English Lessons

Learn english at home

Children’s books have easier words and are a good alternative to graded readers. Newspapers are a good place to find passive constructs. Read through an article and see if you can find the passive sentences. Read for the general meaning first. Don’t worry about understanding every word, then go back and look up new words. For a word you don’t understand in a sentence, look at the other words around it. They will give you a hint. Try to guess the meaning from the context. Learn root words. They’ll help you guess the meaning of words. For example: scrib = write, min = small When you learn a new word, think of all its other forms: Beautiful (adjective), beauty (noun), beautifully (adverb). Learn prefixes (dis-, un-, re-) and suffixes (-ly, -ment, -ful), these will help you to figure out the meaning of words and build your vocabulary. English, unlike Japanese or French, uses word stress. For new words, count the syllables and find where the stress is. Only one stress per word and always on a vowel. Two syllable verbs have a stress on the second syllable (beGIN). 2 syllable nouns (TEAcher) and adjectives (HAPpy) stress the first. Use English whenever you can. It’s as simple as that! Don’t translate into English from your own language. Think in English to improve your fluency. Talk to yourself…but not on the bus otherwise people will think you have gone crazy! You can’t learn English from a book. Like driving a car, you can only learn through doing it. The most natural way to learn grammar is through talking. Keep an English diary or journal. Start by writing a few sentences a day and then get into the habit of writing more. Why not start an online blog and share your writings with the world? To become a better writer brainstorm as many ideas and thoughts onto paper without worrying about grammar or spelling. Then think about the structure. After that, write your piece using good grammar and spelling. Finally, read it through or give it to someone else to check for mistakes. Keep an eye on your punctuation as it can totally change what you’re trying to say. Check out the difference in meaning between these two sentences: “A woman without her man is nothing” and “A woman: without her, man is nothing”. Sing your heart out! Show the world your beautiful voice! Learn English songs and sing along with them to improve fluency and intonation… anyone for Karaoke? Get a penfriend or use chat-rooms, forums and community sites. If you can’t speak to someone in English, this is the next best thing. Shadow English CDs. Listen to a few sentences then repeat what you heard. Focus on the rhythm and intonation. Have English radio on in your house. Even if you are not actively listening to it, you will still be training your ears. Mirror CDs. Read out loud along with a CD. Again, this is great for intonation, pronunciation and rhythm.