English is the by default global language. Most people have basic comprehension when it comes to English. However, without proper fluency, you will not be able to use it to your advantage. We would today share with you four simple skills which you need to master to learn the English language. These are:
- Listening
- Speaking
- Reading
- Writing
When you break up the English learning process into these 4 skills, the task of learning the language becomes much easier.
Related Post: Importance of English
Why Are These 4 Skills Important?
Before we go into the details of these 4 skills, we will just like to highlight why they are important. With the help of these 4 skills, you will not just be able to master the language but also use it for day to day information exchange. You will be able to use the English language for regular communication.
How to Learn English?
Now that you are aware of the skills which you have to master, we will go into the details of each of these skills to help you better understand how to develop them.
Learning English Fast: 17 Tips
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Listening:
Listening is one of the most difficult skills to learn when you’re trying to master the English language. When you’re new to the language, you will often be under pressure as you will try to understand each and every word which is spoken. You have not just to get oriented with the vocabulary of the speaker but also the tone in which they are speaking within seconds.
Over the course of time, it will become easier for you not to just understand the tone but the vocabulary of the listener once you master the listening skills. With the help of the right kind of listening skills, you can not only learn new words but also pronunciation. Your comprehension of the English language will only improve when you are having good listening skills. There are more ways than one in which you can improve your listening skills.
We will list some of the ways you can use in order to improve your listening skills below.
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Practice Listening in Shorter Sessions:
Instead of listing an entire speech or the entire news bulletin in one go, you have to practice listening in shorter sessions. A session of 5 minutes each initially is a good place to begin. If you’re looking for resources which you can listen to improve your language skills, you can use:
o News bulletins
o Previously recorded speeches
o Text to audio recordings
With the help of these, you will be able to improve your listening skills 5 minutes at a time.
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Focusing on The Audio:
When you’re trying to improve your listening skills, it is always important to focus on the audio. When you are able to do that, which is only when you will be able to pick up the language and the words.
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Note Down The Words Which You Don’t Recognize:
Instead of skipping the words which you don’t recognize, you have to write it down on your smartphone or on your notepad. You have to look them up in the dictionary. This will help you in improving your vocabulary. The next time around, you hear that word you will be able to recognize it instantly.
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Listening to The Same Audio to Improve Listening Skills:
Most of the people are always in the search for new audio tracks in order to improve their listening skills. However, you have to listen to the same audio repeatedly in order to improve your comprehension level. Until the time, when you are able to recognize all the words, you have to listen to the same audio. This will help you in improving your listening skills significantly.
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Opting for an Audio Course:
There are plenty of audio courses which can help you in improving your listening skills. You can easily opt for one of them to decipher the words easily while listening.
Improving your listening skills is not that difficult task. You have to just be consistent and follow the above 5 ways which we have highlighted. With the help of these, you will be able to easily improve your English listening skills.
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Speaking:
The English language is well recognized all over the world. As a result, it can be easily used for speaking with people from different parts of the world. It can be used to express your ideas. Unless and until you’re not able to speak fluent English, you will not be able to express yourself. That is why speaking skills are as important as any other. Fortunately, the ways in which you can improve speaking skills are plenty. Some of them will be highlighted below.
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Speak with a Few Native Speakers:
Even though this might be a scary thought for many people who are learning the English language but it is one of the best ways to improve your speaking skills. You have to get in touch with the native English speakers and speaking with them or video conferencing or through Google hangouts. This will help you get some speaking practice.
Most of them will be pretty understanding and will support you. There is nothing to be ashamed of when you fumble or are not able to gather your thoughts. With repeated sessions, it will become easier for you to gain control over your speaking skills.
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Find an Online Teacher:
With the help of the online teacher, it will become easier for you to get someone whom you can speak English with. The teacher will also be able to monitor and supervise your speaking skills. As a result, you will be able to get corrective feedback more easily.
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Join Meet-Ups in Your City:
You need to keep in mind that you are not the only one trying to master your English-speaking skills. In most of the bigger cities all over the world, there are meet-ups for specific purposes. You will be able to certainly find the meet up to learn English speaking skills in your city. You have to join the meet up in order to get a place to practice your English skills.
You can visit Meetup.com in order to locate like-minded people in your city.
Your speaking skills can play a very important role in mastering the English language. With the help of these 3 methods, you will be able to easily improve your speaking skills which will help you use the English language more frequently and without any hindrance.
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Reading:
Reading is a skill that helps you in more ways than one. With the help of proper English reading skills, you will be able to improve your vocabulary. In addition to that, there are quite a few other benefits like:
o Learning new words
o Learning how to form sentences
o Learning about grammar
o Learning about spellings
o Learning how to structure your thoughts better
With the help of English reading skills, you will not only be able to increase your comprehension power but also expand your knowledge about the language. There are quite a few ways in which you will be able to improve your English writing skills.
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Start with The Comic Book:
Comic books or picture books are one of the perfect options for you when you’re trying to improve your English writing skills. Moreover, they are quite descriptive which ensures that you are able to easily understand the meaning of the words used. Also, comic books often use the easiest language possible which makes it easier for you to improve your English reading skills.
You need not have an excellent vocabulary in order to decipher the comic books. Thus, even beginners will be able to improve their English reading skills with the help of comic books.
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Pocket Dictionary/Smartphone Dictionary:
In order to improve your English reading skills, it is important to read newer and newer words each and every day. You can do so in 2 different ways. You can either keep a pocket dictionary with you at all times or you can install a dictionary on your smartphone. This way, you will be able to learn and read newer words daily.
You can easily get a dictionary that translates the English language into your native language. This ensures that you are able to instantly understand the meaning of various words with the help of the dictionary. Most of the dictionaries these days are available in the app form which ensures that you do not have to worry about carrying a physical pocket dictionary with you wherever you go.
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Dual Language Box:
Dual language books are having two languages one of which can be your native language and the other can be English. This means that you do not have to struggle with English reading. In case, you’re stuck somewhere, you can refer to the text written in your native language. This will help you in deciphering the English words. This will also significantly improve your language skills.
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Off-line/Online Newspapers:
One of the best ways to improve your reading skills is to read English newspapers online or off-line. Most of the off-line newspapers also have an online edition. Thus, learning new words and improving your skills will be pretty easy.
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Blogs:
There are millions of blogs on the Internet. They span across a variety of different niches. Most of the blogs on the Internet are in English. You can read the blog post in these blogs in order to improve your reading skills. When you’re referring to blogs in any industry, there are virtually millions of them. Thus, you will never run out of reading material on the topics which you enjoy. You can find these blogs online from various resources like:
o Google
o Online forums
o Facebook
o Twitter
o Instagram
Most of the blogs are updated on a regular basis. This ensures that you always have something new to read. You can easily browse through these blog posts on your smartphone which ensures that you are able to improve your reading skills on the go.
Thus, if you’re attempting to improve your reading skills, with the help of these 5 simple methods, you will be able to do so on a regular basis.
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Writing:
With the help of writing skills, you will be able to use the English language for formal as well as informal communication. You will be able to easily understand how to form sentence structures. In addition to that, it will be easier for you to have a firm grasp of the vocabulary as well. With the help of flawless writing skills, you will be able to put your thoughts on paper as well as indulge in creative writing as well. The task of mastering your English writing skills is not that difficult. We will highlight some of the ways to do so below.
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Writing Letters to a Pen-Pal:
You can request any of your friends to become your pen-pal. You can communicate with them with the help of letters or emails on a regular basis. It can be a friend living near to you or in a distant country. With the help of regular writing, it will become easier for you to improve your writing skills over a period of time.
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Using a Website Like Duolingo:
Duolingo.com helps you in improving your English writing skills by explaining each and every word in your native language. This will help you in improving your writing skills. Whenever you are writing anything, the meaning of those words will be clearly displayed in your native language. As a result, you will be able to select the right words easily for written communication. There are plenty of such websites which are bilingual and will help you in improving your English writing skills.
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Starting the English Language Blog:
If none of the upper 2 options are suitable for you, you can always start a blog in the English language. Blogs can be started on any subject. You can easily start a blog on subjects like:
o Learning English
o Fashion
o Beauty
o Business
o Cooking
o Travel
o And much more
When you start a blog, you have to just make sure that you’re populating it with a regular blog post. Over a period of time, you will be able to easily get a firm grasp on your writing skills. Moreover, with the help of regular writing, it will become easier for you to know the mistakes which you commit on a regular basis. As a result, you will be able to work on correcting those mistakes more easily.
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Write Your Thoughts on Paper:
One of the best ways to improve your English writing skills is to express your thoughts in the written form. You can use a notepad and paper in order to put your thoughts into words. You can, later on, discard those papers and start again. If you’re not comfortable with the pen and paper method, you can even write down your thoughts in the English language on word processing software like Microsoft Word or notepad. This will help you in choosing the right words for expressing your thoughts which will help you in improving your English writing skills.
With the help of these 4 methods, you will be able to improve your writing skills quite easily. You have to just practice these methods on a regular basis.
Conclusion:
If the question of how to learn English?, has been puzzling you as well, this comprehensive guide will help you in mastering the English language easily. You have just to make sure that you are mastering all the 4 skills namely, Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Once you master all of these 4 skills with the help of numerous methods which we have listed above, you will be able to use the English language on a regular basis. With the help of these 4 skills, the English language can be converted from your weakness into your strength.