Have you ever wondered why you speak English? Do you have a better understanding of your language after reading this article? Why is it that some people can communicate perfectly in their native language, while others struggle to communicate with native speakers? This article will help you understand more about how our brains process and store information.
If you are planning to go to college in the United States, or even if you are going to study abroad, it is important that you are aware of the language requirements. If your target university does not provide a course in English, it will be necessary for you to take courses on English and get certified by a teacher who knows how to teach English.
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Are you preparing for a career in the United Kingdom? Well, if you’re like most students, then you probably want to study English. Why? Because your English skills are going to help you be more marketable and improve your life in general. Here’s what it takes to get a UK degree and learn English for free. See, study English with us.
English is a complex language and one of the most commonly taught languages. It is essential for everyone to learn this language because it will help you communicate better with people from all over the world. Learning English does not have to be hard and it can be beneficial for you in many ways.
You can do to improve your English
- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Be confident. People can only correct your mistakes when they hear you make them. When you speak in front of others, they will most likely correct their mistakes. Listen to good English and not bad. Practice often helps when you want your skills better next time around; so practice talking with native speakers while watching television, movies or cartoons that have English subtitles.
- Surround yourself in English. Put yourself in an all English speaking environment where you can learn passively. The best way to learn is through speaking.
- Practise every day. Make yourself a study plan. Decide how much time a week you are going to spend studying and stick to it. Establish a routine. See also, studying English.
ADVERTISEMENT - Tell your family and friends about your study plan. Get them to push you to study and also don’t let them interrupt you. The more people you have with you pushing and encouraging the better. Study everyday in a quiet place where there are no distractions – be it your home or school library. Make sure that to not pick up any new information while studying as they might distract you from what’s important, which is retaining knowledge.
- Practise the 4 core skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. They all need to be worked on for you to improve.
- Keep a notebook of new words you learn. Use them in sentences and try to say them at least 3 times when you speak.
- Visit EC’s free learn English website at least once a day and complete a lesson.
- Memorisation of lists is one of the most common ways of learning vocabulary for a test. It’s only a good exercise for short term studying because you often do not retain the information that you have learned for a test.
- Use your body clock. If you’re not a morning person, study in the afternoon.
- You will find words easier to remember if you try to remember an example sentence using that word rather the word on its own.
- Plan to take a test. You’ll find that you work harder when you need to study for something.
- Saying that, it’s better not to study just to take a test. Think of the bigger picture. What can you do when you have a good command of English? How will the quality of your life improve?
ADVERTISEMENT - Give yourself a long term goal. Focus on working towards it.
- Give yourself short term goals too and reward yourself when you achieve each one.
- Create an atmosphere in which you want to learn, not because you have to. You’ll learn more when you’re learning because you want to.
- Know what works best for you. Think about what methods have been successful for you in the past and stick with them. Your improvement will always move in a positive direction. You know what works for you best and stick to it!
- Think about your own background when studying, whether that is family or location. Study efficiently by targeting areas where you struggle most/haven’t studied before.
- Be realistic with yourself: take breaks during the day where necessary.
- Figure out how you learn. It can be by memorising, reading, speaking, summarising or other methods. Find out how you study best. It can be in a quiet place by yourself or with a group.
- Get help! If you don’t understand something you’ve got to ask someone. Ask your teacher, classmates or friends for help.
- Review! Review! Review! Make sure that you take the time to review things you have studied in the past. Try to remember everything you’ve learned. Rewrite any notes that aren’t 100%
ADVERTISEMENT - Think of this as your English Bible, so periodically check it over and make sure you haven’t missed anything on the chapter page! How do I learn best? It really depends on who is asking me this question. My tendency when asked how I study is to reduce excessive details into a simple answer: “I review something once in 12 – 26 years”. I like this answer because it’s easy to understand and gives the person asking a mental picture as well. On top of that, “I review properly twice per day” is also quite easy for me to say and follow through with by creating two study itineraries in my planner every June or December.
- It’s not a good idea to study on your own for more than 30 minutes at a time. Take regular breaks, get some fresh air and stretch your legs.
In conclusion, English is a very useful language. I hope that you have enjoyed reading this article and have learned something new about English. The information provided here serves as tips to help you prepare for school, prevent embarrassment and get ready for exams.
Good luck!