You can take English classes or teach yourself but you need motivation and time if you want to improve your English.
Regular lessons with a teacher means you don’t need to make all the decisions about how and what you learn.
Teaching yourself means you must know what you want to achieve – so set yourself realistic learning goals to help you along the way.
- It is important to work a little and often with English. Start by trying our free online mini revision lessons
- If you want to improve your listening skills, find time every day to listen to something in English – from ‘6 minute English’ on the BBC’s Learning English website to English-speaking films. Download the words to your favourite songs in English and listen along to them when you are walking or travelling.
- Listen to TED talks with and without the subtitles
- Read, read, read. Read everything you can in English. Stop scrolling and reading two or three word headlines but read more in-depth articles and long format texts, such as books or magazine articles. Start with books you have already read in your mother-tongue and you know you enjoy the storyline or content.
- See if you can find a conversation class or language exchange partner in your hometown so you have regular practice with other people
- Do some of your hobbies in English. Doing things you enjoy doing will take the effort out of learning English. Read our recent blog about doing things you love in English.
To really boost your English you should find time to take a short intensive course in a small group in an English speaking country– this will really help your motivation and give you the tools for studying on your own when you go home.
