Chapter 8 – Are you still motivated to learn English?
Extensive thought, planning and work went into the drafting, writing and publishing of Emma and Lucas – A Journey to Australia. In working on this project, we were faced with an obvious challenge: how to keep the story plot interesting and engaging for our target audience (Chinese-speaking young people aged 18 years and above) while keeping the language simple enough for a (disciplined) student to be able to keep up with the course?
To help our students stay motivated to learn English, we had to ensure that the story included the following:
Factual information – by including real, current facts, the educational value of the story increases exponentially, and our students are able to communicate more confidently in English on a wider range of topics.
English vocabulary: In total the story contains over 1000 of the most commonly used words and expressions in the English language. Chapter 8 specifically introduces highly relevant words such as “boarding pass,” “window seat,” “aisle seat”, and “seat belt”. Other common expressions like “ticket prices” and “direct flight” are also included.
Australian perspective: As the title of the story clearly suggests, Australia is in focus from the start to the finish of the story. By the end of the course, students will feel familiar with many of the experiences which they will be likely to encounter when they themselves take a trip to Australia.
“By including real, current facts, the educational value of the story increases exponentially…”
Discipline is key to staying motivated (not the other way around)
Many young people think that the key to discipline is to stay motivated. We always say that the exact opposite is true. Think of it this way: motivation is something you feel, discipline is something you decide. Feelings vary, while a firm decision can be kept.
If, on your journey towards learning to communicate in English, you rely on “feeling motivated” to stay disciplined, then you will question your decision to learn English as soon as you feel that the resistance to learning becomes too great. Then you will not be disciplined enough to learn English. Discipline is a decision that you stick to, regardless of how you feel. When you remain disciplined even when you don’t feel motivated, then you’ll steadily improve, which will quickly translate into increased motivation to learn English.
A subtle cliffhanger helps to keep our students motivated
Chapter 8 ends with a hint of more drama to come: “They don’t know what is about to happen on their almost 10 hour journey.” In case you’re wondering – we’re not talking about a plane hijacking or the plane being struck by lightning and dropping out of the sky… Remember, we are trying to keep things realistic for our students. : ) Visit our online shop to purchase and download the entire e-book which is fully translated into Chinese.
You can also listen to a short preview of Chapter 8 here.