I am using English everyday now, not only for speaking, but also thinking, writing and reading, mostly because I don't want to lose this skill. When I returned from the UK, I was aware that I couldn't follow English again if I don't keep practicing it. To my horror, suddenly, on my first night in Indonesia, I read the movie subtitle and forgot to listen.
Then, in my second reversed culture shock from Australia, I didn't want to waste my time again to learn English from the scratch, so I made a goal to do an IELTS or TOEFL test every two years. That means, I must train and build up my English skills everyday by various ways, such as reading English articles, listening to online lecturers in Youtube or even watching BBC Classic Drama quite strictly.
At the beginning, things were quite slow.
Once I woke up with a brain paralyzed. It didn't want to process anything in English.
But then, I force myself to read at least one article once I wake up every morning. This is not only for catching up with the vocabularies, but also trying to update my horizons in many areas. I've done this for years now, and feel quite uncomfortable if I don't start my day with any English articles from on-line news or blogs.
This process is a training to grasp English vocab and learn the grammar pattern once I connect with myself everyday. It just takes about less than an hour per day. It needs to be done early morning, when the brain is still in a fresh state. It will work for some time, and you notice there is a change in your brain when it comes to processing some information in English. It is quicker with higher comprehension for any type of information flow in English.
It is also useful to take note on some useful phrases and use them frequently when speaking or writing. I get this advantage when I have to use English spontaneously. It is not difficult to recall some common phrases, but for specific phrases, when we could use it automatically without thinking much, it feels like winning something precious. I noticed, that now I tend to take note of specific terminology and cross check my understanding before use them. Clarity is my weakness, so I have to understand it perfectly before use those specific terminology appropriately to give them a meaning.
Anyway, we always could train ourselves on learning something.
The key is to be discipline and has a strong will to master the skill. With a strategy and rigorous routine, you will build up the skill with time. At the end of the day, you will be able to use it without any difficulty to recall it from yourself.
Pekanbaru,
Learn to be discipline to blogging again!
