One way to practice English is by reading blogs or articles online written in the language you want to learn. It’s a good opportunity to get familiar with new words and their usage; plus, it can be quite enjoyable too! If there are any areas where you feel uncertain then don’t worry, you can always look up the meaning of words online or in a dictionary. Using a Kindle or similar enables you to highlight and translate words too – so no excuses!
Another way to practice before taking your English language course is by using YouTube videos or Instagram reels or TikTok. Watching videos in English will help you get used to hearing native speakers and learn new phrases quickly. This is a really fun way to learn and it doesn’t get boring either. Try to use your new words in conversation – even if with yourself – so they stay in your memory.
A top tip from one of our teachers is to write the name of objects in a room in your house on sticky notes, and place them on the item. Once you remember the word, remove the note. You should focus on one room at a time and give yourself up to a week to memorise them. So in the kitchen for example, you can place notes on the fridge, items in the fridge, table, chairs, cooking utensils and other furniture. Food is something we all love to talk about!
In the living room you can do the same and add words for film, box set, series and learn how to talk about the genre too like drama, comedy etc, slowly building your vocabulary. You could also watch movies and TV shows with subtitles so you can follow along. That way, you’ll be able to understand spoken English and hear pronunciation better too.
Set your radio to an English channel, sing along to the songs – words soon become familiar and in context too. Listening to the news is also a good lesson; although it can be depressing, the presenters usually speak clearly and slowly and this enables you to learn the names of places and also numbers too as these are often mentioned in reports.
Attending online English classes to get the basics can give you confidence too, these can be scheduled to fit in with your own timetable and you get a similar experience of learning with people from all over the world too. Classrooms are small and lessons are 45 minutes long a few times a week, so you can break yourself in gently.
The best way to learn is full immersion; booking a course at an accredited English Language school in an English speaking location, means you get quality teaching and have to us your new skills for everyday life too. You can use them for all sorts of scenarios live planning meeting up with your new friends, eating out, booking tickets and general socialising.
Choose a school that offers activities you enjoy like trekking or diving, or in a location you’d like to get to know, and you can do this, learn English and meet new people and travel all at the same time.
Good luck learning English and don’t forget to have fun!