understand that the SWOT is ephemeral. That it could be filled-in today and change tomorrow. People, contexts and situations are constantly in a state of flux.
Ensure that there are clear guidelines and boundaries on confidentiality. The only sharing is done by the learner – who can invite the coach/mentor to be present if they want to debrief their managers on the process and outcomes.
Be aware that people with low self-esteem will naturally include more weaknesses than strengths – they will need help evoking their qualities, skills and qualities more than confident people.
The process should be viewed as a positive and fun process, with benefits clearly set-out for the learner.
Remember that the coach will learn a great deal from the process, which can be used as another building-block in the coach’s development.
There needs to be a bond of trust between learner and coach/mentor, built before embarking on a SWOT
We learn a new language because we want to, or need to communicate with other people either at work or in social situations and some just learn another language for fun.
Everybody learns differently; some people are more visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.
But what are the other qualities needed to successfully learn a new language ?
Intelligence, determination, social skills, risk-taking or a good memory ?
Try this questionnaire to see how your attitudes can affect the way you learn.
We don’t want to put you in pigeon-holed categories, but just highlight some difficulties and some possible solutions.
