Methods You Can Use to Improve Your English Skills

Whether English is your first language, or you are still familiarizing yourself with it, there are still lots of skills to learn. Becoming fully fluent in a language requires years of progress and development. Anyone can enhance their English skills no matter what level they are currently at in their journey to fluency. Here are methods you can use to improve your English skills.

Brainstorming

When you have to write creatively or for a project, you may get stuck and have no idea what to write about. Brainstorming ideas can help you collect your thoughts and find a focused direction for your writing. There are several ways you can brainstorm: lists, charts, images, and keywords/themes. “Brainstorming helps us formulate ideas in an organized format. Using this method also improves brain functioning and strengthens language skills,” concludes Kristy Barnes, grammar expert at Pay For Academic Paper.

Keep Explanations Simple

Complex ideas do not need to be overexplained. This confuses readers, those you converse with, and even yourself. While you shouldn’t be bland or barely state ideas, opinions, facts, and points, there is no need to go overboard. Most English speakers understand explanations at an average level. If you talk in a high formality level and don’t simplify your conversation style, you will end up confusing people. English is known for being messy with its inconsistent rules and extra factors. This is why explaining points simply will pay off, and elevate your everyday writing and conversation skills.

Read Regularly

Those who read on a daily or even weekly basis are often more acquainted with the languages they speak. Though reading online can help you strengthen your English skills, it’s also beneficial to read physical books. The genre or type of novel can be anything you are interested in as long as it is in the same range of your current reading abilities, or a little higher so you can improve. Studies have shown that even reading for 5-10 minutes a day can have a huge impact on your language fluency journey. Once you find a novel, book series, or other forms of writing you are interested in, it will be easy to become an avid reader.

Receive Feedback From Others

Without feedback from those around us, it can be tricky to catch all of our writing, speaking, and other language mistakes. Ask your teachers, adult figures, friends, and peers to review your English skills. Their insight can help you recognize weak points in your skillset, and guide you to improving your fluency in English. Getting assistance from others is one of the ways you can efficiently learn and improve your English skills.

Avoid Using Filler Words

In school, you probably relied on filler words to help you reach the word count on your papers. Both inside and outside of school, filler words cause your writing and speaking skills to decline. It’s crucial to be capable of writing a combination of simple and complex sentences. There is no need to fit as much into every sentence as you can. Using filler phrases such as “very”, “as a matter of fact” and “during the course of” are detrimental to your writing skills. These extra words take away from the meaning and value of your work. In conversation, filler words are also commonly used. During speeches, you may become nervous and say “um” “like” and other similar phrases. While these filler words don’t necessarily mean you are bad at speaking, they can distract from your conversation and stated ideas. “Especially due to the overuse of online communication, we have become accustomed to relying on filler words. This issue has caused learning struggles for newer English speakers,” shares Doreen Marsh, editor.

Edit Your Writing

If you want to improve your English skills, always edit your writing! When you thoroughly edit your papers, work documents, and other pieces, you can avoid making writing mistakes in the future. We all likely struggle with a few writing rules such as grammar, comma splices, diction (word choice), and spelling errors. The more you polish up your writing skills, the better your work will be in future instances.

Brainstorming

Keep Explanations Simple

Complex ideas do not need to be overexplained. This confuses readers, those you converse with, and even yourself. While you shouldn’t be bland or barely state ideas, opinions, facts, and points, there is no need to go overboard. Most English speakers understand explanations at an average level. If you talk at a high formality level and don’t simplify your conversation style, you will end up confusing people. English is known for being messy with its inconsistent rules and extra factors. This is why explaining points simply will pay off, and elevate your everyday writing and conversation skills.

Read Regularly

Those who read on a daily or even weekly basis are often more acquainted with the languages they speak. Though reading online can help you strengthen your English skills, it’s also beneficial to read physical books. The genre or type of novel can be anything you are interested in as long as it is in the same range of your current reading abilities, or a little higher so you can improve. Studies have shown that even reading for 5-10 minutes a day can have a huge impact on your language fluency journey. Once you find a novel, book series, or other form of writing you are interested in, it will be easy to become an avid reader.

Receive Feedback From Others

Avoid Using Filler Words

Edit Your Writing

These methods have been proven to help strengthen all varieties of English skills. Taking time out of your week to work on your English fluency will boost the process of your language improvement.

………………………