How to Self Study English - Self Study Plan for English

so today we will talk about  self-study and self-evaluation so  

let's go ahead what are those things so  self-study i will answer the question  

how can you effectively study by yourself so  effectively this means in a really good way  

right so using your time well and using good study  methods right so how can you self-study very well  

and then self-evaluation so how can you keep track  of or how can you know and follow your english  

level with no class and no teacher so i will share  with you some different ways that you can do that  

so let's go ahead and begin so for self study  today i will share with you self study about the  

four main english skills writing reading listening  and speaking okay so we'll go through one by one  

and talk about some different ways to self-study  each of these main english skills okay so first  

let's talk about how to self study writing  this is a question that comes up very often  

in the comments during the live streams and even  the comments on our youtube videos and facebook  

videos so today i want to begin by sharing some  different helpful ways to self-study writing  

okay so let's talk about three ways to self-study  writing first keep a journal and we'll talk about  

each of these in detail so keep a journal use  english writing prompts talk about what that  

is and write a summary so let's go through these  three self-study skills or self-study methods so  

first is to keep a journal so unfortunately oh no  journal around me so a journal is like a notebook  

that we write our thoughts in so in a journal  you can write about the events of your day  

you can write about your thoughts and  feelings this will help you express yourself  

so it might not be something that you have  normally done or that you have done before  

but if you keep a journal in english this is an  excellent way to practice writing about your life  

right and all of our study skills are connected so  if you practice writing about your day and writing  

about your thoughts your feelings your opinions in  english every day or very often then it will help  

your speaking to right so you become more skilled  at talking about whatever it is you want to write  

about so for me if i try to keep a journal in  another language it i write about uh what i am  

comfortable writing about but try to challenge  myself a little so let's say i want to write  

about where's my mouse there we go the events  of my day so let's say i am studying english  

and i know how to talk about simple things like  i woke up i brushed my teeth i ate breakfast some  

simple things there so i can also challenge myself  what does this mean well maybe i did something and  

i don't know how to say it in english keeping a  journal is the perfect time to look up new words  

use them to talk about your day and expand your  vocabulary improve your writing and improve your  

speaking and confidence okay so keeping a journal  excellent excellent way to practice your writing  

and something you can see over time your skill  will improve right so also make sure to try and  

write as long as you can as much detail as you can  so not just two sentences right it is hard to talk  

about our day in just two sentences so maybe try  ten sentences or more okay so keep a journal our  

next self-study writing method is use english  writing prompts so what is a writing prompt  

a writing prompt is a sentence or a question  that we read and then write about that thing  

so for example a writing prompt might say  something like um tell me what music you like and  

there you go okay that's the topic i will  write about so english writing topics  

okay you can use google or any search engine  to look up english writing prompts there are  

so many and just choose one a day this  will help you to learn to write about  

many different topics and again make sure to  use your phone or your computer to translate  

use a dictionary use tools to help you learn the  words and phrases you need to write about these  

many different topics so here's an example  i just searched english writing prompts  

so let's take a look at some that would be  easy uh or at least good starting questions  

to write about maybe could be difficult could  be easy so your favorite childhood vacation wow  

so that one topic you could write so much about  right you could write about your favorite teacher  

right describe them what they are like in writing  so many things you could talk about write about  

your first job right so there are hundreds and  hundreds and hundreds of these kinds of questions  

out there so all you have to do is search for  them and then write about them each day okay

okay so the next way we can self-study  writing is to write a summary so a summary  

let's talk about what that means first a summary  is like let's say i have a long long long story  

or a long movie or something long and i want to  tell you just the most important information about  

that thing let's say i watched a great movie  and my friend asks me what was the movie about  

well i'm not going to tell them the whole story  right maybe just the most important information  

so if someone asked me what happened  in the avengers end game movie  

i could say something like oh um they all came  together to fight thanos in the end well i don't  

want to ruin it for you if you haven't seen it but  i would just give some simple information right  

this is a great way to learn how to  talk about big ideas in a short way  

sometimes when we are trying to express  ourselves in another language maybe there are  

so many things we're thinking about and so  many things we want to say it can be hard to  

just say what we need to say right so  practicing writing again helps our speaking too  

you can write summaries about anything  you like okay so this is always  

important write about what you  like right anytime you self study  

you should enjoy it so you can write summaries  about movies books tv shows things happening  

in the news and so on anything that you like  okay so remember writing a summary keeping  

a journal and using english writing prompts  are all excellent ways to self-study writing

okay let's talk about our next self-study skill  

reading this is another very common  question oh teacher how do i self-study  

reading well let's look at a few skills  first choose a story you know already

use an online dictionary for meaning  and pronunciation while you read  

and lastly write synonyms next to new words

so let's go ahead and go through these

first choose a story you know already  

read a story in english that you know very  well in your native language for example i  

know the story harry potter so so so well i have  read the books in my native language many times  

so when i want to practice reading in another  language well a great place to start for me  

is harry potter because i know the characters i  know the story and this helps me to understand  

or infer which means guess the meaning of words  in sentences right because i already know the  

story so it could be any story for you just think  what's a story you know very well and then find  

that in english find that book in english this  helps your comprehension or your understanding  

and your language development because you  learn slowly how to infer the meaning of  

words in sentences or in a paragraph or in a story  right so because you know it it is a little easier  

to understand and maybe more interesting  because it's a story you know and like

the next self-study skill for  reading is use an online dictionary  

while you read so maybe you're reading a book or  maybe you like to read on a kindle or a tablet  

you can always have your phone nearby to  use an online dictionary while you read  

of course when you read there will be words you  don't know phrases you don't know things that will  

be confusing right so always have a dictionary  nearby when you see new words when reading you  

can look them up in an online dictionary so  one of my favorites is cambridge dictionary  

this is dictionary.cambridge.org something  like that just search cambridge dictionary  

it will go from language to language  there are many different languages  

and you can see meanings what does the word  mean and how do you use it in a sentence  

you can see the translation what is the  word in your language and you can click to  

hear how the word sounds and practice your  speaking as well right so this is very useful  

i think when you are reading remember all  of our language skills help each other  

when we get better at writing we get better  at speaking in reading and even listening  

and when our reading gets better  it helps our other skills too  

so don't be afraid to write the meaning or  translation above the word and read the sentence  

out loud a few times to help your speaking and  your reading comprehension or your understanding  

of what you're reading it helps to do it maybe  three times to really help your understanding  

right so make sure to use a dictionary while you  read and don't be afraid to write in your book  

if you are uh maybe you are reading on a computer  or tablet just keep a notebook and write the words  

on on there as you go along all right  our last self-study method for reading  

is write synonyms next two words so what is  a synonym a synonym is a word with the same  

meaning as another word so if i see the word  big some synonyms or words with the same meaning  

are large and sizable and we can use these all in  almost the exact same way in most sentences right  

synonyms are a great way to improve our reading  comprehension and again also our speaking as we  

learn different ways to say the same thing  this is even uh as a native english speaker  

something we learn as we grow up uh as as we  go from kindergarten all the way through high  

school and so on we learn how to expand our  vocabulary and use more words and bigger words  

and more descriptive words so you can  do that too right this is a natural part  

of learning a language and you can make it  happen for yourself by writing out some synonyms  

so maybe you see a big word or an unfamiliar word  which means not familiar don't know it right we  

aren't we don't recognize it so write synonyms  maybe you see a really a word oh what is that so  

yes we can look up the meaning in translation and  it's helpful to write down synonyms for that word  

so let's say you're reading and you see the word  sizable and you think what does that mean sizeable  

so you look it up and maybe above the word you  write the words big and large and this helps  

you make the connection this is another word  i can use for big or large you can also write  

synonyms for small common words to expand your  vocabulary so let's say you see the word large  

and you look up a synonym above it you write  sizable you can go both directions with this  

but this is a great way to expand your language  and improve your vocabulary and your reading and  

of course because all of our skills are connected  read the sentence again with each new synonym  

maybe you write three synonyms for a word  well read the sentence switching out with each  

new synonym most of the time as long as it's the  same part of speech so all adjectives for example  

then uh we can often use them in the same way  but we might need a different ending right  

okay let's move on to study skill number three  listening so how can you self study listening

you can use dual subtitles on netflix and  youtube you can watch ted talks with transcripts  

and subtitles and you can use language  apps like memrise duolingo or rosetta stone

so let's talk about oh did i skip one nope okay  ted talks with transcripts and subtitles you can  

go to ted.com to find thousands of interesting  videos about many many many many many many topics  

and these videos are teachers and professionals  from all around the world talking about really  

interesting things many of these videos  have subtitles in many different languages  

and full transcripts that you can read so a  transcript is all of the things said in the  

video when you watch maybe you just see one  line of speaking show one sentence at a time  

right on the transcript you can see the whole  speech and they have transcripts in english and  

korean and chinese and russian and so many other  languages so you can listen along watch practice  

right read and listen this is very  important to developing your listening  

make sure to read along while you listen it helps  us to understand and make the connection between  

the sounds we hear and the words they  represent so make sure to read the transcript  

or read the subtitles in english and  your native language while you listen

you can also do this on things like netflix  and youtube with something called dual  

subtitles dual means like two so you can  download something called netflix dual  

subtitle for learning languages or youtube dual  subtitle these are the exact names and these are  

things you can download on google chrome that  allow you to see two language subtitles at the  

same time this is very useful and the netflix  one the netflix dual subtitle you can even pause  

highlight words put your mouse over a word  and see the meaning you set the language  

so this is very useful for studying and you can  do it with your favorite shows and movies and you  

can even do it on youtube so this is a great way  to study listening again reading while you listen

and of course you can use apps like memrise  duolingo and rosetta stone these are very  

convenient right we can do them any time of  day on your phone at your convenience right  

of these and of the many i recommend the rosetta  stone app because it takes an acquisition  

approach what this means is from the beginning  you only hear things in that second language  

so it starts very simple you practice your  speaking listening reading and so on uh from  

in in a more natural way that you would learn a  first language in so rosetta stone is a great app  

okay guys let's talk about our last self-study uh  methods self-study skill speaking oh this one many  

of you think what how can i self-study speaking we  often want feedback for our speaking or we want to  

be in conversation to practice our speaking but  this is not always necessary to practice you can  

do self-talk which is like writing a journal but  we do it out loud we speak it instead of write it  

you can do something called mirroring so  you can watch our july 13th live stream  

for a whole lesson on how to do mirroring  or you can join an online language exchange  

so let's talk about these three methods  self-talk which is like journaling out loud  

so this is something you can do in the comfort  of your home you can practice describing your day  

maybe pull up pictures on your phone and try to  describe them in english or describe what you see  

around you out loud to yourself so this of course  is something we do when we're alone and we just  

want to practice speaking one of our viewers  last week recommended doing this in a mirror  

so you can practice things like keeping eye  contact and using gestures while you speak  

so that's great but you can always start by just  describing your day and practicing your english  

to yourself if you are thinking well i am not  alone often maybe you live with other people  

or you're very busy you can also practice thinking  in english and practice internally when you're in  

public or around other people so you can still  do these things but just think instead of speak  

right if you uh like this method and you want to  use it but you are around other people very often  

you can try doing it with your  thinking as well right okay  

next is mirroring so i'm only going to talk about  this for a minute but if you watch our july 13th  

live stream you will see a whole lesson about  how to do this mirroring is a study practice that  

involves studying and mimicking or copying a good  english speaker's speech which means their words  

intonation and rhythm and their body language  so gestures facial expressions and so on so make  

sure to check out that live stream this is a great  study method that can help you feel more confident  

in your speaking in your pronunciation and so  on and last is join an online language exchange  

there are many apps and websites for online  language exchanges here you can chat with  

native english speakers anytime for practice  for example try speaky this is one that  

is a typing chatting app but you can chat with  native english speakers for practice it's very  

comfortable because it's just again on your  phone typing so you have time to think there's  

no worries about making mistakes or anything like  that so you can use an online language exchange  

all right so now that we have talked about  some study methods some self-study methods  

for each of the main language skills  let's talk about self-evaluation

there are many online english level  tests you can take again and again to see  

what your english level is for example  cambridge english has a general english exam  

there's also an online english level test  from british council and again you can just  

search these things online and they'll pop  right up there are also grammar quizzes and  

vocabulary quizzes for free online to test your  skills and see where you need to improve so you  

can just search for these things right there are  so many resources all you have to do is search  

so maybe you are trying to self study some  new grammar maybe you have a textbook that  

you're using or some study book and you  can look up um a simple present quiz or

english vocabulary quiz to test yourself see  what you know and this will help you see where  

you need to improve if you get many questions  wrong about some certain grammar point well  

that's something to study and work on if the  vocabulary quiz gets too hard with certain  

words certain level of words okay well i know this  is my vocabulary level and i can work to improve

so let me recommend to you some reliable or very  good english evaluation websites again cambridge  

english they have an online dictionary they  have level tests really great resource i also  

love british council again many great resources  for students and teachers alike duolingo has an  

excellent english test it is not free but it's  a good one and if you pay for it you can take it  

as many times as you want over time so it's  a very good way to measure your progress  

ielts has a good online test and  so does ef ef standard english test  

the key here is to choose one and take it maybe uh  three or four months apart so take it a few times  

a year to see how your study skills are working  right are my methods working am i improving  

and if not then it shows you you need to adjust  or change and do things a little differently  

but choose one and take it over and over again  that's why i really like the duolingo english test  

it is very comprehensive so many topics many  skills and you can take it every day not  

that you should but you can take it many times a  year and track your progress see how you improve  

so what else can you do to self-evaluate well this  goes back to our mirroring so you can choose a  

native speaking sample or maybe a video or short  clip maybe one minute or two minutes whatever  

is comfortable for you you can find it on  ted.com netflix youtube any any resource study it  

and i don't mean study for five seconds and  repeat i mean study and memorize for a week or  

so or at least several days practice it a lot  until you feel like i know these words i know  

uh i really feel like i am saying something very  similar to the native speaking sample maybe it's a  

clip from a movie or a tv show and i learn it and  feel okay i now i know it very well maybe it took  

me two weeks to really study then record a video  of yourself you can just use your phone you can  

use your computer and record yourself repeating  the same words saying that native speaking sample  

then compare how is your video  different than the original video  

notice things like pronunciation or certain words  or sounds that are hard for you or that aren't  

the same or aren't similar enough  to be understandable and study them  

and practice those things intentionally this is  a really it can be difficult to self-evaluate  

but repeating and comparing yourself to native  speakers can be a really useful strategy  

and before we end remember that enjoyment  and consistency are extremely important so  

what does this mean you must have enjoyable study  methods if you want to study but you hate studying  

uh the usual way the normal way well don't do  that there are so many ways to study there are  

as many ways to study as there are people so  find what works for you and what you enjoy  

you also must have a specific realistic schedule  so this means that you should uh maybe every  

monday for five minutes at 10 a.m and it should be  realistic so if you are very busy don't say i will  

study one hour every day that's very difficult  right and maybe not realistic maybe if you study  

one hour a day you will very very quickly not  want to study so find what works for you and  

you must stick to it so this means continue find  what you enjoy doing to study have a specific  

realistic schedule and stick to it you probably  will not figure it out right away so be patient  

allow yourself to change and adjust maybe your  methods change your schedule changes that's okay  

keep doing that and find what works for you