Note: the January challenge has now closed, but the 31-day challenge will be running again in May 2023! You can use the sign-up form to register your interest and be added to the mailing list.
- Do you enjoy studying English on your own, but wish you had some ideas for activities to do or new things to try?
- Do you get bored going through a language textbook?
- Do you want to bring more variety into your language learning activities?
- Would you be interested in some personalised feedback on your progress?
IF you’ve said “yes” to one or more of these questions, have a look at my “31 days to improve your English” challenge that will be starting in January 2023.
Why join the challenge?
People often have plans for what they want to do in the new year. They want to eat more healthily/do more sport/learn something/start doing something/stop doing something.
These good intentions are usually abandoned after a couple of days.
Why is that?
One reason is that they are intentions without a plan of how to do them, who can help, what is reasonable. Going to the gym 5 times a week probably isn’t sustainable if you don’t go at all at the moment. The steps have to be manageable and relevant to your situation.
This challenge gives you prompts of activities that will help you to practise your English. It’s not a course, but you will have support and hopefully it will give you some new inspiration and new habits that you can continue into the new year.
This is your chance to sign up now and do something for yourself throughout the month of May.
What is 31 days to improve your English?
31 days to improve your English is a challenge that I have designed for people who are not looking for lessons, but who want to develop their language skills by carrying out a range of activities in English.
Every day in May you will receive an email with the day’s task. Tasks take around 30 minutes to complete, but you can adjust the time spent on them to however much time you have available.
Most of the tasks are not too prescriptive, so you can adapt them to suit your language level and interests. This will help you because it makes the activity relevant to you.
The tasks are basically ideas. You can use them to help you to practise your reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, and the order is arranged so that you aren’t practising the same skills for several days in a row. This adds variety and encourages you to try new things – even things that you might usually choose to avoid if you were planning the activities on your own.
As a language learner, I was always keen to do reading or listening activities. Writing was ok. But I really had to get myself motivated before I did anything where I had to speak.
For other people it’s different – you may not enjoy listening or writing.
If you really don’t want to do an activity, nobody will check up on you, but the idea is that by the end of the month , you have 31 new things to try.
The feedback is optional, but throughout the challenge and throughout June in case you need a bit more time, you will have access to me, an experienced English language teacher who can give you tips and feedback on your tasks or answer any questions.
If you need a bit longer, you can complete the tasks whenever you want to, but the feedback period closes at the end of June.
Who is the challenge for?
All of the instructions are in English, so this course is not appropriate for complete beginners.
However, you can make the tasks as easy or difficult as you want. The course has been done by both loer intermediate and advanced learners. It’s more about helping you to think differently and identify language practice opportunities that you can then incorporate into your own learning.
The challenge is aimed at motivated students who want to try new things. Guidance is given and I’ll help anyone who is stuck, but you’ll also need to show some initiative when carrying out the tasks.
What does it cost?
This challenge is free in May 2023.
What do I get?
You get an actionable idea and email support from me –both to answer questions, or to give email feedback on your task. Feedback comes in the form of a general comment, and up to 3 actionable learning points about your completed task.
How do I sign up?
If you want to join the challenge in May 2023 or you have any questions about how it works, please use the contact form at the bottom of this page. You need to sign up by 31st December 2022 so that you’re ready to go on 1st May!
Wishing you success and hoping you’ll have fun as you learn new things!
What did people say about the last challenge?
Gwen said:
“Thank you for sending all the nice ideas for improving our English in January! Some of your suggestions were really inspiring and useful. And it was good to have some motivation throughout an otherwise rather dull and long winter month. Thanks to your emails I have realized there are many small things you can do without having to invest a lot of effort.”