Step 1: Discover Your Motivation
Firstly, I think one of the most important tips I can give you is to
discover your motivation for learning English.  What will motivate
you to spend 30 minutes a day, everyday learning something?
Let's be honest, learning another language requires a big
commitment of time on your part.  Will it be school pressure,
work pressure, or parental pressures that keeps you going?
What motivation will let you continue on this happy path of
learning for the "long haul" (def: long term)?

I think the most import motivator is to "have fun".  Only then can
learning English be really rewarding to you and keep you on the
path to English enlightenment ^_^

For you, the goal is to find a combination of learning that creates
this important element of "FUN" in your learning process.  This
might involve using the right material, finding the right topic, and
using the learning right techniques.  With the right elements in
place, you will find learning English a fun, creative, and enjoyable
"pastime".

As every student is different, so your own personal "fun elements"
are different.  To help you find your personal elements of "FUN", I
have listed some useful suggestions below.  I'm sure you will find
them helpful and more importantly FUN!

Step 2: Searching for Your Personal Study Elements:
 
Fun Sources for Improving Your Reading:
When reading articles, don't look up your dictionary right
away. A very good habit is to guess first.  Also, after you
read, ask yourself which parts of the article you like the most
and underline them.

1) http://www.suite101.com
    A good place to find well written articles on anything you might
    be interest in.  They have many thousands of new articles
    everyday and there is a convenient article search engine you
    can use.
2) Studio Classroom magazine (sold in Taiwan)
3) JacksonFive Newsletter
    You're already here!

 
Effective Writing Techniques:
To have good writing, you much first read good articles (note
above). You can also practice by writing "outlines" for the
articles above. You can find information on how to write
"outlines" and other important writing tips in issue 28.

For those very interested in improving their writing skills, you
can join our "JacksonFive Writing Program".

 
Listening, "Practice Makes Perfect"
1) Studio Classroom programs on TV is an excellent
    source of listening practice. 
2) JacksonFive MP3 Recording
    Before listening to recording, please read our newsletter using
    the reading tips I mentioned above.  When listening to
    recording, practice until you can listening and understand
    what I'm saying without the newsletter in front of you.

 
Speaking Clearly
Practice reading in front of a mirror is a good way to practice
speaking.  After you get comfortable with this, add more volume
and emotion into what you are saying.  Remember, if you can't
be heard, no matter how good your pronunciation is, I still can't
understand you, so "speak up!"

Another common mistake I find many times with my students
is that they aren't reading with the punctuations.  Make sure you
stop longer at periods "."  Also, please read sentences ending in
question mark, "?" and exclamation mark "!" differently than
sentences ending in period "."

1) Toastmasters is a good place to practice speaking English
     in front of people.  Toastmasters clubs are fun and there are
     clubs in every major city around the World.]

 
Give yourself time and
let your imagination loose!
I feel sorry for English students in Asia because most of the
time creativity is driven out of the classroom.  Instead of letting
you guess and work out the answer, answers are given by the
teachers right away.  Because time is short, you are not
encouraged to imagine and visualize the answer.  What I find
is that if you were given the time and encouraged to let your
imagination loose, the answer is very obvious and the learning
process is quite "empowering" (def: feel like you are in control).

 
Work it out for yourself!
Ideally, the process of "working the answer out for
yourself" should be stressed.

What I tell my students all the time is that you shouldn't look
at your dictionaries "at the drop of a dime" (def: often). Otherwise,
you are depending on them rather than exercising your new
English brain cells ^_^

Dictionaries are just like crutches.  They won't let you fall,
but you can't run fast with them either.  You should use
dictionaries only as the "last resort" and not the "first option".

If you also have a fun tip for learning English, please email me.

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