Learning English does not have to boring or hard today. It all depends on your attitude and your motivation. After all, how much you enjoy your life depends hugely on you outlook and your mindset.
But changing your mindset and getting and staying motivated to learn English can be really difficult when you are learning alone, so here are our Engli-teach top tips, along with seven fun ways that you can learn English alone.
At the end of this post you will find details on how you can access a FREE planner from Engli-teach to help you structure and plan the new way to learn English.
1. Focus on your interests and passions
People think that the only way to learn English effectively is from a text book. Whilst learning from a text book can certainly be beneficial, if it is not your preferred way of learning motivation and mindset can be deeply affected and produce a negative result. So, focus on what you like first.
Take a blank piece of paper and write on it ten topics, interests, hobbies or things that you currently enjoy doing when you are not learning.
This will form the basis of how you are going to plan your English study going forward.
2. Choose a mix of multi medias as your new resources.
Living in the now digital era, there is a huge world library of resources that you can access to enrich your knowledge and the library does not just have to be text books.
If you like cooking, buy an English cook book or subscribe to an English blog. Many digital ebooks are available for free from Kindle, which is the online ebook supplier from amazon. If you subscribe to Kindle unlimited you can access, borrow and read as many books as you wish for free or for a very small price. This is a great way to have all the information at your fingertips and to really read across multiple genres, not just cooking.
Maybe you are a medical student and want to learn more industry specific English. You could find out about online digital libraries and read relevant articles, magazines and books that correspond to the type pf English that you wish to learn.
Don’t just stick to books!
Whilst books are a great way to learn, music and films are too!
Try to listen lots of different musicians in English who sing. Find one that you like and follow them on youtube, Facebook and other. Try to learn their songs – make if fun! Dedicate some time each time to singing and having fun! Whilst your cooking your dinner perhaps, or taking your shower, sing in your head whilst exercising or walking your dog.
Music tends to be very cultural too! Often culture is expressed through music and song, so the type of English used will be very reflective of certain cultures so this can only widen your knowledge of cultures and language in use around the world.
Watch films in other languages. You can use subtitles to look at if you get stuck. But the overall tone and expression used by actors when speaking English is something that text books cannot do!
Intonation and word stress in the English language is as important as the choice of words being used themselves. Sometimes saying something in the wrong way or with the wrong tone of voice can imply a totally different meaning to that which you wish to use.
Gestures and body language is also a huge part of language communication. By watching films, not only can you observe the mouth of the actors and how they are making the words and sounds but you can also observe how different cultures express themselves through gestures. For example, when someone rolls their eyes when speaking in English, it can often be sign of sarcasm or disrespect. But the voice used to show that may seem untouched to the human ear.
3. Talk with the right people
Whilst practising English as much as possible is generally encouraged; if you are only ever practising with non native speakers or students who are learning English like yourself, the chances are that you may indeed learn many bad habits intentionally which could affect your overall learning. So always try to have a measured approach to who you are learning with and how much you are practicing with them.
4. Be app friendly
There are many different types of apps on the market place today and many give you free access, just like the Learn English with Engli-teach free access account. Make sure you have one to three apps on your phone and use them regularly. If you are waiting for a bus or travelling on a train, whip out your phone and squeeze in a little learning.
5. Small doses are the most effective
Research has shown that people that study English in small doses (small timeframes) generally retain the English learnt better and also feel more motivated to repeat the learning process itself. It’s similar to HIT workouts. People that exercise for twenty minutes doing HIT workouts often burn more calories that someone who is sweating away for a few hours in the gym. It’s all about getting that laser vision focus.
6. Join an online community
Why? Because people that are often in a community have similar and shared goals. This ‘common’ ground as we call it in English provides additional structure, motivation, support and enjoyment. For example the live lessons that are streamed for FREE by Engli-teach on their facebook® page are often watched by thousands of people in real time. Learners from all around the world can comment and join in the live lesson and discussion. Obviously the added bonus is that you can access these lessons from anywhere as long as you have a device connected to the internet.
7. Keep track of your progress
Keeping track of your progress is so important because it shows a map of your journey. This is important for your own self development and positive mindset as well for understanding more about how you learn best.
Engli-teach provides all learners with a free planner. You can access it for free here. Just download it and use. Within a few months you will be a blessing to see your progress and understand where you could make adjustments to improve your learning.
