Top 10 Tips for Foreign Students to Learn English

English is one of the most spoken languages worldwide and a centrally accepted language for business, entertainment, and education. While studying in an English-speaking country, foreign students must learn how to speak the English language as well as native speakers do. However, learning English can seem a bit of a challenge as there are over 750,000 words in the semantics, and some have such similar spellings and pronunciation that is enough to frustrate even the best students. With the right commitment and attitude, there is no reason why international students cannot excel in the dialect. Here are our top 10 tips for you to get started on learning English.

1. Build your learned vocabulary:

“One can easily begin to expand their vocabulary by constantly making an effort to learn new words every day,” says Scarlett Hobler, writer at papersowl.com. “You can then force yourself to use the new words in everyday communication to commit the word to memory.” Students must work on their research papers while in college, and those with difficulty with the dialect can suffer. It pays to have a useful vocabulary to explain yourself eloquently in your essay.  

2. Go on the Internet:

There is no other way for you to get better in the native language other than by repetition. Thanks to the internet, you don’t have to be confined to a classroom to work on your language education. You can easily find resources on popular platforms such as YouTube to work with. Or you may even find paid services that help you practice speaking.

3. Use translators:

If you ever come across a word that you don’t know the meaning of, it helps to go online and translate the word. Several online services can explain the meaning of the term for free. You may also want to listen to how it’s pronounced to be able to use it in speaking. Listening to how a word is pronounced helps better your nuances and inflection of specific words and helps you sound similar to a native speaker.

4. Read a lot of books:

Repetition is key like we mentioned in tip #2. By reading some English language books, you will not only be enhancing your knowledge, but you will also start seeing repetitive words used coherently in a sentence. The repetitive pattern can help make you better at the language. While looking for books, it may be best to get one with dialogues since it enables you to understand how native English speakers use the language in speaking.

5. Listen to others:

The more you hear, the more you learn. You can find good content on the internet, such as podcasts, news, and even songs that can improve the English dialect. Listening to a podcast with dialogues can help you increase your knowledge of words, phrases, word patterns, and expressions. It can also help to proactively listen to your friends while they speak to understand how they pronounce words and use them in communication.

6. Don’t translate everything:

It can be tempting for you to go on the internet and find translations for every single thing. While this may read okay to an international student, to a native speaker, the translations will almost always be off. Word-for-word translations don’t generally work, and the result can be contrary to the writer’s expectations. Even though you are not an English speaker by default, it may be best to take baby steps and work on writing coherent sentences yourself.

7. Watch TV shows:

You can learn a lot about a country’s culture and dialect by watching several television shows or a native movie. This is an entertaining way for you to learn and pick up on visual cues from the characters. You can learn from their tones and facial expressions and pair them up with the words that they are using in everyday communication. While managing the time may be a bit difficult for students, it may be worth your while if you manage to find an interesting TV show.

8. Practice with your friends:

If you have some great native English speaking friends, they may be more than happy to help you out with the dialect. You may not only work on everyday communication with them but also makeup scenarios in which you have no idea of the consequences. Role-playing is a fantastic method to practice conversations. It helps your mind work faster and enables you to come up with quick retorts in a real setting.

9. Get motivated:

Anyone can excel in a new language, but they have to put in the time and effort to do so. While learning a new dialect, it can get very frustrating, especially if it is entirely different from yours. However, as an international student, you must persevere and remember why you are doing it in the first place: to grasp as much knowledge as you can while in college. Be focused on your reason, and remind yourself of the end goal when you find yourself deviating.

10. Understand the challenge:

Learning English is a challenge, and you must think of it as such. It will not be an easy road wherein you find yourself progressing from one day to the next. Some days there will be setbacks, and some days you will be better at it than usual. Patience is a virtue and one that is highly important while working with a new language. With time, you will get this too.
With consistent practice, you may find yourself waking up one day able to communicate perfectly in English with your classmates. Until then, keep practicing and don’t give up.
 
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