5 Tips To Improve Your English Language

When we are born, the first language we learn is our mother tongue, we listen first, then we speak, then we read, lastly we write. Listening, speaking, reading and writing are the four language skills we need to develop for complete communication. If your first language is not English then learning to write and speak eloquently in English is not going to be the easiest of things to do. To succeed, you’ll need to put a lot of continuous effort into learning English but some tips can help to boost your knowledge and guarantee success.

1. Learn online:

In this learning journey, your smartphone is your friend, almost everything you need is on the internet, including our favourite language learning app. Duolingo is free, fun and an effective way to learn several languages, it's designed to take you through bite-sized lessons, where you make progress at your pace. The first step is to download Duolingo on your phone. During this time, whenever you learn a new word, make sure you make a note of it. You can start by labelling things in your home. In your free time, you can practise what you’ve learned. You could even do this on your phone so you do not need to carry around a notebook with you. To aid comprehension, it’s also worth making a note of the translation into your language and any unusual phonological aspects of the word.

2. Language Swap:

After gaining some confidence in English, we advise you to find somebody keen to learn your language and exchange information with them. You should download Idyoma. It is a new social language learning mobile app where users match with one another to practice languages, taking turns speaking in one another’s languages to reach fluency. In this time, you should practice English by reading, start with children's books then gradually progress to newspapers or magazines.

3. Active listening:

The UK and USA produce some of the best TV shows and films in the world, you can learn English while watching them. For premium and classic movies, you should download Netflix. Do not forget to put the subtitles in English, so you can read along as you watch. In addition to watching films and TV, listening to music is another great and fun way of improving your grasp of English. There’s an almost endless amount of music out there to choose from, with most tracks having lyrics easily available on the internet. You could listen to a song a day and read the lyrics along to it. You can start with slow music like country or acoustic music, which often has lyrics that are slower and easier to understand. Once you’re feeling more confident you could go for some rap music, which is generally a lot quicker and harder to understand.

4. Live With Native English Speakers:

If you are taking a gap year, you should visit the UK or any other English speaking country. If you are between 18 to 30 years and have experience in childcare, you can become an Aupair, being an Aupair is a good way to learn a new language in the country that speaks that language without having to worry about the cost of living in that country.

Aupair Match UK is an organisation that matches aupairs with a host family in their preferred location within the UK.

The host family will offer you a place to stay in their home, feed you and pay you weekly pocket money, in exchange, you learn their culture and language as much as they learn yours and you also help them with childcare and some light house chores. This is economical in comparison to living in a hostel or hotel, you can save some money and enjoy a new culture. Being an Aupair is the best way to enjoy a gap year, living free of taxes and bills. Interacting with native English speakers will help you learn a great deal like the origin of words or idioms and phrasal verbs. During this time, you should speak and listen to your host kids a lot, play is a great way to learn, not only for kids.

5. Practice English a lot:

Speak to as many native English speakers as possible, do not be shy to speak with your accent or receive corrections, whether you are interacting with someone on the bus or purchasing an item over the counter. Do not forget your notes, practice your vocabulary before going to bed. Remember your smartphone is your friend, make the most of it and download a bilingual dictionary or use google translate, record yourself speaking so you hear how you sound, make an effort to write something down every day. Change the language on your phone to English or translate websites you browse to English.

All the above-mentioned tips can be reduced to just one: practice, practice, practice! Whatever learning style you adopt, whatever your native language is, the key to acquiring and mastering the English language is to practice it as much and as often as possible.

I hope you had a good read-through and if not enjoy it, you at least found it useful.

If you are interested in knowing more about being an Aupair, or Aupair job vacancies in the UK, or you are already an Aupair and have good advice to give other Aupairs, you are warmly invited to join our community.

Just as well, if you are a parent who would like to host an Aupair or find out about Aupairs available in your local community, or just get some moral support from other families, please join our community:

Telegram: Aupair Match UK

Instagram and Twitter: @AupairMatchUK

Facebook Group: Aupair Match UK

WhatsApp Chat: +447721975242