I remember when I first came to the U.S., I could only say “I Like Sushi.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sounds like a joke but it was real and I could not speak at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had been listening to “Speed Learning”(the listening textbook), watching American TV shows such as “Friends” and “The O.C.” to improve my listening skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I thought I would be fine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I thought I had been studying hard, but when I was speaking English in the U.S. in the beginnings, I was completely lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had a hard time two or more years until I could understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think there are many people who study abroad but end up not being able to speak English, or wonder if there is any point in doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this time, I would like to ask you if it is better to go abroad to study a language? What is the point? I would like to introduce some merits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article is written for:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I would like to write an article for those who want to learn English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First of all, there are many advantages to studying abroad.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These are the two main reasons. If you can go, I definitely recommend you to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Language is a tool for communication, so whether or not you want to understand the other person is very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn’t really know about American culture, and Latin culture but I just liked to travel and I always enjoyed interacting with the locals when I went abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest advantage of studying or traveling abroad to learn a language is to become more interested in the local people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, you can experience firsthand the local way of speaking and the culture itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is something you can talk about if there are people from other countries in your country of residence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But the English they use is sometimes adapted to the level of the country and the person speaking it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, you may know someone from the UK whom you met in a bar in Japan and he become a friend, and you think you can speak English well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And a good mind!<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when I watch an American movie or UK movies, I wasn’t able to understand at some points because I do not know that their culture exactly, and also I had hard time to hear with a conversation with whom both are native English speakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also using so many slangs and the way of speaking that is popular nowadays, and that so you can learn about it by interacting with local people. I mean that is only way to learn how to speck a native language speaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n there is one big misunderstanding of studying abroad.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why people who have lived abroad for many years still do not speak English well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For everyday living (especially in areas with many immigrants such as Los Angeles and New York), honestly, people do not need to speak English to have a good time because of the markets and communities in each country or cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, when you enter a conversation between native English speakers, you may find that you cannot understand or communicate well with them at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest reason for this is often that you don’t know their culture or what they are talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you go to see a movie at the theater or stand-up comedy, you may find that people around you are laughing at different points because you don’t understand the local jokes. (I did it so many times)<\/p>\n\n\n\n That so, I don’t think that studying abroad is ever meaningless<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, just studying abroad does not mean that you will be able to speak and understand languages.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n For those who come to study abroad for the purpose of learning English, the following are some tips to make your study abroad experience a meaningful one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Create an environment where you do not speak your native language, even if you have to force yourself to do so.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n This is the only way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are Japanese, a small or a big, there are Japanese communities in most of the countries have for studying abroad, but just don’t speak Japanese, leave them, or get involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You came to study, so need to focus on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And also we should be strong at foreign countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will get back what you put into your language and skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you really feel lonely, I have an idea to make friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Download the app “MeetUp<\/a>” (the app itself is free if you don’t create your own group) and join language exchange meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the way, I once used the app to create a group to go out to eat Japanese food and have cultural and language exchanges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I had a chance to talk with many people who live in the local area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it is fun to create your own group and do some kind of exchange events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to improving your English is;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To have the courage to refuse invitations to gatherings in your native language speakers.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n First of all, you need to get out of your comfort zone to make your study abroad experience meaningful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is all up to you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, for me like I had a period of about 2 years when I felt comfortable in the Japanese community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because I could speak only Japanese and so my English did not improve at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, when the environment changes, our brain changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another secret to improve my English is;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Interaction with local people and making friends.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n If you go out with local friends or fall in love with local people, you will improve your language skills at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be honest, I learned most of my English from my friends who I met in the U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By imitating the way they speak, you will be able to communicate better with the people who live in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It can help you understand the flow of the conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Without having friends, it would be very difficult to improve any languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if you don’t have friends or loved ones, there is some solutions to improve your English.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is reading books.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Read a book in English with you voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This will improve your vocabulary, pronunciation practice, grammar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will learn how to speak and become fluent in the language on your own, and listening comprehension. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If I were to study English on my own, this method would have improved my English the most. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuation is an ally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If reading books is not your strong point, you can imitate the actors’ lines out loud while watching a movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, input the information into your own brain by saying it out loud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a huge difference between actually using English with your own mouth, practicing and just memorizing it in your head again and again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That is all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to study abroad to learn English, Why don’t you go and try various challenges? <\/p>\n\n\n\n I am sure that you will learn more in your life in many ways than you would have learned in your own country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hope this article will be of some help to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you for reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ZenJin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I remember when I first came to the U.S., I could only say “I Like Sushi.” Sounds like a joke but it was real and I could not speak at all. I had been trying to get used to English to some extent in Japan. And I had been listening to “Speed Learning”(the listening textbook), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/?p=2315","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-english","8":"en-US"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2323"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4576,"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323\/revisions\/4576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.route66.dresslake.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
Just starting to live in foreign countries does not mean that you are interacting with the local people.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
You may feel lonely because you can’t make friends.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
But, study first.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
In fact, I’ve been working on reading books for about 3 years. I think it’s the best way to improve.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Using your voice to put the words into your brain and consistency is the key.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n