Writing what your teacher says is the easiest way to learn a language. Keep a notebook and record explanations, expressions, difficult sentences or anything else you find interesting.

Writing improves your focus. When we take notes, we don’t have time to waste and lessons instantly become more effective. We need to listen to write what the teacher explains. We must summarise, search for the right words and decide on spelling. We have to concentrate on what’s important and discard the rest. All these activities are critical in language learning.

You will have a record of what you’ve studied. If you can’t remember a phrase, go back to your notepad. What was that word the teacher mentioned that could fit this email? Look through your notes to find it.

Muscle memory. Good memory is not only about remembering what someone said. It’s also about repeating movements. Writing is one of the most effective ways to fix things in your mind.

Writing improves your writing! It’s like jogging; the more you do it the longer you can run.  Taking notes will make you think about the language and improve your vocabulary, your grammar and your fluency.  Even simply copying sentences from the whiteboard gives you models to imitate when you need to put your own ideas on paper.

Lastly, if you don’t have a notebook buy it today and bring it to class!

Want to improve your English? Read Andrew’s book on www.andymiles.com