Learn English with Teacher Joe

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”.