Ten Most Effective Ways to Improve Your English Essay Example for Free

Ten Most Effective Ways to Improve Your English Essay 1. Read : Read anything and everything in English. You can read story books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, comics, English textbooks, instructions and ingredients on food packages, advertisements, etc. For story books, don’t force yourself to read something too difficult or something you know you won’t enjoy. Make reading fun! Read books that you ENJOY reading. I hate to read books that bore me too. Opening up books before you buy one and flicking through them to find one with lots of direct dialogue in it has several advantages. If there is less text on the page due to all the speech marks etc, this can make it easier to read and easier to write translations on. Dialogue is also much easier to understand than descriptive parts of a book, and is much more like the language you will want to learn in order to be able to speak English. 2. Start your own English language blog : Even for people who dont have to write in English, writing can be a great way of properly learning the kind of vocabulary you need to describe your own life and interests, and of thinking about how to stop making grammar mistakes. The problem most people have is that they dont know what to write about. One traditional way to make sure you write every day in English is to write an English diary (journal), and a more up to date way of doing this is to write a blog. Popular topics include your language learning experience, your experience studying abroad, your local area, your language, or translations of your local news into English. This is one way for you to practice your writing. Blog on something that you love. If you are a fan of movies, start a blog and write about your favourite movies, your favourite characters, what you think could be improved in the movie, what new movies to expect next year, etc. Besides blogging, try joining online forums, engage in online chatting and more . 3. Be best friends with a good English dictionary : You can use Oxford, Collins, Cambridge, etc. Buy a dictionary that you’re comfortable with and USE it at all times. Keep it next to you when you’re reading. I always put my favourite Oxford dictionary by my side when I’m reading. So when I stumble upon a word I don’t know, I don’t have to get up and look around for it. It’s right there by my side. Thus, I have no excuse for not looking the word up! Try and familiarize yourself with the phonetic symbols of your dictionary. Look up the correct pronunciation of words that are hard for you to say. Write down words and their definitions in a notebook for future reference it may come in handy! 4. Watch English movies with subtitles : This would be my favourite way of learning English. Not only do I get to have a fun time watching the movie, I’d be learning new words at the same time and knowing how to pronounce them! Usually, you can get movies with English subtitles on DVDs. 5. Listen to English songs : Read the lyrics as you listen to the songs. Listen to your favourite songs and sing along to them. Although just listening to a song in English can be a good way of really learning the words of the chorus in an easily memorable way, if you want to really get something out of listening to English music you will need to take some time to read the lyrics of the song with a dictionary. Once you have read and understood the lyrics, if you then listen and read at the same time, this can be a good way of understanding how sounds change in fast, natural, informal speech. 6. Relax and have a positive, confident attitude : If you make a mistake or forget a word when you are speaking English – it’s OK! Don’t be nervous or afraid. The person who you’re talking to will understand and be patient with you. If you are insecure when speaking English, it will be even more difficult to think of the words you know. 7. Learn a new word a day : Keep your own vocabulary notebook and write a new word and its meaning in it every day. Refer to it as often as possible so that the new words will stick in your head. 8. Read aloud in English for at least 15 minutes every day : Research has shown it takes about three months of daily practice to develop strong mouth muscles for speaking a new language. Find something you enjoy reading especially if it has a lot of dialogue, and read it aloud. Even if you dont speak aloud, reading as many English books as possible will increase your vocabulary and knowledge of sentence structure. Make sure when you read these books that you understand what the author is trying to say. 9. Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes : Many people hate to hear the sound of their voice and avoid listening to themselves speak. However, this is a very important exercise because doing it will help you become conscious of the mistakes you are making. 10. Speak the language whenever you can : Speak it with friends and family. You can also sing along to English songs! Try karaoke! Don’t be shy to try speaking the language. Don’t be afraid that others will tease you. In fact, they’ll admire you for your courage and confidence. References: 1. http://www.malaysia-students.com/2009/08/10-simple-ways-to-improve-your-english.html 2. http://www.espressoenglish.net/speaking-english-10-ways-to-improve/ 3. http://english.learnhub.com/lesson/4231-10-ways-to-improve-the-way-you-speak-english?id=4231-10-ways-to-improve-the-way-you-speak-english 4. http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/70-ways-to-improve-your-english.html