Every person has his or her own way of learning English, and while a lot of people believe that you need to live in a foreign country, have close foreign friends, or spend long nights buried in a boring grammar book to master English, this simply isn���t true. In fact, you can become a very successful learner of English if you simply put in the time, effort, and follow some basic rules. Keep in mind that everyone has their own preferred way of learning, but whether you are a visual, auditory, analytic, or interactive learner, below are some simple tips that anyone can use to improve their English.


1. Don���t be Afraid of Making Mistakes.

When you are learning and using English, don���t worry about making mistakes. The chances are you will always make small mistakes when speaking a foreign language. The important thing is to learn from the errors you make. This is especially crucial in regards to speaking, as students are often too shy or insecure with their speaking ability. Be confident and simply try your best because if you don���t even try, you���ve already failed yourself and are only holding yourself back.


2. Practice Makes Perfect

One of the most important tips I have for English learners is to make it a part of their everyday lives. It is only through repetition and practice that one is able to apply what they have learned, hone their skills, and continue contributing to their skill set. An excellent way to go about this is to simply talk with your teachers, family or friends in English daily, even if only for a short period of time.


3. Get Connected

The Internet has quickly become one of the best tools for English learners as it has brought a huge range of benefits. With just a few clicks, one can find great sites for practicing grammar, vocabulary, listening, and pronunciation and now, most importantly of all, speaking. Social networking sites such as Facebook are ideal for meeting and interacting with native English speakers and meeting a potential pen-pal. I especially recommend using Skype, which allows one to video chat with people from the safety and privacy of your own home.


4. Read, Read, and Read

Reading; probably one of the most underrated yet readily available ways to drastically improve your English. Your medium of choice is not important; books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and so forth are all useful in helping your improve. Reading allows you to learn common phrases and idioms that are frequently used, expand your vocabulary, view grammar schemes in practice, and study proper sentence structure.


5. Television, Movies and Music

The final tip to be discussed in this article is about movies, television and music. These media allow the learner to see and hear contemporary English being used outside of a classroom setting. In regards television and movies, I recommend downloading the subtitles in English and reading along as you watch. Also, be sure to pause and rewind segments that you find difficult, and repeat and practice common or interesting phrases. For music, I suggest first listening to songs and trying to guess the lyrics. Next, download the song lyrics and evaluate how well you did. Lastly, sing along with the song using the downloaded lyrics and focus on your pronunciation. This is an excellent way to test yourself and keep track of your improvement.

I hope that you will employ some of these techniques and find them useful in improving your English ability. I also want to reiterate that I strongly believe that everyone has his or her own best way of learning, and should focus on whichever methods work best for them. Good luck!

Professor Gregory Jones
Kyungil English Department