How to learn english quickly

How To Learn English Quickly

Many students delay learning English because of different reasons: they are lazy, they find it challenging to master because there are too many skills to learn, etc., and find themselves in a mess when it is several days until their mid-term or final exams. In that case, they can only cram unless they are willing to get bad grades. However, if you are not sitting an exam in several days to come, I can help you learn English quickly while maintaining a trouble-free mind. Don’t you believe me? Then, let’s go and check how I can assist you in making the impossible possible.

1.Understand why you should learn English.

Some of you may be surprised the very first solution is not the “what” question (What should I learn: grammar, vocabulary, etc.?) or the “how” question (How can I learn English effectively?) but the “why” question (Why learning English is good for you?). It is because everyone should find motivation in everything they do, not only in pursuing English, to achieve the best results. Indeed, when you are under the impression that learning English helps you to get a good job, travel, or stay ahead of your friends who are making no efforts, etc., you will procrastinate less. A lot of people do not identify the reasons why they should learn English at the beginning, and put it off time and again, thus making no progress in the long run. So, make sure you understand yourself and know why English is important to you so that you can have clear intentions as regards your English learning routine.
Also bear in mind that vague goals such as “I want to speak English fluently” or “I want to be good at English” will do you more harm than good. Your targets should be more specific: “I want to communicate in English fluently in eight months” or “I have to get 7.5 IELTS within one year”. They will act as an encouragement for you to try your best because you only have limited time to do it.

2.Select learning resources that are QUITE challenging.

You should choose resources that are one level higher than yours. For example, if you are low intermediate, you should push your boundaries a little by getting used to intermediate exercises, which make you feel excited and want to conquer them. When you accomplished that goal, move on to the pre-advanced level, and you won’t easily be bored because there are always new words or grammar, which are a little more difficult for you to look up. Practicing is good, but don’t overly exert yourself by doing advanced exercises when you are a low intermediate student because there is a big difference of difficulty, which makes the task seem challenging, and you will be discouraged.
Make sure your studying materials are not too easy, either. If you are an intermediate student, you should not listen to VOA Special English News, where you can keep yourself updated with pieces of news in slow, clear English and make you feel over-confident. Of course, you can still use them as a source for revision and relaxation, but you will learn almost nothing new. Look for as many trusted resources as possible, and then discard ones which are too hard or too easy so that you can get closer to your goals

3.Be ready to make mistakes or ask questions.

Many language learners are afraid to make mistakes or ask what they do not understand for fear of being looked down on. However, when you have such a mindset, you have already made a big mistake that prevents you from becoming fluent in English. Mistakes and your willingness to take in knowledge are the most important factors contributing to your improvements in everything you do. When you make mistakes time and again, they will be engraved on your mind, and it will even not take you a few seconds to come up with the answers the next time you encounter the same questions. Also, be open-minded and willing to ask for others’ opinions, which will get you further in your mission. They will help you absorb knowledge better than look for answers on the Internet, and you can derive invaluable experience as well. Don’t worry about appearing foolish when you ask questions, as people may think you are ready to learn and admire your spirits. A lot of dedicated people are there to help you; all you need to do is find a suitable tutor to guide you through the difficulties.

4.Spend your time learning vocabulary.

Many parents make their children go to communication classes when they have just started learning English as they put too much emphasis on speaking skills. Of course, they are important, but without a fine range of vocabulary, you cannot manage to learn any skills at all. Vocabulary aids you a lot in your listening, writing, speaking, and reading skills as well as grammar. Many native speakers are not good at grammar or reading, but with a huge amount of words as their first language, they can still get by just fine. You do not necessarily be fluent in grammar and speaking; it is completely normal for humans to make mistakes. So it is better for parents, or students themselves, to change the way they think as soon as possible. Skills are important to be a good English learner, but first of all, spend your time on vocabulary so that you can be fully supported later in your learning process.

5.Have a relaxed mind about learning English.

Don’t consider studying English as an obligation or a duty that you have to do. Instead, you should make it your hobby from which you can derive fun. Learning things with dislike will get you nowhere because a negative attitude will make it difficult for knowledge to sink in. Under no circumstances should you force yourself to study if you don’t want to, or else it will do you more harm than good. When you want to relax and study at the same time, turn to such resources as comic books, music or cartoons as long as they are in English. By adopting this method, not only will you feel comfortable but you will also take in English effectively as a result of your positive attitude. Your attitude does matter when it comes to learning a new language, whether it is English, French, or Spanish, so remember not to push yourself too far to achieve the best results.

The above-listed numbers should be considered tips rather than methods (except for number 2), but they are indispensable in betting your English quickly and funnily. Your attitudes and mindset directly affect your success, so follow my guidelines, and see yourself work miracles.

How to Learn English quickly at home

Spring is coming, that wonderful time of year when flowers begin to bloom everywhere.

But not only are flowers reborn, so are many of our dreams, including that of speaking English fluently.

It’s no secret that English is the main language in the world. Many want to learn it, but for many different reasons, some get stuck somewhere in the middle. Maybe they don’t have the time, the discipline, or sometimes, the resources needed to take a language course.

Despite the difficulties, now is the best time to learn English.

Thanks to the unlimited amount of resources available just a click away, any internet user who wants to learn English can do so at home.

If you know someone who has told you, “I learned English on my own,” you’ve probably wondered how they did it. In reality, it’s not something that’s beyond your reach.

Today, we’re going to share 7 tips with you that will show you that learning English from the comfort of your own home isn’t that far out of reach. If you set your mind to it and put your heart into it, you’ll definitely achieve your goal.

Have study partners

Travelling, going to the cinema, eating in a restaurant, or visiting a museum are activities that you enjoy more when you do it together with others. This is even more true when it comes to learning English.

A study partner helps you correct your mistakes and is also an excellent conversation partner to practice with. And when you feel a bit discouraged, they give you a nudge so you don’t stop studying altogether.

Nowadays, technology also allows you to connect with people from all over the world. You can interact with them and practice your skills online. Don’t worry if you make mistakes or if you don’t understand 100% of what the other person is saying.

Learning a new language is a process. Each day represents a step that will bring you closer to your goal.

Use authentic materials

Not too long ago, English courses were limited to books, cassettes (have you ever used them?), CDs, and whatever the teacher would share during the class.

You could also rent videos from a store or, if you had access to cable TV, you could watch content in English.

The times have changed, haven’t they? Today, books and online courses offer you a wide variety of articles, videos, and audio files to sharpen your language skills.

Thanks to the internet, you have access to online videos, websites, and social networks where you can supplement your conventional learning.

What resources can you use?

Here are some ideas:

As you can see, you have a lot of resources at your disposal. What are you waiting for?

Learn about culture

How nice would it be if you could get to know something about the culture of these places before visiting? You could learn about the history, the famous places, the important historical figures, the gastronomy, or the architecture.

All of this without leaving the comfort of your home and, of course, while learning more and more English.

6 Golden and Practical Rules on How to Learn English Quickly

Have you been postponing it for years? Do you have one or two months only?

Are you preparing for an exam or presentation at work? Are you looking for a new job? Are you planning to go abroad to start a new life?

The reasons are many but it does happen. Sometimes we may get into a situation that we have to learn English fast. What to do? Is it possible to learn English so quickly? And efficiently? My answer is yes.

I would like to give you some practical advice on what you can do if this happens to you.

25 Ways to say Keep Up The Good Work ✅

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1. First of all, don’t panic. It does not help. Make a plan how you will use the time available in the most effective way.

Be realistic. You can’t learn English in two or three months but you can improve a lot. You can activate your passive knowledge. You can get into the practice. You can refresh what you learnt years ago. You can learn basic vocabulary to survive in a foreign country or just to pass an exam.

2. Be focused. You must practise what you really need. Is it a job interview? Then practise that with a private teacher every day. Brainstorm what you may be asked in the specific situation. You can’t learn everything but you can prepare for a specific situation.

3. Deal with it as much as you can. Learn English every day, every hour, every second. Live with it. Sleep with it. There is no minute to waste. If you are lazy, you may miss your goal.

4. Unless you need to learn general English, it might be better to get a private teacher who can focus on what you really need. A language course with more students could be cheaper but you will not have the opportunity to speak as much as you can in a one-to-one lesson. Moreover, in a pre-planned course with others in the same group you can never have that tailor-made approach that is the advantage of a private lesson.

5. Use technology. We live in the 21st century and that has a lot of advantages and solutions that we can exploit. You can download materials from the net. You can put listening texts and dictionaries on your smart phone. You can have online lessons and you even save travelling time and learn English instead. Common sense. Use these techniques.

6. Never get disappointed. You will probably feel sometimes that you are not making progress. This is always part of the language learning process. If you put maximum energy and effort into your project, you will achieve a lot. This is obvious. Never doubt it. So think of your goal every day and do your best. There is nothing else you can do anyway.

Photo from photo credit: ЕленАндреа via photo pin cc

How to learn english quickly

In today’s world it seems as though everybody is trying to move faster and always in a rush.

Everything needs to be done faster, whether that be communicating, travelling, or even learning. However, sometimes, there are things which just take time, and learning English is the perfect example of this. You have to learn, practise, and remember your new language skills. But, what about when you’re asking, “How to Learn English Fast?” and want to learn English as quickly and as easily as possible? Well, it may be easier than you think with the right advice!

Learning English is hard enough already, our pervious blog post, Why The English Language Is So Hard, explores this in detail, but what about when you are constrained by time and need to Learn English Fast? How can you learn the English language fast and easily? Well, our below blog post explores exactly How to Learn English Quickly…

How To Learn English Quickly

Learning the English language is no walk in the park! The language is filled with broken rules, illogical nouns, and complex figurative language, so learning English is certainly hard enough already! Add to that the pressure of time, and well, it can all seem impossible. But, there are some things you can remember for when looking to learn English quickly.

Some of the key things to bear in mind when looking to learn English fast and easily are to practise as much as you can, learn from various sources, including film, music and the internet, and don’t lose focus, remember why you’re learning English and the motivation behind this.

Below we have gone into a bit more detail with some tips to learn English quickly and easily.

Tips To Learn English Quickly:

The key to learning English quickly is practise, practise, and more practise. There is no short way of going about it, practise and repetition are key when it comes to learning any language, particularly if you are looking to learn it fast. You are not going to get anywhere by simply searching “How To Learn English Fast and Easily”. By practising every day, you will ingrain vocabulary in your memory, get a good idea of how sentences are structured, and also develop a good understanding of how to pronounce certain words and phrases.

Practise and repetition are definitely the key to learning English, but we have also listed some additional tips to learn English quickly below:

Remember Your Motivation – When looking to learn the English language quickly, it is good to bear in mind the motivation behind your goal. Why are you learning the English language? And why do you need to learn quickly? Is it for study or business purposes? Or would you simply like to get by while you’re in England?By remembering your motivation, you can make sure to only focus on the specific areas you need particular help with. Your motivation will also act as an incentive to keep learning and develop your English skills as fast as possible.

Keep A Language Journal – Keeping a Language Journal can be an incredibly useful way to remember new vocabulary you have learned as well as reinforcing spellings, sentence structures, and ultimately helping you to learn English more quickly.By writing a log of new vocabulary you’ve learnt, new sayings you’ve discovered, and the correct spelling of words, you will not only have a physical reference to refer to when you are stuck. But by writing things down you are able to more effectively memorise them. In fact, A study has identified the positive effects of writing on learning foreign language words.

Learn From Technology – Technology can be another fantastic aid when researching how to learn English quickly and easily. The internet is so easily accessible in this day and age, and with hundreds of thousands of resources available online to assist with your language studies, it is by far the greatest tool there is when looking to learn English fast and easily.The internet isn’t the only technology which can help you to learn the English Language fast! Mobiles and tablets present a modern alternative to a notepad and are just as appropriate for a language journal! Technologies such as Skype or FaceTime enable you to practise your English Skills with friends, colleagues, and tutors all over the world. And the accessibility of books and writing via e-readers and similar devices means that books which you might have once had to order and wait a long time for, are now available instantly with the click of a few buttons.

Learn From Films and Music – Film and music can be a fantastic tool when looking up how to learn English fast and easily! The majority of popular music these days is in English, and of course, almost all Hollywood films are originally shot in English.Music can help you to learn English more easily for a number of reasons. Firstly, music can help to promote a more positive attitude towards learning English, which in turn can have major benefits. The repetition of music and songs is also beneficial and can help a lot when it comes to memorising vocabulary and popular phrases. Another benefit of music is that you can often learn popular slang you won’t find in a textbook, this will help you to communicate more effortlessly with younger English speakers.

Just take a look at our How Music Can Help You To Learn English blog post to discover more about the benefits music can have on your language studies.

Films also make for an excellent language learning tool. Films can help expose you to new cultures, can help you to learn the correct usage of certain words and phrases, and also give you an opportunity to perfect your speaking and pronunciation. Not only this, but films can offer a fun twist to your typical classroom activities, which in turn can promote a positive attitude.

Be Realistic – It is important to be realistic while trying to learn English quickly. You shouldn’t expect to develop fluency overnight, as when you realise that you are not able to communicate effortlessly the next morning, well it can be rather demoralising. Instead of focussing on your dreams you should be focussing on your goals! Choose a realistic goal and try to achieve it within a certain time frame. For example, develop the language skills required for a certain job role before the closing date for applications, or developing a basic level of fluency before your summer holiday to the UK. By remaining realistic there will be less disappointment, which can be damaging when trying to learn anything new.

If you already have the basics in place and would like to develop your fluency, then why not checkout our 6 Ways To Develop Your English Fluency Blog Post.

So, How Can You Really Learn English Fast and Easily?

In order to learn English fast and easily you need to practise as much as possible! If you are asking the question “How To Learn English Quickly?” then practise is essential and is probably the most important aspect! Learning from various different sources such as Film, Music, Television, and the internet can also be a big help, and it is also vital to remember your motivation behind your language studies – without an end goal you don’t have anything to work towards.

By following our above tips to learn English quickly you’ll no longer need to ask the question “How can you really learn English fast and easily?” – you’ll have the required knowledge and tips to help you learn the English language effortlessly and as quickly as possible.

If you would like to find out some more information about how to learn English fast and easily, or if you are looking to go even further and develop your fluency, then why not consider an English Course in Eastbourne with LTC. LTC are a leading English Language School based on the south coast of England, providing English lessons that are designed to increase knowledge, fluency, understanding and ability, and ultimately helping you to learn English as quickly and as easily as possible…

Want to Learn English? Here’s Exactly How to Do It

Have you heard people say things like this?

If so, maybe it made you feel frustrated.

The truth is, learning English isn’t that easy!

Even if you already know some English, it can be hard to really learn the language completely.

It can also be hard to know how to learn. While listening to music and watching TV are excellent ideas, you’ll have to do more than that to become fluent.

But learning the language doesn’t have to be that hard if you know what you’re doing.

How you should go about learning English depends on what your goals are. It also depends on whether you want to learn by yourself or with a teacher, and whether or not you can afford to spend money on your learning.

No matter what your situation is, though, you can start by reading this post.

By the end, you’ll know what to do next.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Learn English Now: Everything You Need to Get Started!

Below, we’ll look at the best ways to learn English for different needs and goals. If you want to learn English mostly to be able to speak it, this first section should be helpful for you.

How to Learn English Speaking and Conversation (and Feel Confident!)

Learn English Speaking Online with YouTube and FluentU

You might already spend a lot of time watching videos on YouTube. It’s the best place to watch speakers of any language hurting themselves in funny ways. YouTube videos are also some of the best tools for learning English.

But they’re even better if you learn with them using FluentU.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Click here to check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

Try FluentU for FREE!

This means that you’ll hear real English being spoken, which is perfect for learning to speak it yourself—and you never have to worry about missing a word. You’ll watch authentic English videos and actively improve your skills at the same time.

Each FluentU video comes with interactive subtitles. Click on any word for an instant definition, grammar info and useful examples. The program makes quizzes for you and keeps track of your progress, so all you have to do is log on and learn.

Whether you’re learning English with FluentU or with YouTube videos you find yourself, here are a few ways you can get even more out of your learning.

But that’s not all from the FluentU team.

If you’re after insightful tips that help take your English to a native level, then check out the FluentU English channel.

With the channel, you’ll find expertly prepared content to take your English to the next level. For example, did you know it’s not that common to say you’re welcome after somebody thanks you in English?

Check out the video below to discover just how a few changes to your English can make you sound more native immediately. Plus, don’t forget to subscribe to the channel to keep up to date with all the latest in English learning.

Shadow along with the videos.

Shadowing is a language learning technique that can help build your speaking confidence. It’s something you can do all by yourself, and all you need is a pair of headphones or earbuds. This post explains how to go about it.

There are different ways to use shadowing. But here’s one easy shadowing exercise you can do:

On FluentU, you can easily sort videos by length to find one that works for your shadowing exercises. The subtitles are provided by professionals so you can rest assured they’re accurate.

If you mess up, don’t worry! Try to relax, let the video keep playing and start speaking again whenever you can. If you have trouble concentrating, try closing your eyes.

Write down useful phrases from each video. (Focus on phrasal verbs and prepositional phrases.)

A phrasal verb is a phrase that includes a verb and an additional word or words. For example, “get up” or “go out.” Phrasal verbs are useful to learn because they’re very common in English. They can also be idiomatic, or have a different meaning than the meanings of their separate words put together.

It’s also useful to learn phrases that contain prepositions (words like “to,” “at” and “for”), because prepositions are used differently from language to language.

Let’s say you were watching Mayo Clinic’s video about eating healthy food on a budget. This video is available on YouTube (below) and with captions and learning tools on FluentU.

The first line in this video is, “Can you buy healthy foods and still stick to a budget? Absolutely!”

You can already see there’s one preposition here, the word “to.” This preposition is being used as part of a phrasal verb, “stick to.” Can you tell that it means “commit [to something]” or “not give up [on something]?”

If you write this phrase down, and do the same with other prepositional phrases and phrasal verbs in the video, your list could look something like this:

You can see that for some phrases in the list, I included some words in parentheses. This is to show how you could note which words can be replaced. For example, the video uses “go to” for “go to the grocery store,” but you could just as easily say, “go to the park.” Instead of “stick to a budget” you might hear “stick to a diet” or “stick to a schedule.”

Use the phrases you write down to create your own conversations.

Now that you have your phrase list, try writing your own imaginary conversation that uses the phrases. Here’s a conversation you could make from the phrases above:

“Do you feel like eating out tonight?”

“Oh, I don’t know, that might take up a lot of time. Besides, I’m trying to stick to my diet.”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot you were on a diet.”

“Yeah. I also just went to the farmers’ market this morning, and I don’t want the food I got to go to waste. I was planning on making grilled salmon and a salad.”

“Okay, that sounds good. Do you want me to help you slice up these cucumbers?”

Notice that some of these phrases are used in a different form than they were in the video. For example, the phrase “go to” is used in the past tense as “went to” here.

Practice your conversations with a partner.

Once you’ve written some conversations in this way, it would be useful to practice them with someone. If you have a learning partner who’s a native English speaker, they can check over your writing for mistakes before you read the conversation together.

If you don’t have anyone to practice with at the moment, writing out a dialogue and reading it out loud yourself will still be very good for your English skills.

Use Twitter to Practice Discussions About Live Events (TV, Movies, Elections)

Twitter is a social media site that moves very quickly. This means that people often live-tweet (post multiple updates on Twitter about a thing that’s happening as it’s happening). One time I followed a baseball game on Twitter just by reading what people were saying about it!

One great way to improve your English conversational skills at home is to follow a hashtag (a phrase or word starting with # that allows you to see all tweets with that same phrase or word) where there’s a Twitter conversation happening about a live event, and contribute to the discussion when you can.

You may already be aware of a big event that’s happening, like an election, a sporting event or a TV series finale. Try searching for whatever it is to see if you can find popular hashtags that people are using to talk about it. For example, people sometimes use the hashtag #DebateNight to talk about political debates that are taking place.

If you don’t already have an event to follow, look at the “trending” hashtags (or just words and phrases) and see if you can find anything interesting that you’re able to access. Once you’ve found a discussion, create tweets of your own opinions and reply to other people. This is useful practice for your English because live-tweeting on big topics moves fast. It can almost be like having a real conversation.

Take an In-person English Speaking Course in Your Area

If you really want to improve your speaking fast and you can afford to spend some money, you may want to consider hiring a tutor or taking a classroom course. Here are a few different options that might work for you.

Even if you don’t have the chance to take a class that’s especially for speaking and conversation, most in-person classes will include good opportunities to practice your speaking.

Search for a local tutor.

Wyzant is a site that can help you find a tutor near you. Go to “Find a Tutor” and “Search for Tutors.” You’ll be asked some questions that’ll lead you to a list of tutors you can look through.

Look for English classes at local universities.

Check into the English programs at colleges and universities near you. Taking a class at a college usually costs some money, but there’s also often financial aid available if you qualify for it.

Try an international language school.

If you’re okay with spending more money and really want to learn fast, there are some big language schools that offer courses all over the world or within a wider location. Some of them offer intensive courses, or programs that are meant to help you learn quickly.

Here are a few options:

How to Learn English Quickly (Ways to Speed Up Your Studies)

Is your biggest concern learning English as fast as possible? These next tips are for you!

Learn Common English Vocabulary First

One of the easiest ways to speed up your learning is by learning the words that you’ll use the most first. Here’s how to go about doing that.

Create your own word list.

Before you can start learning the most important words, you need to know which words are most important for you. So let’s begin by creating a word list of English vocab just for you.

If you’re a more advanced learner who already knows at least 3,000 words, you can aim for a higher number depending on your needs. In addition to the most common words, you can also include words for talking about subjects that are of special interest to you.

For example, if you’re going to college in an English-speaking country to study science, you’ll want to add some basic scientific terms to your list.

Once you have the right words, learn them as fast as you can!

With these programs, you’ll have to type in each word and definition you want to learn. But if you’re using FluentU, you can just type the words into a field to create a deck of flashcards.

FluentU will take care of all the definitions for you, and give you special quizzes with video and images that help you learn faster.

You can also label your words according to parts of speech, or the roles they play in a sentence. For example, nouns, verbs and adjectives. This is something else that FluentU will do for you.

Learn Cognates and Shortcuts Between Your Native Language and English

Depending on what your native language is, it may have a shared history with English. For example, many words in English actually come from French. This means that French and other languages that come from Latin (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian…) share some words with English.

These are called cognates. These words may be pronounced or even spelled a little differently, but still mean the same thing.

Even if you don’t speak a language that has a history with English, there are likely still some similarities. Many languages today have taken words from English, and English has taken words from many other languages, even if only a few.

Research the similarities between your language and English, and find out what words are similar. Learning what these words are will help you grow your vocabulary much faster.

Learn More English Vocabulary from Books

Books are another good way to help your vocabulary grow fast. Here’s how books can help you learn English faster.

Choose the right book to read for your level.

If you haven’t learned much English yet, it’s best to choose a book that’s closer to your learning level. Any easy English book will give you a lot of starter vocabulary. At the beginning and intermediate levels, it doesn’t matter so much what you read.

What matters more is that you’re reading texts that you can understand or at least figure out.

If you’re a more advanced learner, though, you’ll want to choose books about things that you want to be able to talk or write about in English. For example, if you want to be able to talk about politics, you can read nonfiction books about current events.

You can also choose fiction books—it can just be a little trickier to find a novel or story that’s really “about” a particular subject. But if you already enjoy reading fiction, going in that direction might help you get more reading done. Fiction that contains dialogue (conversation) between characters can also be useful for learning to talk about a certain topic.

Either way, you can make best use of your time by choosing a book that…

Once you have your book, there are two different kinds of reading that can help you get the most out of it.

Read extensively.

Extensive reading is, to put it simply, reading a lot. When you read extensively, you don’t need to worry about stopping to look up words in a dictionary, or even completely understanding every sentence.

Having said that, if you find yourself feeling frustrated because you don’t understand what a book is saying at all, you’ve probably chosen a book that’s too difficult for you. Extensive reading shouldn’t feel stressful or like a struggle. It should be a chance to relax and enjoy the language.

Read intensively.

Intensive reading is when you really focus hard on a section of reading for a short period of time. Set aside a some time each day, or a few times a week, where you do everything you can to understand a few paragraphs or a page that you’re reading.

This means looking up any words you don’t know, and paying attention to how each sentence is put together.

This is also a good time to add any words you look up to your word list and SRS. Since you’re already reading about a topic that you want to focus on, there’s a good chance that any words you don’t understand will be useful for you to know later on.

Once you’re done with your intensive reading session, go back to just reading for fun. You may find that after concentrating hard for a short period of time, you’re able to take in more details from the text even when you’re not trying as hard.

How to Learn English Grammar (Without Getting Bored)

So now we’ve looked at how to learn English speaking, and how to speed up your English learning.

But what if you want to make your English communication smooth and confident? To write well? To know that you’re using correct grammar?

What can you do to achieve this?

Use a Grammar Checker Whenever You Write

This is an easy way to improve your writing while catching your English grammar mistakes. Just use Grammarly or another grammar checker as you’re using email and social media.

It’ll help you correct common mistakes, and give you tips to make your word choice stronger. It’ll even explain your grammar mistakes to you so that you don’t make the same ones again later.

Write Journal Entries on Lang-8

Grammar checkers aren’t perfect, though, so you should get your writing checked by a real human being sometimes. Lang-8 makes that easy. All you have to do is create an account and post an entry in English. Real native speakers will give you corrections and advice.

Just make sure that you correct other people’s writing, too—it’ll make them want to help you back!

Use Authentic Resources to Learn Different Grammar Subjects

An important thing to understand about grammar is that it changes over time. Some native speakers break the “rules” of English all the time and no one notices because everyone else is doing it, too. If enough English speakers use “wrong” grammar over a long enough period of time, at some point that grammar becomes “right.”

The truth is, people often don’t care if you use “incorrect” grammar, as long as they can still understand you. At the same time, using grammar in a way that’s familiar to native speakers can help you fit in with them and open up professional and personal opportunities. (It can also be important when you’re dealing with any kind of writing that’s going to be published or used in an academic setting.)

So if that’s your goal, you’ll want to learn grammar in an authentic context (as native speakers would use it), rather than just out of a book.

Below are some different resources that you can use to learn specific grammar subjects. Doing regular reading with any of these resources will be helpful for seeing “correct” grammar usage. You can then practice using that grammar by writing in a similar style.

Recipes, Wikihow: the imperative or “command” form.

Imperative language in English is used to give commands or instructions. In other words, it’s the kind of language you use to tell someone what to do.

When you read a recipe, you want the recipe to tell you exactly what to do. For example, “Melt the butter.” Or, “Add the chocolate.”

Reading or watching recipes on Allrecipes is one way to study imperative language. When you become familiar with the kind of language that’s used in recipes, try writing your own! If you have favorite recipes that you use to cook in your native language, try translating or writing them down in English.

Wikihow is also a good site for studying the imperative. The idea of Wikihow is that you can find articles on how to do just about anything—from freezing pears to saving a friendship. You may find some articles more helpful for what they promise than others, but they can all be useful for your English. And who knows, you might learn how to make decorative candles in the process.

Announcements and ads: the future tense.

You don’t have to go far to find announcements and ads online. Ads will likely show up wherever you’re browsing, and announcements will find their way into your email inbox. Both often give you examples of the future tense.

Ads might ask you to think of a future with a certain product. For example, an ad for toothpaste might say, “Once you experience a shine like this, you will never go back to your old toothpaste!”

Announcements for events usually describe what will happen at those events. For example, “At 7:00, refreshments (food and drink) will be served. At 8:00, we will begin discussion with our book group.” Email newsletters for bookstores, libraries, restaurants and other places with public events often include details like this, and are usually free to sign up for.

Celebrity gossip headlines: prepositions.

Gossip articles about your favorite movie stars and other celebrities are all about relationships between people and events. Prepositions often help to describe these relationships.

Here’s a silly made-up example of a headline you might see: “Billy Bigstar seen with Renee Marvelous at Big City Ball in New York City.”

Personal essays, dating profiles, LinkedIn: the first person.

Personal essays are articles written by people about their personal thoughts and experiences. A lot of online magazines publish personal essays, and sometimes they get printed in books. Because personal essays are from the author’s point of view, the author writes in the first person, using “I.”

Reading personal essays can help your use of the first person, and prepare you to write about your own thoughts and experiences. You can find personal essays on HuffPost, BuzzFeed and Longreads.

If you’re signed up for any online dating sites, like OKCupid, you can get some first person reading practice just from looking at other people’s profiles. However, keep in mind that not all profiles are necessarily using correct grammar. You also probably shouldn’t sign up for dating apps or sites just to view profiles, as lurking (hanging around without talking to anyone) can seem weird and creepy. But if you’re already using one, viewing a lot of profiles and writing your own are great practice!

Certain social media and social networking sites can also be good for reading text that is in the first person. LinkedIn is one of the best, because it’s a social networking site for professionals. This means people will put a lot of effort into their profiles, and try not to make any mistakes.

Love songs and poems: the second person.

If you love your love songs, this is a great way to see the second person, or the subject “you,” being used. Love poems, while they might seem a little old-fashioned, can serve the same purpose.

Look up lyrics to your favorite romantic songs on Lyrics On Demand, or just look at the popular hits. These almost always include love songs, which often have words like “love,” “heart” and “always” in the titles.

News, Wikipedia: the third person, passive vs. active voice and past tenses.

When you use words like “he,” “she,” “they” or “it” to refer to the person or thing you’re talking about, you’re using the third person. Third person writing can be found in news writing and also informational writing, like the kind you find in encyclopedias.

You can get news online from the Associated Press, or any other news site you like. The English version of Wikipedia is another good place to get comfortable with the third person.

When you read sites like this, you’ll also get practice with the passive and active voices, as well as past tenses.

In the passive voice, an action happens to the subject. An example of the passive voice would be, “The tennis champion was defeated by a newcomer.”

The same sentence in the active voice would be, “A newcomer defeated the tennis champion.” Note how in this sentence, the subject (a newcomer) performs the action (defeated the tennis champion).

This BBC article gives more examples of the active and passive voices, and explains when they might be used in news.

Generally, informational and news sources report on things that have already happened (even if they just happened), which means articles are usually written using a combination of past tenses.

Product descriptions, book and movie reviews: adjectives.

Any kind of description or review of anything—a mop, a bottle of water or the latest Stephen King novel—will probably contain at least a few adjectives. Adjectives can tell you whether something is worth buying (“good,” “bad,” “okay,” “worthwhile”). They can also give you more specific information or express the writer’s opinion. For example, you may read that the new Quentin Tarantino movie is “brilliant,” but you might not agree.

To find reading with lots of adjectives, check out descriptions for products on shopping sites like Etsy.

Entertainment publications like Rolling Stone offer TV, movie and music reviews.

Publishers Weekly and Kirkus are great for book lovers, because they include short reviews that come out weeks before a book is published.

Product reviews, consumer reports: comparatives and superlatives.

Consumer Reports is for people who are thinking about buying products, and want to compare products so that they buy the best one. On sites like this, you’ll find the words “more,” “less,” “better,” “worse” and other terms that compare the price and quality of products.

Advice columns: conditionals and questions.

Advice columns are regularly published pieces where people ask an expert for life or relationship advice. It can be fun to read about other people’s problems, and sometimes you might find advice for a problem you’re having, too!

Besides being fun, advice columns give you the chance to see how questions can be phrased in English. They also often use conditional phrases with “if,” because people who write in are usually unsure about whether or not they should do something. For example, someone might ask, “Would it be rude if I asked my friend to stop calling me in the middle of the night?”

E. Jean’s advice column for Elle usually has short answers, and is often entertaining. Check it out!

Lists of rules: gerunds.

If you’ve seen the movie “Fight Club” or read the book by Chuck Palahniuk, you know that the first and second rules of Fight Club are “you do not talk about Fight Club.” This is what Tyler, one of the characters, says. Since the first and second rules are the same, you can tell that this is a really important rule.

The “fight club” is a group of guys who get together and fight each other in basements—at least, this is the easiest way to explain it if you don’t know the story.

But what if “Fight Club” was a more official kind of club—like a book club, a film club or a language learning club? Then there might be a more official set of written rules that started like this:

Rule #1: There is no talking about Fight Club.

Rule #2: There is no talking about Fight Club.

In these rules, “talking” is a gerund. A gerund is a form of a verb ending in “-ing” that’s treated like a noun. Other examples could look like this:

Okay, so that last one probably isn’t something that you would actually see (though it’s a good rule to follow, anyway). Look for these types of rules posted on doors and walls when you’re out in public. See how many gerunds you can find.

How to Learn English with Apps: More Resources for Your Study Routine

Whew! We’ve already talked about a lot of ways to learn English. Along the way, we’ve covered some great apps and resources. But there are a few more apps that might be beneficial to have around for your English studies. Here’s how to use some different kinds of apps to your advantage.

Use Study Apps to Build Your Vocabulary

Here are some apps that can be used to learn vocabulary, even if you just have a few minutes a day.

Use Music Apps to Listen to English-language Music

With a music app, you can make sure that you always have English-language music to listen to. Again, even if you only have a few minutes, you can still get some listening practice in!

Use Reference Apps When You Have Questions About the Language

Even if you have a teacher or language partner, they won’t always be there to answer your questions. Here are some tools you can use to get your questions answered anytime!

If you’re made it this far, congratulations! You’re definitely ready to learn English!

Still not sure where to start? Just begin with a few of the suggestions above. As long as you create a regular routine, you’ll be learning and improving your skills. Good luck!

Elisabeth Cook is a freelance writer, a lifelong language learner and a book reviewer. You can read more of her writing on her blog, Lit All Over.

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