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As you work to improve your English skills, it’s always helpful to have some tricks and tips to help you stay motivated. With that in mind, we’ve collated these eight simple tips from fellow English language learners, to help you on your quest…

1. Set yourself small goals

Learning English is a long process, and it may take years to progress from one level to the next. That’s why it’s important to set yourself achievable goals. At ����app, we work with thousands of English teachers worldwide to define what it means to ‘be at a level’ in English.��

2. Create a study schedule

Ensure this schedule works around your daily responsibilities and make sure to keep it simple! Try breaking up your English language learning over the course of an entire day, which may make it feel more manageable.

3. Practice a little bit every day

Even if it’s listening to an English podcast during your commute or practicing your favorite words while having breakfast, every little bit of practice helps!

4. Discover what type of learner you are

Auditory, visual, or tactile. Use this as a basis for how you spend time studying. For instance, a visual learner may benefit from flashcards (see point 7), while an auditory learner may benefit from watching a television program in English.

5. Turn on music in English

Rhythms and rhymes have been found to stimulate the brain and improve learning. Our research found that music can be an invaluable tool when learning English, as it helps with pronunciation, word boundaries and vocabulary.

6. Watch movies with English dialogue

Movies are a great source of native conversation and vocabulary. Plus, the visual nature of film allows you to experience nonverbal context too — such as facial expressions and hand gestures — accompanying and contextualizing the film’s dialogue. Above all, watching a movie is a fun and motivational way to develop English language skills.

7. Learn new vocabulary with flashcards

While this may be the oldest studying trick in the book, students around the world use flashcards because they work!

8. Track your progress

To gain a sense of accomplishment, it’s important to know where you’ve started. We’ve just introduced a new way to measure progress in English. Have a look at it to quickly discover what your areas of strength and weakness are.

Finally, it’s important to remember that not every learning trick will work for you. So, if you find that chatting with fluent English speakers helps you progress faster but you’re not always able to converse with them face-to-face, spend more of your time communicating online with your English-speaking friends and contacts.

Every day, an astonishing number of emails are sent and received worldwide. While a considerable amount of these are informal messages between friends, the majority are for business purposes. Whether you’re emailing someone you work with, applying for a new job or making new connections, here are some general rules to follow when writing English emails…

1. Know your tone

Always consider who you are writing to and adapt your language accordingly. Emails are less formal than letters, so it’s fine to start your email with “Hi” or “Good morning” – but it may be better to write “Dear…” if you are emailing someone for the first time or if they are senior to you. Similarly, ending emails with “Best/kind regards” rather than “Yours sincerely/faithfully” works well, with the latter being more appropriate for a formal email. Whatever the relationship, though, don’t feel tempted to use laid-back, colloquial expressions like “Hey, you guys”, “Yo!”, or “Hi folks”.

2. It’s all about the titles

It’s increasingly common to use first names in international business communications, so don’t be afraid to do so. Another title to consider is your email subject header: a short, clear text is important as busy people often decide whether to even open an email depending on the subject header. Examples of a good subject header include “Meeting date changed”, “Quick question about your presentation”, or “Suggestions for the proposal”.

3. Use a professional email address

If you work for a company you’ll be using your company email address. But if you’re using a personal email account because you’re self-employed or looking for a new job, you should be careful when choosing that address.

You should always have an email address that includes your name so that the recipient knows exactly who is sending the email. Email addresses that you created while you were in school or college (IloveJohn@… or “Beerlover@…) are not appropriate for the workplace!

4. Limit the small talk

Small talk can help to build relationships but it doesn’t need to be overly personal. A simple “I hope you are well” or “How are things?” will usually suffice. Also, be cautious with humor as it can easily get lost in translation without the correct tone or facial expressions that accompany face-to-face meetings. It’s safer to leave out humor from emails unless you know the recipient well.

5. Keep it simple

Emails are intended to be written, read and understood quickly, so only include the important details – and avoid saturating your message with unnecessary information.

6. Proofread every message

Always check your emails before pressing Send. Read and re-read your email a few times, preferably aloud, to ensure there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes. And never just rely on the auto spell-check; spell-checking software doesn't always understand the context of your writing and can throw you off with incorrect suggestions.��

Happy emailing.

There are many benefits to studying in a group, ranging from reducing procrastination and boosting your confidence to gaining new perspectives and learning faster. Many English language learners enjoy working in a group, and many English language teachers recommend it. Here’s how to make studying in a group work for you or your students…

1. Create an effective group

Even though you love spending time with your friends, don’t base study partners on friendship. Instead, look for people who stay alert in class, take notes, ask questions, and respond to the teacher’s questions – and don’t make the group too big. An ideal size for a study group is three or four students.

It’s a great idea to try to meet on the same day and time each week because treating the study session as you would a class helps you to keep to a schedule and ensure that everyone attends.

Finally, hold study group sessions in a place free of distractions with room to spread out the materials. This will help to ensure that you don’t end up talking about the latest movies or songs instead of studying the future tense!

2. Decide on the topics and set goals

Before your study group, think about the topics you’d like to discuss – then agree on one. This will help you concentrate on that topic without straying away. Once you’ve decided on your subject, also consider what you want to achieve at each session – but don’t take on too much material for one session.

For example, if you’re using a novel written in English to learn more about the language, just think about one aspect of it, such as a couple of the characters, rather than trying to discuss the entire book.

3. Prepare effectively

Before attending your study group, prepare by reading more about or researching the topic you’re all going to discuss.

Also, make a list of anything you aren’t sure you understand so that you can discuss it with your fellow learners. There are sure to be different things you all need explaining in more detail, so you can help each other to understand. Which leads us on to…

4. Learn from each other by communicating well

Communicate openly – it doesn’t matter if one of you doesn’t understand something or needs more explanation. And don’t be shy about asking for your peers’ feedback: “Am I talking too much?” or “Did I present your point of view correctly?”. It is often said that it is best to teach other material you understand, and learn from others who understand the material better than you do.

If your study session reveals points of disagreement or confusion that you cannot resolve as a group, make a note of it and ask your teacher.

5. Make it enjoyable

Last on the list, but very important: try to make studying enjoyable in whatever way you can by keeping it interesting. Pick novels about subjects you all really enjoy reading about. Go to see an English-speaking movie together and discuss it at your study group. Or try a quiz together (online or in person) to see how you've picked the subject matter up.��

Reading is one of the most fun and effective ways to help improve your English language skills. It can help to expand your vocabulary and expose you to different sentence structures, all while you enjoy some wonderful stories.

E-readers and tablets make learning English even easier because if you don’t know a word, you can click on it to read its definition. On the Kindle, you can even add new words you’ve learnt to its Vocabulary Builder feature, which is stored on the device. Others recommend listening to and reading text at the same time as an excellent way to enhance the learning process. Kindle’s Whispersync for Voice is designed for just this purpose and includes audio with selected books, so you can listen and follow the text as you read.

9 great novels to help improve your English

Below, we reveal nine novels, including William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and George Orwell’s Animal Farm, to help improve your English.

1. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

This classic tale takes place in the English countryside and shares the adventures of the animals that live by the river. Grahame’s simple use of language with imaginative stories makes this a pleasurable read for adults and children.

2. Lord of the Flies – William Golding

This book is a modern classic and a popular study text for schools all over the world. When a group of boys are isolated on a desert island, the society they create descends into ruthless behavior. Golding uses dramatic and descriptive language, almost like poetry, making you feel like you’re in the scenes yourself.

3. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway is well-known for his clear, straightforward writing style and short sentence structure, which is great for English language learners and many people have read it in school. It’s the courageous tale of a Cuban fisherman and his battle to land a giant marlin and it’s a perfect introduction to Hemingway as an author.

Communicating in English goes far beyond simply learning English vocabulary. In fact, there are many non-verbal strategies you can leverage to appear more confident as you improve your English. Below you’ll find three of the most important aspects of non-verbal communication to work on:

Make eye contact when you speak in English

When you’re talking to someone, it’s best to look them in the eye as much as possible. This shows that you are engaged in the conversation and listening intently when not speaking. Especially in loud environments, you may find your eyes drawn to someone’s lips as they talk. While it may help you better understand what they’re saying in a noisy place, like a restaurant, aim to maintain eye contact as much as you can (but do remember to take a quick break away once in a while so as to not stare too intently).

Be mindful of body language

What you’re doing with your hands and the facial expressions you make can say a lot—sometimes more than words! Not only should you be aware of the body language of who you’re talking with, but you also need to know what your body language is saying about you. Different cultures see hand gestures differently so it's good to be mindful of what gestures you make with your hands. If you want to appear open and friendly you may want to keep your arms open and avoid closed body language like crossing your arms.

If someone is leaning away from you slightly, this may indicate they aren’t interested in the topic you’re speaking about. They may lean in closer if more interested in what you're talking about. If they smile a lot, this may mean they agree with you.

Prepare yourself for English conversations you may have

If you are planning to practice talking in English, it’s OK to prepare yourself for the conversation. Create a script for yourself to speak from that allows you to practice difficult terms and phrases. Not only will this give you real-time experience bettering your skills, but it will allow you to speak English with confidence.

Either in work situations or casual conversations, there’s more than just English words being exchanged so remember to dedicate your full attention. It’s an excellent opportunity to practice and improve your English skills and you’re likely to learn more than just studying on your own.

All languages change over time, and there can be many different reasons for this. The English language is no different – but why has it changed over the decades?

Some of the main influences on the evolution of languages include:

• The movement of people across countries and continents, for example, migration and, in previous centuries, colonization. For example, English speakers today would probably be comfortable using the Spanish word 'loco' to describe someone who is 'crazy'.
• Speakers of one language coming into contact with those who speak a different one. No two individuals speak identically: people from different geographical places clearly speak differently and even within the same community there are variations according to a speaker’s age, gender, ethnicity and social and educational background. For example, the word 'courting' has become 'dating'.
• New vocabulary required for inventions such as transport, domestic appliances and industrial equipment, or for sporting, entertainment, cultural and leisure reasons. For example, the original late 19th century term 'wireless' has become today’s 'radio'.

Due to these influences, a language always embraces new words, expressions and pronunciations as people come across new words and phrases in their day-to-day lives and integrate them into their own speech.

What changes has the English language seen?

As the English language has changed, it’s been easy to pick out words that pass into common usage. Here at ����app English, we have explored some of these recent changes to the English language. The rise in popularity of internet slang has seen phrases such as 'LOL' (Laugh Out Loud), 'FOMO' (Fear Of Missing Out) and 'fam' (an abbreviated form of family) become firmly embedded in the English language over the past ten years.

Every decade sees new slang terms like these appearing in the English language. And while some words or abbreviations do come from internet or text conversations, others may appear as entirely new words, a new meaning for an existing word, or a word that becomes more generalized than its former meaning, brought about by any one of the reasons above. Decades ago, 'blimey' was a new expression of surprise, but more recently 'woah' is the word in everyday usage.

Sentence structure is of course, another change to the English language. Decades ago, it would have been normal to ask 'Have you a moment?' Now, you might say 'D’you have a sec?' Similarly, 'How do you do?' has become 'How’s it going?' Not only have the sentences been abbreviated, but new words have been introduced to everyday questions.

Connected to this is the replacement of certain words with other, more modern versions. It’s pretty noticeable that words like 'shall' and 'ought' are on the way out, but 'will', 'should' and 'can' are doing just fine.

Other changes can be more subtle. Many verbs can take a compliment with another verb in either the '-ing' form or the 'to' form, for example, 'they liked painting/to paint', 'we tried leaving/to leave', or 'he didn’t bother calling/to call'. Both of these constructions are still used and have been for a long time, but there has been a steady shift over time from the 'to' to the '-ing' compliment.

What do the changes mean?

There are many other changes to the English language – what have you noticed? Have these changes affected your teaching or learning methods?��

Most contemporary linguistic commentators accept that change in language, like change in society, is inevitable. Some think that is regrettable, but others recognize it as a reinvigoration of a language, bringing alternatives that allow subtle differences of expression.

Linguist, writer and lecturer David Crystal considers whether 'text speak' is undermining the English language. His response to the naysayers who claim it is damaging the English language is to point out that abbreviations have been around for a long time. While some, such as the ones we discussed above, are new, others, such as the use of 'u' for 'you' and the number 8 as a syllable in 'later', have been around for a century or more. Further to this, research shows that there is a correlation between the ability to use abbreviations and the ability to spell. After all, in order to abbreviate, you have to know which letters to abbreviate.

As with everything, change isn’t necessarily a bad thing and, as the needs of English language users continue to change, so will the language.

Fancy learning more about English? Check out our post 'How do English phrases travel across countries?'.

Learning and understanding a new language is one of the most challenging things that your brain can do. But as well as the advantage of acquiring another language, it appears that the effort of giving your brain a good workout today by being bilingual could keep it in better condition in later life.

Research led by Dr. Daniela Perani, a professor of psychology at in Milan, found that people who speak two or more languages seem to weather the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease better compared to people who have only mastered one language. Alzheimer’s is a progressive mental deterioration that can begin in middle or old age due to generalized brain degeneration.

The study involved 85 people with Alzheimer’s – half of whom spoke both German and Italian and half who spoke only one language. The researchers found that bilingual patients had greater connectivity in key brain areas. This was especially in the part of the brain that governs “executive control” – a set of necessary behavioral cognitive processes that include problem-solving, working memory, reasoning and attentional control. The study also noted that the bilingual Alzheimer’s patients showed less severe symptoms of the disease.

The study concluded: “Our findings suggest that the effects of speaking two languages are more powerful than both age and education in providing a protection against cognitive decline.”

Bilingualism and the brain

Although Alzheimer’s disease is currently incurable, the study supports a popular theory that people who have higher levels of education function longer with little manifestation of the illness. Part of the reason why bilingual brains may be better at resisting Alzheimer’s could be due to a lifetime of switching between languages daily.��

Learning and speaking more than one language changes how the brain carries out tasks that require focus and concentration on a certain piece of information without being distracted. It can also increase the density of white matter (connections) in the brain, meaning that there are more connections between brain parts, thus making this part of the brain more resistant to degeneration.

This is supported by a study conducted by a team led by Professor Ana Inés Ansaldo at the , which suggests that bilingual people have more robust and more efficient brains compared to those who only speak one language. This is one of the reasons why a bilingual brain can be a buffer against aging and dementia.

They recruited elderly people, half of whom spoke only one language and the other half who had learned a second language between the ages of 11 and 18. All performed equally well on a task that involved focusing on an object's color while ignoring its position, but brain scans revealed a big difference in how they processed the task.

“While bilinguals were recruiting very specific brain areas and a small number of areas to perform the task, monolinguals were recruiting a much larger number of areas that were consuming much more resources. And the networks they were using were very, very complex,” says Professor Ansaldo. “That led us to think that the bilingual brain was more efficient in terms of the amount of resources that bilingual people require to do complex tasks as opposed to the monolingual brain.”

The study concludes that bilingualism shapes the brain in a different way or how people approach complex tasks. It could be because bilinguals must inhibit the language they are not using to focus on the one that they are using.

Here, we look at what some of the strangest English phrases mean – and reveal their origins…

Bite the bullet

Biting a bullet? What a strange thing to do! This phrase means you’re going to force yourself to do something unpleasant or deal with a difficult situation. Historically, it derives from the 19th century when a patient or soldier would clench a bullet between their teeth to cope with the extreme pain of surgery without anesthetic. A similar phrase with a similar meaning, “chew a bullet”, dates to the late 18th century.

Use it: “I don’t really want to exercise today, but I’ll bite the bullet and go for a run.”

Pigs might fly

We all know that pigs can’t fly, so people use this expression to describe something that is almost certain never to happen. It is said that this phrase has been in use since the 1600s, but why pigs? An early version of the succinct “pigs might fly” was “pigs fly with their tails forward”, which is first found in a list of proverbs in the 1616 edition of John Withals’s English-Latin dictionary, A Shorte Dictionarie for Yonge Begynners: “Pigs fly in the ayre with their tayles forward.” Other creatures have been previously cited in similar phrases – “snails may fly”, “cows might fly”, etc, but it is pigs that have stood the test of time as the favored image of an animal that is particularly unsuited to flight! This phrase is also often used as a sarcastic response to mock someone’s credulity.

Use it: “I might clean my bedroom tomorrow.” – “Yes, and pigs might fly.”

Bob’s your uncle

Even if you don’t have an uncle called Bob, you might still hear this idiom! Its origin comes from when Arthur Balfour was unexpectedly promoted to Chief Secretary for Ireland by the Prime Minister of Britain, Lord Salisbury, in 1900. Salisbury was Arthur Balfour’s uncle (possibly his reason for getting the job!) – and his first name was Robert. This phrase is used when something is accomplished or successful – an alternative to “…and that’s that”.

Use it: “You’re looking for the station? Take a left, then the first right and Bob’s your uncle – you’re there!”

Dead ringer

This phrase commonly refers to something that seems to be a copy of something – mainly if someone looks like another person. The often-repeated story about the origin of this phrase is that many years ago, people were sometimes buried alive because they were presumed dead – when actually they were still alive. To prevent deaths by premature burial, a piece of string would supposedly be tied to the finger of someone being buried – and the other end would be attached to a bell above ground. If the person woke up, they would ring the bell – and the “dead” ringer would emerge looking exactly like someone buried only a few hours ago! Other stories point to the practice of replacing slower horses with faster horses – “ringers”. In this case, “dead” means “exact”.

Use it: “That guy over there is a dead ringer for my ex-boyfriend.”

Off the back of a lorry

This is a way of saying that something was acquired that is probably stolen, or someone is selling something that’s stolen or illegitimate. It can also be used humorously to emphasize that something you bought was so cheap that it must have been stolen! “Lorry” is the British version – in the US, things fall off the back of “trucks”. An early printed version of this saying came surprisingly late in The Times in 1968. However, there are many anecdotal reports of the phrase in the UK from much earlier than that, and it is likely to date back to at least World War II. It’s just the sort of language that those who peddled illegal goods during and after WWII would have used.

Use it: “I can’t believe these shoes were so cheap – they must have fallen off the back of a lorry.”

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