It’s best to choose books with lots of dialogue. The language is generally more real and a bit simpler; after all, dialogue is conversation. Being able to read poetry is great but conversations are a much more practical skill, you know?
Another bonus? You’ll have interesting things to talk about in English! You’ll be up on all the news - even if you’re just repeating what you’ve heard (not like anyone will know!). You’re improving your English by expanding your knowledge. Two birds with one stone, really.
It’s best to stick to ballads – songs that go a bit more slowly. Pick one a day until you have it mostly memorized and understand what the words actually mean. It’s a great way to learn idioms and slang, too.
Movies are great because you watch them over and over; the more you watch them, the more things you’ll pick up. TV is good though, too, because you develop relationships with the characters and you grow accustomed to how they talk and the quirks of their speech.
Or record yourself reading from a book. You’ll be able to actually hear yourself (which we surprisingly have trouble with in real time) and be able to pinpoint the quirks in your English and where you slow down and have trouble. Then rerecord it and see how you’ve improved!
Think the future and the past, too. What are you going to do next? What did you just do? You gotta get to thinking in English consistently to truly get better. The more you think in English, the faster it’ll come out.
In every sentence, there are parts that are longer, louder, and said at a higher pitch. In the phrase “rock and roll,” saying “rock AND roll” sounds very strange. But “rockin roll” sounds a lot more natural. This is the icing on the English cake!
You can’t exactly stop someone and ask them about the current position of their tongue. But it is something you can be conscious of in your own language. If you hear someone say a word and you can’t mimic it perfectly, experiment! Maybe it just needs to be a bit further back or higher in your mouth. It’s in there somewhere!
It’s good enough to write it down and look it up, though. Oh no, no, no. You gotta make it a point to use that word you just learned! (Or you’ll forget it. ) So later that night or the next day, work it into your speech. Make it part of your own.
There’s also accent reduction classes, business classes, travel classes, and many other topicalized English classes. Heck, if you’re into cooking, take a class (in English) about cooking. Maybe there’s an intramural sports team or gym class you could join? If you find something you’re interested in, you’ll be interested in it in English, too.
You have friends that are studying English too, right? Form a study group. Even though they’re not native speakers, just getting your mind thinking in English is useful. You’ll learn from each other and provide a non-stressful environment for learning. Set up your home as a welcome place for tourists and foreigners looking to get situated in your county. There are a number of websites you can get into like AirBnB, Couchsurfing, Hospitality Club, BeWelcome, and Global Free loaders. Then you’ll have to speak English at home!
There are chat rooms dedicated to everything. You do not have to enter a chat room called Strangers 101. Pick an interest of yours and do a quick search for those chatting about it. Not your cup of tea? Then how about interactive video games like World of Warcraft or Second Life? You can assume an identity and still hone your skills. Get a penpal! PenPal World and Pen-Pal are two sites you should get to checking out. The person on the other end is probably looking for the same thing you are.
If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. Have all these words in a notebook that you can refer back to whenever you need. Take the time to go through it on occasion and have those lightbulb moments of the words you’ve forgotten.
Since English is so messed up – being the child of German, French, and Latin (and sprinklings of around 247 others) – learning the IPA is primo. It’s not such an issue for languages like Spanish where the sounds are fairly consistent. C’mon, “cough,” “rough,” “through?” What is going on?!
These should be rules for your home, definitely – you want to avoid slipping back to your native tongue as much as possible – but they’re good ideas for your classes or study groups, too. Maybe in your study group if someone doesn’t speak English, they’re bringing the food next time!
This happens to all of us. All. That’s 8 Ls. The only way to avoid it is just to realize that it’s not that big of a deal, it’ll end shortly, and no one’s going to judge you for it. English is becoming so prominent all over the world that even native speakers are used to hearing all different levels. You won’t say anything they haven’t heard before!
The easiest way to not get super fed up with all of this is to have a good way to check your progress. That means keeping the same notebook, filling it up, rewatching those shows that you have mastered now, and once in a while revisiting things that used to be difficult. The reminder of how awesome you’re getting will be quite the boost!
