How to Reach English Advanced Level Through Self-Study? Ask Alisha

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Welcome back to the Internet.

Hi everybody! welcome back to Ask Alisha the weekly series where you ask me questions and

I answer them.

Maybe!

First question, first question comes from Faris Ghazali.

Faris Ghazali.

“How do I stop translating the meaning of English words in my head?”

I can tell you about the things that have helped me and maybe they'll help you.

I put myself in situations where I could not escape into my native language.

In my case, I could not escape into English.

I would go out like for food and drinks with friends who could not speak English.

I had no choice but to use a different language with them.

Two, something that I've noticed some of my students do that actually kind of bothers

me, they bring a dictionary to their lesson and they'll stop conversations in lessons

to check words in their dictionary and say a single word at a time instead of just trying

to find a different way to explain that.

One, it totally stops the flow of conversation.

Two, you don't have really the option to do that in a conversation.

Most of the time you're not going to be carrying around your dictionary with you, I hope, unless

it's in your phone I suppose.

Third, I think that this is a chance to develop a better skill instead of trying to translate

into English or to translate into a different language.

You should think about finding a different way to explain the word you want to use.

Let's say for example that you want to use the word “beautiful” but you can't remember

the word.

How would you explain that?

So, think about other ways to communicate an idea even if you don't have the vocabulary

words.

So, going to your dictionary shouldn't necessarily be the first course of action.

It shouldn't necessarily be your first step.

Think about a different way to communicate the idea you're trying to communicate.

Think of examples to explain the word you're looking for and then the other person can

teach you.

Like if you're working with somebody or you're talking with somebody who understands you're

not a native speaker, chances are, if you can explain the word you're looking for.

They will tell you, they will be your teacher.

I just explained like with body language sometimes too if I don't know a word.

So, another thing that really helped me was not just studying vocabulary words but actually

approaching things as phrases so not saying--okay this word equals this word in my language

but rather here's a phrase that communicates a meaning that is interesting to me or that

I hear my friends use a lot.

I'm going to use that phrase.

So, don't just input, input, input, start outputting too so hope that's helpful for

you.

Next question!

Next question is from Huang Jiang Ik.

Hi!

Huang Jiang Ik says, “I'm curious.

What do you do when your days off?”

You want to know how I do with my days off?

In my days--I'm pretty normal.

When my day is off I cook, I go jogging, I sleep, I go listening to my favorite DJs,

I see my friends, I eat and drink and watch TV.

That's about it.

I'm a pretty normal person

Next question!

Next question is from Muhammad Sohio, “What is the difference between famous and popular?”

Great question, ‘famous’ is ‘something that is well-known’.

Many people know about that thing or that person.

Beyoncé is famous, the Statue of Liberty is famous, the Eiffel Tower is famous.

“Popular,” however, means many people know about it and it is liked.

It has a positive image so like Beyoncé is popular or a famous candy is popular like

chocolate cake is popular.

It's a famous food and many people like it so “popular” is “famous” plus like

a positive image.

Sometimes we can use those two words for the same thing.

So, Beyoncé is famous, Beyoncé is popular.

But, famous doesn't always mean they are popular.

Someone can be famous for a bad thing.

In that case, though, it's typically better to use the word “infamous.”

“infamous” means famous for a bad reason.

So, famous for something negative.

Next question!

Next question comes from-- Oh!

You wrote the pronunciation of your name.

Very nice, Eiton.

Eiton, I think.

Okay.

“Alisha, I hope you’re well.

My level is intermediate.

They feel that they're stuck at the intermediate level and want to reach the advanced level.

They're watching lots of videos on YouTube, reading academic articles on the web but still

feel that progress has somehow stopped, could you give me some advice?”

Okay, you say in your message that you feel your progress somehow has stopped.

I have been here to the intermediate plateau like you begin learning a language and it's

like, “Yeah!

I'm learning all these things.”

And then, you kind of like plateau.

You get to a level where things don't continue and you feel like progress goes much more

slowly.

I would say, in this case, first, identify how you feel your progress has stopped.

By that, I mean, do you feel like your vocabulary is lacking?

Or, do you find that it's hard to listen to people and to understand what they're saying?

Do you find it's hard to write?

Is it hard to like to read things?

So, first, identify what is that thing that you feel like you're not good and then start

to approach your further studies with that as the focus.

I think that if you can think about your different skill sets your different levels in reading,

writing, speaking and listening, you can identify which of those four things is weakest for

you and start there.

So, when you feel your progress has stopped, think, “Okay, what am I not good at doing?”

And then, focus your time there.

So, maybe, that's a helpful first step for you, hope that helps.

Next question!

Next question comes from Kiara, Chiara?

Chiara asks, “’I'll help you studying,’ and ‘I'll help you to study.’

What is the correct one?

Thanks.”

“I'll help you something,” “I'll help you do this.”

So, just the regular plain form of the verb.

I would suggest is probably the most natural choice.

Thanks for the question, though.

Next question!

Next question comes from Sheriff, Sharif Amed, Sheriff Amed?

“Should I use the singular or plural verb after colloquial names.

For example, ‘My team have won the match,’ or ‘has won the match.’”

Okay, in this case, “My team has won the match.”

Use the singular form of the verb.

Same as like “he has” or “she has,” “My team has,” is the correct answer.

Next question!

Next question comes from Jeffrey.

Hi, Jeffrey!

Jeffrey asks, “Sometimes I watch movies and some characters say ‘You wish!’ with

a very angry attitude or ‘I wish,’ in other situations.

What do these two sentences mean and how do I use it?”

Aha!

Interesting question.

Okay, when someone responds with “You wish!” to a negative suggestion.

It's like they're mutually together they're recognizing that they don't like each other.

So, usually, the first character will say something like make a negative suggestion

like, “You should you leave town and get a different job, leave us alone!”

Something like that.

And then, the other character will say, “Yeah, you wish.”

Like, yes, this character recognizes you want me to do that, yes, but I'm not going to do

that in other words.

It's sort of like a challenge.

This person says like this negative suggestion, the other person recognizes this suggestion

and says, “No, I'm not going to do that but I know you want me to do that.”

So, “You wish!” in this way means it's like a negative challenge.

They're kind of fighting, recognizing they dislike each other.

So, that's one.

The other one, what was the other one?

So, “I wish.”

We talked about “I wish,” in the previous, the previous episode of Ask Alisha.

So, please check that out.

But, essentially, “I wish,” refers to something that we cannot do now or something

that is different from the present situation but we want we want to happen or we want to

be able to do so.

Please check the last episode of Ask Alisha for more about “I wish” like the positive

meeting.

Next question!

Next question is from Romeo Liu from Vietnam.

Hello, Romeo!

“Could you please explain what the expression, ‘Try as I may,’ means?”

Ah!

This is usually used in an expression that's sort of negative like even though I'm trying

my best it's difficult for me to do this thing.

So, “Try as I may, I just can't get a new job,” or “try as I may, I just can't earn

that much money,” or “Try as I may I just can't seem to cook this dish,” for example.

So, even though, I'm giving my best effort, even though, I'm really working hard this

other thing just isn't happening for me.

It's sort of like a sad or like a disappointed or unhappy expression actually.

Thanks for the question, Romeo.

Okay, so, those are all the questions for this week's episode of Ask Alisha.

I hope that they were useful for you.

If you would like to submit a question, remember you can send them to me at Englishclass101.com/ask-alisha.

If you like the video, please make sure to give it a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel

and check us out at Englishclass101.com for a bunch of other good stuff that can help

you as you learn English.

Thanks very much for watching this episode of Ask Alisha and I will see you again next week.

Bye-bye!

I talk too much. I'm late for work.