How To Learn English

I. Introduction II. Improve your Learning Skills III. Other Tips

I.

Introduction

English is a Germanic Language of the IndoEuropean Family. It is the second most spoken language in the world. It is estimated that there are 300 million native speakers and 300 million who use English as a second language and a further 100 million use it as a foreign language.

I.

Introduction

. It is listed as the official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken extensively in other countries where it has no official status. English plays a part in the cultural, political or economic life of the following countries. This compares to 27 for French, 20 for Spanish and 17 for Arabic. This domination is unique in history. English is on its way to becoming the world's unofficial international language. Mandarin (Chinese) is spoken by more people, but English is now the most widespread of the world's languages.

I.

Introduction

History The history of the language can be traced back to the arrival of three Germanic tribes to the British Isles during the 5th Century AD. Angles, Saxons and Jutes crossed the North Sea from what is the present day Denmark and northern Germany. The inhabitants of Britain previously spoke a Celtic language. This was quickly displaced. Most of the Celtic speakers were pushed into Wales, Cornwall and Scotland. One group migrated to the Brittany Coast of France where their descendants still speak the Celtic Language of Breton today. The Angles were named from Engle, their land of origin. Their language was called Englisc from which the word, English derives. An Anglo-Saxon inscription dated between 450 and 480AD is the oldest sample of the English language.

English - A Historical Summary

English - A Family Tree

I.

Introduction

Late-Modern English (1800-Present) The principal distinction between early- and late-modern English is vocabulary. Pronunciation, grammar, and spelling are largely the same, but Late-Modern English has many more words . These words are the result of two historical factors. The first is the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the technological society. This necessitated new words for things and ideas that had not previously existed. The second was the British Empire. At its height, Britain ruled one quarter of the earth's surface, and English adopted many foreign words and made them its own.

I.

Introduction

Late-Modern English (1800-Present) The industrial and scientific revolutions created a need for neologisms to describe the new creations and discoveries. For this, English relied heavily on Latin and Greek. Words like oxygen, protein, nuclear, and vaccine did not exist in the classical languages, but they were created from Latin and Greek roots. This burst of neologisms continues today, perhaps most visible in the field of electronics and computers. Byte, cyber-, bios, hard-drive, and microchip are good examples. Also, the rise of the British Empire and the growth of global trade served not only to introduce English to the world, but to introduce words into English. Hindi, and the other languages of the Indian subcontinent, provided many words, such as pundit, shampoo, pajamas, and juggernaut. Virtually every language on Earth has contributed to the development of English, from Finnish (sauna) and Japanese (tycoon) to the vast contributions of French and Latin.

II. Improve your Learning Skills

Learning is a skill and it can be improved. Your path to learning effectively is through knowing
1. 2. 3. 4. yourself your capacity to learn processes you have successfully used in the past your interest, and knowledge of what you wish to learn

II. Improve your Learning Skills

Motivate yourself If you are not motivated to learn English you will become frustrated and give up. Ask yourself the following questions, and be honest:
1. 2. 3. Why do you need to learn/improve English? Where will you need to use English? What skills do you need to learn/improve? (Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking) How soon do you need to see results? How much time can you afford to devote to learning English. How much money can you afford to devote to learning English. Do you have a plan or learning strategy?

4. 5. 6. 7.

II. Improve your Learning Skills

Set yourself achievable goals You know how much time you can dedicate to learning English, but a short time each day will produce better, longer-term results than a full day on the weekend and then nothing for two weeks. Joining a short intensive course could produce better results than joining a course that takes place once a week for six months. Here are some goals you could set yourself:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Join an English course (and attend regularly). Do your homework. Read a book a month. Learn a new word every day. Visit an English speaking forum every day. Read a news article on the net every day. Do 10 minutes listening practice every day. Watch an English film at least once a month.

II. Improve your Learning Skills

A good way to meet your goals is to establish a system of rewards and punishments. Decide on a reward you will give yourself for fulfilling your goals for a month.

II. Improve your Learning Skills

Understanding how you learn best may also help you. There are different ways to learn The visual learner The auditory learner The Tactile/Kinesthetic learner

II. Improve your Learning Skills

Learning is a skill and it can be improved. Your path to learning effectively is through knowing
1. 2. 3. 4. yourself your capacity to learn processes you have successfully used in the past your interest, and knowledge of what you wish to learn

II. Improve your Learning Skills

Other English Learning Tips : Travel to an English speaking country Specialist holidays are available to improve your English. Take an English speaking tour or activity holiday. Spend your time on things that interest you. If you like cooking then buy an English-language cookbook or find recipes on the net and practice following the recipes. You'll soon know if you have made a mistake! Keep something English on you (book, newspaper or magazine, cd or cassette, set of flashcards) all day and every day, you never know when you might have 5 spare minutes. If you are too tired to actively practice just relax and listen to an English pop song or talk radio station.

III. Other Tips

Speak without Fear The biggest problem most people face in learning a new language is their own fear. They worry that they wont say things correctly or that they will look stupid so they dont talk at all. Dont do this. The fastest way to learn anything is to do it again and again until you get it right. Like anything, learning English requires practice. Dont let a little fear stop you from getting what you want.

III. Other Tips

Use all of your Resources Even if you study English at a language school it doesnt mean you cant learn outside of class. Using as many different sources, methods and tools as possible, will allow you to learn faster. There are many different ways you can improve your English, so dont limit yourself to only one or two. The internet is a fantastic resource for virtually anything, but for the language learner it's perfect. Surround Yourself with English The absolute best way to learn English is to surround yourself with it. Take notes in English, put English books around your room, listen to English language radio broadcasts, watch English news, movies and television. Speak English with your friends whenever you can. The more English material that you have around you, the faster you will learn and the more likely it is that you will begin thinking in English. . Listen to Native Speakers as Much as Possible There are some good English teachers that have had to learn English as a second language before they could teach it. However, there are several reasons why many of the best schools prefer to hire native English speakers. One of the reasons is that native speakers have a natural flow to their speech that students of English should try to imitate. The closer ESL / EFL students can get to this rhythm or flow, the more convincing and comfortable they will become.

III. Other Tips

Study As Often As Possible! Only by studying things like grammar and vocabulary and doing exercises, can you really improve your knowledge of any language. Do Exercises and Take Tests Many people think that exercises and tests aren't much fun. However, by completing exercises and taking tests you can really improve your English. One of the best reasons for doing lots of exercises and tests is that they give you a benchmark to compare your future results with. Often, it is by comparing your score on a test you took yesterday with one you took a month or six months ago that you realize just how much you have learned. If you never test yourself, you will never know how much you are progressing. Start now by doing some of the many exercises and tests on this site, and return in a few days to see what you've learned. Keep doing this and you really will make some progress with English. Record Yourself Nobody likes to hear their own voice on tape but like tests, it is good to compare your tapes from time to time. You may be so impressed with the progress you are making that you may not mind the sound of your voice as much.

III. Other Tips

Useful Search Tips Choose your keywords wisely. For example instead of typing adjectives - type in:english grammar adjectives To get a more accurate result search for phrases by using quotation marks. For example instead of typing learn english free - type in: "learn english free " To find out the meaning of a word type "define:" + the word or phrase. For example type in: define: fix up Results = find (something or someone) for; "I'll fix you up with a nice girl" or arrange: make arrangements for; "Can you arrange a meeting with the President?"

III. Other Tips

Check your English Grammar You can use this tip to check simple sentence structure:-If you are in doubt about a sentence try typing it into Google. For example:- "I have never to America been." reveals no hits - that indicates it's wrong.

Rewrite the sentence: "I have never been to America." reveals 301hits - a strong indication that it's correct. Don't forget to put the (") symbol at the beginning and end of the sentence.
If your sentence is too long, try shortening it. Check your English Spelling You can use this tip to check the spelling of a word:-If you are in doubt about how to spell a word try typing it into Google. Google will offer an alternative spelling if it thinks you've spelt it incorrectly. For example:- "appartment" reveals 6,950,000 hits! But Google asks "Did you mean: apartment" with a link that reveals 122,000,000 hits. Apartment is the correct spelling - over 6 million people have got it wrong, but not you! If it's the kind of word that can be spelt two different ways with two different meanings, check the web sites that come up as a result of the search. Are they what you mean when you use this word? For example:- "heir and hair" Heir reveals 12,800,000 hits and the results are about inheritance. Hair reveals 255,000,000 hits and the results are about style and hair care - oh and the musical.

III. Other Tips

Improve your English Vocabulary You can use this tip to improve your vocabulary. To be on the safe side enable "Safe Search" in your preferences. When you use Google you can search for specific images. Just click on "Images" on the menu above the search box. Type in the word you want to find an image for. For example:- "railway" = 671,000 hits You can also search for phrases. For example:- "raining cats and dogs " = 885 hits

III. Other Tips

Extra Useful Google Tips Use Google to translate words into your language. http://www.google.de/language_tools?hl=en Download the Google Toolbar to instantly translate words on English web pages into your language.

http://toolbar.google.com/index_xp.html Using the Word Translator option choose the language you wish to translate into. Then just hover your cursor over an English word and Toolbar's Word Translator will tell you what it means in your own language. Word Translator currently supports translation from English into Vietnamese , Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

III. Other Tips

HAVE FUN

Thanks for your attention