by deViant

Created on: January 14, 2007   Last Updated: December 07, 2011

1. If possible, live in an English-speaking country for at least 6 months - but make sure you've got some of the basic grammar and vocab down before you go, as not knowing anything about the language and culture you going to live within is going to limit your learning outcome / slow you down. Make sure you speak as well as listen to get an idea of accents, degree of formality, usage of words in certain contexts, cultural references etc.

2. Read - no matter what, whether it's a daily paper, magazines or a Stephen King novel (I got an amazing amount of vocab out of his books, especially words to describe people and atmosphere), pick your favourite writers and start reading as much as you can in English. Start having a dictionary by your side to make sure you can look up words if necessary, but try to glean as much as possible from the context of the book rather than constantly looking things up. I've found this by far the best way to learn vocab - as it's entertaining, words will stick in your mind much easier that just repeating vocab exercises. Again, some basic knowledge gained from a short course is key, as you need a basis to build on.

3. If you're still at a basic stage, especially, watch movies with English subtitles (progress to English movies whenever you're ready), in order to get used to understanding what people say and their pronunciation. Look up words if necessary but again, try to get as much as you can from context - best to start with your favourite films, as you'll already know the plot and can concentrate more on the language. The same goes for music - try to get the lyrics (there are many websites that give the lyics for a band's album, if you don't own the CD) and start to understand what they are about. In this way, listening to the music you'd normally listen to anyway, you can improve your English quite a bit.

4. Talk to people as much as you can - I know it can be daunting and difficult, but after all, most people appreciate it if you're at least making an effort! Make sure you let them know to correct your use of vocab, pronunciation and grammar whenever you make a mistake - you'll never reach a good level of English otherwise even if you get around.

5. Lastly, this might not work for you, but I think it does have an effect on the brain: fall asleep listening to English audio books (as with normal books, there are now so many different kinds, genres, stories on tape - you should find something you like) or a good radio station (BBC, for example). After all, your brain works even when you sleep and even if you don't pick up more words from it, you're going to get used to grammar, pronunciation and accents without doing a thing!

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