There are 61 articles on this title. You are reading the article ranked and rated #5 by Helium's members.
The concept of improvement implies that there is something already there that needs to be improved! In this case, you are presumably a learner of English who has reached a certain standard and who needs to go up to the next level.
It makes a difference as to whether it is your spoken or written English that you wish to improve. Let's take spoken English first.
SPOKEN ENGLISH
A conversation is a two-way process; you speak and then someone else replies. You therefore need to understand the English that the other person is using, and to make sure that they understand you. Simply engaging in conversation with a native English speaker will not lead to improvement if either of you cannot understand the other. It will therefore help you enormously if the other person knows what your level of English is, and is prepared to repeat things, put them another way, and be patient with you if you struggle to find the right words.
You should therefore find someone who is either a trained teacher of English as a Second Language, or who has been recommended to you as an English coach, for this purpose. During your conversations, listen carefully to the way that your coach phrases his/her sentences, and be prepared to ask questions such as "why did you say that?" and "could you say that again, please?"
It is also worth listening to broadcasts in English, especially if you can record them and play them back. One problem with English-language radio, TV and films is that the people speaking will do so quickly, because they expect to be understood by their audiences. If you do not understand something, you have no time to think about it, because the next piece of dialog is following along behind. You will not learn much if you are always confused by what you are hearing.
One of the most difficult things for the English learner to understand is idiomatic English. This means that people in normal conversation use the language in ways that you will not find in the textbooks. Here is a possible example of what you might hear in an everyday conversation on a British street:
"You all right, mate?"
"Yeah, great. You heard about Darren's old man?"
"What's that?"
"He went ballistic when he said his bird was up the duff. Told him to sling his hook."
"You're joking. You on the level?"
"Straight up."
There are plenty of examples here of slang, idiomatic, language that the English learner might have problems with. For example, "on the level" and "straight up" sound as though they must mean very different
Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:
by Paul Lines
There are many ways to improving one's English, but advising on these depends upon the reasons for doing so. Within this
Practice makes perfect! We've heard it said a million times, but usually if something is cliche', and it's been said more
by Kerlain Kate
There are nearly 90% of people on earth learned English. Are you one of them? Well if you decided to improve your English,
As adults we tend to forget how we learned our first language. A baby that begins speaking say, a year after birth, did not
by John Welford
The concept of improvement implies that there is something already there that needs to be improved! In this case, you are
View All Articles on:
Improving your English
Add your voice
Know something about Improving your English?
We want to hear your view.
Write now!
Cast your vote!
Click for your side.
Featured Partner
The Goldwater Institute was founded in 1988 by a small group of entrepreneurial Arizonans with the blessing of Senato...more
hide