If speaking English is difficult, this material will come in handy. How to improve your English? Use the tips and techniques given here.

In the scientific community, communication skill is described as a two-way process when information or an idea expressed by one interlocutor (the speaker) is well received by the other interlocutor (the listener).

The problem is that not everyone can demonstrate communication skills successfully enough and generally do not know how to improve their English. Why? The answer lies in two points.

First, the development of communication skills is influenced by differences in written and spoken language.

Secondly, if the language is not our mother tongue, we find it difficult to speak it for fear of personal imperfection. Essentially, you are afraid of screwing up, you are stressing yourself out that you will speak with mistakes, so you choose the path - it is better to remain silent than to be considered stupid.

If you are also stuck in a similar situation and don't know how to improve your English, then here is a useful guide to help you deal with the problem. Here you will also find tips and useful resources that you can turn to if you want to improve your spoken English, as well as suggest resources on how to improve your English pronunciation.

One of the basic principles to remember is that the more you practice a language, the more proficient you will be at it.

Reading, listening, speaking English all the time are the best ways to learn the language fluently and improve your communication skills.

Let's look at these simple but effective ways that will help you cope with the problem and tell you how to improve your English.

The first way to improve your English is by reading.

Reading is undoubtedly the best way to improve your vocabulary and maintain a connection with the language.

Reading aloud helps improve your accent and pronunciation of words. When talking about accents, it is important to remember to use only one accent and not mix different ones. For example, learn either a British or American accent and always speak it.

I talked about this in more detail here >>>

Following.

When you come across new words or phrases, look up their meanings and use in a sentence.

New words enrich your vocabulary, which means they expand the boundaries of communication, because new words can be used during a conversation.

This will not only make your language richer, but will also make a good impression on your interlocutors.

The second way to improve your English is listening.

It is necessary to listen to native speakers to improve your pronunciation and accent. Yes, listen to native English speakers more often.

The third way to improve your English is speaking.

This is the most important method and the most useful in terms of effectiveness. It is important to find native speakers with whom you can practice/communicate in English, even if you make grammatical mistakes.

Don't be shy if a person points out your shortcomings. You must remember that practice makes a man perfect. Having conversations on a daily basis will also improve your confidence.

If it is not possible to train with a native speaker, you can communicate with people like you who want to learn English, with those who are trying to improve their communication skills.

Where, how and with whom to communicate I told in the publication >>>

The most important rule here is to practice every day for at least 15-30 minutes. This will increase your confidence and improve your communication skills. You need to train every day, without missing a day.

From a scientific point of view, it is important to practice English daily. Why?

I talked about this in detail in the article >>>

In addition to these three methods on how to improve your English, I also recommend:

speak loud and clear. Slow speech and unintelligible voice are the biggest obstacles in communication. But haste in communication is also useless;

monitor the intonation and pace of your speech. Try to raise or lower your voice by emphasizing certain words. It is advisable to keep your speech short and concise;

To be in the flow of communication, try to use different words. But it's okay to use simple words to convey your thought or idea to the listener. You don't always need to use a rich and extensive vocabulary.

Finally, another important tip -

use correct body language and facial expressions. Using your hands and nodding your head also helps in conveying a lot of information.

Research shows that to learn languages ​​effectively, you need to develop:

There is no point in talking about the benefits of knowing English. But learning this language is not the easiest thing. We have prepared for you several dozen tips that will help you successfully cope with this task.

1. Start your own English-language blog. This is a great way to practice writing in English. And your vocabulary will be expanded.
2. Lead Another good way to practice writing texts in English. Especially when you don't know what to write about. And if you add your forecast of developments (for example, “The President will hang himself”), this will give you a reason to return to your articles again and again. And then you will be able to find your mistakes and correct them.
3. Sign up to receive regular tips on learning English. There are a sea of ​​sites that offer weekly or even daily newsletters of small English lessons via email. Using your phone or tablet, you can read these tips on your way to work or school. But please note that these lessons can only be considered as supplementary material to what you (or your teacher) have prepared for your level of knowledge. You can also subscribe to English language groups on VKontakte.
4. Listen to audiobooks and radio shows. You can find tons of audiobooks and radio shows in English on the Internet. They can be downloaded absolutely free from sites such as Scientific American, BBC and Australia's ABC Radio.
5. Listen to English-language music. If you go about your business and listen to English music at the same time, you will gradually begin to get used to the natural rhythm and tone of the English language.
6. Read the lyrics. You can get much more out of listening to songs in English if you take a little time to read the lyrics with a dictionary. But keep in mind that there may be copyright errors in the texts. The next time you listen to a song that you already know the words to, try to sing along. This will improve your spoken language.
7. Sing karaoke in English. Once you have understood the lyrics to the song and memorized them, the obvious step is to sing it. This will help you learn English pronunciation.
8. Write a review for a movie, hotel or book. Naturally, in English.
9. Google only in English. This is great practice for reading English quickly.
10. Read a book you've already read or watch a movie you've already seen in your native language. It is quite easy to read a book whose plot you are already familiar with.
11. Read translations into English. Another easy read in English could be a book that is translated from your native language. Books are usually translated into a simpler language than written by authors whose native English is their native language.
12. Skip the first 10 pages. If the book is difficult to read, try reading the first 10 pages diagonally or skip them altogether. The beginning of any book is, as a rule, a description filled with complex vocabulary. If difficulties arise during further reading, then put this book aside. Come back to it when you read easier things.
13. with a lot of dialogue. Dialogues are much easier to understand than long narratives. Plus, you will add phrases to your collection that can be used in conversation.
14. Read comics in English. Comics are even easier and clearer than books with a lot of dialogue. But difficulties may arise here due to the use of slang words. Choose serious comics or adventure comics. They are easier to understand.
15. Read the entertainment poster in English. Today, most major cities in the world publish magazines with information about film screenings, games, and theatrical performances in English that will take place in the city. Monitor and attend such events.
16. Read magazines in English. Try reading two versions of the magazine (in English and, for example, Ukrainian). This will make the English version much easier to understand.
17. Take part in a week-long intensive course. While you shouldn't expect great results from this short training, it will certainly have a positive impact.
18. Alternate your intensive course with an extensive one. The more time you spend learning English, the better, of course. But periodic intensive training (several hours a week, with breaks) is probably the best system. It gives your brain time to subconsciously learn and begin to apply what it has already learned before moving on to something new.
19. Complement your group lessons with private ones. A personal teacher will help you understand the points that you did not understand during the group lesson, and will also correct your mistakes.
20. Complement your individual classes with group classes. The benefits of group classes are often less noticeable to students. However, this type of learning involves communicating with several people who can simultaneously engage in discussions. This way, you have the opportunity to interrupt speakers, listen to different points of view, and simply talk about different topics in English.
21. Teach your children or other people English. This will help improve your level of foreign language proficiency and retain existing knowledge in your memory.
22. Ask your company to introduce English classes. Even if you don't need to speak English at work, lessons can be a lot of fun and useful.
23. Turn on an English radio while you do your homework. Even if you don't listen carefully, the radio will help you feel the rhythm and intonation of the English language.
24. Play educational games on your video console. This is a great way to take a break from your main classes and learn the language while playing.
25. Talk or think about what you do in English. When you are doing routine things, try saying to yourself sentences that describe your actions in English. For example: “I open the ketchup.” This will allow you to think in English without translation. It will also help you realize how many simple things there are around you whose names you don’t know.
26. Watch English-language films with English subtitles. This method of watching films can be recommended to those who constantly catch themselves reading subtitles in their native language, without listening to the English version at all. If you find this too difficult, you can watch the first 10 minutes of the film with subtitles in your native language, and then switch to English.
27. Watch films in your native language with English subtitles. If you find it too difficult to watch movies in English with English subtitles, then this method is just for you.
28. Watch movies in English with subtitles in your native language. Although this is not as good English practice as with English subtitles, it is more relaxing.
29. Watch movies and episodes over and over again. This way you will better remember phrases and expressions without cramming. In addition, most comedies can become funnier and funnier for you with each viewing.
30. Realistically assess your level of knowledge. One of the reasons that slows down the improvement of English is the overestimation of one’s own capabilities. Many people overload their brains with too much complex information. But he is not ready for this yet. Try to objectively assess your level of English proficiency, for example, using a test on the Internet.
31. Assess your actual reading level. Many scientists argue that people learn material better when they understand almost everything they read. If there are one or two unfamiliar words on a page of text, this is a normal level. If you don’t understand three or more words on each page, then you should switch to something easier.
32. Read adapted literature. These are books that are written specifically for English learners. Well-known works are specially simplified lexically and grammatically for people with a certain level of knowledge. However, sometimes it is difficult to find books that will be not only useful, but also interesting to read.
33. Read everything without any help. Although using a dictionary helps you learn new words, constantly interrupting your reading to look for a translation can completely discourage you from reading in English. If you read without any help, guessing the meaning of unknown words from the context, then by the end of the book you will be able to experience all the pleasure of reading in a foreign language.
34. Read and study everything. This can be a very difficult task. But just imagine how much pleasure you will get after reading the book to the end! You will feel that you know every word in it and that what you purchased will certainly be useful to you.
35. Watch English-language children's films or TV shows. Many things will probably seem strange to you (a lot of animal names, the sounds they make, children's names), but due to simpler words and the structure of the story, everything will become clearer.
36. Read children's books in English. They are written in simpler language than adult books. In addition, they have a lot of colorful pictures that help you understand the plot, lift your spirits, thereby motivating you to further read.
37. Keep a list of what you need to learn, such as making up words. Even if you don't have enough time to occasionally skim through this list, the very fact of its existence is another step towards learning English.
38. Go through your word list several times a day. If it’s not entirely convenient or awkward for you to check off words you’ve already learned while on public transport on the way to work, then you can easily add them to your to-do list on your phone. An audio recording of words would also be a good alternative. This activity may seem useless to you, but this is not at all the case. As you write or speak words, you will somehow remember them.
39. Keep your list of words to study exclusively in English. The point is that you stop translating words from English into your native language. How to do it? There are many ways. For example, you could maintain a list of synonyms such as “high” and “tall”; list of antonyms - “high” and “low”, etc.
40. Cross out and delete. Crossing out and deleting words, sentences, or even entire pages that you've already studied can be a great motivator.
41. Throw everything away and start over. Very often, half-read books, a lot of prepared but unstudied material become a strong demotivator. People simply abandon their studies. To prevent this from happening, we recommend starting over.
42. Attach stickers with the names of objects at work and at home. You can write the names of things around you on pieces of paper and stick them everywhere. This way, they will always be before your eyes, which will help you quickly remember the designations of objects.
43. Label things in photos. This is an excellent alternative for those who do not have the opportunity to attach labels with the names of things in English to real objects. You can take photos of things and sign them.
44. Start in English. This is a good way to use English every day, describing everything that happens to you. By doing this, you will significantly expand your vocabulary.
45. Online chat. This is the best way to improve speaking for those who have no other way to communicate in English.
46. Listen to radio news in English. You can make your task easier by reading the news first. You can also read or listen to a news report in your native language first.
47. Read the news in English. There are a huge number of English-language news sites on the Internet - all of them are at your service.
48. Write stories in English. This is suitable for those who find keeping a personal diary describing routine events a very boring activity. Give free rein to your imagination and write about everything that comes to your mind.
49. Watch English-language videos with sets of physical exercises and practice them. This will have a good effect not only on your English skills, but also on your health.
50. Learn famous poems in English. This will help you reproduce the intonation of English speech. In addition, you will be able to use the grammatically correct expressions you have already memorized in everyday life.
51. Drink a little before you start speaking English. This will give you confidence and make your speech fluent. You will realize that you can quite normally communicate in a foreign language.
52. Use a dictionary while watching the movie. Movies often use the same words. So by the end of watching you will definitely expand your vocabulary.
53. Learn and use phonetic transcriptions. Write down the words along with the transcription. This will help you not only learn the correct spelling, but also improve your pronunciation.
54. Learn a few pronunciation rules. Many people think that pronunciation in English is completely random. But in fact, most words are read according to certain rules.
55. Record your voice. This is a wonderful way to hear and correct your mistakes, especially for those whose incorrect pronunciation has no one to correct.
56. Use computer pronunciation analysis. This may turn out to be a more interesting and productive activity for you than just recording your voice on a voice recorder.
57. Learn as many words as you can from one category (for example, animal life). This will not only expand your vocabulary, but also facilitate the process of memorization due to the semantic connections established in your head.
58. . This is not only a good opportunity to practice English in a situation where you cannot use another language, but also a great motivation to improve your English in the weeks or months before your trip.
59. Create pictures of the words you want to learn. Especially if you are a creative person. After all, this is much more interesting than simply writing down words and their translation.
60. Get yourself a foreign girlfriend or boyfriend. Agree, dates with conversations in English are a great motivator for improving your knowledge.
61. Organize classes on a tandem basis. The idea is that you can act as a teacher of your native language as well as a student learning English. In both cases you will speak English, which is very good practice.
62. Sign up for an English exam. Even if you don't need it. Paying for an exam such as TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS or FCE can be a great motivator to study a language more seriously.
63. Model your accent. Pick an actor - Robert De Niro, for example - and try to sound like him. Not in his voice, of course, but trying to copy the pronunciation.
64. Use a monolingual English dictionary. Start using monolingual dictionaries instead of bilingual ones. This will help you stop translating words in your head while you speak or listen. In addition, you will expand your vocabulary with new words that you will encounter when using the dictionary.
65. Chat or write emails to your friends in English. Many people may find this strange or awkward. But if you treat this idea as a kind of club for learning English, then everything will immediately become easier.
66. Go to English or Irish bars. Menus, TV shows, magazines - all in a foreign language. There is also a high chance of meeting foreigners and practicing your spoken English.
67. Buy an electronic phrase book. Although many electronic dictionaries are not as good as paper ones, they still have one great feature - they reproduce words.
68. Study lists of words from your electronic dictionary. Look up the last 30 words you looked up in your dictionary. Remove from them those that you consider completely useless. View the rest several times a day.
69. Change the OS language to English. Changing the language on your phone, computer, video camera, etc. to English will force you to use it daily.
70. Set a goal for yourself. Decide how many hours you want to spend studying, how many words you want to learn, or what grade you want to get on an exam.

There is no point in talking about the benefits of knowing English. But learning this language is not the easiest thing. We have prepared for you several dozen tips that will help you successfully cope with this task.

1. Start your own English-language blog. This is a great way to practice writing in English. And your vocabulary will be expanded.
2. Lead Another good way to practice writing texts in English. Especially when you don't know what to write about. And if you add your forecast of developments (for example, “The President will hang himself”), this will give you a reason to return to your articles again and again. And then you will be able to find your mistakes and correct them.
3. Sign up to receive regular tips on learning English. There are a sea of ​​sites that offer weekly or even daily newsletters of small English lessons via email. Using your phone or tablet, you can read these tips on your way to work or school. But please note that these lessons can only be considered as supplementary material to what you (or your teacher) have prepared for your level of knowledge. You can also subscribe to English language groups on VKontakte.
4. Listen to audiobooks and radio shows. You can find tons of audiobooks and radio shows in English on the Internet. They can be downloaded absolutely free from sites such as Scientific American, BBC and Australia's ABC Radio.
5. Listen to English-language music. If you go about your business and listen to English music at the same time, you will gradually begin to get used to the natural rhythm and tone of the English language.
6. Read the lyrics. You can get much more out of listening to songs in English if you take a little time to read the lyrics with a dictionary. But keep in mind that there may be copyright errors in the texts. The next time you listen to a song that you already know the words to, try to sing along. This will improve your spoken language.
7. Sing karaoke in English. Once you have understood the lyrics to the song and memorized them, the obvious step is to sing it. This will help you learn English pronunciation.
8. Write a review for a movie, hotel or book. Naturally, in English.
9. Google only in English. This is great practice for reading English quickly.
10. Read a book you've already read or watch a movie you've already seen in your native language. It is quite easy to read a book whose plot you are already familiar with.
11. Read translations into English. Another easy read in English could be a book that is translated from your native language. Books are usually translated into a simpler language than written by authors whose native English is their native language.
12. Skip the first 10 pages. If the book is difficult to read, try reading the first 10 pages diagonally or skip them altogether. The beginning of any book is, as a rule, a description filled with complex vocabulary. If difficulties arise during further reading, then put this book aside. Come back to it when you read easier things.
13. with a lot of dialogue. Dialogues are much easier to understand than long narratives. Plus, you will add phrases to your collection that can be used in conversation.
14. Read comics in English. Comics are even easier and clearer than books with a lot of dialogue. But difficulties may arise here due to the use of slang words. Choose serious comics or adventure comics. They are easier to understand.
15. Read the entertainment poster in English. Today, most major cities in the world publish magazines with information about film screenings, games, and theatrical performances in English that will take place in the city. Monitor and attend such events.
16. Read magazines in English. Try reading two versions of the magazine (in English and, for example, Ukrainian). This will make the English version much easier to understand.
17. Take part in a week-long intensive course. While you shouldn't expect great results from this short training, it will certainly have a positive impact.
18. Alternate your intensive course with an extensive one. The more time you spend learning English, the better, of course. But periodic intensive training (several hours a week, with breaks) is probably the best system. It gives your brain time to subconsciously learn and begin to apply what it has already learned before moving on to something new.
19. Complement your group lessons with private ones. A personal teacher will help you understand the points that you did not understand during the group lesson, and will also correct your mistakes.
20. Complement your individual classes with group classes. The benefits of group classes are often less noticeable to students. However, this type of learning involves communicating with several people who can simultaneously engage in discussions. This way, you have the opportunity to interrupt speakers, listen to different points of view, and simply talk about different topics in English.
21. Teach your children or other people English. This will help improve your level of foreign language proficiency and retain existing knowledge in your memory.
22. Ask your company to introduce English classes. Even if you don't need to speak English at work, lessons can be a lot of fun and useful.
23. Turn on an English radio while you do your homework. Even if you don't listen carefully, the radio will help you feel the rhythm and intonation of the English language.
24. Play educational games on your video console. This is a great way to take a break from your main classes and learn the language while playing.
25. Talk or think about what you do in English. When you are doing routine things, try saying to yourself sentences that describe your actions in English. For example: “I open the ketchup.” This will allow you to think in English without translation. It will also help you realize how many simple things there are around you whose names you don’t know.
26. Watch English-language films with English subtitles. This method of watching films can be recommended to those who constantly catch themselves reading subtitles in their native language, without listening to the English version at all. If you find this too difficult, you can watch the first 10 minutes of the film with subtitles in your native language, and then switch to English.
27. Watch films in your native language with English subtitles. If you find it too difficult to watch movies in English with English subtitles, then this method is just for you.
28. Watch movies in English with subtitles in your native language. Although this is not as good English practice as with English subtitles, it is more relaxing.
29. Watch movies and episodes over and over again. This way you will better remember phrases and expressions without cramming. In addition, most comedies can become funnier and funnier for you with each viewing.
30. Realistically assess your level of knowledge. One of the reasons that slows down the improvement of English is the overestimation of one’s own capabilities. Many people overload their brains with too much complex information. But he is not ready for this yet. Try to objectively assess your level of English proficiency, for example, using a test on the Internet.
31. Assess your actual reading level. Many scientists argue that people learn material better when they understand almost everything they read. If there are one or two unfamiliar words on a page of text, this is a normal level. If you don’t understand three or more words on each page, then you should switch to something easier.
32. Read adapted literature. These are books that are written specifically for English learners. Well-known works are specially simplified lexically and grammatically for people with a certain level of knowledge. However, sometimes it is difficult to find books that will be not only useful, but also interesting to read.
33. Read everything without any help. Although using a dictionary helps you learn new words, constantly interrupting your reading to look for a translation can completely discourage you from reading in English. If you read without any help, guessing the meaning of unknown words from the context, then by the end of the book you will be able to experience all the pleasure of reading in a foreign language.
34. Read and study everything. This can be a very difficult task. But just imagine how much pleasure you will get after reading the book to the end! You will feel that you know every word in it and that what you purchased will certainly be useful to you.
35. Watch English-language children's films or TV shows. Many things will probably seem strange to you (a lot of animal names, the sounds they make, children's names), but due to simpler words and the structure of the story, everything will become clearer.
36. Read children's books in English. They are written in simpler language than adult books. In addition, they have a lot of colorful pictures that help you understand the plot, lift your spirits, thereby motivating you to further read.
37. Keep a list of what you need to learn, such as making up words. Even if you don't have enough time to occasionally skim through this list, the very fact of its existence is another step towards learning English.
38. Go through your word list several times a day. If it’s not entirely convenient or awkward for you to check off words you’ve already learned while on public transport on the way to work, then you can easily add them to your to-do list on your phone. An audio recording of words would also be a good alternative. This activity may seem useless to you, but this is not at all the case. As you write or speak words, you will somehow remember them.
39. Keep your list of words to study exclusively in English. The point is that you stop translating words from English into your native language. How to do it? There are many ways. For example, you could maintain a list of synonyms such as “high” and “tall”; list of antonyms - “high” and “low”, etc.
40. Cross out and delete. Crossing out and deleting words, sentences, or even entire pages that you've already studied can be a great motivator.
41. Throw everything away and start over. Very often, half-read books, a lot of prepared but unstudied material become a strong demotivator. People simply abandon their studies. To prevent this from happening, we recommend starting over.
42. Attach stickers with the names of objects at work and at home. You can write the names of things around you on pieces of paper and stick them everywhere. This way, they will always be before your eyes, which will help you quickly remember the designations of objects.
43. Label things in photos. This is an excellent alternative for those who do not have the opportunity to attach labels with the names of things in English to real objects. You can take photos of things and sign them.
44. Start in English. This is a good way to use English every day, describing everything that happens to you. By doing this, you will significantly expand your vocabulary.
45. Online chat. This is the best way to improve speaking for those who have no other way to communicate in English.
46. Listen to radio news in English. You can make your task easier by reading the news first. You can also read or listen to a news report in your native language first.
47. Read the news in English. There are a huge number of English-language news sites on the Internet - all of them are at your service.
48. Write stories in English. This is suitable for those who find keeping a personal diary describing routine events a very boring activity. Give free rein to your imagination and write about everything that comes to your mind.
49. Watch English-language videos with sets of physical exercises and practice them. This will have a good effect not only on your English skills, but also on your health.
50. Learn famous poems in English. This will help you reproduce the intonation of English speech. In addition, you will be able to use the grammatically correct expressions you have already memorized in everyday life.
51. Drink a little before you start speaking English. This will give you confidence and make your speech fluent. You will realize that you can quite normally communicate in a foreign language.
52. Use a dictionary while watching the movie. Movies often use the same words. So by the end of watching you will definitely expand your vocabulary.
53. Learn and use phonetic transcriptions. Write down the words along with the transcription. This will help you not only learn the correct spelling, but also improve your pronunciation.
54. Learn a few pronunciation rules. Many people think that pronunciation in English is completely random. But in fact, most words are read according to certain rules.
55. Record your voice. This is a wonderful way to hear and correct your mistakes, especially for those whose incorrect pronunciation has no one to correct.
56. Use computer pronunciation analysis. This may turn out to be a more interesting and productive activity for you than just recording your voice on a voice recorder.
57. Learn as many words as you can from one category (for example, animal life). This will not only expand your vocabulary, but also facilitate the process of memorization due to the semantic connections established in your head.
58. . This is not only a good opportunity to practice English in a situation where you cannot use another language, but also a great motivation to improve your English in the weeks or months before your trip.
59. Create pictures of the words you want to learn. Especially if you are a creative person. After all, this is much more interesting than simply writing down words and their translation.
60. Get yourself a foreign girlfriend or boyfriend. Agree, dates with conversations in English are a great motivator for improving your knowledge.
61. Organize classes on a tandem basis. The idea is that you can act as a teacher of your native language as well as a student learning English. In both cases you will speak English, which is very good practice.
62. Sign up for an English exam. Even if you don't need it. Paying for an exam such as TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS or FCE can be a great motivator to study a language more seriously.
63. Model your accent. Pick an actor - Robert De Niro, for example - and try to sound like him. Not in his voice, of course, but trying to copy the pronunciation.
64. Use a monolingual English dictionary. Start using monolingual dictionaries instead of bilingual ones. This will help you stop translating words in your head while you speak or listen. In addition, you will expand your vocabulary with new words that you will encounter when using the dictionary.
65. Chat or write emails to your friends in English. Many people may find this strange or awkward. But if you treat this idea as a kind of club for learning English, then everything will immediately become easier.
66. Go to English or Irish bars. Menus, TV shows, magazines - all in a foreign language. There is also a high chance of meeting foreigners and practicing your spoken English.
67. Buy an electronic phrase book. Although many electronic dictionaries are not as good as paper ones, they still have one great feature - they reproduce words.
68. Study lists of words from your electronic dictionary. Look up the last 30 words you looked up in your dictionary. Remove from them those that you consider completely useless. View the rest several times a day.
69. Change the OS language to English. Changing the language on your phone, computer, video camera, etc. to English will force you to use it daily.
70. Set a goal for yourself. Decide how many hours you want to spend studying, how many words you want to learn, or what grade you want to get on an exam.

If we understood how to significantly improve our English level in a week, we would solve many problems in life. Because almost every one of us needs to know English. But no one wants to spend a lot of time and effort on knowing the language. Learning English via Skype is confidently becoming the most popular and affordable way, both in terms of time and material costs. Many people understand that learning a language is a long and labor-intensive process. But understanding is half the battle. Therefore, only a few are able to organize their lives in such a way,

that English becomes an integral part of their every day, every week and month. And the result is not long in coming. An English teacher tells readers of the English Voyage blog how to significantly improve your English level in a week, how to intensify your efforts to learn English, rearrange your work day to benefit your language skills, and experience real progress in learning English. Of course, you can’t learn English in a week, just like any other language. But you need to rationally organize your training, correctly distributing resources and opportunities.

“We all encounter barriers to language learning. Sometimes you want to take everything and quit. And this is true for any field. But tell me, has the idea never occurred to you to stop speaking Russian and listening to it? Of course not. This is all because the Russian language for us is just a tool. So English is also a tool. Forget about sitting at the dictionary. Start fantasizing and thinking out things. You won't break anything. But you will get to know the whole world. Remove barriers, remove fear. Just take it and plunge into it headlong. From now on and forever, you study the language only for pleasure, only when you want. Only at the moment when natural curiosity awakens in you. The rest of the time, language is a tool for doing something truly worthwhile. Something that you like. I really like to say this to my student Alexey: “Have a blast, Lekha, just have a blast!”

Now it's time for real action. It is always very interesting to read other stories, but often it is not clear where to start. Below I will describe the actions that I want you to take on the path to your cherished dream of mastering English. Right now! Get ready for the one week challenge!

To significantly improve your English level in a week, do the following:

Now it's time to try. Forward! Go for it! Just for one week, plunge into a new world - the Internet, podcasts, television, stand-up comedy that you listen to on the way to work, etc. Try this in English. Just relax and have fun. Let your consciousness do the work for you. At the same time, constantly monitor:

- your thoughts, your internal dialogue. Try to think in English. But without violence. When you realize that you are thinking in Russian, then simply translate the above phrase into English and continue living)))

- what are you googling? At first you don’t really want to do this in English, but believe me, you are intermediate. You will understand 80% of existing information. Some of us will never look at the remaining 20 in our lives. And is it necessary? So no excuses, just action, action. Not “How to use a toothbrush?”, but “How to use a toothbrush?”, not “How to find a handsome guy in Berlin?”, but “How to find a handsome guy in Berlin?” That's all. Very simple.

At the end of the week, just look back and look back. You spent a whole week completely immersed in the language. Fifteen years ago, someone could only dream of this. There simply were no such opportunities. You and I have this. It helps me. During this time, I overcame the Upper-Intermediate barrier and am calmly moving forward. I learn words, improve my grammar when I’m in the mood. How long do I plan to master the language? Hah, I mastered it, reaching the Intermediate level. For me, language has become what it should be - a tool for achieving other goals, for communication. At this rate, God willing, in 20 years, maybe sooner, I will be indistinguishable from a native speaker. I'm more than happy with this. Now the choice is yours. Join us!

That's probably all. In conclusion, I want to say that all of the above is not intended to entertain or even to make you think about something. No. The purpose of this article is a specific call to action. A call to get up and change your approach, to understand in practice what it’s like to learn something in English in a week. You can read hundreds of posts, you can learn something from them, or you can take it and do it once and for all. Stop discussing, stop looking for the ideal method - there is none, and there never will be. Benny Lewis said: “There are 7 days in a week and “someday” is not one of them.” And now you, yes you, who have mastered 1500+ words of this fascinating material, tell me, what will you do to get things moving? Which of your hobbies can you make into English today? What do you think might be difficult? What do you think - how to significantly improve your English level in a week? Write your answers in the comments. We continue the discussion there.”

High-quality spoken English is very important because it allows you to better convey your thoughts and ideas to your interlocutor. When every sentence has to be squeezed out through the agony of recalling words and phrases in memory, we feel insecure and restless, while we would like to participate on equal terms in English-language discussions and share our impressions with friends.

We offer you 25 ways to improve your English on your own, collected by British English Coach.

1. Record yourself when you speak English

Listening to yourself will seem strange at first, but you will get used to it. Listen to a short audio recording of a native English speaker, then record yourself repeating their phrase, analyze the differences, and try again. Over time, your pronunciation will get better and better. A great tool for recordings like this is Soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/

2. Read aloud, especially dialogues

Reading aloud is not the same as talking, but it is very useful for exercising the vocal muscles. Read out loud for 5-10 minutes a day, and you will notice which sounds are most difficult for you to pronounce. Find transcriptions of dialogues and practice reading them with a friend, this is also useful for remembering commonly used English expressions.

3.Sing in English while you're in the shower or driving

Popular song lyrics often use colloquial vocabulary, so you can learn commonly used colloquial phrases while you sing. In addition, human memory is designed in such a way that memorizing words sounded to music is easier than simply memorizing poetry without music.

4. Watch short videos and repeat what you hear

You Tube is a great resource for learning foreign languages, and you most likely already have your favorite channels. It is also very useful to watch short videos in English and memorize them. In long videos, your attention may wander. The key to success in this exercise is to listen really carefully and focus on the words and pronunciation.

5. Learn main and consonant sounds in English

Phonetic table - a list of vowels and consonants in the English language. Learning how to pronounce these sounds will help you speak English more clearly.

6. Study and learn to notice schwa

Do you know what schwa is? This is the most common sound in the English language.

We use it all the time in words like teacher and around.

7. Learn “strong” and “weak” forms of words

8. Learn the rules of stress

When a word has more than one vowel, it is very important to know which one should be emphasized. This is not difficult to learn if you pay attention to the small vertical line. which is placed above the stressed vowel in transcription.

9. Learn sentence stress

In every sentence in English, it is customary to highlight a word or phrase with your voice, thus helping the listener understand what is most important. If you highlight the wrong word or nothing at all, the listener may become confused or misunderstand what you said.

10. Learn and use stable communicative expressions

These expressions are always actively used during conversations, so knowing them expands your capabilities in conversation. Don't forget that in addition to the meaning and communicative function of these phrases, you also need to learn their correct pronunciation.

11. Learn common phrases

Words don't like being alone, they prefer to "hang out" with friends, like people do. Words that form a close friendship need to be known and used correctly.

12. Replace regular verbs with phrasal ones

Many people learning English cannot understand why native speakers use so many phrasal verbs when there are regular ones with the same meaning. English has taken a lot from Latin, so historically it has a lot of phrasal verbs, and if you want to understand native speakers of this language, then these verbs need to be known and used.

13. Learn short automatic responses

Many native speakers answer questions automatically: right, OK, no problem, alright, fine thanks, just a minute, you’re welcome, fine by me, let’s do it!, yup, no way! you're joking, right?, Do I have to? etc. Learn these answers and use them.

14. Practice using a narrative style by telling stories in English

Humans are designed to share life stories. Typically, different forms of the past tense are used for narration, but sometimes it can be in the present tense. Learn the intricacies of using them and practice telling stories.

15. Learn to pause

Pronouncing English words quickly does not make you a good speaker. You always need to know where to pause to allow the listener to think about what you said, respond, or try to guess what you will say next. Imagine that you are an actor on stage - this is how you should speak English.

16. Learn to “connect” words

Combining several words into one or throwing out “extra” words is often used in spoken English. An example here is the phrase Nice to meet you, in which It is was thrown out as “unnecessary”. There are many such phrases, study them and use them.

17. Learn common mistakes in pronunciation of English words for speakers of your native language

Speakers of different languages ​​have different difficulties with the pronunciation of English sounds. Familiarize yourself with the typical mistakes Russian speakers make when pronouncing English sounds and try to eliminate them.

18. Pick an accent you like and imitate it

We always have an emotional connection with representatives of different nationalities. Choose which pronunciation of English is closer to you - American or British - and try to follow it.

19. Find an actor or actress you like and determine what makes them a good speaker.

Do you want to sound like Barack Obama, Steve Jobs or Beyoncé? Choose for yourself and try to imitate their speech patterns and accent.

20. Use a mirror or piece of paper to identify aspirated sounds.

There are many aspirated sounds in English, learn them and learn how to pronounce them correctly.

21. Practice pronouncing Tongue twisters

Tongue twisters are special phrases designed to improve the pronunciation of the English language and some of its heaviest sounds.

Try quickly saying: What a terrible tongue twister. What a terrible tongue twister. What a terrible tongue twister.

22. Say names, dates and numbers out loud

This may seem like overly basic advice, but if you don't practice pronouncing dates, numbers and names often, you may forget how to pronounce them.

23. Learn common intonation patterns

Intonation is a rather complex component of the English language, but it is very important for expressing the emotions and feelings of the speaker.

24. Learn articulation techniques

Articulation helps us pronounce different sounds; it consists of fixed elements that affect the sound, for example, teeth, as well as those whose position can be changed - lips and tongue.

25. After learning articulation techniques, learn to make the movements that native English speakers use when speaking.

This video will help you cope with this task.