UNIT1Howcanwebecomegoodlearners?

SectionA

1aCheck(?)thewaysyoustudyEnglish.Thenaddotherwaysyousometimesstudy.

a.byworkingwithfriends

b.bymakingwordcards

c.byreadingthetextbook

d.bylisteningtotapes

e.byaskingtheteacherforhelp

Istudybymakingwordcards.

1bListen.Howdothesestudentsstudyforatest?Writelettersfrom1aabove.

1.Meiping2.Peter3.Tony

1cMakeconversationsabouthowyoustudyforatest.

A:Howdoyoustudyforatest?

B:Istudybyworkingwithagroup.

2aListenandcheck(?)thequestionsyouhear.

QuestionsAnswers

1.DoyoulearnEnglishbywatchingvideos?

2.Doyoueverpracticeconversationswithfriends?

3.Whataboutlisteningtotapes?

4.Whataboutreadingaloudtopracticepronunciation?

5.Haveyoueverstudiedwithagroup?

2bListenagain.Matcheachanswerbelowwithaquestionabove.

a.Yes,Ihave.I’velearnedalotthatway.

b.Oh,yes.Itimprovesmyspeakingskills.

c.Idothatsometimes.Ithinkithelps.

d.No.It’stoohardtounderstandthevoices.

2cMakeconversationsusingtheinformationin2aand2b.

A:Haveyoueverstudiedwithagroup?

B:Yes,Ihave.I’velearnedalotthatway.

2dRole-playtheconversation.

Jack:Annie,I’malittlenervous.IhavetofinishreadingabookandgiveareportnextMonday.

Annie:Thatdoesn’tsoundtoobad.

Jack:ButI’maveryslowreader.

Annie:Forthefirsttime,justreadquicklytogetthemainideas.Don’treadwordbyword,readwordgroups.

Jack:ButIdon’tunderstandmanyofthewords.Ihavetouseadictionary.

Annie:Trytoguessaword’smeaningbyreadingthesentencesbeforeandafterit.Youprobablyunderstandmorethanyouthink.

Jack:Thatsoundsdifficult!

Annie:Well,bepatient.Ittakestime.Youcanbecomebetterbyreadingsomethingyouenjoyeveryday.Themoreyouread,thefasteryou’llbe.

3aReadthepassageaboutWeiFenandanswerthequestions.

1.WhydidWeiFenfinditdifficulttolearnEnglish?

2.WhatdidshedoinEnglishclass?

3.Whatisthesecrettolanguagelearning?

HowILearnedtoLearnEnglish

Lastyear,IdidnotlikemyEnglishclass.Everyclasswaslikeabaddream.Theteacherspoketooquickly.ButIwasafraidtoaskquestionsbecausemypronunciationwasverybad.SoIjusthidbehindmytextbookandneversaidanything.ThenonedayIwatchedanEnglishmoviecalledToyStory.Ifellinlovewiththisexcitingandfunnymovie!SothenIbegantowatchotherEnglishmoviesaswell.AlthoughIcouldnotunderstandeverythingthecharacterssaid,theirbodylanguageandtheexpressionsontheirfaceshelpedmetogetthemeaning.IalsorealizedIcouldgetthemeaningbylisteningforjustthekeywords.MypronunciationalsoimprovedbylisteningtotheinterestingconversationsinEnglishmovies.Idiscoveredthatlisteningtosomethingyouareinterestedinisthesecrettolanguagelearning.Ialsolearnedusefulsentenceslike“It’sapieceofcake”or“Itservesyouright.”Ididnotunderstandthesesentencesatfirst.ButbecauseIwantedtounderstandthestory,Ilookedupthewordsinadictionary.

NowIreallyenjoymyEnglishclass.Iwanttolearnnewwordsandmoregrammar.ThenIcanhaveabetterunderstandingofEnglishmovies.

3bCompletethesentenceswithwhatWeiFenlearnedfromwatchingmovies.Usewordsandphrasesfromthepassage.

1.Icanunderstandthemeaningbywatchingtheirandtheontheirfaces.

2.Icangetthemeaningbylisteningforjustthe.

3.MypronunciationimprovedbylisteningtotheinEnglishmovies.

4.Ilearnedsentenceslike“It’sapieceofcake”bywatchingthemovies.

5.Icangetthemeaningofthenewwordsbylookingthemupina.

GrammarFocus

HowdoyoulearnEnglish?Ilearnbystudyingwithagroup.

DoyoulearnEnglishbyreadingaloud?Yes,Ido.Ithelpsmypronunciation.

HowcanIreadfaster?Youcanreadfasterbyreadingwordgroups.

HowcanIimprovemypronunciation?Onewayisbylisteningtotapes.

4aMatchthequestionsandanswers.

Howdoyoupracticespeaking?BywatchingEnglishprograms.

Howdoyoulearnnewwords?Bylisteningtoatapeandrepeatingoutloud.

Howdoyouimproveyourwriting?Byhavingconversationswithfriends.

Howdoyoupracticelistening?Bytakingnotes,doingexercisesandreadingalot.

Howdoyouimproveyourpronunciation?Bymakingwordcards.

Howdoyoulearngrammar?Bywritinge-mailstomypenpals.

4bCompletethesestatements.Useinformationthatistrueforyou.

a.IliketopracticemyEnglishbytakingnotes/readingbooksandnewspapers/

speakingEnglishwithmyclassmates/memorizingsentencepatterns.

b.Iliketolearnmathby.

c.Iliketopracticemyphysicsby.

d.Iliketoimprovemychemistryby.

e.IliketopracticemyChineseby.

f.Iliketoimprovemyhistoryandgeographyby.

4cCheck(?)whatyoudotolearnEnglish.Theninterviewyourpartner.

A:DoyoulearnEnglishbydoinggrammarexercises?

B:Yes,Ido.

A:Howoftendoyoudothem?

B:...

doinggrammarexercises.

takingnotesinEnglish.

readingEnglishbooks/magazines.

writinginanEnglishdiary.

usinganEnglishdictionary.

IlearnEnglishby...

yesnohowoften

Mypartner

learnsEnglishby...

yesnohowoften

SectionB

1aLearningEnglishcanbedifficult.Whatthingsaredifficultforyou?Readthelist.Check(?)the

statementsthataretrueforyou.

Ican’tpronouncesomeofthewords.

Ican’tunderstandspokenEnglish.

Idon’tknowhowtoincreasemyreadingspeed.

Ican’tspellsomeEnglishwords.

Imakemistakesingrammar.

1bWhatotherthingsaredifficultforyou?Makealist.

1.Idon’tknowenoughwordstowritewell

2.

3.

1cPaulfindsitdifficulttolearnEnglish.Listenandcompletethelearningchallengeshetalksabout.

Challenges

1.Hecan’tgettheright.

2.Healotofnewwords.

3.Hecan’talwayswhenpeopletalktohim.

4.Hedoesn’tgetmuchpractice.

1dListenagain.Completethesolutions.

Solutions

1.canhelp.

2.Hecanalwaysinhisnotebookandstudythemathome.

3.Hecantopracticespeaking.

4.Heshouldfindatopracticewriting.

1eRole-playconversationsusingtheinformationin1cand1d.

A:Idon’thaveapartnertopracticeEnglishwith.

B:MaybeyoushouldjoinanEnglishclub.

2aWhatgoodlearninghabitscanyouthinkof?Discussthemwithyour

partner.

2bReadthepassagequickly.Whichfourhabitsofsuccessfullearnersare

mentioned?

USINGDICTIONARIES

Thiscanhelpyoufindthedefinitionthatmatchesthecontextofthewordinthetext.

HowCanYouBecomeaSuccessfulLearner?

Everyoneisbornwiththeabilitytolearn.Butwhetherornotyoucandothiswelldependsonyourlearninghabits.Researchshowsthatsuccessfullearnershavesomegoodhabitsincommon.

Creatinganinterestinwhattheylearn

Studiesshowthatifyouareinterestedinsomething,yourbrainismoreactiveanditisalsoeasierforyoutopayattentiontoitforalongtime.Goodlearnersoftenconnectwhattheyneedtolearnwithsomethingtheyareinterestedin.Forexample,iftheyneedtolearnEnglishandtheylikemusicorsports,theycanlistentoEnglishsongsorwatchsportsprogramsinEnglish.Thiswaytheywillnotgetbored.

Practicingandlearningfrommistakes

Goodlearnersthinkaboutwhattheyaregoodatandwhattheyneedtopracticemore.Remember,“useitorloseit”!Evenifyoulearnsomethingwell,youwillforgetitunlessyouuseit.Practicemakesperfect.Goodlearnersarealsonotafraidofmakingmistakes.AlexanderGrahamBelldidnotinventthetelephoneovernight.Hesucceededbytryingmanytimesandlearningfromhismistakes.

Developingtheirstudyskills

Itisnotenoughtojuststudyhard.Youhavetoknowhowtostudy.Goodlearnersfindoutthebestwaystolearnwell.Forexample,theymaytakenotesbywritingdownkeywordsorbydrawingmindmaps.Goodlearnersalsolookforwaystoreviewwhattheyhavelearned.Theymaydothisbyreadingtheirnoteseverydayorbyexplainingtheinformationtoanotherstudent.

Askingquestions

Goodlearnersoftenaskquestionsduringorafterclass.Theyevenaskeachotherandtrytofindouttheanswers.Knowledgecomesfromquestioning.Learningisalife-longjourneybecauseeverydaybrings

somethingnew.Everythingthatyoulearnbecomesapartofyouandchangesyou,solearnwiselyandlearnwell.

2cReadthepassageagainandanswerthequestions.

1.Doesthewriterthinkthateveryoneisbornwiththeabilitytolearnwell?Doyouagree?Whyorwhynot?

2.Whyisitagoodideatoconnectsomethingyouneedtolearnwithsomethingyouareinterestedin?

3.Whatdothesayings“useitorloseit”and“practicemakesperfect”mean?Doyouagreewiththem?

4.Dogoodlearnerslearnfrommistakesoraretheyafraidofmakingmistakes?

5.Whatstudyskillsdoesthewritertalkabout?Doyouhavethosestudyskills?

6.Doyouagreethatlearningisalife-longjourney?Whyorwhynot?

2dFindthefollowingwordsfromthepassageinthedictionary.Thenwriteasentenceusingeachwordinthecontextofthereading.

brainn.connectv.overnightadv.

attentionn.reviewv.knowledgen.

abilityn.activeadj.wiselyadv.

e.g.brain:Agoodwaytotrainthebrainistodosomemathexerciseseveryday.

2eCanyouthinkofotherwaystobecomeasuccessfullearner?Discusswithyourgroupandshareyourideaswiththeclass.

A:Ithinkanotherwaytobecomeasuccessfullearnerisbytryingtothinkaboutthesamethingindifferentways.

B:Iagree.Ibelievethat...

3aYourfriendwantstoimprovehis/herEnglishandasksyouforhelp.Whatarethethreebestwaystolearnandwhy?Makesomenotesinthechart.

BestwaystolearnReasonsExamples

1.

2.

3.

3bWritealettertoyourfriend.Givehim/hersomeadviceaboutthebestwaystolearnEnglish.Useyournotesin3a.

Dear...,

TherearethreegoodwaystolearnEnglish.

Thefirstwayis...

Thesecondwayis...

Thethirdwayis...

Yourfriend,

Trytousethefollowingexpressions:

Ithinkyoushould...

Ifyoudothis,youwill...

Itisalsoagoodideato...because...

Youco