Many students who have student visas choose to study in the evenings so that they can find paid work during the day. This can work well as long as a good balance is achieved.
If you find yourself nodding off in class, finding it hard to focus or to formulate your ideas in English, here our top 10 tips to help you get that balance right.
(Sunset at a local beach here at Scarborough, Perth, taken by one of our teachers recently)
How to Make the Most of Lexis English Evening Classes
- Be realistic about how much paid work you can take on before it starts affecting your studies. There is no point earning money to pay for the course if you are too tired to benefit from the lessons.
- Schedule you time sensibly. Make sure that you have downtime between work and study so that you have time to eat, relax or maybe even have a power nap.
- Be punctual – you have paid for these hours, so you should make the most of them.
- Make homework a habit. If this is part of your daily routine, you will find it much easier to keep up. Homework provides important practice and consolidation of the language you study in class.
- Learn smart. Think about practice activities which are short, active and fun to repeat such as the use of flashcards, constructing mindmaps, or building word families for new vocabulary. Read regularly, for short periods. Set yourself achievable goals for each week.
- Stick to an English only policy while you are at school. By doing this, you get a lot of extra practice before/after class and in the break. If you’re finding this difficult, try and sit in a mixed nationality group where English is the language of communication.
- Eat a light and nutritious meal in the break. Think about food that will give you energy rather than a meal that will make you feel sleepy, or chocolate which will give you a short-lived sugar high.
- Take a walk. If you feel tired, get some fresh air and take a walk in the break.
- Have good sleep habits. Sleeping well is important if you want to stay focused at work and school.
- Celebrate your progress. It’s easy to feel frustrated and be very self-critical as learning a language takes time and effort. It’s important to give yourself a pat on the back when things are going well and not to worry if you have a bad day.
Here are some of our current students on the evening timetable:
Not studying with us yet, but would like to?
Lexis Perth Scarborough offers an ideal mix of serious academic study and the perfect Australian lifestyle. If you want more information on the courses that we offer, click here.
