TheIlluminative
Hi all,
My English is not very good, I can read and understand everything without a problem, but can't type or express myself, or even talk in a fast way ;) How can i improve my English? is there a good, easy and effective way to do that?
Thank you!
AvoK95
I speak English better than my first language, which is Armenian. When I was in middle school, I was just horrible at English, in fact I failed every test I took. I started watching cartoons, and movies and I started to improve. The trick I used, is try to translate the stuff I think about into English, and try to express it. Little by little and day by day I improved.
Nabs
@TheIlluminative, how old are you?
riqmarmes
Play famous games as much as you can and in English only :P , they have some really good English, especially those mmorpgs... Now there is Far Cry 3, maybe the best game of 2012, which can teach you some good things. And anything you do, do it in English.
TheIlluminative
@AvoK95: Same here. I am French educated and had a lot of difficulties in my english until I started to watch movies and read news. It's getting better but very slowly.
@Nabs: I am 22.
@riq: I hate games ;)
Nabs
How about books? You like reading?
AvoK95
You can watch "Mind your language" series to improve silly grammar mistakes, plus it really cracks you up :D
eliminator
I suggested music: pick up one of your favorite songs whether it is rap/rock/metal etc... , memorize the lyrics and try to sing along (or just read along out loud). This worked for me. Shoot for an easy song with light meaning so that you link the meaning with what you are trying to express.
shant
get encarta dictionaries 2008, its a very good offline dictionary for pc, use that to search any unfamiliar words, other than that, watch english movies, try old games such as the first 3 resident evil games, those helped me loads in english when i was a kid :P
if you have foreign friends, keep chatting with them, even skype if you can, the most important thing is to communicate with the language frequently, try talking in english with your family and friends instead of your main language,good luck
AvoK95
Yes, shant's right, get some foreign friends and always try to talk to your friends online in English.
ballad
shant wroteget encarta dictionaries 2008, its a very good offline dictionary for pc, use that to search any unfamiliar words,
Encarta good ol days
+1 to checking lyrics
try eminem's songs and you'll become a genius in no time
babum
Nabs wroteHow about books? You like reading?
+1 go for books. The best way to improve your language without picking up slang (Which if you care about formal english, you will appreciate).
Also it depends on where is your problem.
what are your weakest areas:
- Speaking
-Writing
-Reading
-Listening
(Note, same sections as TOEFL :P )
TheIlluminative
Thanks guys.
Yeah I read daily news in english. OK will try to listen to some music and and see how it goes.
My weakest points are: Writing and speaking. I can read very well when I see the words.
samer
Joe
Here's how I learned, in this order:
- Listening/Reading: I took a few classes at school which helped (my school was French based). Video games were extremely helpful, but it was the movies/TV shows which helped the most. Never see anything dubbed over. Start with the subtitles you're most comfortable with, then switch to English subtitles. As soon as you feel you get everything in the English subs, stop enabling the subtitles. This last step was, to me, the most difficult one, but after a few months I realized I could understand everything and I didn't miss those subs anymore.
- Writing: This one needs practice, lots of it. You should obsess about writing. To me it was starting a blog, then writing here on LebGeeks, then adopting more and more online communities (Hacker News, Reddit, StackExchange/StackOverflow). These communities encourage and reward good writing (unlike stupid 9gag for example). Read a lot, to get inspiration, and obsess about writing. Practice makes perfect. It also helps to know a good writer and ask her to correct you regularly.
- Speaking: By 2009 I could read, write and understand English without a problem, but I was clearly not fluent. The real problem was that I had never pronounced most of the words I know. Just like anything else, speaking a new language is about (your lips') muscle memory. Once you've repeated these words a few times, your lips can repeat them without conscious efforts. I met my current girlfriend around this time and we mainly speak English (we come from two different parts of the world). The constant practice and repeating of the words made me fluent. My point: You may learn to read and write, you still want to practice spoken English. Find english speaking real life friends (some after work club, I'm sure you have hobbies) and just hang out around them. Notice: They'll laugh at your funny accent for a while, but stick around long enough and it'll naturally disappear.
Badieh
Hey TheIlluminative!
The best way you could improve spoken English is via having an American\British friend, depending what accent you want, and talk a lot with them. Now, where to find such friend? There are three ways:
1- Someone suggested games, well not all kinds of games, you would want MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) ! They usually have guilds in them that contain lots of people while hosting servers to talk to each other. Such as Ventrilo or TeamSpeak. US servers for an American accent, or EU for a chance to meat a British person.
2- Another way is via social websites, find someone that is willing to talk to you on skype\viber\whatever everyday. Eventually, you will get their accent.
3- Find someone in Lebanon with good accent, maybe a foreigner living here, and talk to them!
The beauty about games is that you can talk while having fun, and never get bored ;)
reppinhighz
I am french educated throughout elementary school but soon after moved to the US and lived there for a long time. Obviously i learned from everything around me but really having friends who constantly speak English will help you the most. in a few years, i became fluent and since i enjoy philosophy in general i began doing my writings in English. I finished university here in Lebanon at LAU and at one point i would write the essay assignment and hand it over to the professor then i would correct it myself and just ask the professor to grade me. He wouldn't be able to find mistakes lol.
Anyways the point here is you need exposure to English. You need people around you who are fluent. For example, i want my fiancee to speak English the way i do. It is basically regular English but a much more mellowed out version. It involves A lot of slang (yet i teach her formal English in the process) which i still use to this day with certain people around me. Whatsapp is strictly English between us. Phone conversations are in English except for certain things that are important and she needs to explain them. I get her to watch a lot of movies and i help her with writing assignments and presentations.
Overall and for the past 2 months since she started, i would say she improved by about 15%.
It's all about speaking it and exposure. Books will teach you a lot of stuff but they will not teach you to speak. You can get those recorded lessons that will help with pronunciation but the fact of the matter is you still need to speak it with someone.
If i can help in some other way let me know. If you would like to call me for a conversation every now and then i don't mind.
Good luck
DarkNe0441
Listen to Opeth. Read the lyrics, find out the meaning of each complex word, sing along (not the growling, obviously)
Trust me, you'll get there in no time. They had a huge influence on my English.
TheIlluminative
Wow thanks a lot for your help. I started with the "shadowing" technique provided in Samer's link. It's not easy, but yeah I'll get there ;)
