Examples

Wherever you are

1. Use the Internet to get information in English.
2. Write an e-mail to someone in English.
3. Raise your hand in class to volunteer to speak.
4. Ask questions in class if you don't understand something.

If you are in an English-speaking country

1. With a partner and/or a classmate, eat lunch with native English speakers.
2. Start conversations with people while you're waiting in line for something.
3. Go to parties where people are speaking English.

If you are not in an English-speaking country

1. Go to places where you can find English speakers and talk with them.
2. Practice English with your classmates outside the classroom.
3. Buy and read an English language newspaper.

Discussing with the Whole Class

Write your Post-it strategies from the last exercise on the board for the rest of the class to see. If you like someone else's strategies, add them to your Post-its and use them.

Writing your Journal

Answer these questions in your journal:

1. How well did the language ego questionnaire describe you? Give examples.
2. How do you feel when you make mistakes in front of your classmates?
3. Look back at all the Post-its you have been making. How well have you been following them? Highlight (with a colored marker) any strategies that you have not been doing, and write them in your journal now to remind you.

H. Douglas Brown, Strategies for Success: A Practical Guide to Learning English (White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, 2002.) Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education .