Tips for Learning English as 2nd Language

Do not feel discouraged when initially starting out to learn English as 2nd language! Many find this to be a difficult language to learn at first, but with time it will actually become an enjoyable learning experience. As you start this learning journey, there are four tips to keep in mind:

1. Invest in a high quality English dictionary.
   
   
2. Use English magazines and newspapers to increase your vocabulary. You can mark words that are unfamiliar and look them up in the English dictionary. They become new vocabulary words to study.
   
   
3. It is much easier to learn English as 2nd language if you hear others speak and interact with native speakers. Take advantage of every opportunity you have to listen to others speaking fluent English. If you can get into the conversation, do so.
   
   
4. Take advantage of radio programs that broadcast in English. You may not always know what they are talking about, but you can at least write down new words to look up in your dictionary. You will get used to hearing the English language as it is supposed to be spoken.
   
   

   It may be intimidating to think of actually conversing with native English speakers, but remember that everyone who learns English as 2nd language makes mistakes in conversation. You are not going to be perfect right from the start. In fact, you are going to make many, many mistakes. Some mistakes you will not even know you are making!

Rather than feeling embarrassed, focus on the improvements you are making and take pride in that. The mistakes you make today do not matter, as long as you learn from them for tomorrow.

Learning All Elements of the Language. Learning English as 2nd language is more than just learning to understand basic communication words. There are for elements of the language to be mastered:

1. Reading
2. Listening
3. Speaking
4. Writing

If you can learn to read in English and understand spoken English, you can learn to write and speak in English. Reading and listening require you to identify words and put them together in sentences to understand what is being communicated. Once you can do that, speaking and writing your own text will become much easier.

Getting Started with English as 2nd Language