Nowadays it is possible to learn English at home and at this difficult time, it is a good idea to use your time to learn English and make a study plan and stick to it.
The first thing you need to do is to think about your own level of English and your strengths and weaknesses. Maybe you are good at grammar but your speaking skills are not very good. Then you need to make a personalized study plan so that you practice your speaking skills more. Your English level depends on how much study and practice YOU do.
Just to help you here is a plan to help you get started. Take this plan as a guide and use it to study.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Writing Chose a writing lesson from British Council and do it. Use Notion AI to check and improve your writing |
Speaking Take a $1 minute class with British Council. Sign up for classes every week or if you have no money find a language partner. |
Grammar + Vocabulary Choose a grammar topic from Exam English and study it. Review the new words from the week and check that you can use them
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16 ways to learn English at home
There are so many things you can do to learn English at home. Here is my list of things you can do to improve your English.
Take an online English class
Online English classes are a great way to practice your speaking and listening skills. The British Council and Italki are the best websites to take a class in English. You can have a call with a native English teacher and schedule an hour to have a conversation. This is a great way to practice real English conversations at home. If you don’t understand some grammar topic or new vocabulary, then you can ask your teacher to explain it to you.
Read an English book
Reading in English is a great way to increase your vocabulary and improve your comprehension in English. You should always choose a short book to keep your interest and motivation because it is difficult to read a long book. If you have a high level of English, then you can read the classics in English for free here.
Watch T.V/Movies
Watching T.V is a popular way to improve your listening and even to improve your vocabulary. Watching T.V can be useful for learning in 2 ways. The first way is to use it as part of your study. That means you take a video and watch it slowly and try to understand every single word with the subtitles and write down the new vocabulary. The second way (and most common probably!) is to watch T.V passively. This is not as effective but is still good to do if you are too tired to study. If you have Netflix, then look at my article about the best tv shows to learn English on Netflix.
Watch English lessons on Youtube
Youtube is a great resource to learn English on Youtube. I post One Minute English videos on Youtube and teach grammar too. But the best youtube channel to learn English, in my opinion, is EngVID. They have so many great English videos from around 15 different English teachers.
Listen to the radio
Nowadays with the internet, you can listen to radio stations from all around the world. I use the app TuneInRadio to listen to Irish radio because I am from Ireland. You can find radio stations from all around the world and about whatever topic you are interested in. This is great if you are traveling to a city and you want to practice listening to the accent.
Listen to a podcast
Listen to a podcast is a great way to improve your listening skills and also learn new grammar and vocabulary. They are a great way to take a break from studying on a computer and you can just lie on your bed and practice English. I wrote an article about the best podcasts to learn English on Spotify.
Listen to music with Lyrics training
Music is a great way to practice learning English. There is so much great music in English and you can use lyricstraining.com to listen to music and improve your English at the same time. This is a listening for detail exercise which is great practice for the students who can understand about 70% of English and want to understand everything.
Study grammar
Oh yes, of course! Study grammar. I actually find studying grammar to be very interesting and being at home is the best place to study grammar. You can find a grammar book (I recommend “English Grammar in Use”) or find resources online.
My advice for studying grammar at home
Step 1 Find your level
Step 2 Use the list of grammar topics for your level on Exam English
Step 3 Chose one topic per day and use ExamEnglish and MyEnglishPages for more practice.
Use apps to learn more vocabulary
Duolingo, Babbel, Memrise, and Busuu are all free apps that you can use to learn English. These apps are good to learn vocabulary and Busuu is my personal favourite because they have a nice variety of lessons.
Take an online English course
Online English courses are a great way to learn English in a structured way. Espresso English courses are some of the best courses online and you can study these courses at your own pace.
Write a diary in English
Writing a diary is a great way to practice English and to improve your writing skills in English. It is easy. Just write down your thoughts every morning in English. This will help you to think in English and improve your fluency in English. Don’t worry about making mistakes. If you want someone to check your writing, you can signup to Italki and write in the “Notebooks” section. Writing your thoughts down on paper is also great for your mental health.
Write in a Forum
Forums are a great place to go if you have questions about learning English. My favorite forums to learn English are Reddit and Word Reference. Reddit is great if you have a grammar question or a question about learning English in general. Word reference is excellent if you are not sure how to use a specific word.
Play video games in English
Video games are a great way to learn English and it is easier than ever to join a game and play over the internet. You can start watching some games on Twitch Tv and see what games you like. Many games include a way to communicate with your opponent. This is such a great way to speak natural English and have fun at the same time.
Learn something through English (musical instrument, new skills)
This is my favorite way to practice foreign languages. I have learned songs from Brazil and Mexico and France to improve my guitar and singing ability and also my language skills. It is great fun. If you don’t like music you can try and find a traditional recipe and follow the instructions in English and cook the meal yourself(try “boxty” from Ireland!). You can also try doing a workout in English or learning how to code.
Find a language partner
A language partner is a great way to learn about the culture that you are interested in and also practice English and teach and share your own culture. Take a look at my post about the best ways to practice speaking English online and I give many options to find a language partner online.
Name things around your house
This is a way that you can improve your vocabulary. Get a packet of sticky notes and write the names of all the objects in your house and stick a sticky note on them with their names in English.
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