English Learning Advice

dear newsmaker,

How many ways to say ‘bye’?

~Mr. bye

Dear mr. bye,

The universal way to say ‘bye’ is just saying ‘bye’ in the world.  Also, you can use you hand, waving your hand. The second way is that saying ‘farewell’, ‘later’ and ‘see you’ in English.  However, from country to country are different, for example if you want to say goodbye to Chinese, you can say ‘Zai Jian’ or ‘Bye’ or if you want to say bye to Japanese, you can say ‘sayonara’.

~Newsmaker advisor

Dear Newsmaker,

I want to talk with many English speakers but I am shy. Help me!

~Shy speaker

Dear Shy speaker,

I understand it’s difficult to start talking to English speakers when you first meet them. Most people who have English as second language feel like you. Don’t be afraid and hesitate to talk to them. Try to find ways to meet English speakers as your friends or conversation partners. There are many chances on campus. One of them is the conversation partner who is connected to UCAELI. You can meet English speakers who are willing to volunteer as conversation partners once or twice a week. They might be enough patient and nice while you finish speaking. They are ready to meet international students so you don’t need to be reluctant speaking. They might be good your friends during spending valuable time in America.

Another solution is an attendance of UCONN clubs. There are a lot of clubs at UCONN. Many clubs want to get as many students as they can. If you don’t want to get an awkward situation in new club, you can ask your friends to go to club together. Attending with your friend will help your shy personality.

~Newsmaker advisor

Dear Newsmaker,

When can I ask a question in class?

~Full of questions

Dear Full of questions,

“Putting the right questions in the right time” is really hard for everyone during classes. Everyone wants to ask their own questions and teachers sometimes cannot hear what we asked. I believe the more questions you ask the more answers you can get. Don’t hesitate to ask questions. Just throw a question. Unless you make your question in time, you would write down your questions in the notebook the right time. After the class is over, you can ask your curiosities to your teacher or American friends.

~Newsmaker Advisor

Dear Newsmaker,

Teacher gives many homework. How can I finish everything?

~Stuck on homework

Dear stuck on homework,

Time Management is an important skill that student need to manage their task. I think you need to mange your time, you have 24 hours in a day. After you go back home, eat something or relax then start your homework. Also, you should not forget to review your work. Some students lose their time in watching TV and calling on their cell phone. So find out how you lose time.

~Newsmaker advisor

Dear Newsmaker,

(from a teacher) Many of my students don’t do the homework I assign, no matter how many times I remind them. I write it on the board, send them reminder emails, tell them in class, and they still forget. This is a very big problem, especially when the homework is the beginning of a large group activity. How can I get my students to act like students?

~poor teacher

Dear Poor teacher,

I think many students try to pass TOEFL exam and IELTS to apply to universities so they are not interested in teachers’ homework. In my opinion, teachers should give the students some homework about TOEFL and IELTS exams that can engage students to do their homework. Also, if some students did not do their homework give them some time in the classroom to do it.

~Newsmaker advisor