Seeking Practical Tips to Boost My English Skills – What Has Worked for You?

To develop my English knowledge, please provide some tips.

Here are some suggestions to enhance your English skills:

1. Practice regularly by reading books, articles, and news in English.
2. Engage in conversations with native English speakers or language exchange partners.
3. Watch English movies, TV shows, and listen to English podcasts or music to improve your listening skills.
4. Learn new vocabulary words every day and try to use them in sentences.
5. Take English language courses or online tutorials to improve grammar and writing skills.
6. Keep a journal or diary in English to practice writing regularly.
7. Utilize language learning apps and online resources for additional practice.

Consistent effort and practice are key to improving your English proficiency. Good luck on your language learning journey!

Hi Chandra,

This is something difficult, but with practice, it becomes easy. Read the newspaper with a dictionary. After one month, you will see the difference. Let's build a good friendship.

Regards,
Sukumar

Hi Chandra,

I agree with what Mr. Sukumar said. The simplest thing you can start with is reading the newspaper. Check difficult words in the dictionary. Meanwhile, every day, learn three new words from the dictionary and then keep increasing the number. You will definitely see the difference.

All the best.

Hi Chandra,

You heard "everything is possible." Please don't lose your heart. Make a practice and start a conversation with your friends, colleagues, as well as your seniors who can point out your mistakes. Practice in front of a mirror and read newspapers, English magazines, comics, etc., where you can find lots of dialogues.

First of all, you should build your self-confidence; definitely, you will improve yourself. Go ahead.

Raj

Hi Chandra,

I agree with what everyone has said. Along with their suggestions, also watch lots of English movies with subtitles. At the beginner's stage, instead of watching, read the subtitles and listen to the dialogues. This will help you understand a person who speaks English very fast and fluently better. In the long run, it will also help you get acquainted with the foreign accent.

Hope this helps.

Thanks :)

As suggested by people, please read the newspaper daily. Also, choose a good paper. Reading The Hindu helps. Additionally, listening to BBC radio, reading sports articles, and browsing and writing emails in English to friends frequently help.

I developed my vocabulary by reading the newspaper every single morning. I used to do it religiously and assiduously. After a point, you will start to gain interest, and you will begin to do it with pleasure.

Also, check the attachment. Best of luck, buddy. May God bless you! - Girish

Hi Chandra,

I have some suggestions. Please try to talk to yourself in English. Self-talk means thinking or giving directions to yourself (e.g., I have to get up early tomorrow; I have to wash the clothes; I have some important work to be completed; I must finish this assignment by this Sunday; The cleaning must be done this week, etc.). It may sound silly, but this will give you confidence in due course.

Other suggestions like reading newspapers, etc., will develop your vocabulary. As suggested by a friend, dialogues are important. Amar Chitra Katha or any other comics come in handy. Learn to ask questions; this is where we lag behind.

If you find any improvement, please share your experience through this forum. All the best.

Hi Chandra,

Watch English movies and try to read novels. While reading, keep a dictionary with you so that you can easily refer to a difficult word and understand the phrase. This helps you to improve your language skills. Also, don't join any English coaching classes; it's merely a waste of time.

All the best. Take care.

Regards,
Suneethadeepthika P.

There are two Cambridge Uni Press language programs - Language in Use and English 364/Business English. The books and CDs contain simple exercises to work on. My students benefit from those. Try those. They are at four difficulty levels. Do all, and you will certainly benefit.

Vrishali

If you want to learn a language, four dimensions attempt is required. Listening and Speaking are the first two dimensions. Later, you can add Reading and Writing. That's how children learn the language. To sharpen your skills, you may add a flavor of grammar and increase your vocabulary.

Dear Chandra,

As all suggested, newspaper reading is a must. Also, make it a point to do an hour of English reading daily, apart from newspapers. I mean a good book. If one hour is too much for you, to start in the beginning, devote half an hour. Also, watch English news such as NDTV, CNBC, BBC; this will increase your vocabulary for sure. Join an English speaking course. If you are from Mumbai, there are good ones here. Most importantly, speak in English no matter what mistakes you make.

All the best.

Regards,
Sonali
Email: wagle.sonali@gmail.com

Hi, I recently joined this forum and found that people over here are really cooperative. The suggestions for Chandra are really practical and effective, and I will try to do the same practice to improve my spoken English. Thanks, everyone :)

I learned Indian languages like Telugu by watching movies. However, English movies are hard to follow, even if you live in the UK. When I was in the US, I could never understand my British boss. US movies have a lot of American slang, which is not really English.

I suggested BBC broadcasts because they are meant to be clearly understood by a global audience. English, after all, is a language. At best, it can give you confidence. You should not worry too much about it. I have seen a lot of technical and otherwise successful people who do not have first-grade English skills. So, don't worry. Relax and learn slowly and steadily.

My thoughts and suggestions.

There are several aspects to English. Here are a few such aspects and my suggestions.
1. First and foremost is sentence construction. This is the area where about 90% of people struggle. It doesn't really matter how good you are at the rest of the aspects, if you are not good at this one, you cannot make good conversations (or have confidence/command over the language).
2. Second is Grammar - And by grammar, I don't mean knowing what a verb is or an adverb is, or an adjective is, or what tense is. What is more important than knowing these definitions is how to effectively use them. I have heard many people say "I did not went to a movie yesterday". The reason they offer is, "since I am talking about yesterday (past), I must use past tense (went)". They cannot be more wrong.
3. Spoken English - You will improve and perfect the above two by speaking in English. The above two also give you fluency in English. The best way to gain fluency in spoken English is by speaking - right or wrong, start and continue speaking while you are learning the first two above. The best way to speak better is to start thinking in English. Typically, most non-native English speakers think about an idea in their native language and try to translate it into English. This is a mistake. Start forming your thoughts in English (and skip the translation). You will learn English (or any language for that matter) faster.
4. Reading and writing English - Read and write anything and everything you can in English. Just not read, but when you read, observe the way the sentences are constructed. Observe the usage of grammar. This could be an excellent tool for you to master the first two.
5. Vocabulary - Reading a variety of reputable English printed media (The Hindu, Times of India, Times, India Today etc.) would give you exposure to a wide range of vocabulary and also enhances your general knowledge (very important when you want to converse with someone). This step can actually be combined with step 4. Having a dictionary handy would help learn the meaning of some difficult words. But remember.. you don't have to have a great vocabulary to master communication in English. You need to be able to effectively form your thoughts in a way the recipient of your message can understand.
6. Finally, accent – watch English (American or British) movies, TV etc. When you do that, don't care about the understanding what they are saying (you will eventually get it without much effort). Pay very close attention to audio (listen carefully), and while listening, keep your eyes focused on the speaker's lips (this is the technique used in lip reading). This will accomplish two things, you will learn the accent, and you will understand the accent in the short run. By doing these two together (listening and observing lips), you will eventually (soon enough) learn the accent and understand it without having to observe the lips anymore.

Hope these tips help you. All the best.
--Som G