11 Offline English learning ideas

app Languages
children holding hands in a line with a parent outside

In today's fast-paced digital era, online resources and language learning apps have become the popular means for mastering English. However, offline language learning has its own unique charm and benefits. Engaging our senses and connecting with the physical world around us can enhance our language skills in ways that no app can match. In today's language learning blog, we discuss offline language learning activities that can help you towards becoming a confident English speaker, even without an internet connection.

Offline English learning ideas
Play
Privacy and cookies

By watching, you agree app can share your viewership data for marketing and analytics for one year, revocable by deleting your cookies.

Book clubs

Joining an English book club can be a fantastic way to brush up your reading skills. Not only will you experience a large range of literary works, but you can also have incredible conversations with other book lovers. It's a great way to improve your vocabulary and comprehension skills, making your language-learning experience a lot more enjoyable. If you haven’t got any clubs near you, you can start one with your friends or family. If they aren't fans of reading, you could read the books and summarise/explain the story to them, allowing them to ask questions and turn it into a storytelling activity.

Language exchange meetups

You can either look for one in your area or start your own with friends. These meetups are great opportunities to practice conversing with fluent English speakers or other language learners. You can take turns speaking in your target language and gain valuable cultural insights while immersing yourself in real-life scenarios. If that isn't possible, sometimes just getting out in the world is a great way to meet new people, they may surprise you with their language knowledge.

Flashcards

Create your own flashcards and post-it notes with English words, phrases, or idioms to reinforce your vocabulary and grammar. You can place them around your living space, such as on the refrigerator or mirror, and this daily exposure will make the learning process easy to digest and practical. If they are in your view when going about everyday life, it can help with words staying in your long-term memory.

Journaling and creative writing

If you're looking to improve your English writing skills, why not try keeping a journal to jot down your daily experiences and thoughts? You could also explore your creative side with some poetry or short story exercises to help enhance your writing abilities and inspire your imagination in the language. If you like to draw you could also have a go at creating a comic book or poster in English.

Scavenger hunt

Set up a scavenger hunt with friends or family, creating riddles and clues in English to add that extra challenge. You can adjust the difficulty depending on who's playing, using rhyming and pictures for younger children. The great thing about this is that it can be done inside or outside, so the weather can't ruin your plans.

Game night

Host a fun evening of English board games or puzzles with your loved ones. Games such as Scrabble, Boggle, and word puzzles provide a great opportunity for friendly competition and improving your vocabulary. It's guaranteed to be an enjoyable time for all. If you don't have any board games available, there are games like and ' that require little to no materials and can be played in English to test your skills. You can also invent your own games, improvising with whatever you have at hand.

Create an English language zone

Why not create a cozy English zone or corner in your home? Just add some posters, vocabulary charts, and motivational quotes related to the language in a specific corner. Having a comfortable area can really improve how well you learn. Make it a habit to spend some time every day in this cozy corner for studying, reading, or engaging in other fun language-related activities. It's a great way to improve your English skills and immerse yourself, without having to leave the house.

Local events

A fantastic way to improve your English vocabulary and comprehension of diverse accents is by attending local events in your community that are conducted in English. You can participate in workshops, seminars, or cultural gatherings. Make sure to stay alert for upcoming events in your area, sometimes they aren’t always widely advertised. Look out for flyers, noticeboards or events listed in newspapers.

Storytelling and role-playing

Gather a group of friends and engage in storytelling or role-playing activities. Choose a theme, and take turns creating and acting out stories or scenarios. If you can't think of a theme, try to re-enact and dramatize a funny or memorable scene or moment you've experienced in the past. This playful approach makes language learning enjoyable and low-stress.

Animal bingo

Draw a bingo card of animals you might often see in your area and when you see them, fill in that square with the English name. If you live in a city you can also do this with different types of buildings and structures. You can do this solo or with others. This is ideal for young learners and it's a great way to learn whilst getting some exercise.

Cooking and baking

Try your hand at cooking and learning English at the same time. Explore English language cookbooks and recipes and prepare dishes in English. This activity will help you expand your vocabulary related to cooking and ingredients, all while enjoying a delicious reward afterward. If you haven’t any English recipes at hand try to translate some of your favorites. Label your ingredients in English to help you remember food and cooking-related words.

There are so many fun and easy ways to improve your language skills without relying on technology. All it takes is a bit of effort to discover what's out there, incorporate it into your daily routine, and let your imagination run wild. You can even get your friends and family involved and watch as you all learn new words together. Give it a go - you might be surprised with what you come up with.

Need more inspiration?

Check out our pre-primary and primary courses

More blogs from app

  • A teacher standing over a desk where a student is sat, helping them. Students are also sat at desks in the background

    4 key challenges in secondary education

    By Anna Roslaniec

    Let’s examine four of the most common challenges secondary teachers have and look into some strategies to help solve them.

    1. My students are afraid of making mistakes

    You’re not alone! Many teachers say their teenage students are quiet and unwilling to answer questions in class. Sometimes, this might simply be because they don’t know the answers, but more often than not, they are nervous about making mistakes.

    When children grow into teenagers, they tend to become more self-conscious and worried about what their peers think of them – and making mistakes in public is a big no-no for them. However, there are several ways to facilitate a safe learning environment where your students are happy and willing to talk. Sometimes, though, it takes a little experimentation. Here are some things you can try:

    Celebrate mistakes

    When students make mistakes, ensure that you praise them for taking a risk or making an effort. Correct their errors and be clear with the rest of the class that the only way to learn is to try new things.

    Be firm

    Don’t tolerate any bullying or laughing when someone gets an answer wrong. If your students fear that others will mock them for their efforts, they’ll stay quiet. So make sure you have clear rules and that your students understand that mistakes are normal and to be expected.

    Have students discuss their answers in pairs or groups

    If your students are painfully shy and afraid of making mistakes, avoid picking on individuals to answer questions in front of the class. Instead, when asking a question, tell your students to discuss it in pairs or small groups first. This will allow them to formulate their ideas and feel more confident. Afterwards, you can ask the pairs to share what they discussed – leading to a natural open-class discussion.

    Listen to your students

    Another, powerful way of engaging your students in discussion is to listen to a conversation they are having with their partners and then express how impressed you are with their ideas during a feedback session. E.g. “You said X, which I thought was very interesting. Could you explain this to the class? It was a great idea.” This gives them the confidence to share their thoughts.

    2. My students are not engaged with the activities I choose

    This is another very common problem for teachers of teenagers. You spend a lot of time thinking of fun, interesting activities – then, when you present them to the class, your students look away and say they’re bored. Soon enough, you’ll get frustrated and not know how to re-engage them. Here are some ideas to help:

    Get to know your students

    Without fail, the best way to engage your students is by getting to know them as individuals over the year. Find out about their hobbies and interests outside of school, and learn what makes them laugh and what worries them. Use your knowledge of your students to find interesting books to read, videos to watch, or relevant subjects to discuss. This way, you’ll deliver tailored lessons your students find truly interesting and useful.

    Allow a degree of autonomy

    Sometimes quietness is also a sign of disengagement with the learning materials. To get past this obstacle, you can get your students to brainstorm things that interest them in groups, list them on the board and have a class vote on the topic of their next class project. As a teacher, you always have the power to veto inappropriate ideas, but giving students a voice is a powerful way of making them feel valued and involved in their own education.

    Make things (a little) competitive

    Even teenagers love games! And play is an integral part of learning, as it allows our students to be themselves, have fun, and communicate freely at the same time. By allowing them to play language-focused games in class, they’ll soon forget their inhibitions and start talking.

    3. My students just want to do grammar exercises

    Language is all about communication, speaking, listening, reading and writing – yet all your students want to do is grammar exercises. Frustrating as this is, it’s probably a sign that our students are not confident in their speaking or listening abilities. Here’s what you can do:

    Encourage free language practice

    Grammar activities are very structured and there is often a clear answer. Day-to-day communications, however, are much freer, which can intimidate less confident students. This activity will help you combine the two aspects of language learning:

    • Put students in small groups and give them a set of cards with exciting topics printed on them—for example; music, sports, environment, school, vacations, friends, food.
    • Tell students that they should each choose a card and speak freely about their topic for 30 seconds – the short time will help them overcome their fear of speaking and can be gradually increased as they get used to this type of activity.
    • Have students record themselves when they are speaking and then, when they listen back, have them identify the grammatical structures they used.

    They should write down and correct any mistakes under your guidance. Not only will this get students used to talking and encourage a lot of emergent language, but it will also help them feel they are practicing grammar.

    If your students really enjoy learning grammar, you can ‘flip’ your grammar activities and make them more communicative. First, provide them with a series of sentences or listening clips which have a common grammatical structure (second conditional sentences, for example).

    Then have students work together (in English) to identify how the language is structured, so they can discover the grammar point for themselves. This not only gets them talking, but they are doing something they feel confident at.

    4. My students are bored of all the repetition

    Repetition is an important part of language learning. By practicing things over and over again, your students will come to understand it better and will be able to produce the language more easily. However, repetition is often quite dull, especially for fast learners. Here’s how you can make things more interesting for your teenage students:

    Use a greater variety of activities to engage your learners

    If you’ve been teaching your students a particular set of vocabulary, a grammatical structure, or some pronunciation rules, think about how else they can practice them.

    For example, instead of drilling pronunciation over and over again, ask students to think of all the words they can think of that have the same sound in them (e.g. book, look, cook, shook, etc.). This will help them ‘hear’ the sounds in their heads and improve their understanding of other words.

    If you have been learning vocabulary through reading, have students write or tell stories that incorporate the words.

    The idea is not to stop repeating the target language or skill, but to practice it in different ways. Apply this principle to other areas of language learning so your students won’t feel like they are repeating things.