Step 1. Think about your situation

Write down responses to the following questions:

• What do I need to use English for in my work or daily life?

• Why do I need to use English?

• Who do I need to communicate with?

• When?

• How often?

For example, you might write:

I need to communicate with my customers on a weekly basis via e-mail and sometimes via telephone in order to answer questions and to help resolve their problems.

If you don´t currently use English regularly but think you will need to use English in the future, then you should imagine what you would need to use English for and who you might be communicating with.

Example:
Toni works as a product manager for a small company in Barcelona making handmade wooden furniture. The company has started recently to sell its products to other countries. Sometimes Toni needs to use English to communicate with customers via phone and e-mail.

Step 2. Assess your current knowledge and skills

How well can you read, listen to, write and speak in English?

Ask yourself questions such as:

• How well can I understand the daily news in English?

• How well can I read general and specialist texts and documents in English?

• How confidently and accurately can I communicate in speech and writing?

• Do I have any difficulties in communicating in English with my customers, for example?

• If so, what difficulties do I usually have?

• What subjects or topics can I talk about in English?

Try to write down as much detail as possible as this will help you with step 3.

Example:

Toni studied English at school and university but since then he hasn´t studied the language. He feels he is able to communicate basic information in English but encounters difficulties if he has to speak on the telephone or to communicate complex information.

Step 3. Set language learning objectives

Now that you have thought about your situation, what you know and what you´d like to be able to learn, try writing some language learning objectives.

Your objectives should ideally should be SMART:

Specific: Make sure your objectives are not too general.

Measurable: Plan how you are going to measure your progress.

Achievable: Do you have time to learn, for example, 100 words in a week?

Realistic: Focus at first on topics in English which are relevant to your work or studies and relevant to your daily life and interests.

Timebound: In what period is your objective? 15 days, 30 days?

Example:

One of Toni´s objectives is to be able to understand the information about products in English which are sent to him by some of his suppliers. In order to do this his specific objective is to develop his vocabulary related to the description of products. Over a period of a month (timebound) he plans to learn 5 words a day (achievable), and to learn words and expressions used to describe, compare, contrast and evaluate (realistic). He will evaluate his progress at the end of this period by reading some product definitions in English and seeing how well he is able to understand them (measurable).

Step 4. Find learning resources

What learning resources do you have and what are you going to do with them?

Example:

Toni has set an objective to develop his knowledge of vocabulary related to the description of products in English.

He is going to look for product descriptions in English on websites, which are similar to the products his company makes. He also may watch videos on YouTube.

Tip: Choose materials related to your work or your personal interests as these you will find to be more interesting and it will help you to acquire the language and to develop your skills more quickly.

Step 5. Organise your time

Make time in your schedule for studying English.

It´s not necessary to block out several hours each day. A few minutes every day you will mostly probably find to be more productive and beneficial than spending one or two hours only once a week.

Example:

Toni doesn´t have much time for formal studying because he´s working and running his own business. However, he plans to block out some time in his diary each day.

Step 6. Review your progress

Don´t forget to review how you are doing regularly.

Every fortnight, for example, try self-assessing your knowledge and skills.

Choose a written text, a video for example, and after reading or listening ask yourself how well you were able to understand the content. Can you notice an improvement in your ability to understand the content, for example? Are you able to read or listen to the material more easily?

If you do this regularly, this will help you to identify new language learning objectives and to give you confidence that what you are doing is helping you to make progress.

Example:

Self-assessment of reading activity

• Find a text in English from an online newspaper, magazine or specialist journal, which is of interest to you.

• Make a note of the time it takes you to read it.

• Write down any key words you do not know, as you read.

• After reading it ask yourself: how well did I understand the text?

• After two weeks studying, choose another text in English from the same or a very similar source and repeat the same procedure.

• Were you able to read more quickly? Did you experience fewer comprehension difficulties, if any?

• Repeat this progress regularly and you should be able to assess the progress with your reading abilities.