How to Make the Most of Your English Course

Deciding to learn English is an excellent step towards opening up a range of opportunities that come when a person can communicate in English. Many people for whom English is not their first language have recognised that many personal and career advantages become available following the completion of an English course.

However, the very act of studying a course often does not maximise the true potential and benefit that a person can gain from studying this language. There are many things that people can do to enhance their studies and confidence with the English language.

Converse with a native speaker:

One of the very best ways to learn English well and to hasten the rate at which you progress with the English language is to engage in conversation with a native speaker.

Talking to someone who confidently and accurately knows the language will assist you to not only practice what you have learnt in your English course, but will also provide you with an opportunity to hear how a fluent speaker uses the language. It is also likely that you will pick up a number of new phrases, words and expressions and will have the opportunity to extend your vocabulary.

Read a range of English texts:

While a course textbook can provide you with useful examples and guidance that help you to learn English, you should not limit yourself to only this text. A huge range of interesting texts are available online and in hard copy that are not only interesting but pitched at a level that is accessible to you, depending on your current level of mastery and confidence.

Watch and listen to the television:

One appropriate way to hear good English is to switch on your television and listen to a channel in which English is spoken. While some programs do feature slang and some English expressions which are possibly confusing to people who do not speak English as their first language, watching and listening to the television enables you to hear many sentences spoken in perfect English. Hearing English spoken this way will help you to feel more confident with pronunciation and expression.

Write about things that you care about and are interested in:

Written skill and expression is a component of many English courses. Generally, the teacher will set a topic and students will spend hours and much effort preparing their response.

This is fine and often a good way for a student’s command of the language and progress to be measured but developing a written response can be challenging when the topic may be something in which the student has little knowledge or interest.

If you take the initiative to write about things that interest you and things that you care about, your ability to accurately use the English language is bound to improve. You will probably also find the process of writing more enjoyable and will perhaps feel more motivated to learn and use new linguistic features when you are writing about a topic of personal interest.

Undertaking an English course is vitally important if you are to learn English fluently, accurately and effectively. There are a number of additional things that you can do to enhance your learning and give you greater confidence in the way that you speak and write in English; many of these are accessible and inexpensive but will make a difference to the way that you learn English.