There isn’t just one best way to learn a foreign language. In fact, there are plenty of ways. Some are easier to follow than others. There are also effective ways and hit-and-miss ways. Allow me to share with you my ten cents on language learning.

I have been an ESL/EFL teacher for over 10 years now, and I am a learner of foreign language, too. (I am learning/brushing up on my Spanish.) In fact, if I remember it right, I picked up Spanish for me to understand firsthand how it feels like to learn a foreign language.  I know how challenging learning English can get sometimes.

Sun Tzu in his undying masterpiece, The Art War, pointed out that to overcome an “enemy” one must know himself, know his enemy and know the battlefield where they are to wage war.  I am not saying that we wage an actual war here, but Sun Tzu’s ideas can be applied to learning English.

The first advice, know who you are, is essential in learning any skill. Here are some guide questions that may help you as a student of English:

1. Let’s begin from within:


1. What kind of a learner are you?
   
   All of us learn differently. What may be effective to one student may not be effective for you. Know your style and learning curve.
   
   Think back to when you were in school. What subjects were easy for you to learn? Why were they easy? What styles of learning are effective for you?


2. How do you feel about being taught another language?
   
   If you feel that you need to learn with someone of certain qualifications, then do so by all means. If you do not trust the teacher, it is hard to learn. Dedication should come from you and your teacher. This is not a one-way street where your teacher possesses all the magic to make you speak English at a wave of his or her wand. It’s teamwork.
   
   
3. How do you feel about the language you are learning?
   
   You either got to love it or leave it. Learning English when you hate it is twice the work and no fun whatsoever. If you really do not love English, you just have to learn to love it.
   
   
4. What are your preconceived notions about how to learn English?
   
   Here a few ideas about English and how to learn it that I invite you to challenge:
   
   
   1. I have to learn grammar to speak English. – This depends on the type of learner you are.
   2. I have bad listening skills because I cannot hear the words in the movies. – We hear words as part of the idea, so we may not be able to repeat an idea word for word. This is why paraphrasing and reported speech exist.
   3. Memorizing rules and expressions – This works when you are a beginner and memorizing is your learning style.
   4. English is hard – It maybe challenging in some areas but not all together hard. When it is hard, it’s time to ask for help. There are many people willing to help you.
   5. I have to speak with a British or an American accent – Well, okay if you can, but not really. Just make sure you make your sounds clear.


2. Let’s move on to some external factors that may affect you:
   
   
   1. How much time a day, a week, a month can you devote to learning English? – You have to know how much time you have in your hands and adjust your goals based on the actual time you can spend learning English. You do not want to be rushed when you are studying.
   
   
   2. What kind of personality and skills are you looking for a teacher whom you feel can teach you effectively? – Your personality and your teacher’s personality must jive. You got to know your personality and personalities that you get along well with.  Remember, you are going to be a team working towards the same goal.
      
      
   3. What materials/books/issues apply you?
      If you are interested in what you are talking about, you tend to share more and therefore talk more. You will focus not on the technicalities of the language but on communicating your ideas.
   
   
   4. Imagine yourself speaking English very well. Then move backwards.
      
      This means asking yourself: “How did I get here? What did I do to get here?” Keep asking yourself these questions until you get to where you are at now, then from here move forward, doing exactly what you thought you did to get to your goal.
   
   
   5. What personal standards would you base your improvement on? It has to be more specific than “speaking English very well.” – What is “speaking well” to you? Is it good vocabulary, good grammar, good diction? You have to be very specific because specifics are easier to tackle than general and vague things. Be as specific as you can get.

The second advice states that you should know the enemy. Here are some things that you might want to consider about English:

1. English is not just reading, or writing…or speaking, or listening. English is the combination of all these skills. However, the natural way of learning a language proceeds
2. English is not a language used only by the Americans, the British, the Canadian, the Australians and the New Zealanders. English is used by a quite number of countries including the Philippines, India and Liberia. Understand that when English hits the shores of a foreign country, the language almost automatically takes on the culture and the identity of the people speaking it. It is a fact that language serves the need of people to communicate ideas, therefore language bends and adapts to the socio-cultural influence of the people using it. This is how the English language thrives. It is so open to embrace local color.
3. Communication is the end of learning a language. It is not just about having an accent or the ability to make the language dance. The highest end of learning a language is to be able to communicate effectively. So, alongside the technicalities of the language other factors such as social, psychological and historical factors need to be considered when communicating in any language.
4. Creativity is another skill English encourages us to explore. Yes, there are rules but such rules are merely expressions of tendencies of the language rather than being hard and fast rules of thumb. Yes, you can create words and expressions when a situation so warrants. 
5. Bottom line: If people understand what you mean, your English is perfect!

The third advice, know the battlefield. Here are the tips on that:

1. What are you going to use English for? Is it for work? For fun? For travel? Where you are planning to use English affects what areas of the language you have to focus on, what words and expressions you need to know and what skills you need to acquire.
2. Who will you communicate with? Will it be with people from your country or with foreigners?

I am very sure that there are a lot more ways to learn English better, but these are some of the tips I would like to share after observing my students and their progress over a period of ten years. Good Luck! Victoria here at your service.