My Top 5 Tips For Lesson Review

I think we all have the best intentions regarding post-lesson revision. Unfortunately, daily life isn’t always too accommodating. If you skip your review sessions, I’m not judging you! I have a few ideas to help you make the most of any study time you might have.

Talk about it

Telling another person about what you learned is a great way to refresh the memory in your mind and review the material in a natural way. Try to use your target language (English, if you are my student) as much as possible. Repeat the other things you said during the lesson and try to remember some of the things your teacher said too. You can even try to copy their accent and way of speaking. Don’t be afraid of hurting anyone's feelings. What we teachers don’t know can’t hurt us!

The best part is that it doesn’t matter who you talk over your lesson with. If you don’t have a family member or coworker with a sympathetic ear, don’t worry. A pet or stuffed animal will do the trick.

Collect new words

If you are anything like me, you probably have heaps of cute notebooks with empty pages waiting to be used up. Wherever is convenient, note new or unfamiliar words and phrases that come up during your lesson. Try not to overwhelm yourself with too many! Choose up to ten new words or phrases to review. Six or seven is often the perfect number.

Next, do something with the word. Make a flashcard, write a new sentence using the word or draw a little doodle to help you remember.

Make positive associations

It never helps to dwell on mistakes. Focus on the positive things and all the progress you have made. Ask yourself, “What can I say now in English that I couldn’t before?”. To keep revision fun, try finding cute or funny pictures online that are related to the vocabulary you want to learn. When you make sentences with new words, give them meanings special to you. You don’t need to focus on dull, textbook language, that’s the beauty of studying with a real human teacher.

Create daily habits

A little and often is the best way to remember things. Find a regular time to think about your new words, maybe while brushing your teeth, or on the train to work. You don’t need to write anything down or speak out loud. Just recall your target vocabulary and try to think of new sentences using them. Let English become part of your routine.

Ask for help

While I can’t speak for every teacher out there, I know I’m always happy to help students with reviewing their previous lessons. I love to hear feedback from students about their goals or struggles. Teachers often assume that you are reviewing by yourself without any problems. When you request a new lesson, don’t be afraid to ask things like, “Can you quiz me on these words?”, “Can we practise talking about ______ again?”, “I’d like to work on _____ until I really get it.”

However you choose to review your lessons, I hope these ideas were helpful. Best of luck!