Learn English with Teacher Joe

“Miss the boat” means “to miss an opportunity”
For example, we can say, “The sale ends today at noon. If we don’t hurry, we’re going to miss the boat!”

Business people often try to rush people, to make them think they will miss out on a great thing if they don’t buy now. Have you ever felt that you would “miss the boat” if you didn’t buy something right away? Have you ever “missed the boat” when you had an opportunity at work, or at school, or in love maybe?

Well, don’t miss the boat now - memorize this idiom and use it the next time a good “boat” passes by!

Kevin wrote, “Who is teacher Joe ? I am sorry if this question is too simpler for a new member.” Actually, many students ask this question! Here is one student’s answer:

http://www.teacherjoe.us/StudentsView.html 

Here is a riddle. We have a great prize (very loud “cyber-applause”!) for anyone who can guess the answer.

How can you spell mousetrap with three letters? 

Clever reader Nafis came up with the answer “CAT”. What do you think? Is it a good answer? Yes, that IS the right answer! (^_^) Everyone give Nafis a big round of applause! (YEAH!!! Clap, clap, clap!)  Now go visit her blog at http://eslblogs.englishclub.com/nafis/ where you can get inspiration to continue with your English studies.

A faithful reader asks: “What is the characteristic of perfect practice? How can I know I practiced perfectly? Because when a learner practices English, the results of the practice do not show very quickly.”

In fact, there are two ways to study a language, and students must use BOTH ways. One way is to practice for fluency - this is called “extensive learning”. Watching TV shows or movies, listening to radio, reading newspapers, magazines or novels are all examples of extensive learning. With this kind of learning, we cannot see quick progress and must trust in our brains to improve over time.

The other kind of practice is for accuracy. This kind of very careful practice is called “intensive learning”. Doing dictations, reading short passages, or reciting sentences (such as the one I recommended in the video mentioned in my last post) are examples of intensive practice. With intensive practice, it IS possible to see your progress IMMEDIATELY. For example, my students tried to say the sentence in my video (”Don’t put off til tomorrow what you can do today”) but made many mistakes, such as leaving out sounds (”Don pu off…”), leaving out whole words (”Don’t put off tomorrow what you can today”) or mixing up word order (”Don’t put til off tomorrow what today you can do”). By carefully comparing your speech with what you hear, you can see instant improvement. You may have to repeat many, many times - that is the nature of intensive practice, especially for students who have never done it before - but it gets easier with practice. And THAT is “perfect practice”.

I have made another short video to give students fluency practice. If you are interested, click here to learn to speak English fluently.  This video is aimed at lower-intermediate level students, though more advanced students who do not have many chances to practice speaking may also benefit. Please remember what I tell my students almost every day: Practice does NOT make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect!  Do your best and good luck.

I have always taught my students how to learn language “in context”. Seeing how much more my students learn “in context”, compared with learning isolated parts of English, has always been a very satisfying experience. Students can learn in context online as well!  On January 7th, a reader left this comment on my blog:

“I want to tell you a new experience I underwent after having read one of your joke stories (it may help others). As you know it well, the story is about a blind man who travels to Taxas. while reading. I imagined what he looked like, which movement he made, in which room he walked and so on. You know, it is unbelievable. Fantastically, I can remember all the story, all the words you have written, and can recount the tale to my sister who is learning English, too. She said it is a magical experience. Now we both let our imaginings help us recall the words we want to remember. ”

Good work Dang! I’m glad you and your sister have both benefited. Our brains learn by making connections. When we learn from a story, our brain can naturally make many more connections. It does seem almost magical!

There are countless websites where you can learn English by reading (any newspaper or magazine) or by listening (radio stations or You Tube for video). If your English is not quite good enough yet for newspapers or video, you can listen to Teacher Joe’s jokes by clicking here or watch some videos with explanations by clicking here.

Good luck with your learning. If you have any more “magical” experiences, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment!