Are you frustrated with your English? Getting nowhere, watching TV without understanding what’s being said? Here are 10 ideas that have helped many people. Try them for yourself and see how far it gets you in life. (And don’t forget: Practice makes perfect.
How to Learn English Quickly at Home?
Learning a new language has never been so easy. English is now the third most popular language in the world, and being able to speak it fluently will have many benefits. The best way to learn English is to start with the basics: vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. This article will teach you some useful tricks that can help you improve your English skills fast.
Here are 10 useful tips that will help you focus on those three things:
1. Read everything you can get your hands on
Reading materials is, of course, an important part of learning a new language. That said, not all books are created equal when it comes to helping you become smarter in English. Some printed publications will give you useful dialogue and vocabulary exercises that make it much easier for your brain.
2. Start with what you really need
Some books contain a lot of sophisticated grammar and vocabulary that you don’t need right now. Think about which words are useful to understand the new material before reading on in order to save yourself time later.
3. Actively take note of new vocabulary
As you read, (subtitles, newspapers) periodically stop and take pen-and-paper notes on the new words that you encounter. The easiest way is to write them down in a notebook so they won’t be forgotten later.
4. Learn vocabulary by finding synonyms online
In order for your brain to become more efficient at processing language, try learning new English words by checking their translation online. This tip might seem counterintuitive since we usually learn words from reading, but it helps to memorize what a word actually means.
5. Listen with your ears
Maybe you don’t speak English much at all and need to learn new words by listening carefully instead of reading them out loud or sounding them out in writing? That’s one way of doing things. Another is just straight up repeating the pronunciation (without hearing for yourself)
6. Don’t worry about grammar
Believe it or not, research has shown that most English words are still the same whether you know their true meaning and spelling or just remember how to say them based on context (like hearing them) in your target language without being aware of any particular rules imposed by “grammar.”
7. Practice Your English Every Day
It’s a well-known fact among language learners that speaking is far more efficient than writing. But it’s not enough to just read and reread; you really have to do something with what you learn in your goal language, like talking out loud or practicing pronunciation by listening to podcasts.
8. Make Mistakes! Fail Fast and Fail Often
At one time or another, we all make mistakes while learning English fast. The problem arises when you pretend those mistakes don’t exist and avoid making them intentionally in order to “look cool” or sound more sophisticated later on the say-so of your peers (or not).
9. Design your study program
In order to use the best possible resources and make learning English more efficient, it’s important that you plan your study program in advance. It’s common sense when listening carefully to what others say while waiting for their turn.
10. Take an online class
A great way for Studying with a learning partner is also beneficial for many reasons, not the least of which is that it’s more fun. You’ll have someone to talk about your recent successes, learn from his mistakes, and share with him all the audio content he missed in class.
Why Learn English at Home?
There are many reasons to learn the English language at home. Some of them have already been discussed in the previous section, but others (like having a native speaker as a teacher) merit special attention.
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Convenient
The biggest advantage of learning English at home is that you get to decide when, where and how much. You don’t have to wait for a teacher or go through delays before the next lesson starts; on top of this, the teacher doesn’t give assignments unless they are really necessary – which makes it easier to learn because there’s nothing holding your attention back.
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Cheaper
In this age of inflation and expensive gas prices, English-speaking sessions at an English course can be quite costly for you. These costs include the instructors’ fees (which are paid monthly), lesson materials, etc. However, by learning English at home on your own time with inexpensive equipment like The Sounds Language Academy’s DVD series, it’s unlikely that you’ll break into frequent personal bankruptcy!
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Easy to Learn
No matter how much time and effort you expend, the more effort put into learning a language in normal conditions equals high results. Anyone can do it – even if they don’t have any training or experience. Learning English at home gives one an opportunity to master some pronunciation rules and listening skills like stressed accent and stress reduction, conversation skills.
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Immersion
The sooner that you understand how to truly immerse yourself in a new language, the better. Not only does this give you access to native speakers for practice but it also gives you great insight into both your own personality and its effects on communication.
Warnings
There are definitely potential risks. Each time you learn a new language, it takes between four and eight months to fully “habituate” your brain (i.e., while they don’t explicitly describe this as an affectation of early forms of weaning). After a while these hours add up and can seriously interfere with normal learning: especially when the development is not in synchronicity with student expectations or career interests; such as during teenage years when one’s interests are normally more directed to their immediate environment.
References
· Article 1-B of the “Italian Fertility and Family Planning Union” (CONFAP) in 1995
· Jean Knoepfler & Mark Stolarz, 2011. The Loss of Mother Tongue – A Risk to Future Language Learning? Pp99–108 in Michael Tomasello and Elisabeth Scach, eds. Language and the Brain.
· Herb Stapert & Jane Feske (2011). The Past in Immersion – An Old-Fashioned Argument for Bilingual Education. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103, 782–790
· Wendy Sloboda. “How to learn a language” MIT’s Dressing For Success blog. September 12, 2012. Retrieved September 23 2012 from:
· Wendy Sloboda, Toby E.J. Moore, and Angela Jemmott “Studying the brain effects of bilingualism.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 2011 6(3): 185-196.
· Wendy Sloboda and Toby E.J. Moore: “Studying the brain effects of bilingualism.”, 2011, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science Volume 6 Issue 3 March 2012 <br>
In summary, if you are going to learn a language, you should learn it before puberty, or when your brain is still developing and not yet fully habituated. You need to be fluent in the target language before adolescence, or else you will impede your own learning. You should further keep this schedule and continue school with a routine where all subjects are sequential and no subject is taught part-time.