I have a list of things that I have found useful in learning English.
1) A Dictionary
A dictionary lists words together with meanings and other information for each word.
I think, English-English Dictionary which lists English words and explains meanings in English is a 'must'.
There are a number of online dictionaries on the Internet. We can look up words when we are on the Internet.
There are some offline dictionaries that we can download and install on our computer. We can look words even when we are not on the Internet.
If you have 'Windows' on your computer, then I suggest that you download and install
'Wordweb' from wordweb.info/free/
If you have a Linux distribution on your computer, then I suggest you install 'Stardict' or 'Goldendict' and
'Wordnet' from the distribution's repositories
These are 'free' dictionaries.
There are many 'dictionary apps' for your smart phone.
If you think any of them is good, then you should tell the rest of the class.
There are also many printed dictionaries.
We can use a printed dictionary any time even when we can't use a computer or the Internet. I think, we don't need a big volume or expensive dictionary in doing PSE. Remember, we are learning to use Plain and Simple English. So, a secondary school English-English dictionary with some 5,000 common words, is good enough for our class. We can look up uncommon words on the computer dictionaries.
2) A computer speaker-and-microphone headset
This device is needed to hear and to speak English in practice.
Please, find one and learn how to use it on your computer. You should also find on your computer the program(s) that can recorder your voice and play it back to you.
3) Paper and marker pens
Yes, we do need these. In fact, they are very important learning aids.
We will find English words for things around us in our home. We will write down each name on a piece of paper. We will stick the name tag onto everthing we can see. We read the name out loud every time we see the thing. We will do that until we can call everything in English correctly. This can take a few days, or weeks if you have many, many things in your home.
4) Time to practice
The most important thing that we must have to learn English is 'time' to practice.
We need to spend at least 45 minutes every single day on practice English. We can practice while we are doing something else. We can practice while we walk. We can practice while we ride on a bus.
We should practice reading English (newspapers, novels, pamphets, etc.) 'aloud' and listen to our voice. We should compare our voice with voices in 'songs', 'movies', Television news and so on. Try to copy their voices. It does not matter if we can't copy exactly. Close enough is good enough.
Please, try to make yourself ready for the class.
Ask for help if your have problems. We will be like brothers and sisters, we are not alone. We will learn together. We will share our leaning and our time.
This is a class material from PSE < http://www.class.in.th/classes/15 >
I appreciate in your enthusiastic creating English learning environment.
I have some experience to share about practicing english while walking.
I used to listen english audio book while jogging and I found myself could not listen when heart rate becoming high -- I learnt that we could do two things in the same time only if it's not really hard work.
Thank you Doctor Patama for your comment.
I do have problems multi-tasking too. But
I have learned to sing (badly) while I dance (Zumba -- quickly);
I have learned to give commands while I played badminton;
...
Multi-tasking is not easy for everyone. Some people can move their fingers and their feet independently and play piano -- I can't.
Many people learn piano the hard way, by doing it over and over until one day they find that they have 10 fingers on 2 hands. Not just one finger in each hand! What a winning moment!