70 Ways to Improve Your English

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Learning English should be continuous. Then you will really feel the result. Read on for our tips on how to make this learning process continuous but not stressful.

It makes no sense to talk about the benefits of knowing English. But learning this language is not the easiest thing. We have prepared several dozen tips for you to help you successfully cope with this task.

1. Start your own blog in English. This is a great way to practice your writing in English. And the vocabulary will be replenished.
2. Keep a news diary. Another good way to practice writing English. Especially when you don't know what to write about. And if you add your forecast of the course of events (for example, "The President will hang himself"), then this will give you a reason to return to your articles again and again. And then you can find your mistakes and correct them.
3. Sign up for our regular newsletter of tips for learning English. There are tons of sites that offer weekly or even daily small English lessons by email. With your phone or tablet, you can read these tips on your way to work or school. But keep in mind that these lessons can only be considered as additional material to what you (or your teacher) prepared for your level of knowledge. You can also subscribe to the English language groups "VKontakte".
4. Listen to audiobooks and radio broadcasts. You can find tons of audiobooks and radio shows in English on the Internet. They can be downloaded completely free of charge from sites such as Scientific American, BBC and Australia's ABC Radio.
5. Listen to English-language music. If you are minding your own business and listening to English music at the same time, you gradually begin to get used to the natural rhythm and tone of the English language.
6. Read the lyrics. You can get much more benefit from listening to songs in English if you take a little time and read the lyrics to the song with a dictionary. But keep in mind that there may be copyright errors in the texts. The next time you listen to a song you already know the words to, try to sing along. This will improve your spoken language.
7. Sing karaoke in English. Once you've understood and memorized the lyrics to a song, the obvious step is to sing it. This will help you learn English pronunciation.
8. Write a review for a movie, hotel or book. Naturally, in English.
9. Google only in English. This is a great practice to read English quickly.
10. Read a book you've already read or watch a movie you've already seen in your native language. It's easy enough to read a book whose plot is already familiar to you.
11. Read English translations. Another easy reading in English might be a book that has been translated from your native language. Books are usually translated in a simpler language than native English speakers write.
12. Skip the first 10 pages. If the book is difficult to read, try reading the first 10 pages diagonally or skipping them altogether. The beginning of any book is, as a rule, a description full of complex vocabulary. If difficulties arise with further reading, then put this book aside. Come back to it when you read the lighter things.
13. Read books with lots of dialogue. Dialogue is much easier to understand than long narratives. Plus, you will add phrases to your piggy bank that can be used in a conversation.
14. Read comics in English. Comics are even easier and clearer than books with a lot of dialogue. But here difficulties can arise due to the use of slang words. Go for serious comics or adventure comics. They are easier to understand.
15. Read the entertainment poster in English. Today, most major cities in the world publish magazines with information about film screenings, games, theater performances in English that will take place in the city. Track and attend such events.
16. Read magazines in English. Try to read two versions of the magazine (in English and, for example, Ukrainian). This will make it much easier to understand the English version.
17. Take part in a one-week intensive course. Although one should not expect outstanding results from such a short training period, it will undoubtedly have a positive impact.
18. Alternate your intensive course with your extensive course. The more time you spend studying English, the better, of course. But periodic training in intensive courses (several hours a week, intermittently) is probably the best of the systems. It gives your brain time to subconsciously learn and apply what has already been learned before moving on to something new.
19. Complement your group lessons with individual lessons. A personal teacher will help you sort out the points that you did not understand in the group lesson, as well as correct your mistakes.
20. Complement your one-to-one lessons with group lessons. The benefits of group sessions are often less visible to students. However, this type of training involves communicating with several people who can simultaneously enter into discussions. This way, you have the opportunity to interrupt speakers, listen to different points of view, and simply speak on different topics in English.
21. Teach your children or other people English. This will help to improve your level of proficiency in a foreign language and to fix the existing knowledge in memory.
22. Ask your company to introduce English lessons. Even if you don't need to speak English at work, the lessons can be very fun and rewarding.
23. Turn on the English-language radio while doing household chores. Even if you are not listening carefully, the radio will help you get a feel for the rhythm and intonation of the English language.
24. Play educational games on your video console. This is a great way to take a break from your main activities and learn the language in a playful way.
25. Speak or think about what you are doing in English. When you are doing routine things, try to say to yourself sentences describing your actions in English. For example: "I'm opening ketchup." This will allow you to think in English without translation. It will also help you realize how many simple things are around, the names of which you do not know.
26. Watch films in English with English subtitles. This way of watching films can be advised for those who constantly catch themselves reading subtitles in their native language, absolutely not listening to the English version. If this seems too difficult for you, then you can watch the first 10 minutes of the film with subtitles in your native language, and then switch to English.
27. Watch films in your native language with English subtitles. If you find it too difficult to watch movies in English with English subtitles, then this method is for you.
28. Watch films in English with subtitles in your own language. While not as good English practice as with English subtitles, it is more relaxing.
29. Watch movies and episodes over and over again. This will help you memorize phrases and expressions without cramming. In addition, most comedies can become funnier and funnier for you with each viewing.
30. Realistically assess your level of knowledge. One of the reasons hindering the improvement of English is the overestimation of one's own capabilities. Many people overload their brains with too much complex information. And he is not ready for this yet. Try to objectively assess your level of English, for example, using a test on the Internet.
31. Rate your actual reading level. Many scholars argue that people learn better when they understand almost everything they read. If there are one or two unknown words on a page of text, this is a normal level. If you don't understand three or more words on each page, then you should switch to something easier.
32. Read adapted literature. These are books that are written specifically for English learners. Famous works are specially lexically and grammatically simplified for people with a certain level of knowledge. However, sometimes it is difficult to find books that will be not only useful, but also interesting to read.
33. Read everything without any help. While using a dictionary can help you learn new words, constantly interrupting your reading to find a translation can completely discourage you to read in English. If you read without any help, guessing about the meaning of incomprehensible words from the context, then by the end of the book you will be able to feel all the pleasure of reading in a foreign language.
34. Read and study everything. This can be very challenging. But just imagine how much pleasure you will get by reading the book to the end! You will feel that you know every word in it and that the acquired vocabulary will certainly come in handy for you.
35. Watch English-language children's films or TV shows. Many things will probably seem strange to you (a lot of animal names; sounds they make; children's names), however, due to simpler words and the structure of the narrative, everything will become clearer.
36. Read children's books in English. They are written in simpler language than adult books. In addition, they have a lot of colorful pictures that help to understand the plot, cheer you up, thereby motivating you to continue reading.
37. Keep a list of things to learn, for example, make a list of words. Even if you don’t have enough time to go over this list sometimes, the very fact of its existence is another step towards learning English.
38. Go through your word list several times a day. If you are not very comfortable or embarrassed to check the boxes in front of the words you have already learned while in the transport on the way to work, then you may well put them in the to-do list on your phone. Audio recording of words is also a good alternative. This activity may seem useless to you, but it is not at all true. As you write or say words, you will somehow memorize them.
39. Maintain your vocabulary list exclusively in English. The bottom line is that you stop translating words from English into your native language. How to do it? There are many ways. For example, you can maintain a list of synonyms such as “high” and “tall”; a list of antonyms - “high” and “low”, etc.
40. Cross out and delete. Crossing out and deleting words, sentences, or even entire pages you've already learned can be a great motivator.
41. Throw everything away and start over. Very often, half-read books, a lot of prepared but unexplored material become a strong demotivator. People just drop out of school. To prevent this from happening, we advise you to start over.
42. Attach stickers with the names of items at work and at home. You can write the names of things around you on pieces of paper and paste them all over the place. Thus, they will always be in front of your eyes, which will help you quickly remember the designations of objects.
43. Sign things on photos. This is a great alternative for those who do not have the ability to attach labels with the names of things in English to real objects. You can take photographs of things and caption them.
44. Start a personal diary in English. This is a good way to use English every day, describing everything that happens to you. This will greatly expand your vocabulary.
45. Online chat. This is the best way to improve spoken language for those who have no other way to communicate in English.
46. Listen to the news on the radio in English. You can make it easier for yourself by reading the news first. You can also read or listen to the news in your native language first.
47. Read the news in English. There are a huge number of English-language news sites on the Internet - all of them at your service.
48. Write stories in English. This is suitable for those who find keeping a personal diary describing routine events very boring. Unleash your imagination and write about everything that comes into your head.
49. Watch and practice videos in English with exercise complexes. This will have a good effect not only on your knowledge of English, but also on your health.
50. Learn famous poetry in English. This will help you reproduce the intonation of English speech. In addition, you will be able to use the grammatically correct expressions already learned in your daily life.
51. Have a little drink before you start speaking English. This will give you confidence and make your speech fluent. You will understand that you can quite normally communicate in a foreign language.
52. Use a dictionary while watching a movie. Films often use the same words. So by the end of watching, you will definitely complete your vocabulary.
53. Learn and use phonetic transcriptions. Write down the words along with the transcription. This will help you not only learn the correct spelling, but also improve your pronunciation.
54. Learn a few pronunciation rules. Many people think that pronunciation in English is completely random. But in fact, most words are read according to certain rules.
55. Record your voice. This is a great way to hear and correct your mistakes, especially for those whose pronunciation there is no one to correct.
56. Use computerized pronunciation analysis. This can be more interesting and productive for you than just recording your voice on a dictaphone.
57. Study as many words as possible from one category (for example, animal kingdom). This will not only expand your vocabulary, but also facilitate the memorization process thanks to the semantic connections established in your head.
58. Relax abroad. This is not only a good opportunity to practice English in a situation where there is no way to use another language, but also a great motivation to improve your English a few weeks or months before the trip.
59. Create pictures for the words you want to learn. Especially if you are a creative person. After all, this is much more interesting than just writing down words and their translation.
60. Get yourself a foreign girl or boyfriend. Agree, dating with conversations in English is a great motivator to improve your knowledge.
61. Organize a tandem class. The idea is that you can act as a teacher in your native language as well as an English learner. In both cases, you will be speaking English, which is very good practice.
62. Sign up for an English exam. Even if you don't need it. Exam fees such as TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS, or FCE can be a great motivator for learning more seriously.
63. Model your accent. Pick an actor - like Robert De Niro - and try to speak like him. Not in his voice, of course, but trying to copy the pronunciation.
64. Use a monolingual English dictionary. Start using monolingual dictionaries instead of bilingual dictionaries. This will help you stop translating words in your head while you are speaking or listening. In addition, you will expand your vocabulary with new words that you will come across when using the dictionary.
65. Chat or email your friends in English. This may seem strange or embarrassing to many. But if you treat this venture as a kind of English learning club, then everything will immediately become easier.
66. Go to English or Irish bars. Menus, TV programs, magazines - all in a foreign language. It is also very likely to meet foreigners and practice your spoken English.
67. Buy an electronic phrasebook. While many electronic dictionaries are not as good as paper dictionaries, they have one great feature - they reproduce words.
68. Study word lists from your electronic dictionary. Review the last 30 words you searched for in your dictionary. Remove from their number those that you think are completely useless. Look at the rest several times a day.
69. Change the OS language to English. Changing the language on your phone, computer, camcorder, etc. to English will force you to use it daily.
70. Set a goal for yourself. Decide how many hours you want to spend studying, how many words you want to learn, or what grade you want to get on the exam.