or simple tips to improve your English fast
Key number one, learn full sentences and phrases. Key number two, listening practice is necessary
Key number three, use what you learn as soon as you can
And key number four, schedule time for review. Learn what to do, and then I'll show you how to do it
Start using these keys and improve your English now. These keys are based on my years of experience as an English teacher
and thousands of hours of experience as a language student. These are tools and examples that you can use right away
to improve your own English communication skills fast. Understand how all these study tools are connected and work great together
Learn full sentences and phrases. This is one of the most important things I discovered as a student of Japanese
Lists of words are not helpful if you don't know how or when to use them
Complete sentences contain prepositions, adjectives, adverbs, articles, and more
You will learn these important parts of English grammar naturally by using them
This is how we learn grammar in our native language, and it is helpful when we learn our second language too
You can pick up complete sentence examples from a few places. Here are some of the best places I have found as an English teacher and a language student
Textbook with example conversations. Example conversations are a great way to pick up complete sentences
Make sure you have a good textbook. I list the textbooks in the Cambridge series, English Grammar in Use
The copy of this textbook is over 14 years old, and I still use it
English interviews. These can be found in podcasts, videos, blogs, or newspapers and magazines
Interviews are real people talking. Find a good English blog
I believe in the power of natural sentences, so my blog has lots of them
Of course, there are other great English blogs out there too. Find one you like that uses natural sentences to teach your grammar point
This is a warning I can give you as a language student
I spent a lot of time trying to learn from newspapers and textbooks that told stories
but didn't use the same kind of language that people use in real conversations
Textbook stories. I learned that when I tried to use some phrases I learned from a textbook story
It was a classic Japanese children's story, and I tried to use the same vocabulary in certain patterns in conversation
I was told, we don't talk like that. The story is fun and interesting, but it doesn't use the same kind of vocabulary that we use in regular conversation
A warning from a language teacher. Newspapers. I was using an English newspaper in Japan for one of my private lessons
The newspaper had translations for the difficult vocabulary from the story. My student could understand the story and learn difficult words with the Japanese translation right in the text
I thought this was great. For about two weeks. Then I looked at the vocabulary they were learning
And can you guess what I saw? That's right. Native speakers don't talk like that
Newspaper and magazine stories don't use the same kind of language that we use in conversation
I know the meaning of stifle, of course. But I rarely use that word in regular conversation
In conversation, I will use a simple word with the same meaning
The bill will prevent free speech. A bill is a suggestion for a new law
Japanese also uses different vocabulary for these kinds of articles. I bet it's the same in your language, too
I stopped using these kinds of stories in my lessons. Now, all my private lessons are custom made for each student using natural English
You want to use full English sentences that are natural. Focus on this when you want to improve your English
Full sentences are also perfect for our second key point. Listening is very important
More than that, it's necessary. Many students don't spend enough time listening
Some don't spend any. I understand it may not be easy to listen to native English speakers where you live
But this guide will help. Our first tip to improving your English listening skills is practice with a native speaker
Are there English teachers where you live? Do you have access to native speaking teachers for private or group lessons
There are many online teachers who can help you. If you have the chance and the money for these kinds of lessons, this is a great way
But it's not the only way. Find a great English blog. So of course my blog has lots of free English resources that you can use
But of course there are other blogs too. I have a blog called English Listening
I have a blog called English Listening. I have a blog called English Listening
I have a blog called English Listening. But of course there are other blogs too
You can also find English Podcasts and other audio feeds. English Podcasts
You can Google English Podcasts. I did a little research for this video
And to be honest, I didn't find that many that I thought were helpful
I did find one British English Podcast that seemed to be people talking naturally
The link to this podcast is in the description. Do you have a favorite English Podcast
Please leave a comment and let us know. Another great way to improve your English listening skills is with TV
I once worked with a student who used a podcast TV show from the 90s to help him use natural English
I had another student who was watching a TV drama for study
And she was asking about any idioms or expressions that were used in the show
This technique has the added benefit of being interesting and fun. Especially if you write the show
And my student did. The first student learned natural English from the TV show Friends
This show used a lot of natural English that you can use right away in conversation
Friends has been suggested by other English study websites as a popular show for learning English
I made a detailed blog post about how to learn English from TV shows
A link to this post is in the description of this video
YouTube With YouTube you can find episodes or parts of episodes that have useful conversations to practice
And you can watch it many times. This can work with any use of video
Especially one that teaches English with natural examples. There are many great YouTube channels that teach English
Find the channel you like or find the video you like and watch it a few times
Do you remember the students I told you about in the TV session
They both watch their TV shows on DVDs. DVDs have a few benefits
You can watch the same episodes several times. Like YouTube videos, repetition is awesome
If you enjoy the show, learning can be a lot of fun
And you can watch them without an internet connection. You really want to listen to English spoken by a native speaker
A friend of mine once overheard a non-native teacher explain the meaning of a common English idiom incorrectly
They were having a lesson in a Tokyo cafe at the table beside him
He even approached the student after the teacher left and corrected the meaning
I have seen a few classes in Tokyo where a Japanese teacher is reading English to a student
And their pronunciation is terrible. They have a very heavy accent. What's worse is that the student will miss the meaning
What's worse is that the student will naturally try to copy the sound of the teacher
Be careful of this when you see the teacher. You can learn English from non-native speakers
There are many smart and qualified non-native English teachers. Just make sure that your teacher has experience and has spent time in a native environment
I also want to mention that even native speakers can be bad teachers
So, find a teacher who is helpful and cares about their students
I even had a few Japanese lessons with a very high level Russian teacher
In the end, I chose a native speaker for my lesson. I live in Tokyo, so native speaking teachers are easy to find
But if your teacher has a high level and is kind, you will be fine
Like newspapers, news TV programs don't use conversational English. It can be a great way to learn about world events
But it won't help you improve your vocabulary for natural conversation. Remember, we don't talk like that
I want to stress here that you need to make correct English listening practice part of your study
Remember, you listen to your native language before you spoke. And you listen to it and spoke it before you learned to write
Don't forget this when you learn your new language. Don't forget this when you learn your new language
Listening is necessary. Key number three
Use what you learn as soon as you can. The best way to do this is to connect your own personal experiences to new language
This is something very important that I discovered as a student. You want to connect new grammar to real experiences from your own life
Real examples and memories have extra meaning for you. Therefore, they're easier to remember
Connecting new grammar to my own experiences makes it easier to remember and easier to use
Which basically means I learn it faster. Here's an example. Say you just learned the present perfect continuous grammar
Have or has plus been plus the continuous tense of a verb
Next, use your own experience or situation. Now, use the new grammar to write something about you
I've been studying all night. This was such an important discovery that I gave the technique a name
The ESL Grammar Connection Method. And I spent weeks writing an entire blog post about it
Here's a clip from that post using my own real experience. I went to Hakone with my girlfriend
Now, compare my sentence to a sentence example you might find in a grammar textbook
Both examples use the same grammar, but... The textbook example is someone else's story
I don't know Jim or his wife, and I have never been to Italy
The second example is from a real life experience. The grammar is connected to a real memory
It's my own experience, so it's easy for me to remember. I used this technique to improve my Japanese quickly
And you can use it to improve your English too. There's a link to my ESL Connection Method blog post in the description of this video
Key number four. Schedule time for review. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Don't move from one lesson to the next without reviewing
You learn the native language the same way. You heard it every day, and you heard the same words and phrases many times
Learning a second language is no different. Learning a second language is no different
Repetition is the mother of skill. Tony Robbins. Review is an important part of your learning experience
And it supports the other three key points in this video. It's not always fun to repeat
Some of us have the desire to move quickly on to the next thing. I used to do it all the time myself
I'm very guilty of this as a language student. When you move on to new ideas without reviewing your past study, it stays behind
It doesn't come forward with you as you move ahead. It is easily forgotten
To change that habit, I had to change the way I thought about review and repetition
Here's a helpful technique. You can repeat one point of study in four different ways
Read the English. Write the English. Listen to the English. Speak the English
I would rehearse what I wanted to say before I met my teacher or Japanese friend
I would write the sentences, read them out loud, and listen to audio if it was available
I had an idea in my mind that I would use this new language. If I can see myself using this new language, I will use it
If I can see myself using these sentences in the future, I never feel like the review is boring
It's exciting. If I understand that reviewing my past language study will help me remember to use it, I'm happy to review
I don't think of it as boring at all. I think of it as meeting an old friend
Start using these four tips right away and watch your English improve fast
You can find these tips on my blog post to review and refresh whenever you like
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