بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
I hope you find my website useful. To improve our English, we need to practice reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, learn new vocabulary and improve our pronunciation.
Ways to improve your English:
Read a lot
It really, really helps. We need lots and lots of input (that's when we listen to or read English) to learn a new language. When you read, you learn new words without thinking about it. You also learn grammar.
Listen as much as you can
The same thing as reading – if you hear lots of English words, they get into your brain. Listening is more difficult because if you try to watch TV or a film it might be too fast for you (and it’s not useful if you don’t understand anything). The easy books I already talked about often have CDs, which is a brilliant way to practise, and you can check in the book if you don’t catch a word.
Listening to English music is also really good (though songs can be difficult). However, you can usually find the lyrics (the words of the song) on the Internet so you can check what you hear.
Study new vocabulary
When I ask students how they learn vocabulary, they often say ‘by reading’ or ‘by watching TV’. It’s not what I mean. It’s true you can learn new words when you read or listen, but you should also study new words seriously.
Ways to improve your English:
Read a lot
It really, really helps. We need lots and lots of input (that's when we listen to or read English) to learn a new language. When you read, you learn new words without thinking about it. You also learn grammar.
Listen as much as you can
The same thing as reading – if you hear lots of English words, they get into your brain. Listening is more difficult because if you try to watch TV or a film it might be too fast for you (and it’s not useful if you don’t understand anything). The easy books I already talked about often have CDs, which is a brilliant way to practise, and you can check in the book if you don’t catch a word.
Listening to English music is also really good (though songs can be difficult). However, you can usually find the lyrics (the words of the song) on the Internet so you can check what you hear.
Study new vocabulary
When I ask students how they learn vocabulary, they often say ‘by reading’ or ‘by watching TV’. It’s not what I mean. It’s true you can learn new words when you read or listen, but you should also study new words seriously.
Do you have difficulty listening to and understanding native English speakers? Listening is one of the BIGGEST problems for English learners. It's possible for you to:
So why is listening so difficult? There are three main reasons.
#1 - The written form of English words is very different from their pronunciation. There are many silent letters, like in the words comb, sign, knock, half, muscle, guard, and wrist.
And many letter combinations can have completely different pronunciations. Here are FIVE different ways to pronounce "ough":
#2 - Native speakers talk fast and "connect" words together In some audio samples for English listening practice, they pronounce each word slowly and carefully - but in real life, native speakers don't do this.
Instead, we "connect" words so that two or more words sound like one! "I'm going to have to call you back later." sounds like this: I'm gonna-af tacallya back later. "Could you let me know if you're coming to the party?" sounds like this: Couldja lemmenoif yercomin atheparty? This means that listening to "slow English" audio is helpful... but it is NOT enough. To be fluent in English, you MUST get used to hearing fast spoken English.
#3 - Lack of opportunity to practice listening If you live in an English-speaking country, you can hear English all day, every day - but if you don't, then it's hard to practice your listening in a way that helps you improve.
Some people say you should simply "listen more" - and some English teachers even claim that you can learn English completely naturally just by listening.
But there are two major problems with "just listening more."
First of all, if you only partially understand what you're hearing, it's easy to get frustrated and stop trying - and then you won't make progress.
Second, "just listening" is OK - it's better than nothing - but if you're not doing exercises while you listen, then you won't get the full benefit of improving your comprehension and your vocabulary.
- read well
- have good grammar & vocabulary skills
- be able to speak and write
So why is listening so difficult? There are three main reasons.
#1 - The written form of English words is very different from their pronunciation. There are many silent letters, like in the words comb, sign, knock, half, muscle, guard, and wrist.
And many letter combinations can have completely different pronunciations. Here are FIVE different ways to pronounce "ough":
- Like the O in NO: although
- Like the AW in SAW: bought
- Like the UFF in STUFF: enough
- Like the word OFF: cough
- Like the OO in TOO: through
#2 - Native speakers talk fast and "connect" words together In some audio samples for English listening practice, they pronounce each word slowly and carefully - but in real life, native speakers don't do this.
Instead, we "connect" words so that two or more words sound like one! "I'm going to have to call you back later." sounds like this: I'm gonna-af tacallya back later. "Could you let me know if you're coming to the party?" sounds like this: Couldja lemmenoif yercomin atheparty? This means that listening to "slow English" audio is helpful... but it is NOT enough. To be fluent in English, you MUST get used to hearing fast spoken English.
#3 - Lack of opportunity to practice listening If you live in an English-speaking country, you can hear English all day, every day - but if you don't, then it's hard to practice your listening in a way that helps you improve.
Some people say you should simply "listen more" - and some English teachers even claim that you can learn English completely naturally just by listening.
But there are two major problems with "just listening more."
First of all, if you only partially understand what you're hearing, it's easy to get frustrated and stop trying - and then you won't make progress.
Second, "just listening" is OK - it's better than nothing - but if you're not doing exercises while you listen, then you won't get the full benefit of improving your comprehension and your vocabulary.