improve your english skills

8/8/2019 Improve Your English Skills

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Improve your English skills

How to improve your spoken English

Learning Skills | Grammar | Listening | Reading | Speaking | Vocabulary | Writing Other Tips

Improve Your English Speaking and English Pronunciation Skills

The first rule of speaking English is to speak clearly, concisely and use simplevocabulary. KISS - keep it short and simple.

Remember you probably won't just speak to native speakers. There are roughly 380million native speakers, but as many as a billion people speak it as a second language. Soit's a good idea to avoid idioms and slang (I always say learn it, but don't use it). It mightsound clever to say "You're barking up the wrong tree," but if you misuse it or if the other

person doesn't understand you, you'll only look silly when you try to explain what youmeant to say, or what it actually means.

There's also a saying in English "Have you swallowed a dictionary?" It is applicable toanyone who uses long, complicated words when a shorter word will do. Short sentencesare just as good (if not better) than long explanations. The value in what you have to sayis what you say, not how clever you look or sound when you say it.

English speaking tips

Get over any fear you might have of making mistakes. You will make mistakes.

Be patient with yourself. Learning any language can be frustrating, but frustration won'thelp you, so let it go.

Grasp every opportunity you have to speak with people in English.

Talk to friends who are also learning English. Go out together for coffee and onlyspeak English to each other!

Read short stories out loud and try to see, say and hear the words to reinforce your memory. Record yourself and play it back later , how does it sound?

Find native English speaking friends:-

y You might not be able to find any friendly native speakers where you live, but Y ou can find English speaking people on the Internet! If you can't findanyone who'll actually h elp you, don't worry, you'll still be able to figure out if they can understand you.


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y Look for people with the same interests as you. It's no good asking everyone youmeet to help you with your English, rather develop natural friendships based onyour hobbies etc. Eventually you will make friends and they will be much morelikely to give you correction / guidance.

y Join an English club or conversation group. Around the world there are

many English speaking clubs, these clubs aren't just for expats but for people interested in the English way of life. They can be friendly and fun.For a list of English clubs click here . Check magazines as well as your phone book, your local newspaper and your local university. Or if thereisn't one in your area - start one! Place an advertisement in your newspaper for people interested in starting a group or go to Meetup .

y Visit an Irish/English/Australian theme pub or British food shop, you canusually find one in the larger cities. Often, the waiters and waitressescome from English-speaking countries, the menu is often in English too!

y Once your English is good enough, go shopping in some tourist areas.Y ou'll find lots of shop assistants speak very good English.

y

If you can travel to an English speaking country, do it.y There are several internet based voice chat programmes out there: iVisit | PalTalk | MSN Web Messenger | Yahoo! Messenger | Google Talk | Skype and lotsmore.

Singing

Try singing along to English songs. With friends or in the privacy of your own bathroom.Lots of the major games consoles have karaoke games nowadays, like Sing Star on thePlaystation.

! On the internet : - Y ou can speak to me on iVisit (see the forum calendar for times and dates) - you can also listen to or chat with other learners and nativespeakers there. There are no more excuses.

! On the network : - Use the pronunciation pages to improve your understanding.

! On this site : - You can find some karaoke resources and ideas on the learn Englishthrough songs page.

! On the Network : You can find the words to some popular songs on the Englishmagazine .

Pro nunciati on skills


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D on't get too hung up on trying to sound like a native speaker. Would you start learningthe piano in an attempt to sound like Mozart? Probably not. Accents don't matter, as longas people can understand you, but pronunciation is important.

Learn the phonetic alphabet .

L ist words that have the same sound add to the lists as you learn more words.

For example words that rhyme with me:-

Work on one problem sound at a time. Read slowly concentrating on thepronunciation of particular words. Record yourself, keep the tape and recordyourself later, have you improved? Don't be shy - ask a friend to listen to the tapetoo.

Don't worry about sounding like a native, it is more important to speak clearly andpleasantly than it is to sound like the Queen of England.

The most important thing to think about is can people understand you? If youhave a problem being understood then find someone who speaks English clearlyand try to copy the way they speak. Pay particular attention to speed and diction.

http://www.learnenglish.de/ImproveEnglish/improvespeakingpage.htm

improve Your English Vocabulary

Use self-study vocabulary books , these should include a good d ictionary, and athesaurus.

Expose yourself to as much English as possible by reading, watching the TV,films or the news and listening to the radio or music.

Read an English magazine . If you can afford it take out a subscription to a magazine or newspaper.


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Do online exercises . Keep a note of how you did and go back in a few weeks tosee how you have improved.

Use stick it notes and label things around your home.

Try to memorize whole sentences, not just individual words.

Create or play word games . Scrabble, Crossword Puzzles, Hangman, and D ingbats are allgreat was to play with words.

Noteb oo ks

Keep a notebook to help you remember what you've learnt.

Here's a guide to keeping an English notebook .

Vocabulary webs

Build a vocabulary web to organise your vocabulary about certain subjects.

For example your personal life:-

and then extend it:-

and then extend it further...

Try this little gadget too.


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http://www.brainyquote.com/words/sp/speaking222185.html Get the Quote of the D ay widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox !Speaking

of Speak

Uttering speech; used for conveying speech; as, man is a speaking animal; a speakingtube.

Seeming to be capable of speech; hence, lifelike; as, a speaking likeness.

http://ldx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/40/3/226

Speaking Up f or Vocabula ry

Reading Skill Diffe r ences in Y oung Adults

David B r aze

Haskins Laboratories, [email protected]

Whitne y Tab or

Haskins Laboratories, University of Connecticut

Donald P. Shankweile r

Haskins Laboratories, University of Connecticut

W . Eina r Mencl

Haskins Laboratories,

This study is part of a broader project aimed at developing cognitive and neurocognitive profiles of adolescent and young adult readers whose educational and occupational prospects are constrained by their limited literacy skills. We explore the relationshipsamong reading-related abilities in participants ages 16 to 24 years spanning a wide rangeof reading ability. Two specific questions are addressed: (a) D oes the simple view of reading capture all nonrandom variation in reading comprehension? (b) D oes orallyassessed vocabulary knowledge account for variance in reading comprehension, as

predicted by the lexical quality hypothesis? A comprehensive battery of cognitive and


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educational tests was employed to assess phonological awareness, decoding, verbalworking memory, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, word knowledge,and experience with print. In this heterogeneous sample, decoding ability clearly playedan important role in reading comprehension. The simple view of reading gave areasonable fit to the data, although it did not capture all of the reliable variance in reading

comprehension as predicted. Orally assessed

vocabulary knowledge captured uniquevariance in reading comprehension even after listening comprehension and decoding skillwere accounted for. We explore how a specific connectionist model of lexical

representation and lexical access can account for these findings.

http://www.saberingles.com.ar/ways/03.html

VocabularyWAYS OF SPEAKING

y speak : make use of words in a normal voice.May I speak to George?

y talk : speak to give information, say things.What are they talking about?

y hesitate : be slow to speak (or act) because one is uncertain or unwilling to talk.He hesitated before answering my question.

y whispe r : speak softly, without vibrating the vocal cords, privately or secretly.She whispered the secret word in my ear.

y hiss : say something in a loud whisper. (Snakes also hiss).'Get out!' she hissed at me furiously.

y m um ble : speak unclearly, so that others can't hear.He mumbled something at me which I didn't understand.

y m utte r : speak in a low voice, which is hard to hear.She was muttering something to herself as she went out.

y m u r m u r : speak in a soft, quiet voice that is difficult to hear clearly.

The classmates murmured during the test.y hu m : make a low continuous sound, when you take a long time deciding what to

say.She hummed at the beginning of the oral exam.

y gr unt : make short sounds or say a few words in a rough voice, when you don'twant to talk. (Pigs also grunt).She grunted a few words and left the table.


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y sta mm er : speak with pauses and repeating the same sound or syllable, habituallyor from fear or excitement.'P-p-please give me the p-p-pen,' he stammered.

y stutte r : stammer.'P-p-please give me the p-p-pen,' he stuttered.

y q uave r : speak tremulously, because you are nervous or upset.Her voice quavered for a moment but then she regained control.

y lisp : speak with /th/ sounds instead of /s/ sounds.You're very t h illy, Th imon. (You're very silly, Simon.)

y babble = gabble : talk foolishly, in a way difficult to understand.Her fever made her babble without stopping.

y r a m ble : talk continuously, in a confused way.

Stop rambling and get to the point, please!

y slu r : speak unclearly, without separating the words correctly.He was so drunk that he slurred to the bartender for more.

y chat : have a friendly informal conversation.They chatted away in the corner.

y chatte r : talk quickly and at length about something unimportant.Please stop chattering, I'm trying to listen to the TV!

y gossip : talk about the affairs of other people.She was gossiping about her neighbours all day.

y call : speak in a loud clear voice, shout, cry.They called for help.

y sh out : speak in a loud voice, in anger or to get attention.He had to shout because the music was too loud.

y wh oo p : shout loudly and happily.The children whooped when we entered the fair.

y

cry (out) : make a sharp noise, in pain or surprise.She cried out in terror when the old man appeared suddenly.

y yell : cry out loudly, in fear, pain or excitement.She yelled in terror when she saw the dead cat.

y scr ea m : cry out very loudly on a high note, in fear, pain, anger or laughter.The baby was screaming the whole day.


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y sh r iek : scream.The men shrieked with laughter.

y bell ow: shout in a deep voice.The captain bellowed orders at the crew.

y sq ueak : speak in a high-pitched voice.She squeaked out a few words nervously.

y sq ueal : speak in a high-pitched voice, with longer and louder sounds than in asqueak.'Let me go!' she squealed.

y chee r : shout because of happiness.The public cheered when the team appeared.

y cro ak : speak with a deep hoarse voice.

She had such a terrible cold that she could only croak.

y blu r t out : say something suddenly and tactlessly.She blurted out the bad news before I could stop her.

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