29. Стратегії опанування англійською мовою (English learning strategies)

Nowadays millions of people all over the world have made heads and tails of learning English because of increasing political, economic and cultural ties among different countries. The English language plays an important role in the world communication, international business and social and cultural affairs.

Learning a foreign language isn’t an easy thing. It’s a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and efforts. Learning English is like learning to swim or to play ball. We learn to swim by swimming, to play ball by playing ball, and to speak English by speaking English. A good ball-player spends hours, days, months, and even years practising. The more he practises, the better he plays. And so it is when we are talking. Acquiring the ability to use a language automatically is a process of habit formation that requires much practice.

There are many ways we can practise and improve our English ourselves. First of all, we have to learn new foreign words almost every day because words are the materials out of which we build our thoughts.

We should try an English learning website or just read about our favourite bands, film stars or sports people. 80% of the Internet is in English and there’s a lot of interesting information there.

We can get an English-speaking penfriend. This is a great way to practise English. We should buy English language magazines and newspapers. We may read a story in our own language first, and then read it in English to see how well we can understand. We should also buy a graded reader that is the right level for us. The stories are interesting and the language isn’t too difficult, so we’ll start to enjoy reading English for fun.

Videos and DVD are a fun way to practise our listening. With a DVD we can watch a scene in our own language first and then watch it in English afterwards. We should also listen to the songs of our favourite English-speaking singers or bands and write down everything we understand. Then we can check the lyrics.

Besides all that a good language learner has to be confident in his ability to learn, enthusiastic, aware of why he wants to learn, unafraid of making mistakes, and unafraid of what he doesn’t know, positive in his attitude to English language and culture. And we should remember that nobody can learn to swim for us and nobody can learn English for us. We have to learn for ourselves, and we will learn it if we really want to and are willing to practise. Language isn’t to be taught, language is to be learnt.

30. Навчання дітей вдома: недоліки та переваги (Educating children at home: advantages and disadvantages)

When thinking about the putting your children through homeschool versus public or private school, you really should make sure that you understand all of the advantages and disadvantages of home education.

Many parents feel that their kids work better at different times of the day than what a public or private school allows for. Some children work and learn best in the morning, noon, or evening, so homeschooling allows parents and children to work out a schedule that will best work for the child.

In public and private schools there is a set curriculum that each subject must abide by, so by home schooling you are able to control which areas of the different subjects you want to put more emphasis on.

There is, also a certain flexibility around what is taught, not just when. If you go to a public event or on homeschool field trip, your children may have questions about the topic at hand. Homeschooling allows for a break in the normal curriculum so that you can further discuss towards the questions in a more in-depth manner.

By being taught at home, a child receives far more individual attention than he would in an ordinary classroom. This can be a huge advantage, because if a child doesn’t understand something, you can stop and go over it with him, instead of having to worry about a class full of children falling behind.

You are able to enjoy your kids and watch them grow and learn on a daily basis. Homeschooling allows you to really get to know your kids on a whole different level than packing them on the bus for school in the mornings.

There are also some disadvantages. Because home schooling your kids is really a full time job, you just may not have enough time in the day to do what you need to get done. You have to full research topics and prepare lessons, set up projects and field trips. You will have to spend time keeping yourself organized, and on top of all that, you have to teach.

The other disadvantage of homeschooling is that children miss out the opportunities to interact with their peers and develop social skills that could lead to some developmental problems. An inability to socialize well, a shyness that comes with not being around other kids, and a tendency to work better as an individual, rather than in a team, stem from this lack of association.

Because homeschooling takes up a lot of time in preparation and delivery, you may run out of your personal, quiet time and time for household duties and chores.

Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages, you must make sure that you weigh everything before you jump into a decision about pushing your kids into public school, or pulling them out.