10 TIPS TO LEARN ENGLISH

                Learning is like rowing upstream, not to advance is to drop back. – Chinese Proverb

To have another language is to possess a second soul. – Charlemagne

Language is wine upon the lips. – Virginia Woolf

Today, instead of jumping directly to the tips section, let me share my experience to make you understand ‘The need of knowing English’. The other day I and my husband were debating on the topic ‘Whether it is necessary for at least every educated person to know English communication.’ Of course I was on the affirmative side of the debate, but unfortunately before we could persuade our points to each other the conversation somehow got cut in the middle and we got re-busy with our own schedules. Well I was lucky enough that the next day itself, he had a call with one of his clients from some non-English speaking country. After the formal Hi, Hello’s and day greetings their conversation moved to the official stuff, but sadly they soon realized it was not going well as the client person was struggling to understand the spoken English, and my husband, was unaware of the language his client was speaking in. The entire conversation was pitiful. During this whole scenario, I was beside him and pretty enjoyed that my point got proved automatically, me 1 and him 0 Yayy!!!! The gist of this experience is that, the whole world needs a common language to communicate effortlessly with each other. So instead of debating why only English and why not Marathi or Hindi or German or French or any other regional language, let’s accept the fact and keep up with the pace of the world. Not everyone can know all languages, so as most of the population knows English then English it is. Here are some tips to water the plant of your desire to learn English.

1. Perfecting Grammar: 

A perfect language can be learnt only once you know the right places of figures of speech (Noun,Verb, adverb, etc.) in a sentence. Once you know that you will pass the level one of sentence formation. After that, next step is to learn the fluency, which you can achieve with other topics in grammar like tenses, importance of change of voice, articles, etc. A book named Wren N’ Martin can swoop in to help you for your grammar needs. Check it’s availability on any store.  Grammar is the key to boost a confidence for speaking the language.

2. Reading English books: ‘Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. – Joseph Addison’

Learning grammar is a theoretical way which is of importance but we know if practical and theoretical goes hand in hand, well! then no one can stop you from becoming a pro. So apart from this, you must read English books and novels.You can start with small story book to gain interest first and gradually you can move to great novels.Other than books,daily newspapers will help you immensly.Read columns that you will enjoy,it can be sports, politics, beauty tips, etc. Remember to always have a dictionary by your side to help yourself with new words. Luckily we live in a technology surrounded world, so you can use your cellphones to search these new words and phrases, you come across while reading. Remember our old school proverb ‘Books are our best friends’.

  

3.  Watching English serials and movies:

Another quick and easy way of learning English is by watching movies and serials in the same language. Get hold of English subtitles to help you understand it better. The benefit we receive from this, is that, unknowingly you start thinking in English, which is a very good sign. Slowly you subconsciously start using the words and phrases from these movies in your daily life, and that’s quite impressive.Listening to English songs of your favorite artist or listening to radio with English news will definetly mould you in a better aspect.

4. Communicate in English:

‘Unused goods prone to rot’; what I mean to say is any quality or talent or study if not used for a long time, it tends to decay. Then what is the use of learning it, if you are not using it. Same is in the case of English language, no matter how good or bad you are at it, try to speak as much as possible in English, with people around you in daily life. The more you try to speak, the more quick you are about to become fluent. Start with simple greetings like Good Morning, hello, how are you? Etc. Do not get discouraged even if people laugh at you sometimes for your mistakes, it means you are trying, and that makes you stand out of the coward crowd. Build a confidence within you for yourself.

5. Play word scrabble games and quizzes:

Learning need not be always boring and pressurizing. Another great way to improve your vocabulary (word stock) is by playing word scrabble games and quizzes. You can easily find them on play store in your mobile phones. There are other games as well like ‘give another word for’ these will help you learn different words with same meaning. Scramble, unscramble and form new words, just have fun while you learn.

6. Learn one new word every day:

While we are on the topic of vocabulary, let me tell you one more way to learn new words instead of repeating the same words. Stick to learning only one new word every day. Select a word of your choice and find it similar meaning words and learn it with spelling. Try to put that word in a sentence and write it down in a book. Maintaining a book with words is a great way to have your own handwritten dictionary.

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7.   Accent matters:

A saying goes that, your communication should never reveal where you belong from. Many times during a conversation people ask you whether you are from a particular region after listening to your accent. Believe me, it is a sign of poor language. That might feel flattering at regional level but at corporate levels it is NOT. Your English accent MUST be fluent and not at all vernacular. Be proud of your mother tongue, but don’t be ashamed to embrace new language in its original form.

8. Keep a check on mistakes:

     Once my friend told me about how keeping a record of your mistakes can help you improve. That’s absolutely true, we always struggle to focus on what correct we can achieve, yes it is our ultimate goal. But on the journey to success don’t forget your co-passengers and that is your failures. One of the major mistakes we make, while speaking English is, we try to translate our thoughts from our mother tongue to English. That is when we start learning in a totally wrong way. If you keep a track and check your mistakes, there is a major chance that you won’t repeat them. Aahaa!! This way you are getting way too closer towards becoming an English proficient.  

9.Consistency – ‘It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. – Confucius’ Altogether Bombardment may not lead you to a successful destiny but consistent efforts will definitely do. Be easy on yourself while learning. Take small steps regularly so that you won’t feel compelled to absorb English which might lead you to give up studying. Instead of forcing yourself to learn a lot quickly, make a habit of learning a little daily without fail. Try writing small paragraph essays on your favorite topics and get it checked from some English tutor. Try completing small story books in a month. These small steps will one day lead to big change.

10.  Motivate and set goals:

When you start something new there needs a motivation to keep you going. Getting inspired from people with command over English language can push you to take more efforts towards your goal. Set mini goals per weekend and pat your back or reward yourself when you complete one. Surround yourself with people who support you and not the ones who hold you back from doing something new.

Bonus Tip: Revise, revise and revise, until you get that English, flowing through your mouth with ease and wise.

So, now there will be a very less chance of you getting rejected at interviews because of your poor English communication skills. You won’t have to worry about your big presentation which can get you promoted. You can travel confidently all over the world without having to concern about talking with strangers, and save yourself from many more such incidents.

All the best!! Happy Learning!!