I think, most people have problems with learning languages, because they do not want to use a dictionary.
I know why. It is difficult to find a word quickly. To tell the truth, most of us don't even know the alphabet. Here is what happens: as they don't use a printed dictionary, they rather make one usually in a small exercise book divided in two parts and they learn the words one by one. Even teachers suggest to do it and make you buy and use those little exercise books. I never used one. Most of us have a terrible handwriting, we do typos. Would you like to learn your typos?
Prepare your dictionary and use it!
I thought, I must make it easier to find a word in my dictionary. I thought of sticking in small pieces of cardboard to make a sign for each letter. Then I rejected this, because that would tear off and it would only help to find the first letter, but I wanted more. So I prepared it, using fiber marker pens. That was permanent and after a few days of practice, it enabled me to find the second or even more letters of the words with one single movement. Look at the picture. Actually, it happened more and more often, that I opened my dictionary, and the word I was looking for was right there. I began to enjoy finding words so easily, so I could hardly wait to find unknown words to look them up instead of being frustrated of them. :-)
I have noticed, that the words most used have the most meanings. That's why I decided to read trough all the meanings every time even when I found the right one. This gave me a great advantage over people who learn the words one by one. The next time I found the same word with another meaning, I could already guess what it meant. I just had to look it up to verify.
That habit also saved me from the confusion like this: When people learn the expression "to take a tea" in the first lesson. They learn that it means to drink a tea. Then they reach lesson 4 and they see an expression "to take a bus". That is when they ask: Why are English drink buses. There were dozens of such questions my friends asked me in their confusion. Click here to see my dictionary
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