10 Tips To Brush Up Your English

10 Tips To Brush Up Your English Skills

Language Skills

Broadening one’s language skills is a very wide concept. It should be done in more than one way at the same time, which is highly recommended. More than one method should be applied in order to embrace new English skills. FOR THAT I GIVE YOU TEN TIPS TO BRUSH UP YOUR ENGLISH.

1.       Read books, novels, magazines, newspaper articles or whatever is within hands reach as long as it is certified. It makes no difference the format of it, E-text, hardcover etc. There is no easy way out with this but remember that “a great reader is a great leader”.

2.       Exercise your brain and be active. Try to do simple crossword puzzles. This will sharpen your vocabulary skills. Here is a website that can help you exercise: Puzzle

3.       Don’t be lazy to look up new words. The easiest way to find out definitions of unknown words is to use a qualified online dictionary. Words in context represent one of the best way to learn English. It is a characteristic of the communicative language learning method. DO NOT MEMORIZE WORDS. This right here is a very good online dictionary with various language approaches: Wordreference dictionary

4.       If you have a smartphone, a tablet or any type of smart device try to download a radio application, like for example, TuneIn Radio. My advice is to listen to English radio stations, like BBC or NBC. Another idea is to watch movies in English without dubbing, only subtitles.

5.       Writing and analyzing texts in English does not have to be boring. We are used to those long and tedious English books that our teachers gave us as homework to read and literary analyze. Well, one could replace that dull activity with something more fun and eye catchy: navigate forums on the internet! Be interested in all kinds of topics like fashion, politics, animals, music or even literature! Read people’s opinions and try to give yours personal. Debate upon different things and that will enhance your reading and writing skills altogether.

6.       When writing a school project or a work resume the best idea is to use short simple sentences. This will liberate you from any grammatical mistake or spelling ones. Don’t forget that “Less is more”, keep it simple.

7.       Punctuation is important. There are many students out there who put apostrophes into plural, like ‘cat’s’ instead of ‘cats’. This is just a mere example of the mistakes pupils make when writing. I found a website called Learn English and I recommend it to you all. It is a punctuation guide that helped me brush up my English writing.   

8.       Grammar is as important as listening, writing or reading. All dimensions of languages are equally necessary when practicing one. Grammar is all about putting words and sentences together in the right way. If there’s anything you are not sure about, you can check this grammar guide that I normally use BBC Guide.

9.       There are thousands of phrasal verbs in the English language and they all make our lives impossible. Not knowing or not using phrasal verbs correctly can make communication difficult for English language learners. The rules of using phrasal verbs differ which can make things confusing.  The best way to study them is by writing them down every time you hear one. Don’t forget to write not only the definition but also the context. By doing so you will remember it faster. Try to associate each phrasal verb with something you like or even hate. Strong emotions are easily remembered, whereas words not so easy. Once you study a phrasal verb, use it until you embrace it.

10.   Last but not least follow your own pace. Nobody reached great progress by hurrying up.