In fact, one of the first things that I noticed when I started doing my homework in English, was how disorganized I was. I had no idea what was going on in class, or what the teacher was saying. She would come up with new sayings for words I didn’t know and would say “you’re doing your homework in English” one time, then get back to her text. It became a running joke between us. It made me think that maybe learning English wasn’t such a big deal after all.
But it gets worse. Once I started finding out that English wasn’t the easiest language to learn, but only one of a few, I started getting stressed out. The longer it took me to catch up, the more frustrated I got. I decided that I had to take a different approach to learning English.
I used pictures instead of words. This is a great way to make words stick in your head. Picture a sentence with a picture in mind, an example if you will. You have probably heard the phrase “the eyes are bigger than the brain.” Well, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.
Try this. Find a word in English, anywhere, and look at it in a picture. If you can see the picture, then you should be able to grasp the meaning of the word just by looking at it. This works for learning new words as well as mastering ones you already know. It’s a great mental trick that helps you stay on task.
Now, I know you’re saying, “Honey, you’re doing my homework in English already!” But I’ve also been doing it for years and I still can’t be bothered with the mess of writing in new words all the time. Besides, who wants to do that? It’s boring. It slows you down. And most of all, it makes learning a second language so much harder.
So instead of writing the new word down, I simply translate it from one text to another. For example, I translate “how do I say this in Spanish?” to “English, please tell me how to say this in Spanish.” Pretty simple, right?
When you get really good at learning new words and translating things into other languages, you may even have to take some classes just to make sure you’re learning the right ones. Just remember, if you have a word in Spanish, there’s a way to translate it into English and vice versa. And if you don’t know how to translate a word into Spanish, then ask someone who does. They’ll be glad to help you. It’s worth the investment, don’t you think?
Another great way to make your homework in English fun is to use flash cards. Flashcards are great because they’re both fun and interesting (making your homework in English even more fun). If you want to learn the word “hare” in Spanish, look at a few different cards to see which flash cards appeal to you the most. Then, when you have a free minute, flip through those cards and practice saying that word.
Learning Spanish is also about verbs. You have to learn the verbs of every common verb you can find. This way, you can build your vocabulary. And the more you can say, the more you’ll sound like a real Spanish speaker.
Doing my homework in English can be as easy or hard as you make it. Make it fun and interesting. Practice everyday. Good luck!
