6 easy ways to learn English

Woman wearing headphones outside, smiling and looking hopeful

When you’re learning English, it’s important to keep your motivation up. As with any task, there may be times when it feels a bit more difficult, so switch up your methods and don’t be afraid to make mistakes – you’ll reach the level you want to be at.

We’ve already provided some unique ways to teach English that you may now have experienced with your teacher. Here, we suggest some easy ways to learn English that you can try any time – at home, at work or on the move. Why not try them today? Surround yourself with English and you’ll see improvements in your language confidence and skills, while having fun at the same time…

1. English words with friends

Scrabble is a classic board game in which players use random lettered tiles to create words in a crossword fashion. It’s a fantastic way to strengthen your English vocabulary, and there’s also a Scrabble Junior version for beginners. Playing Scrabble challenges you to really think in English as you try to come up with different words using your set of letters.

If you’re taking an English class, buy the board game and invite your classmates to play with you. You can also play Scrabble online through websites like Facebook, where it is called Words With Friends.

2. Add some music

Not only will your favorite song wake up your mind and put you in a positive mood to learn English, but the lyrics can help you expand your skills. acquire grammar and vocabulary and improve spelling.

Songs almost always contain a lot of useful vocabulary, phrases and expressions. And since the intended audience is fluent English speakers, the latest tunes include up-to-date language and colloquialisms. The language used in songs is casual and usable, if you pick the right music. Music also has an uncanny ability to stick in our heads, which can help you remember your new English words.

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3. Try, try and try again

To commit new English words to memory, it’s important to keep using them. Keep a notebook of new words you learn, and try to use them in three different sentences. Write your sentences down and say them out loud. The repetition will help you remember the word, and working out different uses of the word will help expand your vocabulary bank. Remember, taking small steps like these will still help you to reach your goal.

4. Join online English forums

The key here is to join forums for subjects you are interested in – that way, your motivation will rub off on your English learning and you’ll be more inclined to participate. So, whether it’s photography, movies, traveling or cooking, discuss your passion with other like-minded people in English.

If you feel nervous about people identifying you, make an anonymous profile. Then read through the forum to see what people are discussing. Once you feel confident, actively participate in the forum by answering questions posed by other people – or post your own questions and have a conversation with the other members who answer you.

5. Get with the language

One of the most effective and easy ways to learn English is to immerse yourself in the language fully. Find an English-speaking radio station to listen to, watch an English-speaking movie or TV show or surround yourself with people having conversations in English. Listen carefully to conversations in restaurants, on the bus or in shops and try to pick up the everyday use of the language.

Not only will this help your listening skills, but you can also try to pronounce the words yourself in context to improve your speaking skills. With modern technology and apps, this can be done practically anywhere.

6. Read to learn English

You could really give your reading skills a boost here – but your speaking skills can benefit, too. The more you read English text to yourself or aloud, the more confidence you will have. If you feel nervous, start by practicing at home then move on to reading in front of an audience and asking for their feedback. Of course, it’s also enjoyable to read 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 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.

Read our blog post How long does it take to learn English?

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    6 tips for teaching business English to low level learners

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    The CEFR describes A1 and A2 learners as ‘basic users’ of a language. So how can we help these students to develop their English for the workplace?

    Here are our six top tips:

    1. Focus on high-frequency vocabulary for work

    Learning English vocabulary for work context is the top priority for many low-level learners in business English classes. It helps them to communicate their message in a simple, effective way. This makes it important to teach common words and set expressions for everyday work situations.

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    • lexical sets (words related to the same topic or situation) – for example, days, months, numbers, verbs to describe work routines, verbs in the past.
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    • functional language and fixed phrases – greetings (How are you? Nice to meet you.) and offers (How can I help you? Would you like…?).

    2. Help students with vocabulary learning

    Teach vocabulary items in realistic contexts. For example, phone calls, to-do lists, short emails, text messages etc.

    While it might be tempting to give students lots of vocabulary to memorize, this can cause overload, be frustrating and ultimately demotivating for learners. Instead, you should aim to present eight to ten new words in a lesson as a general rule. This is an achievable number for working memory and helps to build learners’ confidence. The number of words can be a little higher if items are easy to show in images or there is repetition; for instance, the numbers 20 to 100.

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    Getting students to personalize new vocabulary makes it more memorable, for instance writing sentences describing their work routines. Repetition also aids long-term memory, so make sure vocabulary is recycled in the materials in later lessons.

    Finally, make a list of vocabulary games to use for revision exercises, warmers and to finish classes.

    3. Maximize student speaking time

    Learners need to develop their English-speaking skills for work. The classroom is a safe, low-stakes environment for them to gain fluency and confidence.

    Use the audio and video scripts of short dialogues or an extract from a longer script. Students read the dialogue aloud in pairs or groups. Give feedback by drilling the stress and rhythm of any words or phrases which were difficult with the whole class. Back-chaining phrases – starting with the last sound and building up going backwards – is an excellent way to drill. Get students to swap roles and repeat the task.

    You can also use another technique called disappearing dialogue. Put a short dialogue on the board for students to practice in pairs. Then delete parts of the dialogue and ask them to repeat the task, swapping roles each time. Gradually delete more parts to increase the challenge. Students can reconstruct the dialogue as a final task.

    Moreover, surveys, questionnaires, true/false games, and information-gap exercises are ways to practice speaking in English, target structures, and vocabulary.