How to make the most of your English Class

Many teachers, including myself, are always telling their students that it is important to study, or at least have a bit of contact, with the language you are learning, every day. You should make the most of your daily life to benefit your language learning. But what about during your English class? This is especially important for people who feel that their language learning is limited to their one lesson a week. Here are some ways to make the most of your English classes.

Phone off, and tune in

It can be tempting to see your English class as a recreational time of little importance in comparison to the rest of your day. Of course, enjoying your class is great, however, allowing yourself to stop paying attention isn’t fair on you or your teacher. Do you need your phone on? Is there anything so important that you need to look at it during your 90 minutes of English a week? If the answer is ‘no’, then turn your phone off, and fully enter into the world of English without distractions.

Talk to your teacher

All students like to receive feedback on how they are doing in class and how they are improving. Teachers are the same! If you really enjoyed a particular class, tell your teacher, and they will know that that type of lesson is well received by their students. If there was something that you didn’t enjoy, or that you found confusing, it is even more important to tell your teacher, as this can help them to think about how to approach teaching something in the future.

Talk to your colleagues

Talking about what you’ve been learning with your fellow students can be very useful! Not only can you practice parts of language that you have learnt together, but also you can find what things you have found to be fun, boring or difficult. If there is an opinion that you both share, then this can be even better to tell your teacher, who can use this to improve your classes.

Go on! Be the first person to start talking to your friends in English. Once you start, it can become completely natural.

Write in a book

Does this advice seem a bit simple? Maybe, but it works! It is very common for adult students to come to lessons and write things down on pieces of paper that they will never see again. Making the simple decision to use a book to write down words and phrases that you don’t know, can make the difference between remembering them and not remembering them. If you don’t trust yourself to pick up your English book every Tuesday morning, then use the back of a book you always have with you. Have a look through your list of words and phrases at the beginning of a lesson, or on the train to work, and soon they will become words you know.

Use your teacher!

Your teacher is happy to help you! When I teach children, I usually give them things to study at home, however, with adults I usually leave this as optional. I am extremely happy when my adult students ask me questions, in class or outside of class. And I love it when someone gives me a piece of writing to check!

Participate and enjoy!

To participate is surely the most important thing to do in your English class. A good teacher will make their class interesting and dynamic, and give lots of opportunity for participation. If this is the only time you have every week to speak English, then you must use it! Students who develop fastest are students who speak without fear of making mistakes and give opinions with confidence. If you didn’t understand something, don’t be afraid to ask the teacher to repeat what they said.

Your English class should be fun and social, as well as being an opportunity to learn. If you don’t like going to class, then there is something wrong! Try to go with a clear, positive mind, and speak and listen as much as possible. If you are fully engaged in your English class, you will learn faster and enjoy the class more!

Did we miss anything out? Do you have any questions about how to make the most of your English class? Let us know in the comments section below.

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