“Why is English important in our life?” Before proceeding with this question I have a question to ask and that is, “Is English really important to learn?” And the answer to it is undoubtedly “YES”. At present, English is among the top spoken languages worldwide.
English is not a language just to copy and paste the vocabulary from the dictionary, it’s actually fun, it has emotions, expressions and is the best coupon to use when you meet other people around the world. Learning English can be a key to numerous doors in your career and will open up a wide area for the exposure. English is not only important for students only, but English is also important for working professionals too.
It’s a fact, learning English can help you to explore and connect with new people, not just in some specific area or place but around the world. It can add new exposures and experiences to your life. As it is widely said, always remember to carry your passport, visa and a good knowledge of English with you while going on a foreign trip.
If you dream of visiting several countries around the world or wish to settle in a foreign country, it is needless to say that learning English may give you a good start. Even if you don’t travel to any of the foreign countries but still with your English speaking skills you can connect to various people on social media from around the world.
Personal growth
Let me begin with a very relevant example here: when you visit a ravishing hotel or restaurant and the waiter or waitress greets you in English or when you see your colleagues at office getting high increments and promotions because of being confident and fluent at spoken English during their presentations. At this point of time, you realise the real importance of English and how important it is to speak English fluently. Eventually you will work on your personal growth of spoken English skills.
Interviews and competitions-
Moving on, English gives a good impression of yours in interviews. And ignoring the language may affect your chances of selection. Learning the English language can surely boost your career growth as well. And not just interviews, you have a world outside to compete with. You have to set high standards for yourself in the world and English might be the first step to cover your high standards.
Day to day usage-
You may notice English is widely used and spoken in your surroundings in your day to day life. The menu at the cafes are mostly in English, schools are now charging fines from the students for not speaking in English, there are more numbers of English contents of English than of our native languages over the internet. Eventually, we can observe English evolving daily.
How to Practise Speaking English?
Quoting a very famous quote of English here, “Practice makes a man perfect”. And it has been scientifically proven that practice is the only way to learn any language easily and faster. Now a question comes how to practise English speaking because that’ll take so much of your time in English coaching classes or how you will find the right person to speak with or who can correct your errors. Well this is what the Experts of EngVarta do.
EngVarta is an online English learning app that connects the English learners with the English experts over a phone call. Here you are free to make English errors and speak English with your heart. No one is going to judge you. Here the experts will provide you with the necessary feedback. It aims to build confidence and fluency in spoken English.
English has become a way of living life. It has become dynamic & is constantly evolving. Eventually, learning spoken English is very important in our lives.
In this article, you will get all the resources you need for reading, watching, and practicing English.
The easiest way to improve your confidence when speaking English is to get more practice.
If you have people around you with whom you can talk in English, it is the best way to improve your English. But if you don’t, you can use mobile applications to improve your English speaking through real-life conversations.
Practice spoken English daily on this English practice app
EngVarta is an English practice app that helps you to improve your spoken English. You can book a call with an English expert any time of day for 15 minutes to 60 minutes anytime from 7:00 to midnight 12. You can speak on any random topic of your choice, or on a topic specific to one of your goals like clearing the IELTS or getting ready for an upcoming job interview. At the end of the call, the English expert gives you constructive feedback on any mistakes you made.
Best English reading resources to improve your English
Online newspapers
This is another useful resource because it allows you to read articles written by native English speakers on various topics.
Here is a list of online Indian newspapers that you can check out:
If you want to learn English, Reddit can be your best friend. This site is full of people who are eager to help each other and share their knowledge. Here are some tips on how to use Reddit for learning English:
Find new books to read. A good place to start is r/books or r/bookrecommendations. You can search these subreddits for titles or authors you’re interested in reading. Or if you want something a little more off the beaten path, try looking for “weird books” or “lost classics” in r/booksuggestions.
Learn about different genres of literature by browsing through the various subreddit categories; for example, r/fiction contains discussions about what constitutes literary fiction versus genre fiction like fantasy or science fiction.
Ask questions about popular books. If you’re not sure how much time it will take to finish a book or whether you should buy it at all first, ask others for their opinions on the book by posting a question on r/booksuggestions or r/booksm
Free/ Paid online e-books
The Internet is full of websites that offer book downloads and reading material. Many of these sites have thousands of titles available for free, so you’ll always be able to find something interesting to read. Here are some great places to start:
Feedbooks: A website that offers over 25,000 free books available for download in various formats including PDF and EPUB.
ManyBooks: A website with over 11,000 free classics and contemporary titles available for download in multiple formats including EPUB and MOBI (Kindle).
Open Library: An open-source electronic catalog of free e-books available for download, founded by the Internet Archive and Google Inc.
Bookrix: A website that offers 50,000 free books available for download in multiple formats including EPUB and MOBI (Kindle).
Other stuff for improving your English
Common Sense Media: This website offers reviews of movies and TV shows, as well as books and games. You can search by age or by title
Reader’s Digest: The venerable magazine is now available online. It offers some free articles, but you’ll need to subscribe if you want access to all the content.
The British Council: This website provides information about British culture and society, including current events and politics, business opportunities, and international education.
Dictionary.com: This site offers an extensive dictionary with definitions, synonyms, and pronunciation guides for many words in many languages — including English!
BBC Learn English – This is a great website for listening practice, reading comprehension, and grammar explanations. There are also some excellent videos on slang and idioms.
Online dictionaries – There are lots of online dictionaries available that can help you improve your vocabulary and understand new words in context. Here’s one site I like: Oxford University Press Online Dictionary
Watch these English content to improve your English
Learn English with Tv series (Netflix or Amazon Prime)
It’s fun and easy. You can watch the show with subtitles, or without them. If you’re watching without subtitles, then you should try to pay attention to every word that you don’t understand, and look up its meaning later on in an online dictionary such as Merriam Webster.
Friends.
How I Met Your Mother.
The Big Bang Theory.
The office.
Breaking Bad.
Friends from College.
Gilmore Girls.
EngVarta Youtube channel – Engvarta youtube channel has lessons from grammar to daily life English conversation phrases. It provides weekly videos on all topics that are important for you to speak fluent English.
TED Talks Official – TED talks are the best when it comes to learning new things and improving your vocabulary. They’re usually short, interesting, and educational so they are perfect for language learners.
BBC Learning – This channel contains many different video series about different topics that will help you improve your listening skills in no time! There are also some videos on grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary-related topics which is great if you want to learn more but don’t know where to start.
FluentU – FluentU takes real-world videos — like movie trailers, music videos, news, and inspiring talks — and turns them into personalized language lessons. It also provides learning tools like interactive subtitles, flashcards, and more!
Please don’t panic; I’m not going to ask you to pack your bags and fly over to the United States.
This is simple — the best way to learn English is right in front of your eyes.
There are many ways that you can learn English. You could attend classes at an English school, read books, use audio and video courses, or learn from a friend. But you want to improve your English quickly, and your friends have told you that the best way to do so is to watch English movies.
But this is one of the most simple and direct ways of giving a process of learning and improving English.
Analyze the problem
If you want to learn a language, you have to be able to speak it. That’s obvious.
And yet, if you’re like most people, your main goal with English is probably not speaking it at all.
You may want to be able to read books or watch movies in English, or maybe even write an email or document once in a while. But do you really want to speak in English?
Do you want to be able to carry on conversations with people who aren’t aware that you’re not confident in that language? If so, why are you doing activities that involve no conversations?
In my experience as an ESL instructor, there are two main reasons you are not able to speak or improve your English :
1) You don’t have the right environment to start or practice English ;
2) You are afraid of making mistakes when they speak.
If you want to learn English, the first thing you need to do is analyze your situation.
If you already speak English, then you may want to analyze your level and see what kind of improvement you need. If you don’t speak English, then you need to analyze how much time and effort you are willing to put into learning it.
After analyzing your goals and level, analyze the language.
You may be surprised at what you find!
For example, do you know there are different ways in which you can express the same thing?
Let’s say you want to talk about time.
The most common way of expressing time and space in English is using prepositions like “at,” “on,” “in” or “by.”
But there are also other ways of speaking about these concepts. For example, there’s a difference between saying “I’m going to the airport” versus “I’m going to fly out.”
Instead of saying, “I was at work yesterday,” you could say, “I went to work yesterday.
Instead of saying, “I live in New York City,” you could say, “I reside in New York City.”
As you can see, these subtle differences make it easier for native speakers to communicate with each other because they don’t have to rely on specific words or phrases every time they want to describe something. And you as an English learner, don’t have to stress about rules and speaking. You can choose from what’s making your life easier.
Practice Consistently
Learning a new language is a lot like learning a new sport. You need to practice, practice, practice!
The second step is to practice speaking English in an environment where you feel comfortable. You can use language learning apps or websites like Duolingo or Babbel. These sites are good at teaching the basics of English, but they are not as effective at helping you improve your fluency.
The best way to practice speaking English is by having real conversations with people who speak English.. If you live in a country where there is no environment then joining a practice session can be a great idea.
The second way is to practice speaking English in an environment where you feel comfortable.
For example, if you’re learning English, try to make friends with someone who speaks English and wants to improve their English skills. If that’s not possible for you, try watching movies in English with subtitles and then watch them again without subtitles. The more often you listen to the sounds of words and sentences without needing visual cues from subtitles, the easier it will become for you to understand spoken English and speak it yourself!
Integrate what you have learned
When you’re learning a language, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details of grammar and pronunciation. But the real goal is to be able to use the language — to understand native speakers and speak with them fluently.
In order for this to happen, you must practice speaking. You don’t have to go out and find strangers who speak English; just find one or two friends or family members who are willing to help you practice (and who will correct your mistakes). It’s even better if they’re bilingual so that they can provide more detailed feedback about what you’re saying wrong.
Make sure that you’re using the new skills you’ve learned in real-world situations as much as possible. For example, if you’re trying to learn how to say “I’m hungry,” try saying it while at a restaurant or grocery store with someone else who knows English well enough to understand what you mean. Then see if they understand what you mean without having them explain it first! This will help make sure that your new words actually come out of your mouth when needed — something that’s often forgotten when practicing alone
Conclusion
I hope that this blog was able to provide you with some insights into how you learn English fast. With that, I wish you the best of luck in your studies!
Start practicing English using the best English learning websites and English Learning apps
In this guide, you will find some of the best resources, websites, and apps that are essential for learning or practicing English irrespective of your level of English proficiency.
Starting from learning grammar to practicing conversation daily, you can use these websites and apps without any second thought.
Practice English with fun activities
It can be difficult to find activities for ESL students, but the internet is full of ideas and materials that can help you get started.
If you’re looking for activities for ESL students, try these websites:
A free online website that provides vocabulary puzzles, grammar quizzes, crossword quizzes, and youtube lessons for ESL students.
BBC Skillwise – BBC Skillswise literacy website has plenty of free games for English learners. Ideal for adult learners, there is an engaging game for everything from word games to those that practice punctuation and pronunciation.
ESL Games World – This website offers free games for practicing English, which are aimed at young learners. The games can be used at any age, and there are fun classroom tools for teachers as well.
Duolingo’s Daily Quiz — This is a fun way to test yourself on the Spanish you’ve learned. You’ll get an explanation if you get something wrong, so it’s great for beginners!
Duolingo’s Challenge Me Section — The challenge me section has lots of different exercises that will help you improve your skills. Make sure to check it out when you’re ready for more advanced material!
Duolingo’s Deck of Cards — This deck of cards is a fun way to learn Spanish vocabulary words and phrases. You can choose from different topics (animals, food, etc.), which makes it interesting and helps you remember what you’ve learned!
Brush up your grammar basics using these websites and apps
Grammar rules can be difficult to remember but if you know them well enough, they will be easier to use in real-life situations. It’s best to start with the basics of each part of a sentence first before moving on to more complicated concepts like verb tenses and sentence structure.
I’ve listed down some sites & apps that will help your grammar knowledge in an interesting manner.
Grammarly handbook by Grammarly is a concise, gentle, and rather short guide to Grammar. It’s meant for those who’d like to improve their grammar skills or simply refresh the knowledge they already have.
The author assumes that you have little or zero experience in grammar and therefore, it’s probably a good idea to start here with learning if you don’t have any other resources for that.
This free app is an easy way to learn grammar and different ways to say the same thing.
The app has hundreds of exercises, so it’s easy to find something that suits your needs. There are also some fun games like hangman, word search, and crossword puzzles. The app is available for both Android and iOS devices.
The British Council website is a great place to start learning grammar.
The website has a lot of information about the different parts of speech and how they work. It also has lots of exercises that help you learn how to use them correctly.
You can start by learning about nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. You can also learn how to use prepositions and conjunctions.
My English pages is a great tool to help you learn grammar. It gives you the opportunity to do self-study and improve your skills in a fun and interactive way.
The site has several grammar levels that start from beginner level and go up to advanced level. The lessons are easy to follow and include many exercises that allow you to practice what you’ve learned.
There are also videos and audio files for each lesson, so you can listen, read and speak at the same time.
Once you’ve finished a module, there’s a test that will help you check your understanding of the material.
The Grammar Monster is a free website that helps you learn English grammar. It’s easy, fun, and free!
This site offers free exercises, games, and quizzes for all levels of English language learners. The Grammar Monster will help you learn about the most important grammar rules and improve your writing skills.
Grammar Monster’s lessons are suitable for both adults and children. They are also great tools for teachers who want to use interactive material in their classes.
5mins English.com has interactive online lessons that help you learn basic grammar rules in a simple, easy, and effective way. Our lessons give you opportunities to listen, speak and write so that you can build your vocabulary, improve your pronunciation and get more confident with English conversation skills.
Each lesson has a video clip that explains a grammar rule in simple terms. You’ll also find a text box where you can type in an example sentence as well as check your answers against our answer key at the end of each lesson.
Practice pronunciation using these apps and websites
Elsa Speak is a fun little app that lets you practice your pronunciation in English. The app is based on the phonetic alphabet, which is a way of representing the sounds of the letters in a language. It’s used by linguists and teachers to help people learn how to pronounce words.
The app has three different modes: practice, test, and quiz. In practice mode, you can listen to each sound of the alphabet (there are 26 of them) and repeat it back as many times as you want.
It’s like having an English teacher standing next to you saying “Say it again!” except you don’t have to pay them anything!
Talk English is a great place to practice your English pronunciation. There are many lessons that are designed to help you improve your accent and learn the correct way to pronounce English words.
The lessons on this site are broken into small sections so you can do them at your own pace, which makes them ideal for kids or people who have trouble learning new things quickly. The first lesson is free, but most of the rest require you to pay for them.
Talk English also has a podcast where you can listen to native speakers speak in their normal voices about different topics such as culture, travel, and food. This is a great way to practice listening skills and get used to hearing native speakers talk.
You can also use this site if you want more practice with speaking rather than just reading or writing English.
LearnEnglish Sounds Right is an online English pronunciation course that teaches you how to pronounce words correctly. With this app, you can learn how to say words in British English, American English, and Australian English.
You start by watching videos that teach you about phonemes (the sounds that makeup speech). Then, you can practice your skills by listening to recordings of native speakers saying words with different sounds in them.
The app also gives you tips on how to improve your pronunciations based on the feedback from its system’s analysis of your voice recording(s).
Engvarta has its own vocabulary series where they deliver three words daily to your mail account. You get the three words along with their meaning, their pronunciation, and sentence formation. It’s quite a handy way. You don’t have to look for words and will work like your morning lesson doze.
To get daily words, you need to install the Engvarta app and subscribe to the daily Vocabulary series in the menu.
Vocabulary.com is a free online vocabulary learning site. You can choose from a wide variety of topics, including science and business. The site also has games and flashcards, which are great for learning new words and practicing your existing vocabulary.
Easy Notecards is a free, easy-to-use tool for learning new words and definitions. The program creates flashcards with the word on one side and its definition on the other. It’s simple to use, and you can even create your own flashcards with words you want to learn.
Finally: Speaking Practice
If you’re a beginner, practicing English conversation is an excellent way to improve your pronunciation and speaking skills. You can do this by having a conversation with yourself in the mirror or with a friend or family member who knows English well.
If you’re nervous about speaking in front of people, try talking on the phone or use an app for practicing.
Remember that practicing English conversation doesn’t have to be stressful — it should be fun!
This is the reason Engvarta has successfully built an English learning environment where you can practice real-life conversations sitting from the comfort of your home.
Whether you’re a student or a working professional, you can pick any time of day for your daily practice.
Before you start practicing, Engvarta makes sure that each and every step helps you reach your goal. Your goals such as clearing IELTS, becoming an exceptional public speaker, and attending meetings without fear of English speaking or cracking interviews.
After every session, you get a recording of your previous conversation, so that you can listen to the feedback again and identify the corrections that you need to make. On completing 10 hours of practice, students are awarded a certificate of completion.
I hope this article helped you. Give your suggestions for other English learning apps and websites so that they can help others too.
Learning English can be difficult, but don’t give up! With enough practice and the right resources, you can start speaking English confidently. If you want to improve your English skills, there are several steps you can take to get started. The best way to learn a language is to build a habit. When you do something as a part of the habit, it doesn’t stay as a task.
There are 10 things that you can do to learn English every day is :
Improve English with authentic videos
Get a fun English app on your phone
Have an English learning partner
Track your progress
Learn interesting English words
Listen to a podcast or an audiobook
Use flashcards to improve vocabulary
Sing English songs
Describe pictures
Pronunciation exercises
Improve English with authentic videos
You’ve probably heard that watching movies in English with subtitles is a great way to improve your listening skills. But what about watching videos? Videos are actually even better than movies for improving your listening skills. You don’t have to spend more than 15 minutes, They are easier and more fun to understand because they’re shorter and more conversational. In videos, you learn expressions that you don’t find in books. You learn about real people, real situations and by watching videos, you also make an attempt to speak like them.
You can learn casual English through funny clips, music videos, inspirational talks, and many more.
You want to learn English, but having the right resource at the right time is always a problem.
Having a handy, well-featured pack app can help you save a lot of time and work on your English anytime and anywhere. There are several English learning apps for almost everything, like vocabulary building, grammar practice, pronunciation, and speaking practice. You can go from free apps to paid apps according to what you want to focus on.
Have an English learning partner
You do everything in your hand to improve your English. Starting from learning grammar rules and memorizing vocabulary, what you don’t focus on is speaking English every day. Especially with someone who can speak English.
This is just like you want to swim. You know the diving rules but you never actually went into the water. It is important that you take help from English learning partners who can help you to speak in English on a daily basis.
Engvarta is a platform where you can practice English with live English Experts daily. Maybe it is your next interview or you want to excel in your communication skills irrespective of your English level.
Track your progress
You are putting in your efforts every day. It is important to know what method is bearing results and what is not. Tracking your English improvement is an important part of your daily habit.
Check this video to know how you can track the progress of your English speaking skills
Learning interesting English words can improve your vocabulary and help you express more ideas. It can also make you more knowledgeable in everyday conversation, and people will be impressed by your larger vocabulary.
There are many ways to learn new words. One way is to read a lot. When you come across a word that you’re not familiar with, write it down and look it up when you’re done reading for the day.
Another way to learn new words is to carry a small notebook around with you and write down new words as you think of them or hear them throughout the day.
You can also find lists of new words online and study them when you have time. You could even study with a friend, test each other on the words, and play games like hangman or charades to practice using the words together.
Listen to a podcast or an audiobook
This is a pretty simple way to improve your English, especially when you’re on the go. You can listen to these things while you’re driving, taking the train to work, or doing housework.
One of my favorite podcasts is “The Allusionist”. It’s about language and words that we use every day.
You can use online flashcard sets or create your own. Either way, you should start by reviewing just a few cards at a time. If you’re making your own cards, choose words that you hear or read frequently but don’t know what they mean; also include words that have subtle meanings that you need to understand to use them correctly. Look up the definition of the word and write it on one side of the card. On the other side, write a sentence that uses the word correctly.
Start out by reviewing just a few cards every day, then add more as you’re able to master them. That way, you won’t get overwhelmed by trying to remember too many words at once. Repeat this process until you’ve mastered all of your vocabulary flashcards!
Sing English songs
One of the best ways to improve your English is to sing along to songs. It’s a fun way to learn new words and phrases, and the repetitive nature of the lyrics will help you memorize them.
You’ll also get more comfortable with English pronunciation, which will help you speak English more fluently and confidently. When you sing along with songs, you’ll learn how to properly pronounce words and stress syllables in sentences, as well as learn new intonation patterns.
The best songs for learning are ones that are popular right now, since they have a lot of exposure and can help you understand conversation topics. They also tend to have a lot of repetition, so they’re easy to pick up quickly.
Pronunciation exercises
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect (“correct pronunciation”) or simply the way a particular individual speaks a word or language.
Conclusion
The more you use these techniques, the better a speaker you will become. You can even practice using them in the foreign language that you work in to get a feel for the phrasing and intonations of your target language with native speakers. Gardening is one of the best ways to learn English because it’s a flexible hobby that won’t require huge time commitments from you. Just make sure to have a lot of fun and practice these important skills.
Nowadays, English has become the lingua franca for almost everywhere. If you are seeking a job, you will notice that a good command of English will make you more competitive among other candidates.
If you are applying for overseas education or want to study or work overseas, you need to know that your language level is pretty decent.
Therefore, it is no wonder you will find many people learning English who are non-native speakers.
Pursuing English study is not a new thing in the universe, however, with the emergence of technology, English learning has changed a lot.
This blog is for someone who is an absolute beginner at English learning.
Learning English can seem like a very difficult process for a beginner, especially if you don’t know where to start; particularly with the limited time that you have. It’s important to remember that being able to use English well doesn’t just come from learning grammar; you need to have a good level of comprehension and also be able to express yourself in English.
Though there are many websites and books that claim to be able to help you learn English faster, the fact is that it’s very hard to learn English, even if you are a native speaker of another language.
Here are 10 tips to help you improve your English if you are a beginner.
TIPS TO START LEARNING ENGLISH FROM ZERO
– MASTER BASICS FROM HOME FIRST
How does a child learn a language? He starts by imitating others and learning words from them. When you are a novice, more effort is required for staying motivated than just learning. During this stage, it is important that you start the process of learning by taking easy and smaller steps. Start by calling objects by their English names. Try learning and retaining more and more English words in a day. It doesn’t just have to be objects. You can start learning the vocabulary of feelings and expressions.
For example – If you’re feeling extremely happy at that moment. How will you express yourself?
You can say – I am happy. Or, you may say – I‘m on cloud’s nine. Google more, you will find 100 other ways of expressing happiness.
Start with the 100 most common words in English. This is how you begin the process of learning.
Now, the major roadblock here is – I can learn the vocabulary but I can I retain them.
The best way to retain the information is by practice. Practice saying it more than once to master it. Repeat and recall the words again and again. Phrasebooks or online learning tools are really helpful for the early phase.
MAKE A LEARNING GOAL
At the beginning of learning English, your goal could be to read a new phrase or learn words for introducing yourself. And as you keep on checking one goal, switch to other. Targeted and achievable goals will help you get actual results with focus and motivation. If you’re unsure about what to do next, hop on a call with a mentor or a teacher to assess your performance to point out what you need to work on next.
Remind yourself WHY do you want to learn the language. To keep the momentum, going, write down 10 reasons why you are learning English and stick it to the front desk.
FOLLOW DIFFERENT LEARNING METHODS.
Learning a language is often presented as a task with a one-size-fits-all approach. But it is not true at all. Your learning methods may be different from another. You may learn better when you hear people whereas your friend may learn better when he reads.
Initially, when you start learning a new language. Forget about fluency, focus more on enjoying the language and the people who speak the language and their culture.
Find all available learning resources and start experimenting :
Textbooks: Read for pleasure. Pick up books that are really easy to understand. The first book that you have ever finished in English will be the biggest achievement that you’ll remember for a long time.
All audio methods: like YouTube or podcasts.
A language tutor like EngVarta experts.
SPEAK THE LANGUAGE WITH ZERO ABILITY
You don’t know how to speak at all and still want to practice? Open a translating tool, type what you want to say, translate to the language you want to speak, try to say it to another person.
LEARN VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT
Association is the key to retaining new words. A great way to build vocabulary is to make sure that the list you’re learning comes from situations or texts that you’ve experienced yourself so that the content is always relevant and connects to the background experiences.
GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
Do you know, sometimes even English learners who were in an English-speaking environment for years are not able to speak English. The reason is that they are so comfortable with their native language that it is almost impossible for them to step out of their comfort zone. They don’t want to take a chance of making mistakes or getting embarrassed. So, they prefer to be on the safer side. But if you really want to speak English fluently one day, you must be ready to accept your flaws. Learning a language is just like learning any other skill. Someday you’ll fall, someday you’ll rise. Another day you will speak your best or the other day you will keep mum.
Every opportunity will be a learning one for you unless you are really dedicated.
THE NEED FOR A MENTOR
When you are on a way to achieving a really important goal, a good mentor is a blessing. Almost every person, needs guidance and direction to navigate the goal that we want to achieve. A personal mentor will not only help you academically but also help you to boost your morale. Be it be practicing English or finding a way to make your targets achievable, a mentor will be there to help you develop the skills of tackling problems that come while you learn English.
‘I AM NOT READY TO SPEAK YET’
The strategy of learning English only works if you speak that language. If you are able to spend 50% of your time in conversations. If you think you’re not ready to speak English yet, first you can focus on high listening comprehension. But don’t wait for too long to start your English speaking practice. Most people find it uncomfortable to speak English and avoid it. Don’t think you will wait until you’re ‘ready’
Going from zero to 100% will require preparation. Spending at least 30minutes in speaking English will help you learn English faster.
There’s no doubt that the major roadblock in practicing English is time. But EngVarta makes it possible for you to spare 15 – 60 minutes of the day and start your English practice with personalized topics according to your goal. They are not just experts in English but the right mentor for you who will help you with the right guidance.
This one-on-one English practice will help you to learn the art of conversation and they will help you move out of your comfort zone.
START YOUR ENGLISH PRACTICE WITH LIVE EXPERTS TODAY!
One habit every English learner must adopt is – Self Talk – it can be a great way to practice as well because for this you don’t need anyone and we all are continuously having chats with ourselves.
So how to do that?
First thing: You don’t have to be fluent to start speaking English to yourself. You don’t need to know a lot of words or grammar to start learning English?
Here’s how to start with Self Talk
First of all, talking to yourself means talking about what’s going on in your mind. You can do that almost anywhere when you are alone. Because self-talk in public is weird right? So, just find a place where no one can hear you and just start speaking.
Now, you may wonder – What should I speak?
My answer is – Anything that you love talking about.
Maybe your recent crush or your dream destination.
The beauty of self-talk is there are no dos and don’ts. You can be yourself and express your thoughts just the way you like in English.
Self-talk for beginners
If you are a beginner, the first thing you should do is train your mouth to produce the sound of your target language, i.e, English. You need to practice the pronunciation, the usage of common English words and learn to frame them into sentences.
Just like you did when you were a child. You imitated your parents and people around you and that’s how you picked up the language.
Right now, English words may sound unfamiliar to you, so the best way to get accustomed to the language is to watch and listen to people in English. And whatever you listen to, just repeat after them.
Once you can pronounce the sounds in that language you can take some time to look around yourself, like your apartment, your office, or places you visit, and just call out names in English that you see.
Another idea could be – Describe what you are doing right now? Are you working at your desk or are you gardening, cooking? Just elaborate on the activities that you are doing and speak it out.
If you want to talk about the past, you can speak about – How was your week and what are the things that you learned?
Or, if you want to talk about the future – You can just elaborate on your goals for the year or what you will do in the coming week.
The third way to do self-talk is to give yourself imaginable situations. Like how would you start a conversation if you have to order something? Or, how would you take an appointment in English? What would you do if you meet your favorite celebrity?
If you dedicate at least a few minutes to this activity every day, you’ll be able to take up a conversation in English with anyone even if you have fewer phrases and words. You’ll be able to pave new ways to learn English.
Self-talk for advanced learners
If you have words and phrases but you just need practice, narrating personal stories is the best way to do self-talk. Mark my words – the more real and emotional your story is, the faster you will be able to get words and phrases.
You can talk about –
One of the biggest achievements in your life
Who has inspired you most in your life?
What would you like to do if you get a fully paid 1-year leave?
When was the last time you met your cousins & what was it like?
If you could help someone today who would that be & what would you do?
Take up a situation where you wanted to win an argument but couldn’t. This is the best time for you to recreate that situation and think of an angle & vocabulary/phrases that could have helped you make your point better and potentially win that argument.
This will help you aim for two birds at the same time – Win an argument in English and enhance your English word bank too.
So, are you ready to take up the habit of self-talk? If you have any questions, ask me in comments below.
Sometimes when English learners practice English or when they speak in English, they feel they are not improving and this feeling discourages them to practice more English and achieve their goal of learning and speaking fluent English. So, why not create a method for yourself and track your progress in improving English on a weekly basis. The best part about this method is you can do it all by yourself.
If you are an English learner, and want to check whether your English is improving or not, watch the video and try this method out.
In this video :
Many English learners ask me this question –
How do I exactly know if my English is improving or not?
How do I measure my success when it comes to improving English? This topic often does not get any attention and due to that most learners give up in the middle of learning English because they feel that they are not improving or they can never do it.
Well! Let me tell you – Whether it is English or any other language that you are learning, it takes a lot of time and effort to actually notice any improvement. But yes…. It is also important that you track your weekly or monthly progress of your English learning practice. Because only tracking will help you to stay focused on the activities that are actually important for improving your English. And it will also help you have realistic goals, stay positive throughout the journey, and celebrate your short achievements of improvement.
See, the journey to becoming fluent in English is just like an endless staircase where you keep on climbing and you never see an end; you don’t know when you’re going to be fluent. But you can always look back and see how far you’ve reached.
Now, the question is how will you measure your progress in learning English? How will you check whether your slope of improvement in learning English is rising, is it constant or is it falling?
Tracking is not a hard job and you can do it all by yourself. You just need to give yourself a genuine self-assessment.
Now how can you self-assess yourself? The first thing is – self-reflect on your journey. Many times when you see someone else speaking better English than you – You instantly start doubting your skills. Comparison is an evil that might help you sometimes but most of the time it leaves us drained of positivity – but that’s another topic for another time.
What you need to do is: Just take a moment to look back – what problems you were facing while speaking English earlier that you don’t face now? For example, a few months back, you were not able to participate in a conversation but now you like talking to people in English. Maybe you are not as fluent as you would like but have you improved from what you were when you started a month back?
You can follow these steps for a simple self-assessment
Anytime during the day, sit down and take a random topic, especially a topic that you are interested in. Or maybe topics like – How does your normal working day look or how was your week so far. If you want to be more creative and make this activity real fun, Write 20 to 30 topics on a small piece of paper and put them in a jar. And you can just pick up one topic from the jar and then start speaking on them for 3 to 5 minutes or as long as you feel like talking. If it is difficult for you to search for these topics, I have mentioned a link that will lead you to a list of topics that you can speak on.
When you do that, make sure to record yourself on your phone. Don’t prepare yourself in advance & don’t take any notes, & yes don’t stress out – it’s just you who will listen to your recording so just be yourself & express yourself on that topic.
Once you are done. Listen to the recording. And what will you check? Your grammar, your vocabulary? No! You just have to check how easily you can bind words together and express yourself. And you need to do this on a weekly basis, maybe every weekend, just take out time for this one activity. And then you can compare recent recordings with past recordings.
If you are in an environment where you have fewer people to talk to, this method can do wonders for your speaking skills.
You know- I suggested this method to one of the English learners at EngVarta and she noticed the difference months later when she heard her old recordings, she could see the massive improvements she made. She could now hear her mistakes and notice how inarticulate or less fluent she was in her old recordings as compared to now.
What I believe is, recording yourself is not just a way of checking your progress but also one of the best ways of practicing your English speaking skills.This is the reason the Engvarta, an English learning app has a feature of recording that can help you listen and analyze yourself after each session. You can also click the I button to check one such recording.
And finally, something that we all can relate to – in a situation when we fail or we face a setback we usually hear a voice in our head that tells us – how much we don’t know and makes us feel miserable. But along with this, we all have that one good voice that encourages us and tells us to look at the brighter side but when we fail that good voice vanishes somewhere making us think -I am not good enough or maybe this is not for me or I am too slow, etc.
So my advice is – listen to the voice that keeps telling you that you are made up for great things & that will keep you motivated in difficult times, be it language learning or any situation in life.
I hope the above video was helpful and you will use this method to track your English learning progress.
WANT TO TALK TO OUR ENGLISH EXPERTS OVER THE PHONE CALL?
‘I couldn’t even speak English with my best friend ‘. That’s how afraid I was of speaking in English.
I always had that notion inside my head that people around me speak better English than me and the moment I open my mouth to speak, they will laugh at me.
If you are here, most probably you resonate with me or this fear monster has become your best friend!
Now whenever you share this problem with someone, the only advice you will be getting is – It’s all in your head.
And trust me it’s easy to say this but very difficult to take this monster out of your head.
So, no matter how many times someone comes and motivates you to speak in English. You land up at the same place again with the fear of speaking.
To begin with, let’s write down all possible reasons of your fear of speaking in English –
First, you are afraid because you think if you make mistakes people around you will be like, ‘ Hahahaha….Look at the girl… how poor her English is.’
You fear because people around you can be judgmental and no matter how intelligent you are – they will judge you for a language that isn’t your native language.
You never speak English or never had that environment to do the same so you have an almost negligible amount of confidence.
These are the top 3 reasons English learners fear (do let us know if you have any other fear).
If you connect with any of those three fears – You are not able to speak English because “What will people say if I speak wrong English?”
Tell me one thing, ‘ How many times has it happened that someone made a mistake in front of you & you laughed at him. Only 2 out of 10 people do that unless you are making mistakes in social media or public speaking.
People don’t even remember what you said last time. You never did.
It is the same way round. Sensible people who know that English is not your first language and you are learning it. They will never mock you.
Instead, they will appreciate you for your efforts in speaking in English.
And the ones who mock you – they will do that even if you are perfect.
You cannot stop them from judging you. They are as determined to judge you, as you are to speak in English.
So, there is no point thinking about ‘such people’ and refraining from conversations in English. Because the English language is just like any other skill.
Let’s compare it with an instrument. Let’s say guitar. People will keep appraising you until your chords go out of rhythm. But the good ones will appreciate your overall performance. The same thing happens when you speak English.
Engvarta, an English Learning App has been working for years to help learners from all over the country to overcome their fear and work on their English skills. And the solo philosophy is to improve English only by ‘speaking in English more.’
Phew !
We are done with our Psychology class today & now we will talk about 3 steps that had helped me to tackle my fear and speak in English confidently –
Start with your minor fears
As you know – You cannot jump into the water directly to overcome the fear of hydrophobia.
In the same way, you cannot start challenging yourself to go for Public speaking to overcome the fear of speaking in English. You need to keep patience and take little baby steps. Your first minor fear can be-
Talking to yourself in English.
Talk to your close friends or teachers in English.
Talking to your colleagues in English
Standing in front of the mirror and lecturing yourself for a minute or two in English.
Joining and being a part of a conversation.
It’s your call and you need to improvise accordingly to your level of comfort.
Once you start overcoming these small fear monsters. You will definitely start conquering your greater fears.
Start setting your English Learning Goals
Set a goal or a daily task for yourself. As English is not your first language. You need to engage yourself and create an environment to practice speaking in English. English is about doing small things rather than just completing a vast course. You fear because you know you are not good at something. And to become confident, you need to be involved and set goals on a daily basis. Like learning a grammar rule or some phrases. Or speaking at least 15 minutes in English during the day.
It adds small improvements on a daily basis that will make you confident.
Have Conversations in English with English speakers.
Most of the time, you are not afraid of the ‘English language’ but are afraid of having ‘Conversation in English’. And if you are able to read this article and understand every word, then your problem is not about understanding English. But it is about framing sentences and your ideas using the right words.
Instead of focusing on grammar and vocabulary, have conversations in English with English speakers who can help you and motivate you to speak in English. And most importantly, someone who helps you to come out of the fear.
So, the next time you start having thoughts like, ‘ What if I fumble in between the conversation while speaking in
‘ What if I make a mistake and everybody laughs at me?’
‘ What if I forget words and mess up everything?
Kick out this best friend of yours from your life & even if you make mistakes. Speak in English as much as you can. Because no matter how many such articles you read – You are the one who will have to fight against this fear.
For regular English practice with English experts, you can also download the EngVarta app. EngVarta is an English speaking and English learning app where you can learn English over phone calls with the help of live English experts.
In this English learning app, you will get a friendly environment where you can do daily English conversation practice without worrying about anyone judging you for your mistakes.
Work from Home Jobs for People having Fluent English Speaking Skills
Work from Home!
For some of us, work from home jobs are not just fascinating but also self-satisfying because somewhere we find ourselves more productive and focused while setting up our offices at home. Online work not only helps you to create a new network but also provides a subsidiary source of income.
You know what, there are many jobs for fluent English speakers in India and you can earn a good income if you have excellent English speaking skills.
If you are someone who is looking for a job change or starting your career and have fluent English speaking skills, then this blog post is for you!
We have listed work from home jobs for fluent English speakers in India for anyone who speaks fluent English and wants to work from home.
ESL Trainer/Mentor
There has been an ongoing demand for ESL mentors in recent years. It is one of the most trending English speaking work from home jobs in India.
When it comes to earning money online as an ESL mentor, there are a variety of options. You can either start your own sessions independently with the right ad or be on the safe side. You can join a platform or a company that can help you to provide English learners. Now, when it comes to choosing the right platform where you can teach ESL there is an abundance of choices you have. You can either go for face-to-face classes or you may also take sessions over phone calls. The amount of money you can make absolutely depends upon the number of hours you take the sessions. There is flexibility in earrings as well as in working hours in these fluent English speaking jobs in India.
There are many websites available online where you can search for fluent English speaking work from home jobs in India and can directly enroll yourself as an ESL trainer.
Customer support executive in International BPO
Customer Support Executive is another most popular work from home jobs in India for fluent English speakers. If you are just in college and have good English communication skills, working in a BPO can be one of the best options for you and earn a handsome income while you are still in college.
Many BPOs do not ask for a graduation degree. So, working in a bpo can not only make you financially independent but might give you career opportunities as well.
Salary in a BPO completely depends on the complexity and shift requirement of the job offered. Also, the career growth is quite fast and within a few years’ time, you can become a team leader with a great salary increment.
If you are looking for jobs in a BPO, start a LinkedIn profile
There’s a difference between an ESL trainer and an English teacher. English teachers basically focus more on the traditional method of teaching grammar rules and vocabulary.
Online teachers are in high demand and many teachers and subject matter experts are turning to online teaching as a flexible teaching career option. This profession is considered as one of the best work from home jobs for people having fluent English speaking skills
As an English teacher, you can join platforms where you can teach English as a subject. These platforms pay you per student or on an hourly basis. Or, you may also start your own classes independently.
Telephonic interviewer
If you are not familiar with this job role, a telephonic interviewer who takes surveys on calls and shortlists a list of candidates. A telephonic interviewer needs to have a soft tone of communication skills. An efficient interviewer has the ability to anticipate and guide all the applicants through the training path that requires smooth and easy English communication skills.
Subject Matter Expert
A subject matter expert is a person who has authority in a particular area or topic. If you are a novice in the English language, you can become an SME in this language. These are mostly work-from-home jobs where you need to ensure that facts and details are correct so that the deliverables are of best practices.
Where can you find these jobs?
Linkedin is one of the biggest platforms for anyone who is willing to provide a job or someone seeking jobs.
You may also directly visit the company’s website and apply to your desired post.
Engvarta provides a complete work from home job. All you need to set up is a stable internet connection, a mobile phone & a headset, and a silent environment and you are good to go. Within your comfort zone, you can talk to the users and help them improve their English. Beginning with applying as an Expert – the hiring process to the calls – everything is conducted from home.
You will be paid on a per-minute basis. Experts are paid for each minute. This helps in income flexibility. The income calculated by total working minutes is credited to the experts account each month.
