Spotlight - 13.2019

Foto: Matthieu Rouil

LANGUAGE 13/2019 Spotlight 13

LANGUAGE

Ten steps

to better English

Sie würden gerne Ihr Englisch auf Vordermann bringen, haben aber wenig Zeit und scheuen die Mühe?

LYNDA HUEBNER hat zehn überraschend effektive Tipps, die sie in der Spotlight-Redaktion

mit einer Lesergruppe ausprobiert hat – und Ihnen hier vorstellt.

MEDIUM

confuse [kEn(fju:z]

, verwechseln

frankly [(frÄNkli]

, offen gesagt

inhibition [)InhI(bIS&n]

, Befangenheit, Ver-

legenheit

interfere [)IntE(fIE]

, beeinträchtigen, stören

made-up [)meId (Vp]

, ausgedacht, erfunden

magnitude

[(mÄgnItju:d]

, Ausmaß

matter [(mÄtE]

, von Bedeutung sein,

wichtig sein

postpone sth.

[pEUst(pEUn]

, etw. verschieben

puzzled [(pVz&ld]

, verwirrt, verwundert

refresh [ri(freS]

, auffrischen

slip-up [(slIp Vp] ifml.

, Ausrutscher

stage [steIdZ]

, Stufe

stall [stO:l]

, Ve r k a u f s s t a n d-

unlikely: be ~ to happen

[Vn(laIkli]

, wohl kaum passieren

R

ecently, we were visited

by a group of Spotlight

readers. They came to

see us at work, but also

to take part in a work-

shop on ten tips for ef-

fective learning. Spotlight author Lynda

Huebner, who taught the class, shares

those tips with you here. Opposite, and

on the following pages, you can see our

visitors at work.

1. Get your message across
   The one thing that holds most learners
   back is inhibition. Most of us are afraid
   of making mistakes and would rather say
   nothing at all than say the wrong thing.
   Ve r y o c c a s i o n a l l y, a m i s t a k e w i l l mat-
   ter because it can change the meaning
   of a sentence. There’s a (probably made-
   up) stor y about Heinrich Lübke, the
   second president of the Federal Repub-
   lic of Germany, who went to the airport
   to meet the prime minister of India. He
   walked up to his visitor, smiled at him and
   said, “Who are you?” Puzzled, the man
   replied, “I, sir, am the prime minister of
   India.” Lübke had meant to say, “How are
   you?” and confused “how” with “who”.
   That’s an example of a slip-up in Eng-
   lish that interferes with communication.
   But slip -ups of this magnitude are un-
   likely to happen to you. You might make

minor mistakes when you speak English,

but, frankly, they don’t really matter. Ac-

curacy isn’t everything. If you go to a mar-

ket and ask for “a kilo tomatoes”, the stall

owner isn’t likely to correct your slight

slip in grammar. He or she is going to sell

you a kilo of tomatoes. OK, your sentence

wasn’t perfect, but you’ll still be able to

make your tomato salad. And that’s what

language is all about — communication

and getting your message across.

If you’re in an English-speaking situation and

there are colleagues, friends or family members

with you who are at a more advanced stage of

English, try not to let them do all the talking. It’s

still an opportunity to practise and you should

take it.

2. It’s all about you!
   The one thing every learner can relate to,
   is interested in and can talk about is him-
   or herself! Let this be your learning strat-
   egy. If you want to remember a new word
   or phrase, put it in a personal context. For
   example, if the phrase “put someone up”
   is new for you, rather than simply noting
   down “put someone up — beherbergen”,
   personalize the phrase: “Uncle Terry put
   me up when I visited Glasgow last year.”
   If the sentence is about people you know
   or your interests and experiences, you’ll
   be able to remember the phrase more

easily. Try it right now. Form personalized

sentences with “put up with” (= tolerate)

and “put off” (= postpone).

In a separate notebook, make lists of the words

and phrases you want to remember so that you

can refresh your memory without having to

search through texts to find them again.