10 Tips for Learning English

July 5, 2023 at 1:12 pm, No comments

1. Set a goal

In order to succeed, be precise and outline your targets and long-term goals. It also helps to be aware of your communicative purpose, audience, topics of interest, as well as your current skills.

What do you need English for?

Work, travelling, entertainment, global networking with like-minded people, family and relatives, etc.

Who will you communicate with?

Native speakers with advanced vocabulary and rapid speech.
Non-native speakers of various backgrounds with different English levels.
Colleagues and clients for professional purposes.
Friends and family about random topics of shared interest.

How often will you actually speak with foreigners?

Perhaps most of your communication will take place in written form as chat messages or, on the contrary, as formal and informal business correspondence. Maybe the bulk of work will be done by translators and interpreters and your job is to be able to gloss through documents to find relevant information for translation or brief interpersonal communication and small talk on business trips. Are you expected to deliver presentations and public speeches? Will this occur on a regular basis rather frequently or only on rare occasions?

Which topics are you interested in or need to cover?

Small talk and basics for travelling; entertainment, art and culture; business, politics and law; healthcare and medicine; gardening, cooking and crafts; sports, fishing and hunting, etc.

What exactly do you want to improve?

Typically, we all want to be fluent. But is it realistic? Maybe you are more interested in reading, listening, and watching audio-visual content with minimal interaction. If, however, you really need to improve speaking, consider investing more time in writing to prepare speaking about common topics of interest and work on narrative structure and grammatical accuracy. To become fluent requires developing all four core language skills (reading, listening, writing, and speaking) and work both on language perception and language production.

2. Build vocabulary

The broader your vocabulary range, the more fluent you will become in spite of grammar mistakes. You can start with any downloadable application like Duolingo, which is great for beginners, but as you progress, more tools can come in handy. Try using visual dictionaries and children’s books, comics, and encyclopaedias to acquire basic vocabulary arranged by topics with memorable visual input. Find and create thematic glossaries for studies and quick revision of key words and specialised terms already grouped according to relevant themes. Use online synonym dictionaries called thesauruses and monolingual dictionaries to expand your vocabulary range. Write out synonym strings of common words and useful terms. Pay attention to word derivation forms. Do crossword puzzles and online quizzes.

3. Study and revise grammar

Get access to clear, easy to understand cheat sheets of grammar rules.
Download applications for learning English.
Do online quizzes and tests.
Buy a grammar exercise book for your level with an answer key.
Sign up for an online English course.

Grammar is important to string sentences together and pass language tests, but don’t get too obsessed with accuracy when communication is key. Your goal is to get the message across, not focus on perfection.

4. Explore your favourite topics

Join social network groups of like-minded people.
Find websites and blogs that write about your interests.
Listen and subscribe to YouTube channels and podcasts.
Read the news in English, follow TikTokers and influencers who talk about your hobbies and problems.

5. Enjoy entertainment in English

Get more exposure to original content and guess the meaning of unknown words from the context, all while relaxing and fully enjoying your free time. There are a lot of activities you can try.

Listen to music, find lyrics, translate unknown words.
Watch films, TV series and shows with English or native language subtitles.
Read books, magazines, journals, graphic novels, and short stories.
Listen to audiobooks.
Play computer games.
Play Scrabble and communicative board, card, and party games in English.

6. Practise English daily (or at least on regular basis)

Write to do lists and shopping lists in English.
Join online communities and find foreign friends.
Play online computer or board games where you can communicate with other players.
Travel abroad.
Join virtual reality (VR) communities.
Think visually, comment in English to avoid setbacks due to contrasting native language structures.

7. Write, write, write

Choose a topic.
Brainstorm keywords.
Use thematic glossaries and grammar cheat sheets.
Write down missing words, look them up, add to your glossaries.
Write short sentences about the topic, check grammar, improve vocabulary.
Write more complex sentences, observe changes in meaning and equivalent structures.
Write a paragraph or short essay about the topic selected.
Improve structure, revise vocabulary, edit grammar mistakes.
Try free writing, writing a journal or diary.

Remember about the ‘Dictate’ function available in many programmes like MS Word and PowerPoint. This way you don’t necessarily need to type everything, and you get to practise pronunciation.

8. Be creative

Write short poems and lyrics to express your emotions and observations.
Develop characters – their traits, strengths, weaknesses, appearance, hobbies, preferences, background.
Describe settings – time and place of real or imaginary world.
Create plot lines and diagrams.
Write dialogues and action scenes.
Practise showing (dramatization of events) versus telling (reporting events).
Write short stories and comic strips.

9. Join English language courses

Sign up for online group classes.
Find in-person courses in your vicinity.
Join conversation clubs.
Consider creative workshops delivered in English.
Get a tutor and attend individual classes for more rapid growth.

10. Schedule study time

Whether you prefer self-studies, working with a tutor, or have already joined a group with scheduled classes, make sure you have regular practice time to improve all the core skills: reading, listening, writing, and speaking. If you have no one to talk to, you can read aloud to practise pronunciation and voice your own thoughts aloud. At the end of a busy working day, choose some form of entertainment in English. If you don’t have a lot of time for written homework or written preparation of a topic feels scary, schedule writing practice in several short 15-minute sessions when your mind is fresh. Don’t worry about mistakes, you can check them later. Your primary goal is to produce language. And writing is the only way you can see it to take a step back, observe, and edit later. Luckily nowadays we have a dictate function, hence you can practice writing while speaking. Only in this case remember to also voice punctuation marks and emojis. You can check this out in the Netflix reality TV show The Circle.

In order to access a range of useful study resources (thematic glossaries, grammar cheat sheets, crosswords, and more) go to Library.

Apply for individual consultations or group classes by writing to info@aerubene.lv or calling (+371) 293 85 222.