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.
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.
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.
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.
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!!
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