Good organization is important if you want to make fast progress. How much
time can you give to your studies and what resources do you have at your disposal? You have to assemble the books and tapes you need and get to know how they are organized. We are to look at how you can organize your studies efficiently right from the outset.
How many hours do you think you can spend on your English study each day?
The following task contains a case study and will help you to calculate your English
study time.
Janet is a student at a university. She is going to study Spanish as part of her Business Studies course. "I need about eight and a half hours sleep a night. I suppose I spend around half an hour each day washing and dressing and another half an hour doing routine chores around the flat. My journey to and from the university takes 45
minutes each day and I generally spend around six hours a day in classes or the library. I need to spend another two hours studying for my business course when I get home. Preparing food and eating takes around an hour and a half and I'd like to have two or three hours to relax if possible."
1. Janet will have approximately ______ hours per day for Spanish study.
2. I will have approximately ______ hours per day for English study.
You can make progress studying just one hour a week but obviously three hours
would be much better and five hours would be better still. Do you have enough time to spare? Can you juggle other things around to give yourself more time? It would be wise for you to plan your own study schedule.
It is important to consider not just the amount of time you can set aside for study but also the quality of that time. If you know you don't think very clearly after 9 p.m., it isn't a good idea to organize your study time for late in the evenings. It would be better to get up an hour earlier several mornings a week and study then.
Having organized time for your studies you will have to equip yourself with the books and tapes that you need. If you are taking lessons it's quite likely you will be using a coursebook. It will be worth your while to find out how this book is organized so you can look things up when you need to. The other essential book you need is a dictionary. If you already have one, you will have to decide whether it's good enough. If not, you will have to consider buying a better one. The following task will help to examine a dictionary in order to decide whether or not it is adequate.
The inherent problem with translation dictionaries is that words do not always
translate neatly from one language to another. When you are first starting to learn a language, you need a translation dictionary, but you would be wise to change to an explanation type as soon as possible.
