Hi everyone! We are Birgit (Director of Studies) and Danni (Acting Assistant Director of Studies) at Langports Sydney. In today’s blog, we would like to talk about the library and all the benefits of going to the library regularly!
As you all know, at Langports we have a library in each campus that is open as following:
Langports Brisbane: every Wednesday and Thursday after school from 3:35 – 4:00pm and Friday after graduation (12:25pm)
Langports Gold Coast: every Monday and Wednesday after school from 3:30pm and Friday after graduation (12:25pm)
Langports Sydney: every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after school from 2:40 to 3:10pm.
There is always a lovely teacher in there to help you with your homework or to find a book, DVD or magazine that is of interest to you and will help you improve your English. We stock a wide range of fiction books, especially adapted to your English level, as well as a variety of magazines and DVDs.
What happens if you read a new book every week and how will that improve your English?
Here are some tips to use the library to your advantage:
- Read a different book every week
- Choose a book that is only a little bit challenging so that you can still enjoy reading
- Read the book more than once. The first time purely for enjoyment. The second time write down words and phrases that you like. The third time write down words and phrases that are new to you – only 5 per page at the most.
- Collect the new words and phrases in a Vocabulary Book so that you can refer back to them.
- Try and use the new words and phrases in your English classes.
You might think that this is a lot of work and we agree – it does sound like a lot of work. But, honestly, you are here to improve your English and that will not happen unless you put in some extra effort outside of class time.
Reading is also a very effective way to increase your understanding of grammar, because you see lots of different tenses and other structures in context. It is proven that students who regularly read books from our graded readers make faster progress and have a better vocabulary and grammar range than their classmates.
Remember that reading doesn’t just improve your reading skills; it also helps you to become a more proficient writer, listener, and speaker of English.
How can you introduce reading into your day?
Well, start small. If you’re not usually an active reader, set yourself an achievable goal like reading for ten minutes each evening before you go to bed. Or if you take public transport, try to read on your commute to school. Once reading has become part of your usual routine, you can devote more time to it.
You never know, you might even start to enjoy reading and find a really gripping book that you can’t put down!
How can you join the library?
The first thing to do is visit student services to put down your $20 deposit. You will be given a receipt that you can show to the teacher in the library and use to claim your deposit back when you graduate.
The next step is choosing a book. We recommend talking to the teacher in the library to find out what is on offer, but looking at the level of books at the same level as your Reading Focus Class is also a good place to start. If you find that the book you have chosen is too easy or too difficult, you can easily return it and swap it for a different level. Similarly, if you aren’t enjoying the book, take it back! Reading should be for pleasure.
Finally, it is normal not to understand every word in a book. The most important thing is to be able to follow the main idea so please don’t worry if you come across unfamiliar vocabulary.
The library is one of the many opportunities Langports offers you to improve your English. But if you don’t take advantage of it, you are missing out. So do yourself a favour and visit the library today!
Thank you!
Danni and Birgit