Learning a language better isn’t just about enhancing your language skills as quickly as possible in order to become a fluent speaker, or finding top tips on learning English all alone. There’s more to learning a language, especially if you enroll in an English second language school in Los Angeles.
How can I improve my English as a second language?
Los Angeles County Office of Education does state that most difficulties arise from English language learners not knowing how exactly to improve their language skills on a daily basis. Going to a language school in LA is the most important part of the solution, but you should make an effort to complement your learning efforts further.
It’s for that reason that we’re going to take a different approach and see what you can do on a daily basis to enhance your English language, and separate it into four basic categories - listening, speaking, reading and writing.
What listening exercises can I do to improve my English?
When it comes to listening exercises, there are several ones you can do every day to stay on top of your language learning.
- Listen during downtime - When learning a language, you should use every opportunity you get to the fullest, and that means making the most of your downtime, too. Listen to the language any chance you get, be it music, audiobooks, podcasts, or something else entirely.
- Watch TV shows, the news, and movies - Although it might seem as a passive thing to do, every little bit helps immensely. So, make sure you keep yourself busy by surrounding yourself with the language as much as possible.
- Do listening exercises online - Lastly, try searching for online listening exercises you can do in order to test your progress in this language learning category.
What speaking exercises can I do to improve my English?
Practicing speaking on a daily basis does seem to be a more difficult task, but it really isn’t as there are many ways to approach this problem.
- Voice chats and speaking clubs - There are many online platforms where you can practice speaking English every day, and voice chatting apps are the best among them.
- Mirror is your friend - You should allocate a couple of minutes every day to stand in front of a mirror and speak to it in order to practice your fluency and identify mistakes you might be making.
- Pronunciation exercises - There are so many different pronunciation exercises you can do it’s hard to list them all. Search for them and do every one you stumble upon.
What reading exercises can I do to improve my English?
Exercising your reading skills seems like the easiest thing in the world. You simply sit behind your computer and read on as much as you can. And yes, it does boil down to that. But, there are two basic rules you have to follow when trying to enhance your language through reading:
- Commit - Reading for fun is one thing, reading to learn is quite another. You need to plan your daily reading routine and reserve at least twenty minutes a day for deeply concentrated reading efforts.
- Work your way up - Don’t start at the deep end, but rather work your way towards it. Start with simple reading materials, such as comic books or children's books. Only when you’ve mastered them should you continue with more demanding pieces.
What writing exercises can I do to improve my English?
When it comes to writing, there are some traditional methods, and some modern ones. The best advice we can give you is to combine the two to create a routine.
- Vocabulary lists - You should try your best to write down a couple of new and unfamiliar words every day and then go over them the next day.
- Describe stuff in writing - Take a picture, a scene, or an event and try to put words on paper to describe it. This is a simple, but effective writing exercise.
- Comment - Go online and post comments on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or any other place where you feel the need to share your opinion.
- Be creative - Once your confidence rises, do some creative writing. Create your own stories and push your language skills to their limits.
What are the four communication skills?
Now that we’ve given you all the necessary exercises to practice your language skills, let’s shift our focus to the primary reason of your language learning - speaking, and see what four essential skills fall under this category.
- Thinking - Yes, sounds simple enough - I have to think before I speak, but thinking when speaking a foreign language is where it gets tricky. You should strive to eliminate translating in your head, and start thinking in the language you’re trying to speak.
- Listening - Perhaps just as important as speaking, listening allows you to become a part of a conversation. What point is there to being able to speak if you can’t understand what’s being said?
- Speaking - In communication, speaking is essential. It involves having the ability to express your thoughts adequately in a language. Speaking includes having the range of vocabulary needed to say what you want, but also knowing which tone of voice to use depending on the situation.
- Non-verbal communication - Using words is the biggest part of your communication efforts. Or is it? Sometimes, and depending on the situation, the non-verbal cues you’re expressing might become equally important, especially in formal situations. Make sure you learn proper non-verbal etiquette for the situation, too.
“Is there a school in LA where I can learn all these things?”
Sure there is, and it’s College of English Language, the best among Los Angeles English language schools. We’ve worked long and hard to develop teaching methods that incorporate all of the four communication skills, and we’ve mastered them all.
Our teaching staff is more than capable of instilling the staples of the English language to our learners, and our offices have been created with that single purpose in mind. If you’re having trouble understanding the tour of the Griffith Observatory, and would like to be able to ask questions too, come to our school and let’s work on it together.
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