HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you enjoyed your holidays.

A very common tradition in the Western world is to make New Year's Resolutions at the beginning of a new year. The most common resolutions are to get in shape, lose weight, quit smoking or drinking, get organised, reduce debt, spend more time with family and friends, enjoy life more, help others and learn something new (for example...English). In general, then, a resolution is a personal promise to eliminate bad habits and/or add good habits to your daily routine.

If improving your English is one of your resolutions, here are some tips to help you to be successful. Of course, these tips will work for any resolution:

1) Create small goals for yourself that you'll be able to accomplish. If your goal is too big, you'll feel defeated before you even get started; keep your goals realistic.

2) Get started right away! Many of us think to ourselves, "I'll start studying English when I have more time and motivation." It doesn't work that way. You need to take action first and inspiration will follow.

3) Don't be a perfectionist. Concentrate on how much you are improving not on how limited your English is.

4) Don't keep your resolutions to yourself. By sharing your objectives with someone you trust, they may be able to gently and positively "pressure" you to stay on track.

5) Give your resolutions meaning. Your English objective should be something you really desire, not something that society says is good or that your boss is pressuring you to achieve. If you don't have strong, internal motivation to improve your English, then you won't.

I wish you a very prosperous and successful 2007, with LOTS of improvement and practice with English.

Have a good day.