Learning vocabulary and grammar is one of the first steps you have to make to be able to speak and write English effectively.
English vocabulary is words that comprise the English language while English grammar is rules to use these words correctly and coherently. English vocabulary and grammar can be learned through books or the internet where you will be provided with the explanation of the general principles of formulating sentences, subject-verb agreement, and other useful words within the English language. By diligently reviewing the grammar rules, you will be able to grasp the basic understanding of the language and help you apply these rules to common situations.
Take a few minutes each day to learn some of the grammatical rules and memorize them. Here are some tips for learning you might find helpful:
- Study English every dayLearning 5 to 10 new words per day isn’t so hard. You can give it 15 to 30 minutes of your time, let’s say, from Monday to Friday then on a Saturday you review all the words you have learned for the week while giving it a rest on Sunday. Thru this method you can learn up to 50 new words per week or around 200 new English words in 1 month.
- Learn the English language by readingRead English texts as often as possible. Newspapers, novels, short stories or textbooks, choose anything that you find interesting and enjoy reading, because this will help you remember it easily. Just concentrate on what you understand and find out the rest by intelligent guessing. For instance, if you are reading a topic you know a lot about, let’s say basketball, and then you will be able to understand this more than someone who is not interested in basketball. You could also read the news in your native language and find English news of the same topics. This way you will be able to associate the words and translate them even in English.
- Learn the English language by watching moviesBecause of CD and DVD technology, it’s easy to find English movies. Choose a movie that are you don’t mind watching over and over again. You know the dialogue by heart because you already know what the story is all about. Be ready with a pen and paper to write down useful words and phrases you might wish to learn. English captions are useful for this purpose but they could differ from what is actually said. At the start it won’t be easy to concentrate listening to a foreign language for long periods so you could choose only some parts of the movie.
- Learn the English language by listening to songsOne of the best ways to improve your vocabulary is by listening to your favorite songs. Read the lyrics and try to understand them. You don’t need to translate them word for word, just find out what the song is all about. (Note: Some types of music, such as Rap, are not ideal because words are usually said in ‘slang’ and this is not much help in learning ‘correct’ English) Choose words or phrases from songs that you want to learn. Check the dictionary for their meaning and how the word is used in a sentence. To add to your vocabulary just repeatedly listen to the song. This should not be a problem if it is one of your favorites.
- Fill-in the blanks exercisesChoose an English text from song lyrics, excerpts from novels, or short stories, news, or textbooks. Copy text enough to fill a page and delete some of the words, ideally the verbs, adjectives and prepositions. Now fill-in the blanks and afterwards check in the original text if you answered correctly. You can provide the words in a different order or as a translation.
