How to Learn English at Home

Learning English on your own may seem boring and somewhat difficult. As some people would say, a mission!! But it does not have to be a mission.  Apart from taking an online English course, you can do many things in the comfort of your home. 

1. RADIO

You don’t need to live with John Snow in order to understand Game of Thrones. Listening to the radio is always a good idea. Whether you like music of the news, the radio is always very helpful. You will hear a great variety of accents and listen to both men and women. 

Listening to the radio will also help you with a phone conversation in English. No, I don’t mean you have to call the radio station in order to learn English. When we speak to someone face to face we use many different ways of communication, including body language. When the speaker is in front of us we watch their facial expressions, hand movements, even their lips.  And as Tesco says, every little helps. Every piece of information is helpful.  Some students struggle, even panic when answering the phone. Listening to the radio will help you focus solely on what you hear. It is definitely good training for those dreaded phone conversations.

2. MUSIC

Listening to songs is slightly different than listening to someone else’s conversation.  It won’t help you with syllable stress, but it is also a great way to train your ear. It is also an excellent source of new vocabulary.  It is also worth watching online YouTube videos with lyrics.

3. TV

Watching TV is an easy and entertaining way to learn English.  It is always easier to start with a TV show that you already know, such as Friends or The Simpsons.  You will learn a great deal of vocabulary and practise your listening skills while having a good time. I recommend you to use alternate subtitles in your own language with English subtitles. Some students find this very helpful. Also, after a few episodes turn them off.  Do not panic if you don’t understand their accent at first.  It is always slightly difficult at the beginning but I promise you will get used to their accent. That is why I recommend you to watch TV shows more often than movies.  TV series will not only help you understand the characters’ accents. They will also help you get used to how the heroes of your show speak and their language choice.  Just remember do not watch something boring. Find something that you like a have a good time!

4. WRITING NOTES IN ENGLISH

I usually recommend my students write a diary.  What better way to improve your writing skills than writing in English about your day?  It will also help you develop summarising skills, which will come in handy if you decide to enter higher education. 

I strongly recommend you stop writing in your own language. Write everything in English, even your shopping list. In fact, writing your shopping list will help you learn basic English vocabulary and save you some valuable time at the supermarket if you need to ask a question.

5. PRONUNCIATION APPS

There is a wide range available online. These apps will definitely help you improve your pronunciation. If you wish to become the true master of English phonemes you can also use Pronunciation dictionaries. They are very easy to use and full of information, including intonation patterns, syllable and sentence stress. 

6. READING

Students are not always aware of how much can be learnt by simply reading a few pages every day.  Reading will help you gain new vocabulary. But it will teach you much more than the obvious. You will learn grammar and gain fluency without realising it.  Reading is especially helpful for those days when you wonder where your grammatical knowledge and English fluency have gone. For those days when you wake up and wonder what happened to you last night and why you don’t seem to be able to speak English. Trust me, read a few pages of the paper on your way to work and you will notice how that ‘lost English’ finds its way home. 

These are only a few easy ideas for you to do at home. You don’t have to remember all of them. But you must remember to enjoy yourself. Learning English can be a lot of fun. English is a beautiful language and the more you learn, the more you’ll like it.