One of the questions students ask a lot is - how can I learn English quickly?
Now whilst I would love to wave a magic wand and say, "hey here is the magic strategy, follow this and you will be fluent in no time at all!"
That is unrealistic...
As with any skill, practice practice practice is what makes the skill stick, practicing as much as possible and exposing yourself to the skill as much as possible is the only way to learn quickly, and improve significantly.
However this isn't that helpful to students who have lost their motivation, or don't know where to start, or don't know how to practice.
So here are 5 ways you can improve your English as quickly as possible, and if you combine a few of these ways, you should see an immediate improvement.
Set Specific Language Goals: Create a study plan with achievable goals that will help you track your progress and stay motivated.
Having a set goal or set of goals is a fantastic way to see improvement as you have something you can actually work towards.
These goals can be as simple as, 'learn 5 new words a day', or 'speak English 10 minutes per day', to something as detailed as a written plan, with your speaking goals, reading goals, writing goals, and listening goals.
I have had students come to me with no set goal, just an understanding that they need help with their English, and we create a goal and plan together.
I have also had students come to me with a written, very detailed, plan of exactly what they want to learn and in what time frame.
If you have a goal, this makes it easier for you to aim towards something in particular.
Let's say you love the TV show 'Friends', but you understand maybe 60% of what they are saying and need subtitles, maybe your new goal could be, to understand 70% of one episode and not have to read the subtitles in order to understand.
With more specific goals like, 'learn 5 new words per day', this is a bit easier to keep track of, but might be a bit harder to remember, which leads me to my next point.
2. Make Sure All Your Examples And Resources Are Relevant To You: Choose examples and videos, articles and books that are things you are interested in.
When learning something new, the quickest and easiest way to LOSE motivation, is to stop being interested in it. Once you lose the interest the motivation to study that skill quickly disappears.
No matter how you learn English, whether it be through YouTube videos, Netflix shows, reading articles, reading books, practicing with friends, or even lessons with a teacher, make sure the topics you are learning, and talking about are actually interesting to you.
With all my students I will tailor and personalise the lessons to what they want to know, I won't teach a HR Manager about marketing, I won't teach a Psychology student about environmental issues, unless that student has either requested that topic, or has those interests as hobbies outside of their main English focus.
If I want to challenge a student I will of course choose something they have never discussed before, but of course I will relate this back to them and their life.
'What do you think about this topic?'
'What would you do in this situation?'
'Do you know anyone interested in this topic?'
By relating the information, vocabulary and phrases to your own life, your friends, your interests, you are much more likely to remember them and use them correctly.
3. Immerse Yourself In The Language As Much As Possible: Try to use the English language in every aspect of your life, as much as you can.
Now of course the best way to immerse yourself in a language, a culture is to move to that country, but it would be ridiculous of me to encourage everyone to move country.
Not only is this not an option for everyone, it wouldn't be very realistic and wouldn't make me a very good teacher!
So what then do I mean by immerse yourself?
Surround yourself as much as possible. Every aspect of your life where you could possibly fit some English in - do so!
Read in English
Listen to podcasts in English
Watch videos in English
Watch your favourite series and films either in English or with English subtitles.
Listen to English songs
Talk to yourself in English
Narrate what you are doing in English
Now some of those are simple, but what about the last two, 'talk to yourself in English' and 'narrate what you are doing in English', what do I mean by these?
If you find yourself doing something simple, like making toast, or a coffee, or taking a shower, talk yourself through what you are doing, either out loud or in your head, (If you live alone no need to worry about people thinking you are crazy, if you live with family or friends, perhaps let them know you will now be talking to yourself in the shower...).
By narrating your life and talking to yourself in English, you are getting extra practice in whenever you can.
As someone who used this technique to learn a language, I can promise you it works, even if you feel a bit crazy in the beginning!
4. Use Language Learning Apps: Find apps that work for you and make it a daily habit to practice within the app.
Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to apps, some people love this one, hate that one, the same people will dislike this one, and really enjoy that one.
It is important to try a few, and delete any that you don't think will work, or you dislike, and keep going with the ones that do work for you.
A simple google search will show you hundreds of apps you can try but some of my personal favourites are;
Wordle - A word guessing game, created by The New York Times. Made for native speakers, but there is no reason you cannot use this to test your vocabulary skills.
Loora - An AI app that allows you to speak and get immediate feedback on the quality and accuracy of your spoken English
Duolingo - Language learning app. Whilst I do not think this is a good app for intermediate to advanced level learners, it is fantastic for checking your understanding and your sentence structure.
Anki - A flashcard style game. Choose your own vocabulary and create flashcards to test yourself on a daily basis.
ChatGPT - An AI open software tool. Use ChatGPT to improve your writing, speaking and reading skills. I don't recommend asking ChatGPT to write your messages for you, because you will never learn, but use it as a free teacher for daily practice.
5. Practice Speaking Whenever You Can: Any chance you get, practice your speaking, don't be afraid of mistakes, they teach you something!
For a lot of students there are two things stopping their English improvement, the first is they do not have the opportunity to speak English in their environment. They are in a place where English is not spoken, their friends don't speak English, and their family do not speak English.
The second, is they are so scared of making a mistake, that they avoid speaking all together. They have a fantastic level of English understanding, they know the grammar rules through and through, but the minute they start to speak they panic, and forget everything.
You have to ask yourself, what are the worst things that could happen if you make a mistake? Someone laughs? Someone doesn't understand you?
But what if you get it right?
You feel proud, you ordered a coffee in perfect English, you have a happy feeling all day, you grow in confidence and can try a harder sentence next time.
So how can you practice?
Every oppurtunity you have, try. If you meet a tourist in your city who asks directions, don't panic, just explain slowly in English.
If you have a friend learning English, practice with them for one hour per week.
Join a speaking club where you can share and communicate with other non native English speakers.
Have lessons with an English teacher, in my opinion this is the best way to learn, because teachers are trained to give you feedback in a positive, and understanding way. A good teacher will never laugh, never make you feel stupid, they will explain and help you understand your mistake.
For English lessons with qualified teachers, see here.
Join a group on social media that allows you to practice your English with other learners of the language.
Finally, record yourself. It seems strange at first but record yourself with your phone or on your computer and watch it back. What could you have said differently? Where do you hesitate? Where do you struggle? What aspects of your speech sound confident?
So now you have 5 tips on how you can learn English as quickly as possible. Are there any here you are not already doing that you can add to your daily, weekly or monthly routine?
Perhaps there were some in here that don't work for you but finding a strategy that works for you, fits your schedule, and you feel is acheivable, you will find you stay motivated for longer, and improve quicker than you initially thought!
To book a trial lesson with Catherine and to discuss your English goals - click here.
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