We recently did a survey of our users amongst immigrants in the Vancouver area. It was very encouraging to see that most of our users enjoyed studying with The Linguist, and had no trouble finding the time to do the necessary activities.
Listening was voted the most enjoyable activity, while Reading on The Linguist and saving words and phrases was selected as the most useful activity. Writing was the skill that most felt had improved, just ahead of vocabulary and listening comprehension. Over 80% felt more confident speaking with native speakers. Most felt that between 6 to 12 months was the ideal length of time to spend with The Linguist system.
We will be doing these surveys from time to time, as part of our efforts to constantly improve our service.
As I review the achievements of our different learners, I am able to make certain observations. First of all, it is very important to create momentum. By that I mean that our learners activities seem to pick up speed once they pass 200 saved words or phrases. It is important to put that initial effort into the system. We recommend that learners try to achieve their weekly goals. There is a reason for those goals. We are trying to encourage learners to reach the level of intensity needed to achieve a breakthrough.
Remember that vocabulary growth is the key to improving your English. Your ability to use words and phrases correctly will determine how well you express yourself when speaking or writing. This is obvious to me when I correct writing and see that "choice of words" is by far the biggest correction category, ahead of "verb" or "preposition" or "sentence" or "article" or other categories of grammar. You need to work hard to save your target number of words and phrases and then review them in the review section.
My experience has taught me that a once weekly or twice weekly study effort or English conversation class will just maintain your existing level. To achieve a breakthrough you need to put some pressure on yourself. You need some intensity, and you need it almost every day.
The learning activities on The Linguist are designed to create intensity. They are also designed to be enjoyable. We are constantly adding to our content so that you will find a wide range of subjects of interest to learn from.
Please tell us what you would like to see on The Linguist. The Forum is an opportunity to communicate with us and with other learners. You may ask us any questions about English or about The Linguist system. This function is underused and I certainly encourage you all to use it more. This feature is even open to non-members who wish to learn more about The Linguist. I hope to see you on the Forum.
