There are many reasons why you may want to improve your English.
You may dream of studying in England, hope to improve your English for business, or maybe you want to do it for your own pleasure – whatever your goals are, all are perfectly good reasons to practice the English language.
Everyone can be overwhelmed when learning a new language. If you’re at the beginning of your English journey, it can be hard to know where to begin. Or, maybe you’re feeling stuck, and are not sure how to improve your English further.
While these tips and activities are on how to improve your English Speaking, some will also help you to develop your writing skills, general communication skills, and listening skills.
1. Improve Your English Speaking Skills by Practicing With Friends
One of the best ways to improve your English speaking skills is by speaking with your friends (in English, of course)! If you know people who are native speakers or are an English speaker, you can practice with them.
It can feel less scary to practice your speaking skills with people you feel comfortable with, rather than in a more formal setting such as a classroom or with a tutor.
Learning English in this way will help you to understand words in real-life situations, and will help you to practice speaking in a more comfortable setting whilst also having fun.
If you ask your friends to give you feedback and correct your English, so you will be able to learn from any mistakes.
You can also learn from each other, so this does not only benefit new learners, but it is also beneficial for the higher-level speaker who is teaching you as it can help them reinforce their speaking skills.
Learning vocabulary and grammar in this way is a great way to pick up slang terms and phrases that you may not find in a textbook or a classroom.
2. Improve Your English with 3 Words a Day
If you want to level up your skill set, you have to remain consistent and practice English every day. Some days, you may not have the time to sit down and practice for one hour!
This is also something you can do on your own and it will take you hardly any time at all.
If you’d like to gain new vocabulary but don’t have much time, the best way to still get your practice in is by writing down 3 words in your language that you don’t yet know the word for in English.
Then, find the words in English and the meaning of them, and write it next to the words in your language. This is the vocabulary you need to learn for the day!
Also write down the correct pronunciation next to the words, so that when you have to say them out loud, you are saying them correctly. Keep reading these 3 words throughout the day.
Don’t worry if you don’t know how to use the words correctly in English yet, even by gaining a few new words a day you are improving your English.
As you keep doing this, you will start to build a textbook of the English language for you to use as a tool when you need to practice.
3. Record Yourself Speaking English
Another one of our tips you can do alone! By recording yourself speaking, you can measure how you’re improving over time. It is a great way to practice your speaking skills if you don’t have anyone to do it with, and it will help you build your confidence as you listen to yourself develop.
If you want to improve your English, you must track where you are growing and where you need to improve.
Pick the same few sentences that are full of vocabulary and language you’d like to improve and record it. You don’t need to listen to it right away unless you choose to.
Then, once or twice a week or after a few days of practising, record yourself speaking the same sentence again.
Here, we are looking to improve your English fluency and pronunciation.
Listen back to the original recording and compare it to your most recent one. Make a note of where you have to practice more and pat yourself on the back for where you have improved!
Use your improvements as motivation to keep practising and developing!
4. Learn the Flow of English with TV
Watching TV shows in English is one of the most well-known ways to learn the language, and you will improve your English speaking and listening skills while you have fun!
You can have the subtitles on in your own language to help with your vocabulary, however this tip is more about listening to the way English people speak, not the words they are actually saying – so make sure you are not putting too much attention on reading the subtitles.
This is going to help you improve your English speaking and listening skills.
Focus on their flow by listening to where the English speaker ‘stresses’ their words and syllables, the way they join 2 words together to create one, and the rhythm of their sentences.
Try to say the same sentence you just heard, and imitate this flow and rhythm.
5. Learn English through Language exchanges
Language exchanges are exactly as they sound and are a great way to improve your English if you are a little more advanced in your level.
You are getting to improve your English with a native speaker while teaching them how to speak your language! If you don’t know any native speakers, fear not. There are many online tools and websites that you can use to find an English person to practice with.
Similar to the first tip, you will be able to speak in more casual, conversational English that you wouldn’t necessarily get to do in a classroom.
Train yourself to focus on the English speaker’s pronunciation as well as their grammar, and try to say their sentence back to them. Ask for feedback, and try again!
If you are feeling up for a challenge with your exchange buddy, try to do a phone call rather than a video call.
We look at body language and lipread when someone speaks without even realising we are doing it. This helps us to better understand what the person is saying.
The reason a phone call is more challenging is because we are taking our understanding by only listening to the words a person is speaking, we have no extra help!
This is to help you improve your English listening skills, and grow your confidence in the language.
6. Using Apps to Improve Your English
I’m sure you have already heard about some of these apps, but they really can be a great tool for improving your English.
Apps are great because you can set daily goals and visually follow your English progress.
They are perfect for improving your English a little at a time and in the comfort of your home, on the bus, on your lunch break, you name it!
There are many that you can choose from. For example:
7. Learn and Practice English Idioms
English speakers love to use idioms or phrases that can be difficult for a foreign learner to understand because the meaning of the idiom cannot be guessed using the words alone.
You will find them in casual conversation, books, TV shows, movies, and songs! They are everywhere. To improve your English and level up your understanding, you have to add some idioms into your learning.
Some are used more than others, and you may come across them more frequently. For example:
“Under the weather”
Although English people often talk about the weather, in a literal sense, this has nothing to do with the weather! It simply means someone is feeling sick.
“Take it with a pinch of salt”
Nothing to do with food! It means that something is not to be taken seriously.
“Break a leg”
It might sound violent, but it actually has a very pleasant meaning. If you say this, it is to wish someone good luck.
“I’m pulling your leg”
This, commonly confused with breaking a leg, has nothing to do with luck at all! Pulling someone’s leg means they are playing a practical joke.
“Lose your touch”
This simply means that you’ve lost a skill or forgotten how to do something you were once good at.
Those are just a few examples, but there are hundreds out there for you to explore! You can find more English idioms with a simple Google search.
8. Practice English Tongue Twisters
The purpose is to improve your pronunciation and speaking skills. This tip is for a more advanced English level, as tongue twisters are a group of words or phrases that can be difficult for even a native English speaker to say.
Understanding the meaning of these in English is not important, as they don’t mean anything, you will be focusing on practising your pronunciation which will help you improve your English.
When you are first practising, start by speaking the phrase slowly, and as you keep practising try to pick up the speed each time. For example:
Easy
- “If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?”
- “No need to light a night-light on a light night like tonight.”
- “Roberta ran rings around the Roman ruins.”
- “Linda-Lou Lambert loves lemon lollipop lipgloss.”
Hard
“Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.”
“A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.”
“I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.”
“Fresh French fried fly fritters.”
9. Improve your English with a Study Abroad Holiday
When you go on an English study abroad experience, you are able to gain confidence in your English skills, grow personally, and develop professionally.
It has the potential to transform your life, lead you down new roads you never thought possible, and be a major turning point for your English!
An English study abroad holiday is a once in a lifetime experience if you want to improve your English skills in a short amount of time, or immerse yourself in the culture of the language you are learning.
You’ll be fully immersed in English and UK culture, which is an exciting opportunity given that it has been proven that hearing and speaking a language everyday is the fastest method of improving your English for many learners!
Meet Education FF!
If you want to improve your English and you’re looking for an incredible English study holiday for summer 2024, our Junior Summer Programs are perfect for you.
Our courses go beyond the usual General English. The level of tuition is outstanding with a teacher/student ratio among the best.
Our team also boasts decades of experience in the study travel sector and is at your disposal.
Why Education FF?
Our values are the driving force behind our actions.
This is why in our English centres, in the United Kingdom, Malta and Italy, we cultivate the core values of every good citizen of the world such as integrity, the ability of young people to build relationships based on trust, honesty and respect, passion in what they want to do and continuously aim for excellence.
In transmitting these values, we think primarily of young people, pushing them towards continuous improvement that leads them to build a healthy self-esteem.
We have a decades-long track record of providing world-class programs with a very high student and parent satisfaction rate.
If you’re an agent looking for a reliable and competent partner with a top product, or you’re a teacher looking for a summer travel program for your students, please get in touch with us. We would be happy to tell you more.
