VOA慢速英语2020--养成学英语的习惯

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis¹, many people have had to change their habits, or usual ways of doing things.

Some people who used to go to school now study at home. Some of them have been trying to get in the habit of learning and studying on their own.

How might habits connect with studying and learning?

Checking social media can be a bad study habit. But there are steps to take to avoid such habits.

Today's Education Tips will explore that very question.

What are habits?

Habits are regular ways of dealing² with your environment. You generally do not pay attention to them.

In the book Good Habits, Bad Habits, Dr. Wendy Wood notes that "A habit turns the world around you—your context³—into a trigger⁴ to act."

Habits take many forms – eating, exercising, even studying. You may not realize it, but habits make up many of the actions that you do every day.

How are habits made?

In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear describes a four-step process by which habits are made. These steps are cue⁵, craving⁶, response, and reward.

The cue tells your brain to begin a behavior. The craving is what makes you want to do something. The response is the actual habit that you perform. The response, in turn, gives you a reward. "Rewards are the end goal of every habit," Clear writes.

Consider this example. Maybe you have the habit of often checking social media. The cue might be a feeling of boredom⁷ while you are near your computer or phone. The craving could be a desire to stop that feeling. The response is checking social media, and the reward is seeing something interesting. When that process is repeated many times, it becomes a habit.

Clear believes that to create a good habit, you need to follow several steps. You need to make your new habit obvious, or easy to see or understand. The habit should also be attractive, simple and satisfying. Let's think about how you might develop an English study habit.

Make a habit studying English

You should organize your surroundings in such a way that the cues⁸ of your new habit are very obvious. For example, if you want to get in the habit of studying English every day, leave English books or notes in a very clear place.

To make your habit attractive, Clear recommends joining a culture where your new desired behavior is the normal behavior. For example, you could join a group of other English learners in online meetings.

To make your new habit easy, you could decrease the number of steps you have to take in order to study. You could also try reducing the amount of time you study. Clear suggests beginning your habits with limited, shorter time periods – two minutes for example. As you repeat the practice over time, you can go longer.

An important point to keep in mind is that if you place too many demands on yourself, you are more likely to give up on your new habit.

Finally, you need to make your habit satisfying. You can give yourself a reward after completing your new habit. For example, if you study English for 15 minutes, you could reward yourself by listening to a song you like. Or you could think about how much progress you have made since you first started studying English.

Wood notes that your reward should come right after you do your new habit. "Rewards have to be experienced right after we do something in order to build habit associations ... in memory," she writes.

Closing thoughts

Building new habits can take time. You may have to repeat an action many times before it becomes a habit. But with time, careful planning and continued practice, you can do it.

Words in This Story

regular – adj. happening over and over again at the same time or in the same way

context – n. the situation in which something happens : the group of conditions that exist where and when something happens

trigger – n. something that causes something else to happen — often + for

boredom – n. the state of being bored or uninterested

attractive – adj. having a feature or quality that people like

practice – n. the activity of doing something again and again in order to become better at it

association – n. a feeling, memory, or thought that is connected to a person, place, or thing — usually plural

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。

4 trigger   

n.触发器，板机，制滑机；v.触发（事件）

参考例句：

• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again.他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。
• He pulled the trigger but the gun didn't go off.他打了一枪，没有发火。

5 cue   

n.暗示，信号，提示；vt.提示，暗示

参考例句：

• When she coughs,it's my cue to come onto the stage.她一咳嗽，就是给我暗号出场。
• The actor missed his cue and came onto the stage late.这演员错过了向他发出的提示，上场晚了。

6 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

7 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

8 cues   

n.尾白( cue的名词复数 )；提示；暗示；（台球等的）球杆v.向…发出指示信号( cue的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Without him they forgot their cues and garbled their lines. 一旦没有了他，她们就忘掉了她们的结尾语，或者弄错了台词。 来自辞典例句
• She does not tiptoe through life taking cues from others. 她从来不依葫芦画瓢小心翼翼地生活。 来自互联网