Try to get to the point where you think of these things in English without hesitation. Sit down on your bed and go through all the labels in your house in your head. If there’s something you can’t remember, get up and go check what it is. And when you’ve hit this level, label other stuff! Graduate from “window” to “window pane,’ from “couch” to “cushion,” from “shirt” to “cotton blouse. " With English, there’s always another level!
If that’s a little 2003 for you, just whip out your smartphone. Start a note (or whatever app you want to use) that’s dedicated to new English words. Then every so often you can refer back to it and make sure you remember them all!
What it boils down to is that you must avoid your native language as much as possible. It’s tempting to get home from work and sit down, turn on your TV, and revert to your native tongue with those you live with. Don’t do it! Set time aside to speak English every night, even if it’s just for an hour. Keep the TV to English, keep the radio to English, keep everything to English as much as possible. Look for language practice groups in larger cities where you can practice English while teaching others your native language.
When it comes to books, after you get to know the characters and the vocabulary used in the series, your reading gets easier and you will begin to be able to read more quickly, while still picking up expressions and vocabulary from one volume to the next. Try Nancy Drew, Animorphs, Sweet Valley Twins or any of a number of other easy series books which are widely available in libraries. If your level is above that, read anything. There is young adult fiction and plain old fiction that can up your language-learning skills and envelop you in a whole new world. It’s best to choose something with a lot of dialogue – it’s more like real life!
And what’s more, you can stop wasting time on methods that don’t work for you. If your teacher talks and talks and you remember nothing, you can start taking notes. If you’re reading a book and can’t remember a thing, you can start reading it aloud to yourself. There are ways around everything!
Let’s say you run into the sentence, “It was an acephalous society. " You’re thinking, “Uhh. . . what the heck?!” But back up. Think about it for a second. You know that “a-” means without: amoral, asexual, asymmetrical. You know that “cephal” means “head”: encephalitis, encephalogram. And you know that “-ous” marks an adjective: ambitious, delicious, glamorous. All of a sudden you know that means, “It was a society without a head, without a leader. " Boom! Who needs a dictionary? Not you.
If you have friends who are learning too, turn it into a discussion! Have everyone bring an article they found interesting and talk about it – in English, of course. You can study and talk about the happenings of the world simultaneously!
This is why most people stop learning and plateau. They’re afraid to talk to native speakers, they’re afraid to go outside their comfort zone, they’re afraid to truly expand and grow. Can you imagine if Edison would’ve stopped at his first mistake?!
Thanks to satellite TV, British, American and Australian television programmes and films are widely available all over the world. Try recording them! Watch with subtitles at first and then without them as you gain confidence. The better you get, the more you’ll look forward to “studying. " Try watching a TV show or movie with English subtitles and a second time with subtitles in your native language.
Radio a little too old-fashioned? You’ve no excuse – there’s internet radio, too, you know! There are podcasts on virtually every subject and the classics like NPR and “This American Life” can all be found online. Podcasts allow you to slow down and rewind broadcasts so you can re-listen phrases that are unfamiliar to you.
Both the BBC and Wikipedia have versions of their site aimed at ESL learners. But there are also dozens of other websites that offer worksheets, articles, word problems, and stories that are at specific grade levels, too.
It’s easy to forget about the writing skill. But doing this, too, as much as you can, will make serious waves in your improvements. Write your emails in English, write yourself notes in English, write your blog in English. Even if you can’t correct it, make it a habit.
This can be a substitution to listening to the radio. Have the songs you’ve been learning playing in the background and sing along! And then, who knows, maybe you’ll find yourself at karaoke next weekend!
Ask around if anyone in your circle has these CDs already. There’s no point in paying for them twice! And some of the stuff can be found online, too. You just gotta get a little creative!
Look for apps like DuoLingo, Memrise, or Busuu.
You can create opportunities, too! If you see someone you think speaks English that’s taking a photo, ask them if they’d like you to take it for them. If you go to a restaurant that has an English menu, ask for it. It’s these little things that truly set mediocre English speakers apart from the more natural ones!
Most people will have periods of heightened alertness in the late morning and then in the evening, though this doesn’t go for everyone. If you can, rework your schedule so your intake of English falls into the time when your brain can take the most advantage of it.
ɪts ˈlikia ə ˈsikrəte koʊd! (It’s like a secret code!) Pass notes with your friends! But remember, each accent is slightly different. If you run into a weird pronunciation, take note of whether it’s general American, RP, or other.
Take the time to learn pronunciation patterns. Because English is a conglomeration of a bunch of languages, there’s no hard and fast rule, but there are general patterns. Two syllable verbs have a stress on the second syllable (project), whereas 2 syllable nouns (project) and adjectives (happy) stress the first. And, in general, the stress goes on the ante-penultimate syllable (though this isn’t always true): photographer, continuous, national, et cetera. Does your speech mirror this?
If that’s not an option, get creative. Start a study group or meet up with a friend for some one-on-one or small group conversation time. Get a penpal or use Skype. There are other ways besides classes (that often cost money) to get your English fix!
Call up customer service about any product – one you have or one you don’t. Ask them about their products, their services, their plans, your options if you’re interested, and just make conversation. For free! Host a dinner for tourists! Advertise that you’ll offer an authentic meal in exchange for English conversation. Many tourists are looking for something a bit off the beaten path. That path could lead to your dinner table! Start a club. You’d be surprised how many people are in your exact situation. You can avoid the costs of a class by banding together with a few people and pooling your resources. Meet at the same time in the same place every week and you may start attracting attention!
