.
Start your own English language blog
. Even for people who don't have to write in
English, writing can be a great way of properly learning the kind of vocabulary you
need to describe your own
life and interests, and of thinking about how to stop
making grammar mistakes. The problem most people have is that they don't know
what to write about. One traditional way to make sure you write every day in English
is to write an English diary (journal),
and a more up to date way of doing this is to
write a blog. Popular topics include your language learning experience, your
experience studying abroad, your local area, your language, or translations of your
local news into English.
2
.
Write a news diary
. Another daily writing task that can work for people who would
be bored by writing about their own routines in a diary is to write about the news that
you read and listen to everyday. If you include your predictions for how you think the
story will develo
p (e.g. "I think Hillary will become president"), this can give you a
good reason to read old entries another time, at which time you can also correct and
mistakes you have made and generally improve what you have written.
3
.
Sign up for a regular English tip
. Some websites offer a weekly or even daily short
English lesson sent to your email account. If your mobile phone has an e
-
address, it is also possible to have the tips sent to your phone to read on the way to
work or school. Please note, however, th
at such services are not usually graded very
well to the levels of different students, and they should be used as a little added extra
or revision in your English studies rather than as a replacement for something you or
your teacher have chosen more caref
ully as what you need to learn.
4
.
Listen to MP3s
. Although buying music on the internet is becoming more popular in
many countries, not so many people know that you can download speech radio such
as audio books (an actor reading out a novel) and speech radi
o. Not only is this better
practice for your English than listening to English music, from sources like Scientific
American, BBC and Australia's ABC Radio it is also free.
5
.
Listen to English music
. Even listening to music while doing something else can
hel
p a little for things like getting used to the natural rhythm and tone of English
speech, although the more time and attention you give to a song the more you will
learn from listening to it again in the future.
6
.
Read the lyrics to a song
. Although just li
stening to a song in English can be a good
way of really learning the words of the chorus in an easily memorable way, if you
want to really get something out of listening to English music you will need to take
some time to read the lyrics of the song with
a dictionary. If the lyrics are not given in
the CD booklet, you may be able to find them on the internet, but please note that
some lyrics sites deliberately put a few errors into their lyrics for copyright reasons.
Once you have read and understood the l
yrics,
if you then listen and read at the same
time, this can be a good way of understanding how sounds change in fast, natural,
informal speech.
7
.
Sing karaoke in English
. The next stage after understanding and memorising a song
is obviously to sing it. Al
though some words have their pronunciation changed
completely to fit in with a song, most of the words have the same sounds and stressed
syllables as in normal speech. Remembering which words rhyme at the end of each
line can also be a good way of starting
to learn English pronunciation.
8
.
Write a film, music, hotel or book review
. Another motivating and easy way to
make yourself write in English is to write a review for a site such as Amazon or
Internet Movie Database. Many non
-
native speakers write reviews
on sites like this,
and if you have some special understanding of the book, music or film due to your
first language or knowing the artist personally, that would be very interesting for the
English speakers who read and write reviews on the site.
9
.
Only sear
ch in English
. Switching your search engine to the English language
version of msn, yahoo, Google etc. can not only be a good way of practising fast
reading for specific information in English, but could also give you a wider choice of
sites to choose from
and give you an idea of what foreigners are writing about your
country and area.
10
.
Read a book you've already read or seen the movie of in your own language
.
Although most language learners under Advanced level would probably learn more
from reading a grade
d reader or something from the internet than they would from
reading an original book written for English speakers, for some people reading
something like Harry Potter in the original can be a great motivator to improve their
English. To make this easier f
or you and make sure that it motivates you rather than
just making your tired, try reading a book that you already know the story of. This not
only makes it easier to understand and guess vocabulary, but you are also more likely
to remember the language in
it. If you have not read the book before, reading a plot
summary from the internet can also help in the same way.
11
.
Read a translation into English
. Another way of making sure books are easier to
understand is to choose a book that was originally translated
into English, preferably
from your own language. Even if you haven't read the book in your own language,
you will find the English is written in a slightly simplified way that is more similar to
how your own language is written than a book originally writ
ten in English would be.
12
.
Skip the first ten pages
. If you have given up with a book in English or are reading it
very slowly, try skimming through the first ten pages or skipping them completely.
The start of most books tend to be mainly description and ar
e therefore full of difficult
vocabulary and don't have a clear story line yet to help you understand what is
happening and to motivate you to turn the next page. If the book is still too difficult
even after the introductionary part is finished, it is pro
bably time to give that book up
for now and try it again after you have read some easier things.
13
.
Read a book with lots of dialogue
. Opening up books before you buy one and
flicking through them to find one with lots of direct dialogue in it has several
adv
antages. If there is less text on the page due to all the speech marks etc, this can
make it easier to read and easier to write translations on. Dialogue is also much easier
to understand than descriptive parts of a book, and is much more like the language
you will want to learn in order to be able to speak English.
14
.
Read English language comics
. Even more than books with lots of dialogue, comics
can be easy to understand and full of idiomatic language as it is actually spoken.
There can be difficulties wit
h slang, difficult to understand jokes and/ or dialogue
written how people speak rather than with normal spellings, so try to choose which
comic carefully. Usually, serious or adventure comics are easier to understand than
funny ones.
15
.
Read English language
entertainment guides
. Nowadays most big cities in the
world have an English language magazine and/ or online guide to the movies, plays,
exhibitions that are on in the city that week. Reading this in English is not only good
value, but it could also guide
you to places that English speakers are interested in and
where you might hear some English spoken around you.
16
.
Read English language magazines
. Like books, if you can read two versions of the
same magazine (Newsweek in your language and in English, for ex
ample), that could
make understanding it much easier.
17
.
Take a one week intensive course
. Although you cannot expect to come out of a
very short course speaking much better English than when you started it, if you
continue studying a little over the followi
ng weeks and months, the knowledge you
gained then will gradually come out and mean that your level of speaking, listening
etc. are better than they would have been if you hadn't taken that course. This positive
effect can still be true up to a year later.
18
.
Follow your intensive course up with an extensive course
. The more time you can
spend studying English the better, but studying periodic intensive courses with a few
hours of study a week in between is probably better value for money than any other
syste
m as it gives your brain time to subconsciously learn and start using the new
language you have learnt before you introduce the next new "chunk" of language.
19
.
Supplement your group class with a one to one class
. Another good way to
combine two different ki
nds of classes is to study both in a group class and one to
one. Having a one to one teacher, even if just a couple of times a month, will mean
that you can be taught exactly the language that you need, that you will have more
time to speak, and that you c
an have as much error correction as you like.
20
.
Supplement your one to one class with a group class
. The benefits of having a
group class are often less clear to students, but they include the fact that you will learn
to deal with several people speaking at
once, have a chance to practice skills such as
interrupting people, and will hear a range of different viewpoints and topics.
21
.
Teach your children or friends some English
. Recent research has shown that elder
children tend to be a couple of IQ points above
their younger siblings, and the most
likely reason is that explaining things to their little brothers and sisters gives them an
intellectual boost. In the same way, teaching someone lower level than you the
English you already know is a great way of perman
ently fixing that knowledge in
your own brain.
22
.
Ask your company to start English lessons
. Even if you don't need to speak English
at work, English lessons can be a fun and reasonably priced way for your company to
spend their training budget in a popular w
ay.
23
.
Have English radio on in the background while you are doing your housework
.
Even if you are not listening carefully, it will help you get a feel for natural English
rhythm and intonation.
24
.
Play English language learning games on your Nintendo DS
. Althou
gh such
games can have quite random language and are unlikely to improve your ability to
speak English on their own, the next time you hear or read the same language
elsewhere it will be really fixed in your brain by the fact you have played a game with
it
in already. It is also a nice way of taking a break from your other English studies
while also doing some English. To make sure it really is a break and to avoid wasting
time learning language from the game that is not much used in daily life, don't bothe
r
writing down any new language you see in the game, but just try to learn it from
playing the game again.
25
.
Say or think what you are doing in English as you do your daily tasks
. As you are
doing your chores, try creating sentences describing what you are
doing, e.g. ‘I am
unscrewing the ketchup bottle cap'. This gets you used to thinking in English without
translating, and can be a good way of seeing what simple vocabulary that is around
you everyday you don't know. yet
26
.
Watch English language films with E
nglish subtitles
. For people who can't
understand a film without subtitles but find themselves not listening at all when
reading subtitles in their own language, this should be the way of watching a film that
you should aim for. If it is too difficult to w
atch the whole film this way, try watching
the (usually important) first 10 or 15 minutes of the film with subtitles in your own
language, switch to English subtitles after that, and only switch back to subtitles in
your own language if you get totally los
t following the story of the film.
27
.
Watch films in your language with English subtitles
. If you are finding English
films with English subtitles too difficult or you can't find English films with English
subtitles in your local video shop, this is a good se
cond best option. Looking for local
films with English subtitles can also sometimes be a good sign of quality, as it means
the producers of the film are expecting it to be popular internationally as well.
28
.
Watch English films with subtitles in your language
. Again, this is not as good
practice as English language films with English subtitles, but is more relaxing, can be
easier to find suitable DVDs for, and is also possible with VHS.
29
.
Watch the same film or TV episode over and over again
. This can not only s
ave
you money on DVDs, but will mean that you can really learn the language without
having to study it. Some comedies can also get funnier the more you watch them,
especially if you watch them with no subtitles and so understand a little more each
time you
watch it.
30
.
Be realistic about your level
. One thing that holds many language learners back is
actually trying too hard and tackling something that their brain is not ready for yet.
Checking your level
with a level check test on the internet, by taking an English
language test (FCE, CAE, IELTS, TOEIC, TOEFL etc.), or by taking a free trial level
check and/ or lesson in a language school will help you find out what your level is and
so choose suitable sel
f
-
study materials.
31
.
Be realistic about your reading level
. Most researchers agree that people learn most
when reading something they understand almost all of. If there are one or two words
per page that you have never seen before, that is about the right l
evel. If there are
three or more on every page, you should switch to something easier and come back
later.
32
.
Read graded readers (= easy readers).
These are books that are especially written
for language learners like you, e.g. Penguin Readers. Although it
can be difficult to
find something as interesting as things written in newspapers or on the internet, in
terms of learning the language only people who need to read for their work or an
exam usually gain more from reading things written for graded readers.
Graded
readers of classic books like Charles Dickens also have the benefit of giving you a lot
of knowledge about the literature, and culture more generally, of English speaking
countries in a short time.
33
.
Read the whole thing with no help
. Although using
a dictionary has been shown to
help with both short term and long term learning of vocabulary, the fact that using it
slows reading down can stop some people reading in English at all. Reading a whole
book quickly through just for pleasure from time to tim
e will help you remember how
fun reading in another language can be.
34
.
Read and learn everything
. At the opposite extreme, it can be hard work but very
satisfying to get to the end of a book knowing that you have learnt every word in it.
See other tips on th
is page to make sure it is a book that is easy enough to do this with
and to ensure that the vocabulary you learn is useful.
35
.
Watching English children's films or TV programmes
. Although some of the
vocabulary you can learn from things made for children can
be a bit strange (lots of
animal names and maybe animal noises, including baby names for things), the fact
that not only the language but the structure of the story is simplified can make it an
easy and motivating thing to watch. Like good language learni
ng materials, the same
language is also often repeated to make it memorable, and the use of catchy songs etc.
can increase this positive effect on your memory.
36
.
Read English children's books
. This is very similar to watching English children's
movies, bu
t with the added advantage of there being more illustrations than adult
books, which both helps you to understand the story and makes the page brighter and
more motivating to read.
37
.
Keep a list of language to learn, e.g. a vocab list
. Even if you don't ofte
n find time
to go though your vocab list and it keeps on building up, just the act of choosing
which words you need to learn and writing them down on a special list can help you
learn them.
38
.
Go through your vocab list several times every day
. If ticking off
words on a
vocabulary list on the train to work is inconvenient or embarrassing for you, you can
keep your list of words to learn as an entry in your electronic dictionary, as a mobile
phone to do list or as a text file in your MP3 player (e.g. iPod). Alt
hough the time
spent transferring the information between different formats like these may seem
wasted, in fact any time you spend using the vocabulary like this will help you learn
it.
39
.
Convert your vocab list to English only
. One way to stop yourself tran
slating and
therefore increase your speed of comprehension and production is to learn all your
vocabulary without the use of your own first language. Ways you can write a vocab
list in only English include with synonyms (words with the same meaning, e.g. "
tall"
and "high"); with opposites ("high" and "low"); with pronunciation factors such as
number of syllables (the number of beats, e.g. three for "de
-
ci
-
sion") and the word
stress (the syllable that is pronounced louder and longer, e.g. the second syllab
le in
"baNAna"); and gapped sentences (e.g. "I am not _________________ in science
fiction" for the word "interested").
40
.
Cross out and delete
. Crossing out or deleting words, sentences or whole pages that
you have learnt can be a great motivator, and save y
our list of things to learn
becoming too big to handle.
41
.
Throw everything away and start again
. One of the things that can put most people
off learning is a stack of half finished books or a huge list vocabulary waiting to be
learnt. Simply getting rid of a
ll that and starting again with something new from zero
can be a great motivator and get your studies underway again.
42
.
Label things in your house or office with post
-
its
. The easiest vocabulary to learn is
the vocabulary of things you see and use everyday.
If you can write the names of
things around you on slips of paper and stick them on the real thing, this is a great
way of learning useful vocabulary. If you can leave them there over the following
days and weeks, this is a very easy way of revising the vo
cabulary until it is properly
learnt.
43
.
Label a drawing
. For people who can't put labels on real things, the next best option
is to take a photo of a real place in your life like your office, print it out, and then
draw lines to all of the things you can se
e in the picture and label them in English with
the help of a dictionary. You can do the same thing with places you pass through
everyday like the station. Because you will see the same thing again and again, it
should be easy to really learn the words for
those things.
44
.
Keep a diary in English
. This is a popular method of making sure you use English
everyday for people who don't often speak English and can't think of things to write
about. The fact that you are writing about real things that have happened t
o you means
that any words you look up in the dictionary will be vocabulary that is useful for you
and easy to learn.
45
.
Online chat
. The closest thing to speaking for people who don't have the chance to
speak English is online chat, as you have to think and
respond quickly, and the
language is short and informal just like speech.
46
.
Listen to the radio news in English
. You can make this easier by reading the news
in English first, or even just by reading or listening to the news in your own language.
47
.
Read an English language newspaper
. Freebie newspapers like "Metro" in London
are usually the easiest to understand, followed by mid
-
brow titles like "The Daily
Express" or "The Daily Mail" in English. Popular newspapers like "The Sun" are
more difficult b
ecause of the idiomatic, slangy use of language and the number of
jokes in the headlines and articles.
48
.
Write fiction in English, e.g. short stories
. For people who find writing a diary
about things that happen to them everyday boring, the best thing is to
let your
imagination go and write about whatever comes into your head. The advantage of this
is that if you can't think of how to say something in English, you can just change the
story to something that is easier to explain. Perhaps the easiest way to st
art writing
fiction in English is with a diary, changing any details you like to make it more
interesting and adding more and more fantasy as the weeks go on.
49
.
English language exercise videos
. This is quite similar to how babies learn, by
listening, watchi
ng and copying. It is also good for your health!
50
.
Learn a famous speech or poem in English by heart
. Although you may never hear
or get the chance to say exactly that line, having one memorable example of an
English grammatical form in your head can make it
much easier to learn other
examples of the same grammar as you hear them. It is also something you can
practice over and over without being as boring as grammatical drills.
51
.
Get tipsy (= a little drunk) before speaking English
. This can not only improve
yo
ur fluency while you are drinking, but can also improve your confidence in future
days and weeks by showing you that you can communicate what you want to say.
52
.
Use a dictionary while you are watching a movie
. Films often have the same words
many times, so
if you look up important words the first or second time you hear them,
you should have learnt them by the end of the film. It is easier to use a dictionary if
you watch with English subtitles.
53
.
Learn and use the phonemic script
. Although there are many soun
ds in English,
there are even more spellings. By learning the phonemic script and writing vocabulary
down with it, you can both add another stage to your vocabulary learning that should
help you learn it more thoroughly, and improve your pronunciation. It
can also make
things easier for you by stopping you trying to pronounce different spellings of the
same pronunciation different ways.
54
.
Learn some spelling rules
. Many people think that English spelling is random, but in
fact most words follow some kind of r
ule, e.g. the "magic E" that changes the
pronunciation of "mad" and "made".
55
.
Record your own voice
. For people who don't have much or any correction of
pronunciation from a teacher, recording yourself and listening back makes it easier to
hear whether you a
re really making the English sounds that you are trying to or not.
56
.
Use computer pronunciation analysis
. Although most programmes that claim to tell
you when you are pronouncing correctly or not don't actually do that, listening many
times and seeing how yo
ur voice changes as you try to match the sounds and
waveform given by a pronunciation CD ROM can be good practice and more
motivating than just recording your own voice.
57
.
Learn as many words as you can of one category, e.g. animal words
. Learning
similar wo
rds together can both expand your overall vocabulary and make them easier
to learn by forming links between the words in your brain.
58
.
Take holidays abroad
. This is not only a good opportunity to speak English in
situations where you really have to make
yourself understood in order to live, but it is
also a good motivator to study English seriously in the weeks and months before your
trip. If possible, also try to use English even when you could use your own language,
e.g. when you pick a guided tour of a
museum or historic place or when you book a
flight on the internet, and try to avoid package tours.
59
.
Draw pictures of the words you want to learn
. Especially if you are artistic, this
can be a better way of learning vocabulary than writing translations or
example
sentences.
60
.
Find a foreign boyfriend or girlfriend
. No tips on how to do this here, but everyone
agrees that getting or even just looking for a date in English can be a great motivator
to improve your language skills.
61
.
Arrange a conversation exchange
. Swapping lessons and conversation with
someone who wants to learn your language can be a good alternative for those who
aren't looking for romance, or can sometimes lead onto dating for those who are!
62
.
Sign up for an English language exam
. Even if you don
't need to take an exam and
don't want to or can't take a special course to study for it, paying to take an exam like
TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS or FCE can really motivate you take your English studies
seriously.
63
.
Model your accent on one particular actor. e.g. tr
y to speak like Robert De Niro
.
Students who say they want to sound more like a native speaker have the problem that
native speakers don't sound all that much like each other. Choosing one model can
make the task of improving your pronunciation more clear,
and is quite fun. Doing an
impression of that person also makes a good party trick.
64
.
Use an English
-
English dictionary
. Trying to use a bilingual dictionary less and
switching to a monolingual one can help you to stop translating in you head when you
are s
peaking or listening, and other useful English vocabulary can come up while you
are using the dictionary.
65
.
Occasionally talk to or e
-
mail your friends in English
. Many people find this a bit
false or embarrassing, but if you think of it as a study club and
set a particular time
and/ or place, it is no different from studying maths together.
66
.
Go to an English or Irish pub
. As well as having a menu in English and being a
good way of finding out something about the culture of English speaking countries,
you migh
t also find there are free English language listings magazines, English
language sports on the TV and/ or foreign people you can speak to.
67
.
Buy a speaking electronic dictionary
. Although most electronic dictionaries are not
as good as paper ones for the am
ount of information they give you about each word,
some of them have the very useful function of saying the word with the correct
pronunciation.
68
.
Learn your electronic dictionary vocabulary list
. Most electronic dictionaries also
have a button which you ca
n push to see the last 30 or more words you looked up. By
deleting words you decide are useless or you have already learnt from this list, you
can use it as a "to do list" of words to learn that you can look at several times a day in
the train etc.
69
.
Switch
operating system to English
. Changing the operating language of your
mobile phone, video recorder etc. to English can be an easy way of making sure you
use the language everyday.
70
.
Set goals
. Deciding how many hours you want to study, how many words you wan
t to
learn or what score you want to get in a test are all good ways of making sure you do
extra study.
Summary: Reasons why teachers sometimes speak at a speed at which students can’t understand everything that they say – both good ones and bad ones – with possible student reactions.
By: Alex Case |Audience: All|Category: Learning English
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