Pie crust promises?
Every year before New Year’s Eve night each of us during this whole shopping extravaganza and preparations for the party happens to slow down for a while and summarize the past twelve months events. We analyse what could we have done better, more precisely, whether it was possible to omit some of our mistakes.
The beginning of new year is the best possible opportunity to plan the next steps in your career. The injection of energy, new prospect and new opportunities motivates us to take an action. Nevertheless, you need to act quickly because once jotted down New Year’s Resolutions are often forgotten after a few days later.
Make a difference
The impetuses for change may also be an upcoming birthday or job cuts in the company. What is best to put your newly accumulated energy in? According to OBOP (Warsaw 2004), as much as 45% of Poles do not speak any foreign languages. Maybe it is the highest time to invest your time and money in English learning? This new skill will surely increase your chances in the labour market, moreover knowledge of English language is becoming a prerequisite also during business trips.
In line with OBOP research, the ability to speak at least one foreign language is generally declared by highly-educated persons, inhabitants of large urban agglomerations and young people. Thus, let us consider whether we actually still want to be in the minority, or maybe take up the challenge?
Outsmart yourself
First step is always the hardest – calling a language school for information and then paying a visit to enroll in a group. It’s not all downhill from here, continuing and English language course completion requires an enormous perseverance in pursuing a goal and consistency in action. So where to find the strength to fan the embers to keep them burning?
When you are getting lazy and the word „learn” sends an unpleasant shiver down the spine then say loudly and clear: „I don’t learn! I improve my professional skills!”.
If you are not able to learn continuously for several minutes, or maybe several dozen of minutes, please do some brief breaks and meanwhile DIY some flashcards with vocabulary and phrases for yourself. Take your personalized flashcards with you everywhere you go. You can use them everywhere and at any time you want, for instance: while waiting for your bus home, during commercial breaks while watching TV and when standing in lines. For some people playing with rhymes turns to be very efficient, for instance: „My son, John, went to bed with his trousers on” or „I scream, you scream We all scream for ice – cream.” It is well known that this type of fun with rhymes helps with memorizing whole sequences of words and grammar patterns.
The possibilities are almost endless. Experiment! Check on yourself what tricks works for your brain and squeeze out the last bit of your new methods. The new mission is to outsmart yourself and your laziness. Good luck!