Hey everyone and welcome back to the Understandable English
Podcast. I'm Oliver and today we are
going to be talking about five ways to help improve learning
English, or simply five ways that I think are great for
learning English. Before we get started, of
course, I want to say that there are many ways to learn a foreign
language, and for each person their case or their best ways
will be different. Not everyone learns the same
way. For example, some people prefer
to practice whereas others prefer to learn.
A lot of theory with textbooks and courses, and there is no
right way. What works for some people
doesn't work for others, and that is perfectly OK.
But today I am going to suggest some things that work very well
for me when I study foreign languages, and I have seen it
work in the past when I was teaching English to students.
These are simple ways, and that is the key to use different ways
to learn a language, different simple and easy ways that you
can make into a routine. So let's start with the first
point, and that is to make friends with English media.
And what do I mean by that? I mean to start using English
media. So often we just use materials
that are designed for language learning.
So for example, a course, a textbook, maybe specific English
videos that are designed for learning English.
And these are all great and they will help you to learn English,
But when it comes to the real thing, so foreigners and native
English speakers speaking English the way they usually do
it might not fully help you. And that's why you need to start
utilizing sort of start watching or listening or reading to real
English media. So, native English media, It
isn't designed for learners. It's for everyone.
I've talked about this before, but this can be movies, TV
shows, music, all of those natural sources of language.
And don't worry at first, you definitely don't need to
understand everything, and you might even not understand most
of what you listen to. And that is fine, but do start
to listen to some English. This podcast is a great start
but there are other great ways such as listening to YouTube
videos or like even movies designed for teenagers or
children's shows. For example if your English
level is lower. When I was learning Russian,
particularly at the beginner levels, I started to watch
children's shows in Russian and although it sounds a bit stupid,
the language level was suitable for me at that time and I would
understand most of what was going on, which was great.
And using natural native English media helps you to get used to
different accents. So to understand different
accents, different native expressions, we call these
colloquial expressions and even just the structure and rhythm of
natural language. It's also great because you can
choose what you enjoy. You don't have to follow a
specific course or series, you can watch and listen to what you
want. So I think this is a great first
point. The 2nd way is one that I have
talked about entirely in a separate episode of the podcast,
and if you haven't listened you should check it out.
And that is read, read, read. So reading, I think reading is
really underrated. Everyone focuses on grammar or
speaking and listening as a way of developing language skills.
But to me, reading has always been a successful way of
improving your vocabulary, so gaining new words.
Because you read those words and understand them from context.
So from the sentences you can see how those words are used and
it just makes more sense than learning a list of words or flip
cards without context. And of course there are so many
ways that you can read. From books to blogs or even news
articles. There's a lot of ways to
practice your reading. Even from social media.
You can read English comments or posts and get practice that way.
So point Free is another one that I have talked about quite a
bit and that is a language exchange partnership or simply
speaking with native speakers. This is a crucial so an
important next step. It is great to practice
speaking, even if it is with non-native speakers, But
eventually you of course want to practice with native English
speakers, whether that's a friend, a teacher, or even just
visiting native English speaking countries.
It is fantastic for developing not only your accent and
pronunciation, but just learning and copying to speak more
naturally like a native. And the perfect opportunity is
if you can find a native English speaker that is learning your
language too and then you can help each other.
You can practice conversation skills, give each other feedback
and corrections and also learn about each other's cultures.
It's a great win win scenario. So another point, so .4 is to
use apps and games that are available.
So today we have our phones with us everywhere, whether we are
travelling to work or going on holiday.
We usually have our phone with us even when we go to the
bathroom. So that's why I think it is
important to use apps, Useful apps.
And I'm not talking about specifically Duolingo for
example, or an app like that, but even a simple flip card app
for practicing the vocabulary that you have learnt from
reading for example. And the great thing about having
these apps is when you have a moment, you're a little bit
bored and you might open Instagram or something else.
Use a language learning app instead.
Try to replace some of those moments.
And you can also of course use your phone to listen to podcasts
like this podcast or watch a YouTube video and those are
great ways to practice. OK so .5 and honestly one of the
most important points and that is to set realistic goals and
also recognize so understand your progress.
The biggest thing with language learning is motivation.
You need to have clear reasons for learning a language and stay
motivated to continue to learn. But the reality is motivation
comes and goes, and that's why realistic habits and goals are
more important than motivation. I want to make a separate
episode on this at some stage about how to stay motivated with
a language learning. But in short, to summarize, I
think that motivation will come and go, and that's why while
you're learning now it it's important to build healthy
language learning habits that are going to help you to
continue to improve day by day with your English journey.
So there you have it. That is five easy ways or five
of the best ways in my opinion, to learn English.
But always remember that when learning English, it isn't a
race. Consistency is key.
So continuing to learn each and every day and every little bit
of practice really helps. I know that you will do great.
Keep on listening and keep on learning.
I will see you in the next episode of the podcast.
Have a lovely day. Goodbye.