All You Need to Know in Learning English !

10 reasons to learn English

Learning English is important and people all over the world decide to study it as second language. Many countries include English as a second language in their school syllabus and children start learning English at a young age.

However, do you know why learning English is so important? Here are ten good reasons to take an English language course.

1. English is the most commonly spoken language in the world. One out of five people can speak or at least understand English!
2. English is the language of science, of aviation, computers, diplomacy, and tourism. Knowing English increases your chances of getting a good job in a multinational company within your home country or of finding work abroad.
3. English is the official language of 53 countries. That is a lot of people to meet and speak to. 
4. English is spoken as a first language by around 400 million people around the world.
5. English is the language of the media industry. If you speak English, you won’t need to rely on translations and subtitles anymore to enjoy your favourite books, songs, films and TV shows.
6. English is also the language of the Internet. Many websites are written in English – you will be able to understand them and to take part in forums and discussions.
7. English is based on a simple alphabet and it is fairly quick and easy to learn compared to other languages.
8. English is not only useful — it gives you a lot of satisfaction. Making progress feels great. You will enjoy learning English, if you remember that every hour you spend gets you closer to perfection.
9. Since English is spoken in so many different countries there are thousands of schools around the world that offer programmes in English. If you speak English, there’re lots of opportunities for you to find an appropriate school and course to suit your academic needs.
10. Because it’s fun! By learning English, you will also learn about other cultures. Few experiences will make you grow as a person more than learning the values, habits and way of life in a culture that is different from yours.

Useful, Fun, & Easy Ways to Learn English

 

we’ve got some good news.

You don’t have to have formal English lessons to improve and fine-tune (perfect) your English skills.

In fact, you can become your own teacher!

Yes, that’s right.

We’ve all heard a thousand times that the only way to really learn English is to be totally immersed in the language, completely surrounded by it everywhere you go. But we wanted to go deeper than that and find quick and easy ways to start getting immersed.

Here are some strategies and tips to help you teach yourself English. And what’s even better is that you’re going to have a fun time too, so much that you might even say “goodbye” to formal English education all together.

1. Take It Slowly

If you’ve made the decision to learn English without the help of a teacher, you need to take things slowly. Don’t expect to read some English, go to bed and wake up fluent.

Set realistic goals and dedicate a set amount of time to learning English every day. Thirty minutes is good, but if you can do more that’s even better. Learning English alone means you can choose the time, the place and method; however, it’s really easy to say I’m too tired or I’ll do it tomorrow! No one ever learned a language well with this attitude, so you really need to want it… you can do it!

2. Think Like a Child

It may sound a little stupid to you, but using English resources for children is the perfect way to begin learning a language. Children’s books, movies, and TV shows are basic. When an English-speaking child learns for the first time, they’re going through the same steps as you are now. It all begins with basic vocabulary and sounds.

When you use children’s books and movies together with your other self-study textbooks and language learning materials, you’ll understand more. There will be very few things you don’t understand and this will boost your confidence. There’s no better feeling than being able to understand something in another language.

3. Listen to Everything and Anything

One great thing about learning English is that almost everything these days is in English. This gives us more opportunities to be connected with it every day.

If you think about it, when children learn their mother tongue for the first time, they don’t learn by reading or writing. They pick up (get) words from people around them – their parents, brothers and sisters, favorite cartoons and so on. At first, they understand little or nothing. But as time passes, they acquire (get) more vocabulary. This vocabulary slowly turns into phrases, and these phrases are then placed into full sentences, which will eventually allow the children to hold and understand simple conversations.

Surround yourself with English. Have the radio playing in English in the background. Learn with native English podcasts. Watch English TV shows, and if you live in an English-speaking area or an area where many English tourists go, just listen to their conversations. Soon, without even realizing it, you’ll be having conversations in English too.

4. Enjoy Music to Learn English

Everyone loves music. We may have different taste. You may like metal music whereas I love pop, but we both like music. Most of the world’s music is produced in English these days and even foreign artists are joining the club and producing their hits in English.

Instead of just listening to the music, use it and learn English from it. Without even realizing it, every time you listen to your favorite Beyoncé track, you’re learning. The best thing about learning from songs you love is that they’re catchy (they’ll stick in your head) and furthermore, the language is everyday English so you’re learning how the average person speaks.

Listen and sing along with the words. Look up the lyrics and try and get a feel for what they’re singing. Choose your favorite phrases and write them down in your notebook and don’t forget to practice using them with every opportunity.

5. Use the News to Learn English

Knowing what’s going on in the world is great for your own knowledge, but it also gives you something to talk about with friends, family, colleagues and so on. People often discuss news-related issues, so if you don’t know what’s going on, you can’t participate in the conversation.

Now you can improve your chances of participating in English conversations by listening to or reading the news in English. You’ll not only build up your knowledge of what’s going on, but it’s also a great way to pick up new vocabulary.

If you don’t have enough English to understand the news completely, try reading or listening to it in your native language first, and then listening to it or reading it again in English. Don’t worry if you can’t understand much. You could also turn to children’s materials again and get your news from TIME For Kids.

The more you listen and read the news in English, you’ll be able to participate more fully in English conversations – and no longer be the quiet foreigner!

6. Watch Movies to Learn English

Most movies come from Hollywood and all Hollywood movies are in English. This means that if you love watching movies, English movies are a fantastic way to learn more English.

At the beginning, watch movies that you’re already familiar with and have already seen in your native language. It helps to be familiar with the story, as it’ll give you context for unfamiliar words.

Again, sit there with your notebook and write down phrases that you think are useful. Practice using them and later try to imagine your own conversations with these phrases. You could write natural-sounding dialogues or even speak to yourself in the mirror (we won’t tell anyone!). Remember: the more you repeat, the more you remember.

 7. Learn English from YouTube

YouTube has every video imaginable. It has old sitcoms, movie trailers, TV commercials, how-to instructional videos and much more. What are you interested in? Are you interested in music? Fashion? Golf? Dog training? Whatever your interest is, type it into the search area on YouTube, select a video, then watch and listen. When you’re interested in a topic, you already have background knowledge about it, so therefore learning and understanding is going to be much easier.

There are even YouTube channels specifically made for ESL learners. Here are nine really great YouTube channels for learning English.

There are also online English courses especially made for English language learners from other nationalities that allow you to learn at your own pace (speed). The famous British broadcast station BBC has its own channel for English language learners. Subscribe and keep up to date with the latest.

8. DIY Flashcards

DIY (do-it-yourself) flashcards are a great way to practice the phrases that you’ve heard and want to learn. Go to your local office supplies store and pick up some index cards, and then write phrases or words on each one with your translation on the back.

Whenever you have a free moment, flick through (quickly look) the cards and see how much you remember. It’s a great way of testing yourself. Start with the English side showing first and try to remember the translation in your native language. Once you’ve mastered all of the cards that way, then flip them over and try to recall the English when looking at the translation – it’s a bit harder.

9. English Club

Do you have a group of friends who are in the same position as you? If the answer is “yes,” then you need to make the most of this. Organize a group of friends who will meet every week, either at home or in a local café. Ban (don’t allow) everyone from using their own language when the club meets. Only English may be spoken. Nominate (choose) one person each week to bring something interesting (maybe some information about new English websites they’ve found, a cool magazine article or recommendations for easy-to-understand movies).

You’ll be able to communicate naturally and also have a fun time doing it. Keeping language learning fun is important for your own motivation. If you do the same old things all the time, it’s going to get boring. This is the perfect way to keep things interesting.

10. Join Online Language Forums

Another awesome way to practice your written English and communication skills is to join a number of online forums where people discuss matters that interest them. Reddit is a widely-used site that covers a vast range of topics (called “subreddits”), so that’s one place to start. Know that there are online forums for everything, though. Whether you want to discuss tips on how to learn English properly or how to care for your new Labrador puppy, an online forum will exist for your interest.

Reply to other users and try to get conversations going, or post some useful information that people will want to respond to. Don’t forget to reply to people who post comments under your topic, because if you don’t, this method of learning English without a teacher is going to be ineffective.

11. Talk and sing to yourself in English

When you are alone at home, or of course in the shower, start talking! Sing a song in English the way it sounds to you, talk about the weather or any other topic. Do this frequently and your pronunciation will drastically improve – guaranteed!

12. Do you have an English-speaking idol? Go to YouTube and watch all of his/her interviews in English

You can spend hours doing that listening to interviews and it sure won’t feel like studying. But it is! It helps you a great deal.

13. Pay attention to billboards, signs, advertisements, magazine stands and establishment names

Look and think about what these ads mean. How many words do you recognize? Did you see that same word elsewhere? Make up sentences about what you’re seeing

14. Engage in a conversation on Facebook with friends who post in English

When you have English speakers in your timeline, you see their posts daily and get inside information about news and viral videos in English. Your friends can be your teachers! Their timeline basically sort out the best material for you to study.

15. Produce, produce, produce. No matter how shy you are or how much you don’t “get” English, force yourself to speak

Help out a tourist who looks lost. They won’t mind you struggling with the language while you’re doing them a favor! After class, talk to your teacher about how things are going and what you need help with in English. When traveling, ask around for directions in English, even if you don’t need them! Try purchasing things online and by phone, or using customer support in English. It does not matter if you talk slowly, you are learning, that’s only natural!

16. Familiarizing Yourself with Everyday English by Reading something in English every day.

Read from a book, newspaper, or online article in English. This will rapidly increase your English vocabulary, and provide both cultural and professional pointers on how to write and speak in English. Make a point of reading something – it doesn’t matter too much what you read – every single day

17. Write in English casually. Outside of any formal coursework, make sure to practice writing in English, ideally about things you’re interested in or find meaningful. One easy option is to keep an English language journal, and simply write in it every evening, briefly describing your day or something you’ve been thinking about. Without even trying, you’ll end up progressively utilizing new English language skills as you learn more advanced grammar.

Like anything good, it takes time. You can’t expect to become fluent in English in the first few months or even years, but the great thing is, the more you help yourself at home, the quicker this is going to happen. Surround yourself with English and always have fun!

15 Things to STOP Doing When Learning English! (Very Important!)

Learning a new language can be very difficult, but you can make it easier for yourself by NOT creating more barriers that will hinder your progress.  These tips (in no particular order) should help to make your learning process a lot smoother, and make learning English fun!

1. STOP translating!

Translating should only be something you need to do in the very early stages of learning English.

Once you have a basic grasp of vocabulary, you should stop thinking in your own language and trying to translate everything, as this slows your progress down, and limits your focus!

When someone says something, concentrate on the words you DO know, and build your understanding from there.

2. DON’T be afraid to make mistakes!

Fear can become a huge barrier, which makes it difficult to progress. If you know the rules of grammar, but struggle to hold a conversation – that doesn’t mean you should avoid talking in English!

STOP thinking about how people might react, and what they’ll say. Everyone makes mistakes, and then they learn from them – that is how you get better at it!

3. STOP negative self-talk!

Having a negative attitude doesn’t help improve your learning, it makes it worse. If you find you’re saying negative things to yourself like:

“Why do I always get it wrong? I’m so stupid.”

“I always make mistakes; I’ll never get better at this.”

“I don’t know what to say, it’s so hard to speak in English.”

This needs to change! Try to turn them into positive statements, you can rephrase them to show positivity. Instead of saying “I’ll never get better at this”, you should say “I’m going to keep trying, I’m sure I’ll get better at it soon.”

Instead of saying “Sorry, I don’t speak English, I can’t understand you”, say “Sorry, I’m still learning how to speak English, so could you speak a bit slower please?”

Positivity helps you to learn much quicker!

4. STOP being nervous!

Speak in English every time you have the opportunity. If you think about speaking, then you’ll just feel even more nervous. Just put yourself out there, and speak!

The more you speak, the more confident and comfortable you will feel, and the quicker you will learn how to communicate in English properly!

You may need to step out of your comfort zone a little bit, but the more you speak in English, the more you will begin to feel relaxed.

5. STOP taking it personally when people don’t understand you!

At some point, you will meet someone who, no matter how hard you try, just can’t understand you. This happens all the time.

Due to the large number of English speakers in the world, there is a wide range of accents, some of which, can be hard to understand!

Eliminating your mother tongue from your accent completely, is extremely difficult, so don’t be too hard on yourself!

6. STOP apologising!

No one knows everything – so don’t apologise for not speaking English perfectly! You’re still learning, everything takes time.

The more you speak and practice your newfound skills, the more you will improve. Even native English speakers didn’t learn how to speak in a few months!

The main thing is that you are trying, most people will understand and appreciate that. So just relax, and start talking!

7. DON’T just learn in class!

Learning in a classroom environment is great because you get to ask questions, pick your teacher’s brain, and share ideas with classmates, but you also need to implement the English language into your daily life, and communicate with people in English at every opportunity you get.

If you don’t practice speaking English outside the classroom, then your ability to progress will remain very limited. This is one of the most important things you need to remember.

It is the best way to learn, and will definitely influence how quickly you improve!

8. DON’T give up!

At first, it always seems hard when you’re learning something new, but if you keep at it – it will become easier!

You have to keep practising if you want to get better, otherwise it’ll get harder to improve.

Professional athletes have to do the same, they train hard all the time, because if they didn’t – their skills would just get worse!

9. STOP worrying!

Don’t waste a chance to speak English because you’re worried about whether they will understand you or not. Be confident, and have an ‘I can do it’ attitude.

Don’t be shy! Least of all, don’t worry about learning, because it’s supposed to be fun. The more fun you have, the easier you will learn!

10. STOP comparing yourself to other English speakers!

No matter what level of English you are on, you worked hard to get there. Be proud of what you have achieved.

Everybody is different, some people learn languages more easily than others, and some people spend more time working to improve their English. Just because your friend is learning faster than you, doesn’t mean you’re not on the right path!

11. STOP using outdated, inefficient methods! (please)

Grammar-translation methods, and memorisation of rules have been standard practice for a very long time, but they’re probably not the most effective ways to learn.

Some students study English for many years, and know all the rules of grammar and sentence structures, but still struggle to communicate properly and hold a conversation in English.

It is important to have a significant amount of time focusing on conversational, functional language use, and learn in context through interaction with other people!

12. DON’T work too hard on one skill and neglect the others!

If you just want to be able to speak to people, then you might place less emphasis on reading and writing, but you shouldn’t neglect them too much, as they are also crucial for fluency.

You should concentrate on improving your speaking skills, but also dedicate a suitable amount of time practising your reading, writing and listening skills. You shouldn’t underestimate the benefits all these skills have on each other!

13. STOP spending too much time studying!

If you sit in front of a book or screen for hours, going over the same rules and flashcards again and again, it won’t make you learn any faster!

You should have short study periods of up to 30 minutes, then spend a generous amount of your available time putting the language skills you’ve learnt, into practice.

It’s okay to study for up to 30 minutes, take a break, then go back to studying if you really need to, but studying for a long period of time, without taking a break, is quite exhausting for your brain!

14. STOP thinking of learning as a chore!

Learners sometimes associate study with something that is unpleasant, which turns it into ‘boring homework’, and ‘boring exercises’.

Even if they realise that learning is important, they may not be self-motivated enough to do it all the time! It needs to be something you want to do, not have to do. Make it interesting so you have fun when you’re learning.

• If you’re walking down the street, build simple English sentences in your head about the things you see around you
• Learn a new word each day and try to use it in conversation
• Watch a funny video on the internet and tell someone what it’s about
• Read an article about your favourite band (or something else that interests you)
• Communicate with people on a discussion forum.

Soon you will stop thinking of boring classes, difficult grammar rules or lengthy homework – instead you’ll be thinking about a funny English TV show, your favourite band, or interesting conversations with different people – in English!

Only one kind of person would do these sort of things – the kind of person who enjoys them! If you want to learn how  to speak English well, you have to be that person. Have you ever heard of anyone who became successful by doing something they hated?

15.  DON’T disregard the culture!

Language is made up of so many intricate expressions of culture, that it is impossible for books and courses to cover them adequately.

For example, the way an average, ordinary person interacts with other people in his or her community. All cultures and small communities have different gestures, intonation, slang terms, proximity, interjections, fillers, and short cuts!

If you are focusing on learning the tongue of a certain community then it would be best to integrate with them, and learn from them!

NB : all of those brilliant information above arent originally from me.. I put them all together from web to web to make a try-to-be perfect strategies for learning English. That’s all. Hopefully, it is helpful :)