When learning English, some students may find it difficult to improve their listening. Here is some advice. 【小题1】.

Relax yourself.

Before you start listening to something, don’t be nervous. You need to relax. This will help you with your listening.

【小题2】.

The first sentence tells a lot about the whole passage. Please try to listen to the first sentence carefully.

Think when you’re listening.

When you’re listening, try to do some thinking. For example, you can think of the following questions: What happened? When, where and how? In this way, 【小题3】.

Listen to important facts.

It’s important for you to remember some important facts. For example, 【小题4】, you should try to remember its findings. This is also helpful to your listening.

Many teachers suggest learning English by using mnemonics (助记术). Mnemonics are methods to help remember information.

The loci (轨迹) method

This method is very useful for remembering lists of words. First, you need to form a path (路线). Next, looking at the words, you will create a picture that isn’t easy to forget for each word. Then, imagine walking down your path and put the pictures at certain places. Finally, put away the words and move along the path in your mind again.

The connection method

To remember a word, it is helpful to connect it with a picture. For example, if you are trying to remember the meaning of the word “tremendous”, you might connect it with trees and men. Say the word “tremendous”, and you hear “tree” and “men”. This connection of meaning, sound and picture can help you remember new words quickly.

The grouping method

Try to remember the following words: pencil, notebook, book, newspaper, pen, paper. Try dividing them into smaller groups (things you write with; things you write on; things you read). And you’ll probably find that you are able to remember more words.

What these three methods have in common is the idea of active learning. We’ve looked at just a few mnemonics. In the end, it really depends on your own learning style and how you keep information. Why not find the one that works best for you?

A large part of achieving success is learning new skills. All skills take time to learn. 【小题1】 The answer is by setting goals and breaking them down into smaller steps.

Choosing Your Skill

●Think about skills that would be good for you.

You may feel happier to learn a new skill if you pick something that will help you in your work or daily life.

● 【小题2】

Make a list of 5 to 10 skills that you might enjoy learning. These don’t have to be good for your job or schoolwork directly. Just think about things you are interested in or want to do. For example, if you are interested in musical instruments, then playing the guitar may be an enjoyable activity.

Getting Started

●Set a real goal.

【小题3】 If you want to learn to cook, don’t start with the goal of a 3-course meal. Instead, just learn how to make 1 dish really well. After you learn basic skills, you can learn more.

●Break your goal down into steps.

Start by breaking your goal down into smaller steps. 【小题4】 For example, to lean to take photos, a good step is learning how to use your camera. Then, you can learn how to use light in photography like taking photos and editing them.

【小题5】 Similarly, you will never master a skill only in very short time. However, if you take actions and stick to your goal, you will be good at it.