{"id":28005,"date":"2019-12-27T13:58:16","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T13:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/news\/?p=28005"},"modified":"2019-12-27T13:58:16","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T13:58:16","slug":"10-ways-improve-learning-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/10-ways-improve-learning-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning English:10 Ways to fast-track your progress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Learning English is not about sitting in a classroom full of other students.<\/strong> It&#8217;s about surrounding yourself with the English language, living in an environment based on English, and allowing yourself to live your life in a foreign language culture.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<b>Improving language skills is a path worth going through, and we&#8217;re here to help you achieve your goals.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">10 things you can do to improve learning English<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>1. Listen to improve learning English<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>How do babies start speaking a language?<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, we listen, then we talk, and then we learn how to write and read.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So let&#8217;s take baby steps (pun intended) and start by listening to the spoken language we want to learn.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I smiled proudly through the parent-teacher meeting (back when I was in school) when the teachers told my parents that my English was phenomenal for my age and group. Later at home, we discussed how watching cartoons dubbed in English helped achieve advanced vocabulary, and perfect pronunciation.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you&#8217;re an adult trying to learn English, it&#8217;s not too late to invest your time listening to TV, videos, or podcasts in English.<\/span><b> If you\u2019re planning to teach your kid better English, then you should consider letting them listen to more English.<\/b><br \/>\n<b>What good is listening to English?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By listening to a native speaker speak English, we are experiencing the use of English in daily life (grammar, vocabulary, intonation, accent, and interpretation).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn new words and your vocabulary.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The brain adapts to the words it hears and tries to imitate the accent, pronunciation, and intonation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why listening?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s easy, and you can do it alongside with another task.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can become a hobby, and you can listen to books, videos, podcasts, whatever.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also learn to be more attentive. Listening to something helps!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>2. Think and speak in English\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Multilingual people, such as myself, tend to think in several languages.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be honest, how often <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/is-it-normal-to-talk-to-yourself_l_5d5fd004e4b0b59d25734ee6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do you talk to yourself?<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The odds are high that at one point in your life, you&#8217;ve spoken to yourself, and it&#8217;s an entirely healthy sign of being a human being.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<b>Many people find it helpful to think to themselves or talk to themselves loudly. Some therapists even advise their clients to talk themselves through problems daily.\u00a0<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make a habit of talking to yourself in English every day. Create your own TV show (in your head), read a book out loud, explain something to yourself out loud, just talk to yourself, and practice English every day.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To some people, thinking and speaking in a second language comes naturally.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I was 7 when I realized that my thoughts in the Russian language, and not in my native Georgian. One time, my parents caught me speaking perfect Russian and preparing a meal for myself when I thought I was home alone.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. Play vocabulary games<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A rich vocabulary is a huge part of actually speaking a foreign language. With only a few words, you can deliver your message to the listener. Still, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">having a rich <\/span><b>vocabulary<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will help you communicate in a more engaging way<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you <\/span><b>know<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> several synonyms (words <\/span><b>with<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> similar meanings), you&#8217;ll be able to choose the best word for the job.<\/span><br \/>\n<b>Why games?\u00a0<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Games are fun to play, and they keep our attention span to the maximum. According to recent research, due to technology entering our daily lives, our attention span has lowered to average 12 seconds (it differs within the age groups, professions, etc.).<\/span><br \/>\n<b>So instead of reading and writing, some companies have developed apps and games to teach students more words and improve English grammar.\u00a0<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you&#8217;re a smartphone user, you can <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/minda-zetlin\/7-mobile-apps-that-will-dramatically-increase-your-vocabulary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">download these apps<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to practice your vocabulary daily in a playful manner.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you prefer human contact, you can still play and learn. You can come up with a game with your friend, or find a community at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> English Forward Forums<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Here you can find online tutors, fellow students, and others that can participate in a new thread and accompany you on your educational journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>4. Write in your diary\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While having a diary\/journal is a great way to deal with your emotional issues and everyday problems, you can also use it to practice learning English better.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A lot of people today have taken up food journals, therapy diaries, and many more to help them go through their daily habits and problems. If you already have such a journal, try writing inputs in English. And if you&#8217;re new to the journal idea, trust me, it&#8217;s a massive change in your life and English knowledge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>5. Change the language on your smartphone and social media<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, it might be difficult at first, but you&#8217;ll learn to adapt yourself to the changes.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You use smartphones and social media every day, so you might as well benefit from by learning some of the words and terminology you already knew.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>6. Subscribe to newsletters<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Subscribe to newsletters (in English) and turn on the notification on your email app.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find interesting online magazines and platforms that send out valuable information to their audience. Weekly (or even daily) newsletter will remind you to read something every day, even if only a few sentences of the message (article, blog).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>7. Join communities learning English<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Support is always essential, whether you&#8217;re going through something physical or psychological. A lot of people have reported that support groups and communities have helped them overcome their issues and learn more.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Join such groups on social media and participate in daily communication. Not only will you be able to find a supportive community, but learn daily slang, expressions, terminology, and fill in your vocabulary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>8. Plan to take a test weekly\/monthly\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might give up if you don\u2019t notice the progress is often hard. But transitioning to another language takes time.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Plan weekly or monthly tests for yourself and see how you have developed your English knowledge.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can access online tests, or find a tutor at English Forward and ask them to help you evaluate your knowledge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>9. Surround yourself with English speakers\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The global doors are open, and everyone has the possibility to meet at least one English speaker in their hometown.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Personally I, meet freelancers every day by working and studying at cafes and coworking spaces. Facebook and other social media are very transparent about events and meetups going on near you, so dive deep in those events and meet new people to practice new rules in English grammar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>10. Watch videos over and over again learning English<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This might seem tedious, but hear me out!\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By watching something in a foreign language, you won&#8217;t truly understand everything at once. By rewatching it over and over again, you will catch some of the missed terminologies, strange words, expressions, jokes, and more. You are improving learning English by repetitions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember, consistency is the key to learning English.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Create a schedule for your English learning plans and follow all of these steps to achieve the maximum result.<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create your own classroom, reading materials, and videos. Keep track of everything that you use in your journey and go over it once again. And who knows? Maybe someday, you will be the one recommending others to read, listen, and speak English following your method.<\/span><br \/>\n<strong>Practice the 4 core skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening.<\/strong> They all need to be worked on for you to improve. Keep a notebook of new words you <em>learn<\/em>. Use them in sentences and try to say them at least 3 times when you speak.<br \/>\nOne cue: When you can&#8217;t remember the word in your native language, but remember it in a foreign one. To be sure, Take fluency tests to find out how fluent you are in English! The English fluency test will indicate your level of English.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learning English is not about sitting in a classroom full of other students. It&#8217;s about surrounding yourself with the English language, living in an environment based on English, and allowing yourself to live your life in a foreign language culture.\u00a0 Improving language skills is a path worth going through, and we&#8217;re here to help you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":28006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}