Use it don't lose it

 

5. Use it don't lose it

Look to attach English language to everyday situations, as you are working or as you are in your house think about the situations you are in and use English to describe it. If you talk to someone on the phone for example, after the phone call think about how you would conduct that conversation in English. Pick a few phrases and key vocabulary and think about how you would use that in the phone conversation.

If you want to practise speaking you could even say the phrase aloud and pretend that you are still talking on the phone, only, you are speaking in English, although you might need to be home by yourself to do this!   

Identify at least two or three sources of English content to use regularly, these might be websites, newspapers, social media sites or books. Once you have found them, get into the habit of activating some key learning techniques. One way is to keep a notebook list of new words, write the new word down and then write an example sentence using the word or phrase. Note the form of the word - is it an adjective, a noun, an adverb or a verb? If it is a verb then write down the different forms of the verb. If you want, even translate the word into your own language.

Keep your list handy and when you have a few spare minutes open it and review your new vocabulary and make sure you use those new words whenever and as soon as you can. After all, the only way to successfully learn a foreign language is hard work and, practise, practise and practise.