How to Reach English Advanced Level Through SelfStudy Ask Alisha
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Welcome back to the Internet.
Hi everybody! welcome back to Ask Alisha the
weekly series where you ask me questions and
I answer them.
Maybe!
First question, first question comes from
Faris Ghazali.
Faris Ghazali.
“How do I stop translating the meaning of
English words in my head?”
I can tell you about the things that have
helped me and maybe they’ll help you.
I put myself in situations where I could not
escape into my native language.
In my case, I could not escape into English.
I would go out like for food and drinks with
friends who could not speak English.
I had no choice but to use a different language
with them.
Two, something that I’ve noticed some of my
students do that actually kind of bothers
me, they bring a dictionary to their lesson
and they’ll stop conversations in lessons
to check words in their dictionary and say
a single word at a time instead of just trying
to find a different way to explain that.
One, it totally stops the flow of conversation.
Two, you don’t have really the option to do
that in a conversation.
Most of the time you’re not going to be carrying
around your dictionary with you, I hope, unless
it’s in your phone I suppose.
Third, I think that this is a chance to develop
a better skill instead of trying to translate
into English or to translate into a different
language.
You should think about finding a different
way to explain the word you want to use.
Let’s say for example that you want to use
the word “beautiful” but you can’t remember
the word.
How would you explain that?
So, think about other ways to communicate
an idea even if you don’t have the vocabulary
words.
So, going to your dictionary shouldn’t necessarily
be the first course of action.
It shouldn’t necessarily be your first step.
Think about a different way to communicate
the idea you’re trying to communicate.
Think of examples to explain the word you’re
looking for and then the other person can
teach you.
Like if you’re working with somebody or you’re
talking with somebody who understands you’re
not a native speaker, chances are, if you
can explain the word you’re looking for.
They will tell you, they will be your teacher.
I just explained like with body language sometimes
too if I don’t know a word.
So, another thing that really helped me was
not just studying vocabulary words but actually
approaching things as phrases so not saying–okay
this word equals this word in my language
but rather here’s a phrase that communicates
a meaning that is interesting to me or that
I hear my friends use a lot.
I’m going to use that phrase.
So, don’t just input, input, input, start
outputting too so hope that’s helpful for
you.
Next question!
Next question is from Huang Jiang Ik.
Hi!
Huang Jiang Ik says, “I’m curious.
What do you do when your days off?”
You want to know how I do with my days off?
In my days–I’m pretty normal.
When my day is off I cook, I go jogging, I
sleep, I go listening to my favorite DJs,
I see my friends, I eat and drink and watch
TV.
That’s about it.
I’m a pretty normal person
Next question!
Next question is from Muhammad Sohio, “What
is the difference between famous and popular?”
Great question, ‘famous’ is ‘something
that is well-known’.
Many people know about that thing or that
person.
Beyoncé is famous, the Statue of Liberty
is famous, the Eiffel Tower is famous.
“Popular,” however, means many people
know about it and it is liked.
It has a positive image so like Beyoncé is
popular or a famous candy is popular like
chocolate cake is popular.
It’s a famous food and many people like it
so “popular” is “famous” plus like
a positive image.
Sometimes we can use those two words for the
same thing.
So, Beyoncé is famous, Beyoncé is popular.
But, famous doesn’t always mean they are popular.
Someone can be famous for a bad thing.
In that case, though, it’s typically better
to use the word “infamous.”
“infamous” means famous for a bad reason.
So, famous for something negative.
Next question!
Next question comes from– Oh!
You wrote the pronunciation of your name.
Very nice, Eiton.
Eiton, I think.
Okay.
“Alisha, I hope you’re well.
My level is intermediate.
They feel that they’re stuck at the intermediate
level and want to reach the advanced level.
They’re watching lots of videos on YouTube,
reading academic articles on the web but still
feel that progress has somehow stopped, could
you give me some advice?”
Okay, you say in your message that you feel
your progress somehow has stopped.
I have been here to the intermediate plateau
like you begin learning a language and it’s
like, “Yeah!
I’m learning all these things.”
And then, you kind of like plateau.
You get to a level where things don’t continue
and you feel like progress goes much more
slowly.
I would say, in this case, first, identify
how you feel your progress has stopped.
By that, I mean, do you feel like your vocabulary
is lacking?
Or, do you find that it’s hard to listen to
people and to understand what they’re saying?
Do you find it’s hard to write?
Is it hard to like to read things?
So, first, identify what is that thing that
you feel like you’re not good and then start
to approach your further studies with that
as the focus.
I think that if you can think about your different
skill sets your different levels in reading,
writing, speaking and listening, you can identify
which of those four things is weakest for
you and start there.
So, when you feel your progress has stopped,
think, “Okay, what am I not good at doing?”
And then, focus your time there.
So, maybe, that’s a helpful first step for
you, hope that helps.
Next question!
Next question comes from Kiara, Chiara?
Chiara asks, “’I’ll help you studying,’
and ‘I’ll help you to study.’
What is the correct one?
Thanks.”
“I’ll help you something,” “I’ll help
you do this.”
So, just the regular plain form of the verb.
I would suggest is probably the most natural
choice.
Thanks for the question, though.
Next question!
Next question comes from Sheriff, Sharif Amed,
Sheriff Amed?
“Should I use the singular or plural verb
after colloquial names.
For example, ‘My team have won the match,’
or ‘has won the match.’”
Okay, in this case, “My team has won the
match.”
Use the singular form of the verb.
Same as like “he has” or “she has,”
“My team has,” is the correct answer.
Next question!
Next question comes from Jeffrey.
Hi, Jeffrey!
Jeffrey asks, “Sometimes I watch movies
and some characters say ‘You wish!’ with
a very angry attitude or ‘I wish,’ in
other situations.
What do these two sentences mean and how do
I use it?”
Aha!
Interesting question.
Okay, when someone responds with “You wish!”
to a negative suggestion.
It’s like they’re mutually together they’re
recognizing that they don’t like each other.
So, usually, the first character will say
something like make a negative suggestion
like, “You should you leave town and get
a different job, leave us alone!”
Something like that.
And then, the other character will say, “Yeah,
you wish.”
Like, yes, this character recognizes you want
me to do that, yes, but I’m not going to do
that in other words.
It’s sort of like a challenge.
This person says like this negative suggestion,
the other person recognizes this suggestion
and says, “No, I’m not going to do that
but I know you want me to do that.”
So, “You wish!” in this way means it’s
like a negative challenge.
They’re kind of fighting, recognizing they
dislike each other.
So, that’s one.
The other one, what was the other one?
So, “I wish.”
We talked about “I wish,” in the previous,
the previous episode of Ask Alisha.
So, please check that out.
But, essentially, “I wish,” refers to
something that we cannot do now or something
that is different from the present situation
but we want we want to happen or we want to
be able to do so.
Please check the last episode of Ask Alisha
for more about “I wish” like the positive
meeting.
Next question!
Next question is from Romeo Liu from Vietnam.
Hello, Romeo!
“Could you please explain what the expression,
‘Try as I may,’ means?”
Ah!
This is usually used in an expression that’s
sort of negative like even though I’m trying
my best it’s difficult for me to do this thing.
So, “Try as I may, I just can’t get a new
job,” or “try as I may, I just can’t earn
that much money,” or “Try as I may I just
can’t seem to cook this dish,” for example.
So, even though, I’m giving my best effort,
even though, I’m really working hard this
other thing just isn’t happening for me.
It’s sort of like a sad or like a disappointed
or unhappy expression actually.
Thanks for the question, Romeo.
Okay, so, those are all the questions for
this week’s episode of Ask Alisha.
I hope that they were useful for you.
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Thanks very much for watching this episode
of Ask Alisha and I will see you again next week.
Bye-bye!
I talk too much. I’m late for work.