Have you ever taken a large group English class with 15 or 20 students?
Did you feel that you could never improve because everyone else was speaking and you had no chance to speak?
Maybe the lessons were only geared toward students who were verbal learners and liked to speak up and participate in class?
If you want to see real improvement in your English skills, it's time to pay attention to your learning needs and your learning style.
How do you learn best?
The truth is, everyone has their own unique form of intelligence.
In order to improve your English, you need to work with a tutor who will recognize your learning style and create lessons based on the way that you learn in a private English class.
So what is your learning style? Let's find out!
You are a verbal learner if you...
...learn by listening and you love words.
You are able to understand new English words by listening to your teacher and taking notes.
You are also very good at making speeches and presentations.
You might have a lot of books at home and you enjoy using words to communicate with people.
A verbal learner needs to learn English by...
...hearing the correct pronunciation of native speakers and practicing it regularly in real life conversations.
A verbal learner can also improve his or her English by telling a story, discussing current affairs or debating a controversial issue.
You are a visual learner if you...
...prefer to see new words written on a page in order to remember them.
You might visualize a new word and how it is written in your mind when you hear it.
You like to learn using diagrams, graphs, timelines or even videos.
A visual learner needs to learn English by...
..using timelines to understand difficult grammar points like "I have eaten", "I had eaten" and "I ate". A visual learner can also be very successful if he or she can study a page of written notes. Visual learners don't like to follow verbal instructions or perform drills where they have to repeat words.
You are an active learner if you...
...like to use a new grammar point or vocabulary word in a real conversation or role play as soon as you learn it.
You don't like to take much time to think about a new word, instead you want to get active, try the word in a conversation and see how it works.
An active learner needs to learn English by...
...participating in the lesson. The English lesson needs to be interactive and engaging. An active learner who is learning new vocabulary words for a job interview, might do a role play of a job interview with his or her English tutor to learn how to use the new words correctly.
You are a reflective learner if you...
...enjoy studying by yourself instead of working with a group.
Maybe you prefer to think about how to use a new word or grammar point before actually using it.
A reflective learner needs to learn English by...
...taking time during the lesson to think about new information that is being learned.
In a private English class, a reflective learner can ask for extra time to think about the grammar point or vocabulary word before using it in conversation.
How can private English classes help you based on your learning style?
Did you figure out which learning style you are?
As we have seen in this post, people learn in many different ways.
The problem is, in a large group English class, the lessons are often only based on one or two learning styles.
If you want to improve quickly and get result from your investment of time and money and enjoy learning English, we recommend a customized private English class.
Would you like to know more about your learning style?
- Take this questionnaire
- Get to know us on Facebook!
- Practice your "small talk"- How to Make Small Talk in the US
photo credit- we'moon
