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Learning English is something challenging to do, but practicing it is even more challenging. We need to make sure that anything that we have learned does not go into thin air by practicing it as often as we could. However, sometimes it is not that easy to find the right motivation to keep on applying what he learned in class outside the class. Oftentimes, we would just forget what we obtained during the learning session the second we get off the class. That is why this article attempts to provide you with several tips on how to practice your English skills anywhere you go.
Curious to find out? Let’s start the list!
1. Practice by talking to yourself
This practice might be a little bit awkward at first, especially if you have never done this activity before. But it can be a significant boost to your fluency and confidence. You can stand in front of a mirror and invite your own reflection into a conversation. Or, you can role play and become two or more characters at the same time.
2. Record yourself speaking
Another type of practice that you could use is to record yourself while speaking, then listen to the recording. This is a very useful way to learn about how you pronounce words and sentences, as well as identify any error in your pronunciation. The more you record yourself talking, the more fluent you would be.
3. Read the subtitles of the movies that you watch
This is a fun activity for you to try. You could read the subtitles of every movie or cartoon that you watch out loud. This is to get your tongue accustomed with English words and sentences. Most of the time, movies also insert many idioms and unique expressions that could enhance your English vocabulary and knowledge, too. So, it could be a very beneficial practice to consider.
4. Imitate the script
If reading out the subtitles of a movie allows you to make your tongue accustomed to English words and sentences, imitating the actors and actresses performing the script will allow you to learn about the intonation or expression as well. It also gives you the chance to learn about how to pronounce certain words better, especially words that are not common to be found in your day-to-day conversation.
5. Start to write in English
Whether it is an email to a colleague or a short story of your own personal experience, writing in English will help you to get your brain working in English. This allows you to get used to thinking everything in English, including in structuring sentences and expressions to use in conversation. As a result, you will be able to respond instantly when chatting with others.
6. Put labels all around your house
One creative tactic that you could use to get yourself used to English vocabularies and expressions is by writing them on labels and sticking them all over your house. You could stick those labels anywhere you want, but make sure that you come to the location frequently so that you would read what is on those labels at a regular basis. Some suggestions would be on your fridge, on the walls of your room, on the walls of your bathroom, and many more. The point is, the more you read them, the more you would be accustomed to using them in your daily conversation.
7. Attend an English conversation class
If the rest of activities in this list can be done by yourself at home, this activity requires you to go out and meet other people, at the expense of a tuition fee for the program of course. Sometimes directly practicing in a group could be much better, especially since we could also practice how to interact with others during an English conversation. Plus, we could also learn many expressions in English as well as some grammatical points, although they may not be that significant during conversations.
8. Go out and talk to foreigners
Do you still want to go out but do not have enough money to enroll in an English conversation class? Do not worry! You can just go out to public places and look for foreigners whom you could have conversation with. Usually, tourism spots would be flooded with foreigners who come from various countries, so that could be a great place to start.
Those were the activities that you could consider when you want to practice your English. Honing your English skills is very crucial to your capability of using it in your day-to-day activities. The more you drill yourself with English vocabularies and expressions, the more likely that they would last in your memory for much longer. Hopefully you could find our tips helpful. Happy practicing!
