Learning a language takes time and practice. It takes dedication and motivation to exercise every day and learn new idioms and words. It is not a process that can be done in a few minutes, but years. If you want to be proficient in English, you need to invest time.
There are a lot of studies that showed that babies are natural language learners. In fact, babies have the ability to learn every language. It is when we grow up learning only one language that our horizons narrow.
The good thing is that all those researchers have come to some recommendations for the ones who want to learn a foreign language faster. If you have decided English is the one, congrats! It is the second most spoken language in the world and everyone knows English nowadays.
So, what tips and tricks to follow? What to do to learn English faster? Here are some tips that can guide you through the process.
1- Listen to English
Studies have shown that the process of learning is not only a conscious one but also an unconscious one. The process of implicit learning is taking place when you do not pay attention to. That means that you can start listening to music that has English lyrics. Or, you can start watching English series.
There are a lot of TV shows or podcasts that you can listen to while you clean your room and cook some food. Whether you might think that these activities will not have any benefit, you’re wrong. Even if we do not pay attention consciously, your brain does. It is able to recognize patterns and to retain them. Listening to English is also a great way to perfect your speaking and listening parts of English.
2- Learn the Similarities Between English and Your Mother Tongue
Speaking a foreign language can prove to be difficult, as it may have sounds and even letters that are very different from the ones in your native language. Even if we are born with the basic fundamental knowledge to learn any language, this knowledge must be used.
Some languages have a lot of similarities between them. And it might be your case. If you hear an impossible pronunciation, stick to it and try learning it.
3- Learn New Sounds
English is not a difficult language to learn, although it has some difficult sounds to pronounce. Choose the sounds that appear to be the most impossible and listen to them slowed down.
Samantha Jackson, a contributor to custom paper writing services has a piece of advice for anyone who wants to learn English faster. She advises on looking on YouTube for videos with English native speakers that share their knowledge through their videos. They teach you how to pronounce difficult sounds and you can change the speed of the video. Like this, you can slow down and listen carefully to the sounds.
These videos are helpful especially when your mother tongue is more complicated than English. For example, Japanese has the same pronunciation for letters R and L, so learning English might prove to be a little more complex.
4- Learn New Words in Groups
Well, when you think about the world “flower”, what other words come into your mind? There might be a range of colors used to describe the flower: red, yellow, green, purple, white and so on. You can describe it as being freshly-cut, garden-fresh, dazzling, delicate or blooming. There are a lot of adjectives you can use. These descriptions come to your mind automatically, so you can learn to accomplish this in English too, not only in your mother tongue.
How to do this? Start by learning new words in groups. You can even search for images to associate with the new words. Like this, it will be easier to learn and remember them. For example, you can learn about all means of transportation by learning all the words related. These include rails and railways, road and off-road transport and so on.
5- Learn Patterns and Keep in Mind the Rules
Besides learning how to pronounce and write correctly, you need to also learn the rules of grammar. Sometimes they might prove to be hard to remember, as some of them are very complex formulated. Jack Jonas, a blogger at the best paper writing service, advises on doing exercises and applying those rules.
For example, you know that if you want to use the past tense form of a verb, you need to add -ed at the end of the verb.
You can choose some verbs and exercise: learn - learned, rain - rained.
When you choose some different verbs, you will notice that the ending consonant doubles when adding -ed. For example, plan-planned. The rule is that when a verb ends in 1consonant - 1vowel - 1consonant, the ending consonant doubles (if the vowel is stressed).
Of course, not all verbs have a regular form. You will need to learn irregular verbs also, verbs whose conjugation follows a different pattern. For example: write - wrote - written or eat - ate - eaten. Or, you can have another pattern: bind - bound - bound or bring - brought - brought.
6- Learn Phrases and Idioms, Not Just Words
Of course, when you begin learning a new language, you start by learning words. Which is the right way to begin? What you need to take into consideration is the fact that in English, the meaning of a word changes if you add another word.
For example, you can think about the sentences “I ran around” and “I ran around my yard”. They are completely different sentences, although the second one has only two words more. But the meaning is totally changed.
The English language has some beautiful idioms English speakers use to describe normal events. For example, if you want to say that “Outside is raining very heavy”, you could say that “Outside is raining cats and dogs”. You might be tempted to think that it is a phenomenon that includes animals, but it is not. It is just a funny idiom that describes a completely normal weather phenomenon.
7- Practice Your English
One of the most important aspects to consider when learning a new language is to practice it. It is in vain to learn a few words every day if you do not use them in practice. So, try doing daily exercises of grammar, speaking, listening and writing.
Daily exercise keeps you motivated because the results of your efforts will become to be visible. And if your English classes are twice a week, then daily practice is the perfect way to deepen your knowledge. Like this, what you have learned keeps fresh in your mind. Later on, you will find it easy to learn new patterns and idioms.
8- Music and Learning a New Language
Do you remember all those cute songs that help toddlers learn the letters of the alphabet or the numbers? They are so melodic and the lyrics so well-built that you will easily remember them. Maybe that’s why you still remember them.
It turns out, there are so many similarities between learning a song and learning a language. By singing you learn the difference between “ba” and “da” or “pa”. You can find a lot of videos on YouTube that can help you learn English. If you listen to them and then sing them, you will become better and better at learning English.
Conclusion
Learning a new language might seem difficult, but with these scientific tips you can speed up the learning process. Stay focused, motivated and committed and you will surely succeed.
Written by Tiffany Harper
Tiffany Harper is a talented writer from New York, an extremely active woman, and a real leader. She began her career as a journalist and later proceeded as an educational writer and editor. Now she works as a special content expert writer with Superior Paper writing service and Superior papers reviews, mostly in the e-learning and self-education areas. Please do not hesitate to contact her on Twitter.
