Here’s what IH teachers suggest
students do to improve their English.

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PRONUNCIATION

• Sing along with your favourite songs (remember to download lyrics from the Internet)
• Record your own voice and listen. Compare your pronunciation with that of the speaker.
• Practise saying tongue twisters, limericks, chants
• Stand in front of the mirror and say the targeted sound
• Learn poems in English
• Practise shadow reading – read a text out loud together with the speaker
• Try saying rhymes etc. with hazelnuts in your mouth
• When you listen to audiobooks, your Workbook CDs, radio programmes or watch films in English, quietly repeat words and phrases that you hear. Remember to focus on individual sounds, ways of connecting them and intonation.
• Say one sentence in different ways: as if you are tired, happy, sad, angry, etc.
• Watch ‘Educating Rita’.
• Use good pronunciation courses, such as ‘Ship or Sheep’, ‘Tree or Three’, ‘English Pronunciation in Use’.
• Learn to use the Phonetic Script. Remember to check pronunciation in dictionaries and record it in your vocabulary books.

 

LISTENING

• Listen as much as possible – to songs, audio books, BBC news, radio, podcasts on the Internet or even maybe overhear native speakers in a cafe J. Watch films (subtitled for lower levels), TV series (e.g. Hallmark channel), cartoons (excellent for practising to understand children speaking), news and other programmes in English.  
• It’s ok that you won’t understand everything 100%. It’s important that you practise and understand something! This is a road to understanding everything!
• Set yourself a listening task, e.g. to understand 10 words after 1 minute of listening or to understand the general idea and then check yourself with the tapescript if available.
• Even if you don’t understand a lot of the text, don’t give up listening, struggle to understand more!
• While listening to songs, write down the lyrics you hear and then check them online.
• Write personalised dictations, use any recorded text available! Listen to the text as many times as needed. Remember to check with the tapescript.
• Speak English on the phone with your friends. This will also give you an opportunity to practise your speaking as well as quite a challenging way of listening.

 

READING

• Read. Read books, both in the original if your level allows or graded books, newspapers, magazines, Internet news and other internet texts according to your interests.
• Set yourself a pre-reading task, e.g. look at the cover of the book, read the title and think (in EnglishJ) what it’s about. Then read and check yourself.
• Some Internet articles have both English and Russian versions. Read the English one first and then check your understanding in the Russian one. Remember they won’t translate word by word, but will have the same message.
• If a CD is available, read and listen and the same time. This way you won’t be tempted to look up every unknown word you come across. Also, this will help your reading pace.
• Set yourself a reasonable time limit to improve you reading speed.
• Do not translate every word you don’t know. It’s important to learn to understand a text without a few unknown words. If you want to, you can look them up in your dictionary and record in your vocabulary book after you finish reading a piece of text.
• After you read a text, find all the topical vocabulary in it. For example, if the text is about family, underline all the words connected to the topic, e.g. mother, brother, relatives, etc.
• After you read a text, look at the grammar used, e.g. tenses, articles, etc.
• Make it your rule: to read for 30 minutes every day!
• Manuals often have English versions. Read those (providing you already know how to use the device J)
• Get yourself a pen/email friend. This way you will also practise writing.

 

SPEAKING

• Chat online (Skype, facebook, etc.). Even though you write there, this is your spoken language written!
• Go out with your English group and speak English.
• Sign up for IH Speaking Club
• Smile J when you speak
• Talk to your pets and family in English.
• If you have no one to talk to – talk to yourself. Describe every action you do during the day. Say how you feel, what you see, etc. Check whether you can name all the things, objects you see on your way.
• Try not to build your sentences like in your native language when you speak English.
• When you travel abroad, talk to strangers. Dog owners are a good choice! J
• Repeat what you hear in English as much as you can
• Learn and recite poems in English
• When you speak, forget about mistakes. As long as you are understood, you are fine!
• When listening to native speakers, note down words/phrases they use. When you speak, try to use them yourself
• Say what you think in English.
• Marry a native speaker J
• Read a chapter/page from a book. Close it and retell the story from the viewpoint of the author/each character involved.  Remember to express your own opinion on what you’ve read.

 

GRAMMAR

• Remember that grammar reference sections at the back of the book give additional grammar exercises. Make use of them regularly.
• When you read books, notice grammar structures. Use them as real examples of the language you study in classroom.
• Some graded readers provide grammar exercises at the end of the book.
• When you write, don’t rely on simple language. Try to use more complicated structures you’ve learnt in class.
• Keep a grammar diary: every day write a paragraph using the grammar you’ve learnt.
• Keep a diary where you write what happened during the day, what you’re planning to do, what you think. Remember, when you write you practise grammar a lot.
• Internet ESL/EFL websites are full of fun practice exercises and self-check grammar tests.  Identify your problem areas, google them and enjoy practising English grammar J
• Stretch yourself more; when you’ve made an error, research it rather than rely on your teacher.
• Marry R. Murphy
• Use grammar books of your level. The best option would be a book with grammar reference, exercises and answers.
• Practise ‘there is/are…’ on your way to work, e.g. ‘There’s a book shop next to the white building’.

 

WRITING

• Write in English every day. This can be:
  •  your weekly plans
  • letters and emails to your friends and family
  • postcards
  • poems
  • personal Internet blogs
  • text messages
  • diary entries
  • summary of each chapter from the book you’re reading, even when it’s in Russian! Add
  • Articles for a student magazine run with other interested members of your class or school
  • Skype, Icq, Facebook chat
  • Reviews of a CD/DVD you’ve just watched/listened to. Give it to your classmates to read.
  • Personalised dictation: listen and write down what you hear. Use any recorded texts. Allow yourself to listen to the text a few times and compare your version with the tapescript.
  • Shopping lists
  • Descriptions of people you know
• Before you write long texts, organise your ideas, e.g. in a mindmap.
• Research how different types of texts are organised and apply this knowledge when you write.
• Memorise fixed expressions and use them in your writing. This strategy is especially effective with letter writing.
• Remember to use linkers, so that your texts are easy to read.
• Make it a habit to proofread your writing.

 

VOCABULARY

• Carry with you a set of personalised vocabulary cards, e.g. phrasal verbs and revise the words at any moment
• At work and at home, stick post-it notes with names of objects. This can also be any vocabulary you wish to learn
• Some learners find it easier to learn vocabulary if they make illustrative drawings.
• When outside, mentally name as many things as you can
• Whenever you read or listen to English, note down words you would like to use.
• Some electronic dictionaries have an option when you can type the words you want to learn and they keep coming up on your screen every so often
• Make mindmaps. They help remember words in groups.
• When you record new words, write them in collocations, i.e. together with other words they are used with or sentences with this word.
• Internet is full of vocabulary tests. Make use of them.
• Enjoy real paper monolingual dictionaries of your level. Not only do they explain words, but also they provide good real examples of sentences with these words.
• ‘Word of the day’. You can use Internet sites or make it a habit to learn one new word a day.
• Write using the words you’ve learnt. This will help you remember them better.