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Do you already have some fluency using English, but are still eager to improve your proficiency in English to an even higher level? A positive answer to this question is good news, as it means you will one day become an expert communicator using English. However, you first need to spend even more time and effort practising your English in order to achieve such success. Always remember the well-known English idiom that ‘Rome was not built in a day’.
Here are 10 essential ways to help you build excellent proficiency when using your English language skills:
You would not necessarily only watch English-speaking films in order to become an expert public speaker and effective participant in a debate, but this will help you to develop a deeper understanding of the language and how it is spoken in daily conversations. Getting a regular exposure to high quality films where authentic English is being spoken immerses you in the language, and this will improve your English language skills.
Accessing authentic English materials through good media sources like news reports, radio broadcasts, magazines, newspapers, and podcasts are an excellent way to broaden your English vocabulary. How native English speakers communicate effectively can be explored by studying such authentic materials that have not been artificially created to help you learn a language.
Every time you encounter unfamiliar English vocabulary, try to make a record of the word and its meaning in a notebook or on an easily accessed electronic device. In addition, search for any synonyms of the word. Only knowing the meaning of a word is not sufficient, as you must also understand how to correctly use the word. Therefore, it is essential that you write meaningful sentences containing the word in your journal as well.
Your speaking of English will dramatically improve if it involves meaningful interaction with other people. For instance, you can meet with peers who are also learning English and speak with them on a regular basis. When engaged in such verbal interaction, you will learn even more by politely correcting any mistakes made whilst speaking to each other.
Martial arts expert Bruce Lee once said, ‘I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times’. This famous quote illustrates the importance of how to achieve a high level of proficiency through really focused practice. Do not simply pride yourself on overall proficiency when communicating in English. You must keep practising English as often as possible to really improve every aspect of using the language.
Constantly questioning all that you know about the English language will greatly benefit you in the future because it opens up a portal to infinite knowledge about the language. When you have a question about English, try to first find an answer to the question yourself. Then you will embark upon an exciting journey of self-discovery and learning about the many ways to creatively and accurately use English. In this way you gradually become an English language virtuoso.
You are more likely to abandon the learning of English if it feels like an impossibly difficult task. Demotivated students do not succeed, so you must find ways to inject some enjoyment into all of your learning. Playing English language games provides you with wonderful opportunities to have fun whilst also practising English at the same time.
Transcription of spoken English will provide a very real challenge to your listening comprehension skills. Find an interesting audio clip like a podcast, a news bulletin, or an interview, and try to immediately write down what is heard as you play it.
Here is another type of listening comprehension task that can help you to focus on understanding English being spoken using different accents. Look online for videos narrated by different speakers of English (especially on ‘YouTube’), and see if you fully understand what is said. Practising this task will be invaluable to you when trying to effectively interact with speakers of English who have an accent.
Written English adopts a different style depending on the type of person with whom you are communicating. Writing a letter to your manager will therefore be more formal than sending a note to a best friend. A clear distinction has to be made through the register used to ensure an appropriate degree of formality when you write, and this register defines the range of vocabulary and complexity of sentence structures to be adopted within a specific writing task. Writing to your manager demands a professional composition and formal tone, whilst communicating with a best friend means you will adopt a more casual and conversational style of writing. Mastering different writing styles to match the formality needed for your intended audience enables you to adopt a tone in all of your English that is best suited to the person with whom you are communicating.
The 10 important ways of practising English shared above are designed to greatly accelerate your learning and mastery of the language. You can now try each one and see which is the most effective in supporting your personal style of learning. Through such regular practice you will embark on a learning journey that will end in your mastery of all the skills needed for excellent communication using English.
However, if your proficiency in English needs the professional boost of a native-speaking and British-trained teacher to guarantee your success, enrol in our English class for adults in Johor Bahru. At the ‘English for Everyone’ Tuition Office, excellent home tuition is provided so everyone in Johor Bahru can improve all of their English language skills and find greater success when using English in exciting new social and professional opportunities. Please contact us now and start to become an expert speaker of English!