HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH IN THE SUMMER (INSPIRATION & YOUR GOAL)

Hello again everyone. Welcome to our 3rd Daily Vitamin lesson of the week. I hope your week is going well. 

Remember, tomorrow, Thursday, July 13th from 18:00 to 19:00, I am offering a webinar to provide tips and tools to help you use the 2023 summer holidays as an opportunity to improve your English and develop habits that can help you to be a more successful learner in the future.

The webinar will be about 45-50 minutes and we'll have about 10-15 minutes for Q&A at the end. The session will be held in Spanglish; a mixture of Spanish (spoken) and English (spoken and in the PowerPoint). 

You can sign up for the session at the following link: https://ziggurat-es.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rcuChqDwjGNx3j12WVBPaFWaDKTiXVfUI

Yesterday we talked about the importance of Mindset and Desire when learning English. You have to believe that you can learn and begin to support yourself mentally. And of course, you have to take action, which we will speak about tomorrow. Today, I want to speak about your English Goal. 

The truth is, most people don't have a clear English Goal. They want to "improve their English" but if you ask them what level they desire, they are not sure. If you don't know where you are going, it's very difficult to get there. So, the first step is to decide what level you want. Choose a level that inspires you! What level would you really like to have? Don't think about how you are going to get that level, or how long it will take. Just decide what level of English that you would truly love to have. 

I recommend at least a B2 (Upper Intermediate) level, since that's generally where people begin to feel comfortable speaking English in personal and professional situations. But you may want to choose a C1 (Advanced) or even a C2 (proficiency level); it's up to you.

Next, you need to know what level you have now. If you are not sure of your level, you can do a quick level test on our web. I've included the URL below.

Online English Level Test: https://www.ziggurat.es/nivel-ingles-test-inicio/

Next, figure out approximately how long it will take you to reach your desired level with the Ziggurat Language Calculator.

Language Calculator: https://www.ziggurat.es/calculator-inicio/

Language Calculator Instructions: In the Language Calculator, you choose the number of weekly hours of class that you are doing, and the number of weekly self-study hours or minutes that you are doing, and it will tell you approximately how many months and/or years that it will take you to reach your desired level. You will be asked to choose a "Modalidad formativa" which will assign a certain number of weekly minutes/hours of class. If you choose "classic presencial" that assumes you are doing 1.5 hours of class per week. If you choose "alto" in the option "nivel de urgencia para llegar al nivel objetivo" it will assume that you are going two (2) 1.5 hour classes per week. Play around to find the case that most matches your reality. If you are not taking any classes right now, choose "classic"  and then "Telefónica," which will programme only 30 minutes per week. 

Then, play with the option "tiempo de autoestudio semanal entre clases." The more you raise the weekly time, the fewer months/years it will take you to reach your objective. If your objective is going to take a long time according to the calculator, don't get discouraged. I have found that when people get going and take this seriously, they generally reach their goal sooner than planned. Also, you are going to want to set short-term and medium-term goals. For example, if you are an A2 and you want to reach B2, create a plan to reach B1 for now.

If you follow my instructions, you will know where you are and where you are going, and approximately how long it will take. Now you have to take action. Tomorrow we'll talk about how to create your own methodology and an English Plan.

Enjoy the rest of your day.