Hi! My name is Kate. I have been studying English at school for a few years now, but I still feel I’m just a beginner. I don’t understand it when some English or American people speak, and I don’t like learning from textbooks. It’s boring. I hate studying new words or grammar. What can I do to make learning easier and more fun?

Learning a foreign language is not easy! And many young people think it’s not exciting. I’ll tell you, when I see all this new technology around us, I find it hard to sit down and learn from books. But do we have to learn from our school textbooks only? No! Why couldn’t we use our cool smartphones to improve our English? Let’s look at some tips on how we can do it!

• Always have English around you – in your room, pocket or school bag.
• Set the language of your phone or laptop to English.
• When shopping, read the labels in English.
• Listen carefully to your favourite songs – you can even do some karaoke.
• Watch cool videos on YouTube in English.
• Write new words into a notebook.
• Watch films or cartoons in English first with subtitles, then without them.
• Instead of thinking, speak out loud – you need to say the words if you want to remember them.
• Listen to Internet radios, talk shows, or the audio of your textbook, but don’t choose too difficult things.
• Keep an English diary.
• Read books in easy English, children’s books, and magazines. Hello! is a must! ?
• Practice every day and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
• Don’t translate from your language – think in English.
• Last but not least, FALL IN LOVE with English – there is no better way!

Now, which tip is the best for you? Will you try any of them to improve your English? Or have you already tried?
You can write to us about the things which helped you or the ones that you had problems with.

Denisa Kováčová