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Anar Sadiqli

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Which is the best way to improve your English?

Which way do you learn english? or what do you think which is the best way to improve your english

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  • Alexandra Sanchez

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    Mar 8 2013: My experience in learning english begun in the primary school, when I went to an english academy to learn the language and in the follow years I took two or three hours a week at school. When I really started learning/ applying my english was in the University when I had to read books and articles for my assignments in english. All my life I have been listening to music in english and more recently I watch movies and tv shows in english, so that has developed my skills in understanding the language. But when I traveled to the US and had to take some classes in english and talk to people who doesn't speak my language it was an intensive class, I think I learned in 15 days what I would learned in several years of taking english classes. A couple of weeks ago I knew about Duolingo in a TED talk, this is a site for learning english for free and my daughter is learning through this. I think it is a good resource.

  • specs 2

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    Feb 14 2013: A little chalk on the cue always improve your english.

    Never mind - that's just a slang term for putting spin on a ball.

    In practical terms - I like to listen to foreign news radio stations to supplement my classroom learning (French and Mandarin). As your vocabulary improves you pick up more and more. With Internet radio now it's really quite easy to find a station with clear speakers

    BBC.com and CBC.ca should be good for English although I must admit Irish speakers seem to annunciate everything quite well.

  • Allan Hotti

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    Feb 13 2013: Watch Downton Abbey, attend Oxford, read Churchill.
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    Sid Tafler

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    Feb 11 2013: 1. Talk with people who speak English well and who will speak slowly and clearly.
    2. Read English.
    3. Listen to broadcasts online. There are some that are designed
    for non-English speakers.
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    Kate Blake 50+

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    Feb 10 2013: Anar all the suggestions below are useful. But engage with native English speakers at every possible opportunity, here on TED, in person, however you can.

    Get children's story books for vocabulary and grammar, they are simply illustrated so they give visual aids as well. Best of luck!

  • greg dahlen 30+

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    Feb 10 2013: Do you want to learn English? What is your purpose?
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    edward long 100+

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    Feb 10 2013: You asked two questions. To improve, and to learn from scratch, are vastly different tasks. Improvement comes through exercising already learned skills while adding additional skills (based on your post it looks like you have already learned and are interested in improving). Learning comes through studying the basics. English uses 26 letters which combine to make approximately 60 distinct sounds, which combine to make thousands of words, each of which falls into one of about ten parts of speech. There are about 20 punctuation marks.

  • reine des violettes

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    Feb 10 2013: If you wish to post entries in these conversations, I would offer to re-phrase them in 'natural' English (I am English) or perhaps extend the vocabulary. I would offer to do this once a week, either below your post, if you wish, or with TED email facility.

  • Zdenek Smith 100+

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    Feb 10 2013: I had to learn English so I think I can share a few insights ;)

    Basically one needs to learn vocabulary, grammar and listening skills.

    For vocabulary, I would start learning the first 1000 most common English words using e.g. http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/bl1000_list2.htm

    For grammar you can find books, online resources and attend English classes.

    Listening can be learned by watching some TV news stations, radio, audio books etc.

    If you start to learn English I recommend reading books with limited vocabulary if you can find any in your local library.

    cheers
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    Fritzie Reisner 100+

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    Feb 10 2013: Listening to and talking with native speakers is useful.

    I believe many English teachers overseas do not speak English with the same grammar and diction as native speakers.
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    Jedrek Stepien 10+

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    Feb 10 2013: The secret lies in motivation. For children I would recommend video games with a beautiful and engaging storyline (some RPGs). The task is more complicated in the case of adults, but the mechanism is the same - they need to get engaged in something - either a hobby or great conversation (or both)
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