Becoming more fluent in English can be difficult, particularly if you’re still starting out and have just learned the basic concepts. Fortunately, there are lots of things that you can do to enhance your ESL skills and slowly but surely work your way to improving your English fluency. Here are some of the steps that you can take:
Read English novels
Browsing through textbooks can help you learn important concepts in spelling and grammar, but don’t just stop there. If you want to improve your English reading skills, pick up a novel that’s written in English. You can start with graphic novels since their attractive illustrations can help you understand the dialogue better. Once you’re more comfortable in reading in English, you can move to purely textual books. Pick a book in a genre that you like (such as fantasy, romance, or sci-fi); doing so will help maintain your interest and ensure you’ll want to read the story until the end.
Listen to English songs
Modern songs use contemporary words and spelling and give you insights into how ordinary English-speaking people interact with each other. You’ll learn about slang, idioms (like “wearing your birthday suit” and “breaking a sweat”), and even swear words (which you shouldn’t necessarily use but are still useful to know). You can also observe how modern English speakers break spelling rules, removing the “g” from words (so nothing becomes nothin’) and even entirely changing the spelling of a word (so tasty becomes tastey). All of these can be confusing at first, but they can help you see how native English speakers use their language creatively and artistically.
Watch English movies
You probably opt for films that have subtitles but, if you want to become more fluent in English, challenge yourself to watch movies without any subtitles. Sooner or later, you’ll find yourself listening closely to the characters’ dialogues and paying more attention to their intonation, body language, and facial expressions to get context clues about what they’re saying.
Use ESL apps
There’s nothing wrong with enrolling language classes, but you have to admit that there’s something quite liberating about learning on your own. Fortunately, you can easily enjoy this freedom by using ESL apps for students. These programs can help you gain a deeper understanding about the English language, become more fluent in it and, since they can be accessed on your mobile phone, you can take lessons wherever you go.
You can find lots of ESL apps online but, to get the best value for your money, make sure to choose Exceller’s mobile apps. Exceller makes high-quality ESL software and applications that contain a wide range of exercises and integrate lessons in speaking, writing, reading, and listening to help you develop these skills. The programs are specially designed to help you identify your mistakes and learn from them, and they use state-of-the-art technology to assist you in improving your accent, intonation, and pronunciation.
Interact with native English speakers
You might be tempted to converse with classmates who are on the same learning level as you, but it’s important to get out of your comfort zone and look for native English speakers who you can befriend and have conversations with. You might not understand them that well at first, but interacting with them forces you to improve your comprehension and gives you the chance to mimic the way they pronounce words.