Currently editing recommendations. Hope to post soon.
 

General (全面提示)

- One of the best websites I've seen for learning English is esl.about.com. You can do a search for something specific, or click on Start Learning (Beginners) or Continue Learning (Advanced).

- For an English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionary, MDBG is much more accurate than dict.cn.

Listening (听力)

- Find recorded spoken English (news, DVD, radio, etc.). Listen to a short segment (not more than 30-60 seconds) and take notes on what you hear. Try to get the general idea. Listen again and take more notes, trying to get more details. Repeat this 3-4 times, or until you feel you've gotten everything you possibly can. Then, check the subtitles or transcript (if available). Next, try something different!

- National Public Radio (npr.org) - Great for advanced learners, since it has both experts and "man on the street" interviews. Click on any story with a speaker icon, and there should be both an mp3 and a transcript. Take notes the first few times, then check your notes with the transcript.

- Windows Media Player - You can slow down the audio when it's hard to understand! Go to View -> Enhancements -> Play Speed Settings (播放速度设置).

Pronunciation (发音)

- Record yourself reading (something from a book, newspaper, etc.) so you can focus just on pronunciation. Listen back, note your errors and correct them. It's even better if you can compare your recording with a native speaker (like from npr.org).

- Sing along with songs in English.  Try Google Music (music.google.cn).

- Rhythm in speaking - Stress key "content" words (nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives), and do not stress "function" words (prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions). Within each phrase, the stressed words fall at a regular beat.  http://www.pronuncian.com/materials/podcasts/Episode_20.aspx Try this page for another example.

Vocabulary (词汇)

- Music! Find the lyrics, read and sing along, learn the words and remember them. Try Google Music (music.google.cn) - It's free and legal, and gives you suggestions for similar artists. The lyrics are not 100% accurate. It's better to do a search for (artist name) (song name) lyrics. For example, "beatles in my life lyrics".

- Read a lot--newspapers, magazines, short stories and novels. Note new words and use them in context. 

- Learn roots, prefixes and suffixes--”英语的汉字“! You NEED these! For a good start, click here for roots, click here for prefixes, and here for suffixes.  You can also try this site, or a Google search.

- Word games - A fun way to relax and learn vocabulary at the same time. Try the word games on Yahoo!, take a look at WordGames.com, or just do a search for "word games".

- corpus.byu.edu - One of my favorites. Use this to see how native English speakers use words in real life. Click on either Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) for American English or BYU-BNC: British National Corpus for British English. Enter a word or phrase in the search box, and see results on the right. You will have to register, but it's free.

Grammar (语法)

- Pick a topic (family, work, your day today, current news, etc.) and record yourself speaking about it. Listen back and correct your errors. 

- The example sentences at dict.cn are 90% wrong! Don't use themif you want to learn correct English. Try corpus.byu.edu instead.

- Read a lot! This helps you notice good grammar and get a better "feel" for the language.

- Try the resources in the grammar section of esl.about.com.

- Take a look at the Grammar Girl website.

Writing (写作)

- If you really want to improve your writing, write a lot, and read a lot! Reading and writing are complimentary skills.

- When preparing for a written test, don't try to memorize what you'll write. Instead, practice writing on topics using an introduction, 2-3 supporting paragraphs and a conclusion. That way you only have 5 points to remember. Always take the time to do a quick outline first, and state your opinion clearly.

Speaking (口语)

- Speak! The only way to improve your speaking ability is to practice speaking! Speak English with your friends, especially in the EF center. Answer questions in class, and don't be embarrassed about mistakes--if you're wrong, the teacher can correct you and you can learn the right way!

- Think in English! If you are thinking in Chinese, then translating to English before you speak, you are working harder than if you just think in English! I know it seems strange when you start out, but you can do it. Try this: instead of thinking, "今天好热！" think, "It's really hot today!" Or, instead of thinking, "哇，快九点了," think, "Wow, it's almost nine."

 
Remember, you are responsible for your learning, not the teacher! Make the effort, and you will improve.

You are amazing, and you can do this!

 - Geoff老师
 

Feedback? Email me at .