Tips to help you speak better English. Practice makes perfect, so use it or lose it!
How are things progressing with your New Year’s resolutions?
Are you still on track or have you given up on some (or all!) of them already?
Perhaps one of your resolutions was to improve your English.
Remember, to make progress you need to be persistent.
Read, write, listen and speak daily – even if it’s just for a short time.
Motivation is key, so make sure you find subjects that interest you.
Have fun learning English!
Louise
I hope you have had a good start to the new year.
We are already heading towards the end of January. Where has the time gone?
Did you make any New Year’s resolutions at the end of last year / start of January?
Have you stuck to them or already broken them?
Was one of your resolutions to improve your English?
Remember, to make progress you need to be persistent and you need to try to do something every day if possible – even if it’s just learning a couple of words.
Something is better than nothing.
Have fun learning English!
Louise
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown means we are living through some very strange times. Many of us have much more free time available during the day due to reduced working hours or simply by having to spend more time at home.
Have you been able to use some of that time to improve your English? As we are now in the summer holiday season it’s a good time to reflect on what you have achieved over the last few months.
Hopefully you were able to try out some of my suggestions to keep learning while in lockdown.
Take some time now to see what progress you have made and try to identify where you still need to improve.
Don’t worry if you weren’t able to spend as much time learning English as you had hoped – life happens! If you were too busy, make a plan for the future and try again.
Stay motivated and keep learning.
Have fun learning English!
Louise
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown means we are living through some very strange times. Many of us have much more free time available during the day due to reduced working hours or simply by having to spend more time at home.
Why not use some of this extra free time to improve your English? Take a look at some suggestions below.
1) Listen to the radio.
Radio is a great way to practise listening skills. The genre you need is “talk radio”.
Search for programmes on topics you find interesting. Listen for 15 or 20 minutes a day (longer if you have time!) and note down any new words or phrases.
2) Watch soap operas on television.
Television gives you a great opportunity to hear modern English and a range of accents. Watching soap operas can be a good way of learning how native speakers really communicate with each other. Listen out for different accents and for slang words and phrases.
3) Watch video clips on YouTube.
Short video clips are easier to watch than full-length television shows so YouTube can be a good way to learn English if you are a beginner or if you don’t have a lot of time.
There are lots of different channels to choose from. A good place to start is the BBC Learning English site:
https://www.youtube.com/user/bbclearningenglish/playlists
Have fun learning English!
Louise
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown means we are living through some very strange times. Many of us have much more free time available during the day due to reduced working hours or simply by having to spend more time at home.
Why not use some of this extra free time to improve your English? Take a look at some suggestions below.
1) Read aloud.
When you read aloud instead of reading in your mind, you can identify which words or phrases are difficult for you to pronounce.
Download a pronunciation app to give you examples of how to pronounce the words you find difficult. Keep a list of the words you need to practise.
2) Play board games in English.
This is a fun and sociable way to use English.
Try playing Scrabble, Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit or Guess Who?
3) TED talks.
There are TED talks about a great range of topics – technology, science, design, health, the environment, personal growth and many, many more.
They offer a good opportunity to practise listening skills, learn vocabulary and hear ‘real’ English.
Have fun learning English!
Louise
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown means we are living through some very strange times. Many of us have much more free time available during the day due to reduced working hours or simply by having to spend more time at home.
Why not use some of this extra free time to improve your English? Take a look at some suggestions below.
1) Make a simple plan and study timetable.
If you are in lockdown and cannot go to your usual English class because the school is closed, make time in your own schedule for learning at home. Plan how many times per week you want to learn English.
Do you have time to learn some English every day, or only once per week?
Is it better for you to learn in the morning or in the evening?
Do you want to learn for 30 minutes, 60 minutes or longer?
Decide what works for you, put the appointment in your diary and stick to it!
2) Put together a library of learning resources.
If you like learning English with books, why not put together a collection of reference books to help you?
Most people have some sort of dictionary (either as a book or to access online) but don’t forget other areas of language.
Think about reference books for idioms, phrasal verbs, business vocabulary, academic writing and functional language (emailing, telephoning, CV writing etc.)
3) Connect with the culture and not just the language.
Language and culture are very closely connected. It is often hard to fully understand one without the other. It is usually a more rewarding experience if you take an active interest in the culture behind the language.
Have fun learning English!
Louise
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown means we are living through some very strange times. Many of us have much more free time available during the day due to reduced working hours or simply by having to spend more time at home.
Why not use some of this extra free time to improve your English? Take a look at some suggestions below.
1) Discover audiobooks.
If you don’t enjoy reading, or if reading books in English is too difficult for you right now, why not try listening to an audiobook?
If possible, get a printed version of the book so you can follow what you are listening to. Make notes of any new vocabulary or interesting phrases you hear.
2) Improve your grammar.
If you want to speak English correctly, you will have to make some time to focus on grammar. It’s not always fun, but it has to be done!
Use a grammar book split into small units so you can learn in bite-sized chunks. There a many good grammar books out there, but one of the best is English Grammar In Use by Raymond Murphy.
3) Use labels in your home.
Many people are visual learners and can therefore remember new vocabulary more easily if they repeatedly see the words written down.
Use sticky notes to label objects in your home in English. Over time, by having repeatedly seen the word, you should be able to name the object without needing to read the label.
Have fun learning English!
Louise
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown means we are living through some very strange times. Many of us have much more free time available during the day due to reduced working hours or simply by having to spend more time at home.
Why not use some of this extra free time to improve your English? Take a look at some suggestions below.
1) Watch television.
Effective listening ensures understanding and it helps to improve your accuracy when speaking. Active listening (paying close attention to not only what is said but also how it is said) is an important skill to learn.
Watching television is a great way to improve active listening.
Watch your favourite film / comedy series / DVD / Netflix series in English. If necessary, watch it with subtitles. Focus on what is being said. Think about intonation, sentence patterns and the vocabulary being used. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand everything – just watch it again!
2) Read books and articles.
It doesn’t really matter what you read, but by reading something in English regularly you will improve your vocabulary and have a better feel for natural English.
If you are a beginner, try reading children’s books or comics. The pictures will help with understanding.
Read magazines, websites, blogs, Wikipedia entries or articles as often as you can. Don’t worry if you can’t understand everything. Just get into the habit of reading in English regularly.
3) Keep a record of new words.
As you watch television or listen to the radio or read in English you’ll come across a lot of new words and phrases. Write them down. By having a list of new vocabulary, you’ll have a visual reference to look back on at a later date.
Try to use the new words in sentences of your own.
Have fun learning English!
Louise
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown means we are living through some very strange times. Many of us have much more free time available during the day due to reduced working hours or simply by having to spend more time at home.
Why not use some of this extra free time to improve your English? Take a look at some suggestions below.
1) Immerse yourself in English.
Even if you don’t live in an English-speaking country it is still possible to surround yourself with English. Try to find ways to make English part of your everyday life. The more exposure you have to the language, the better.
E.g. By having a television news channel or radio on in the background in English you can hear real English spoken at normal speed. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand everything. The input is still valuable.
2) Write in English.
It doesn’t really matter what you write as long as you write something. It could be a blog, a diary, a journal or even your shopping list.
Make this a regular part of your day / week and over time you should improve your vocabulary, grammar and your use of everyday English.
3) Listen to real English. Try a podcast.
It’s really easy to find free English podcasts online. Listening to podcasts is a great way to train your ear and to get used to hearing real English, spoken at normal speed.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand everything the first time. Simply listen again to anything you missed, or weren’t sure about.
Have fun learning English!
Louise
If you can increase your exposure and contact to the language, your vocabulary will expand and your passive knowledge will increase. Try the following tips to increase your exposure to English.
At some point you have to just speak! Practice makes perfect. The most important thing is that you are not afraid of making mistakes.
Everybody makes mistakes when learning a new language. It’s totally natural and to be expected. Do not let your mistakes stop you from speaking. You will get better, the more you speak. If you don’t speak, you won’t get better. It’s that simple!
I have extensive experience of helping people who are learning and improving English. If you would like further information about how I can help you, please feel free to contact me for more information.
Good luck and have fun learning English!
Louise