Away from the classroom

Some of the most important learning you’ll do when you’re learning English as a Foreign Language takes place away from the classroom environment, and we’re not just talking about homework. There are lots of things you can do to help accelerate your progress without it even seeming too much effort.

1. Make English-speaking friends

Speaking English conversationally is a great way to get your confidence up, and you’ll pick up new words and phrases almost without even realising it. What’s more, you’ll learn the colloquial language spoken by native Brits every day — the constantly evolving slang that language books don’t tend to teach you.

Email is simpler, quicker and certainly cheaper, but you might find the delight of getting airmail letters helps motivate you to learn.

While ‘real-life’ English-speaking friends are great for helping you develop your conversational English skills, corresponding with a pen friend by letter or email will help develop your written English. You’ll get practice at writing about yourself and what you’ve been up to, and you’ll also develop your reading skills when you receive their response.

2. Get a part-time job that involves speaking English

Try getting a job in a touristy place where you’re likely to need English skills to talk to visitors — for example, a job as a tour guide around your city, or a job in a restaurant popular with tourists. This will give you valuable practice at speaking English and will put you in situations in which you have no choice but to speak it. If that’s not possible, you could try volunteering for an English-speaking helpline or charity.

3. Watch English TV and films

Watching English-speaking television programmes is a fun way of picking up more new words and phrases at the same time as helping to familiarise yourself with how English sounds (and learning to understand different dialects). You could start by using subtitles in your own language, and then when you start picking up more, switch the subtitles off. If you’re feeling particularly confident, why not try a cinema trip to see an English-speaking film? If it helps, try seeing the film in your own language first, so that you know what’s going on, and then you’ll be able to make more sense of what’s being said in English.

4. Listen to English radio

Having the radio on in the background is a good way of tuning in to the sounds of the English language, and you may be surprised at how much you can pick up without even realising it. The news might be a good place to start, particularly if you already know the story, as you’ll be able to make sense of what the words mean more easily. The added benefit of listening to the news is its immediacy — if you don’t understand it straightaway, the story will come and go before you’ve had a chance to digest it.

5. Make the most of your travel time

Invest in an audio English course, such as those designed for iPods, and listen when you’re on the bus or train or in the car. This will help develop your pronunciation skills as well as introducing you to helpful phrases.

6. Use Google in English

When you’re searching for things on the internet, try going to Google.co.uk instead of your native language. This will force you to find the results you’re looking for in English, and using English will slowly start to become a habit.

7. Adorn your room with flashcards

Decorate your room with flashcards containing things you need to learn, so that you’re constantly exposed to the words, phrases and grammar you should be memorising. On the mirror you use to get presentable in the morning, on your wardrobe door, next to your bed — anywhere you’re likely to see them on a daily basis.

8. Read a favourite book in English before bed

If you’re serious about learning English fast, even bedtime can be given over to making progress. Pick one of your favourite books and buy the English version. Each night when you go to bed, try and read a few pages, and keep a dictionary next to your bed for any words you don’t understand. That way, not only do you have a head-start because it’s a book you already love, but English will be the last thing you think about before you go to sleep — and it’s when you’re sleeping that the brain works hard to store all the new words, phrases and grammar you’ve picked up, converting this valuable new knowledge from short-term to long-term memory.