1. YOU MUST LEARN ENGLISH IN ENGLISH, WHICH MEANS
DO NOT TRANSLATE.
2. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT LEARN GRAMMAR:
3. LISTEN AND SPEAK FIRST, READ AND WRITE LATER:
4. TO REMEMBER VOCABULARY BEST:
5. IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED, YOU NEED TO REPEAT ENOUGH TIMES:
When you translate, it means you react very slowly, which is not a problem for reading and writing. If you don't write at this time, you can write at another time; if you don't read this book today, you can read it tomorrow.
But it's a problem with speaking and listening. Who has enough patience to wait for you to translate and then understand, then find the word - translate into English - and then speak? You also won't have enough time to listen...
And another troublesome problem: You will not be able to fully understand the meaning of a sentence if you translate it into Vietnamese, because English and Vietnamese are two completely different languages.
So, is there a way to understand without translating?
This comment comes from the works of linguists, not just personal opinion.
When we learn grammar, we cause the brain to have a "phase lag" in processing information and dull natural reflexes.
We are Vietnamese, does anyone speak or write and have to think about choosing the subject, predicate... or not?
But no one can deny that to speak well and write well, you need grammar. So here there is a contradiction, "do not learn grammar" and "must know grammar".
In all the most effective learning methods, they have one thing in common: LISTEN, LISTEN AND LISTEN.
They are collectively called "listen first approach". When you are born, the first skill you learn is listening, listening and listening, until you practice speaking and then go to school to learn to write.
To remember a vocabulary word best, remember this conclusion (this is the conclusion of scientific research): "You can only remember a word when you hear and see (or write) it 30 times or more in a completely understandable context."
What does this say? The way you are being taught is completely ineffective, and it's just a waste of time. First, we learn words by writing each single word, missing the listening part, missing it in an understandable context (that is, it must be written into a paragraph), and we don't look (write) at it enough 30 times or more, so no matter how much we learn, we forget.
This may be bad news for you, but it is the truth. No matter what skills you learn, what subject you learn, the key to opening the door to success is: repetition and distinction.
Distinction only comes when repetition is enough. We all understand the basic truths, to be good at a sport or an academic field, we have to practice the basic movements many times, for many years.
We use Vietnamese fluently because we have repeated it for almost 10 - 30 years.
