"London Is The Capital Of Great Britain": How To Improve Your Level Of English?

What to do if you want to speak English and understand this language, but your level does not allow you to do it? Alexandra Belyaeva knows what to do.

"London Is The Capital Of Great Britain": How To Improve Your Level Of English?

I dreamed of learning English during my childhood and school years. I remember I had a several games for my “Gameboy” and PSP which were only in English language. Honestly, at first it was really difficult for me to understand the gameplay of these advices, since I was only nine years old and my level of English was below zero… But each time I got used to repeating some words and associated their meaning and translation with objects and actions that took place in the game. It was pretty easy, because it is not just learning words, it is a very interactive way not only for children, but for youngsters and adults too.

At school, I learned German language, and I decided to pass English exam at October, it was my graduating class. Of course, I was preparing for it with my tutor, but the major part of my preparation took my own desire to learn English not only for tests and points for them, but for connection with people, for understanding films and books without translation. So, I will suggest some advices that helped me to get a nice level of English.

Hope, that some of them will help you too.

Change the language on your phone

It cannot be denied that nowadays our electronic advices are taking major places in human daily routine, education, work and etc. If you translate your advice into English, day by day you will remember names of some settings, days of the week, apps, applications and other words that can be useful in usual life.

Try to start conversation with your friends in English

Believe me, it is a really good way to start writing or speaking in this language in a comfortable atmosphere. You can discuss anything using your knowledge. But if you don’t remember or don’t know something, you can turn to a competent friend for help.

Do not be afraid of using a translator if you see something interesting, but incomprehensible to you

If you found some English word or sentence somewhere but you could not completely translate it, do not be shy of asking help for it or surfing Internet for this word. Each time you will remember the constructions of sentences and their meanings, and you won’t even notice how you will begin to understand each billboard, dialogue in the film or the caption under the photo.

Listen and look for lyrics of songs that you like

Each of us has our favorite artists and songs that we sing every day, but often do not know their translation. Start opening lyrics more often when you listen to them. It's funny, but karaoke is a very useful thing! There are a lot of videoclips on YouTube and other web-cites that offer videos for songs in which you can play them with subtitles.

Watching series and films in English

I think that it is important to notice that firstly you need to watch something that you have already seen. It will be easier to understand the plot of a film without losing a threat. The main advice for beginners who learn English from films is that the movie should be liked. You notice a new word in the subtitles - stop the video and record it. Then open the dictionary and find out its meaning.

Books and magazines

In general, the same rule applies for this as for films and TV shows.

Subscribe on groups in VK or profiles on Instagram posting English memes

It is noticeable that often we learn funny facts, words and stories twice as fast as teaching materials! Memes are not just a picture or video for fun. It is the key for humor of different culture, for communication features of other people.

Download and start using apps for learning words

Quizlet is an application for teachers, students and beginners. In it you can create your own list of words for memorization, and the application will offer a wide range of interactive options for memorizing materials.

Words is an app which is ideal for learning English words and expanding vocabulary. Its database is about 40 thousand words and 330 lessons. The first of them are available for free, then you need to pay.

English Grammar Test. The application contains more than 60 tests of 20 tasks, which cover almost the entire grammar of the English language. Each question is dedicated to a separate grammatical topic. After passing one test, you can test your knowledge in several sections of the grammar at once and identify weaknesses.

Listen to podcasts and TedTalks

Usually people discuss issues connected to our live and it is quietly easy to understand their speech. Focus on narrator’s pronunciation and try to identify by ear new expressions for your knowledge.

Text by
Alexandra Belyaeva