During your online learning...

It’s important to have the basic tools to start with - don’t keep jumping ahead and forget to revise the basics. You can’t build a strong building if the foundations are weak and full of gaps. At some point, the structure will collapse.

Learners should reflect on their own learning and interests and to help develop a plan and strategy that they would be interested in executing. Meta cognition is a higher-order 21st century skill. “It includes knowledge about learning, knowledge of one’s own learning strengths and weaknesses, and the demands of the learning task at hand. Metacognition also includes self-regulation — the ability to orchestrate one’s learning: to plan, monitor success, and correct errors when appropriate — all necessary for effective intentional learning.”

Communicate with your teacher

• Just because you are completing the course outside of the classroom doesn’t mean that your teacher isn’t there to help. When you have questions or need help, don’t hesitate to reach out to them via email or discussion boards.

• Knowing that your teacher is there to help you can reduce stress and will most certainly help you succeed.

• If you need clarification, communicate with your instructor or other students. Many teachers set up preferred communication channels, whether it’s email, instant messaging, or direct messaging on social media. Try to use that channel to get answers to your questions. Just remember to phrase your question politely and to give as many details as possible.For instance, you might say, “I’m struggling with the section on [topic]. From the video, it’s not clear how I [perform a specific action]. When you have time, could you elaborate about [specific list of details] so I might understand it better?”

Participate in Online Discussions

When you discuss course material with other students and instructors, you often learn more than if you were to rely on the provided study materials alone. Furthermore, you’ll gain a sense of community and camaraderie that can make online learning more enjoyable.

Learn to Communicate Effectively

People can’t assess your body language or tone of voice when you’re communicating via email or instant messenger. Learn to communicate effectively online by keeping sarcasm to a minimum, saying words and phrases out loud before you type them, and taking other people’s lead when you start conversations.

Pay Attention to Signals

Other people in an online discussion often send signals about the accepted etiquette in a given forum. Pay attention to those signals.

For instance, do they usually type short, to-the-point sentences or long paragraphs? Do they joke and tease one another, or do they stick to strictly educational exchanges? Are people using emojis or including links in their communications? Formal or casual?

Respond to Others’ Contributions

It’s easy to think about online learning as a one-sided affair.If someone else asks a question and you have the answer, offer it. When you help other people and respond to their frustrations, you create trust and loyalty, and those people will be more likely to respond when you have questions of your own. Peer teaching…can learn a lot from fellow students. Also, you can teach someone else or offer to explain things in your way. They say that you only truly understand something when you can teach it to someone else.

Chat with friends online

Chatting with friends online is a fun way to self-study English without even realizing it. It’s different from talking to a teacher, or studying in class, or even using English at work because it’s relaxed, and the language is easy.

You can chat on messenger through Twitter tweets or even through video chat calls. Chatting is an amazing way to learn English because you’re putting into practice what you’ve learned in a casual, stress-free way.

Through keyboard chatting, you get to check for grammar errors before you hit that “enter” button.

• Use a computer or phone with a microphone. Many of these websites and apps have activities where you can practice speaking. You’ll need a microphone for that.

• Find topics that interest you. When you use topics that you like, you'll want to learn and listen or read. It's good to have a genuine interest in the material.

• Schedule a time each day to study. You need to practice often and regularly to get better. Schedule a set time each day to study English, like while you have breakfast or take the train to work.

If you feel you’re not hitting the objectives, reach out to your instructor or to other students. Figure out where you might have gone wrong, then devise a plan to get back on track. However, don’t push yourself to meet objectives or goals by a deadline someone else creates. You know how quickly or how slowly you learn, so design your milestones and timescale based on that knowledge. If you think you can complete part one of a course within three days, give yourself five. You might meet your three-day goal, in which case you can pat yourself on the back, but if it takes you five days, you won’t have to rearrange your study schedule for the future. But don’t be afraid to push yourself either - aim for constant improvement. Progress not perfection!

Create a Study Calendar

Work out a regular routine and fit study time around work, family and friends.Aim for a set amount each time you study, with regular breaks. Remember that eyes get tired looking a screen for longer periods of time. Stick to Your Schedule and remember your priorities! One of my favorite sayings is ‘Tomorrow you’ll wish you started today’. Don’t put things off until tomorrow!

After your online learning...

Keep on exploring and discovering new things about British English!

Musicians don’t retire, they stop when there’s no more music left in them, but there is plenty of music left to learn - always

Learners should never stop learning, even if we’ve been learning for a long time - we never know it all and the world constantly changes, and therefore so must we.

I hope you continue enjoying your English language learning journey with World Language Explorers.

Thanks for joining me!