Best Way to Study from Home?

I think for many years there was a very common belief in Japan that if you did not stay for an extended period in an English speaking country, there was no way to acquire even barely passable English communication skills.  This point of view has been gradually eroding in recent years, but it is still very prevalent and causes a lot problems. Actually, many years ago, I met a Japanese lady with almost native speaker level English who had never left Japan. I will explain how she acquired this mastery below.

First, I should say that there are two basics reasons why it is pretty easy to learn a language at home these days. Number one is the Internet and computers.  There are any number of websites and applications by means of which we can develop our language skills.  For example, I use FluentU and Satori Reader everyday to improve my Japanese speaking and reading. Also we can watch videos and sing songs or whatever takes your fancy.  And, of course, we can use the skills we acquire from this work to talk to native speakers on line via Cafetalk and the like!

The second reason we can stay at home is that once you get past complete beginner level the process of language learning is a mental one. In other words, you can practice in your head. The fluent woman I mentioned above was, sadly, a victim of child abuse. In order to escape from her suffering she created a world of English in her head from a young age. Everyday she collected new words from any and all resources and practiced them in her head.  I often tell my students they should practice talking to themselves in the head when they are on the train going to work, but you can just as well do it at home.

The other very important thing to do when you are learning a language is to read a lot of very easy books.  This is tailor made for doing at home.

Let’s go for it!

Buri