How To Speak English Fluently In 1 Week Lesson 2

Ways to Leverage Your English Listening Habits

The English Language has a lot of slang, colloquialisms and idioms. The only way to master these is by listening. Listening will improve your speaking capabilities hugely.

You will learn the correct pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, accent, and intonation. One can apply what you hear in your daily life.

● Make it a point to listen to the radio, or T.V. while doing random chores.
All human beings learn a language by listening. Make sure you watch a movie
without subtitles.

● Singing is a great fun way to improve your pronunciation. It can also
develop fluency. Remember, developing your English listening skill is not only important to learn to language. It is also important because a person is not going to repeat himself over and over waiting for you to understand. Watching a movie without subtitles will teach you how to keep up with what a person is saying.

● Role-playing also helps in improving speech. Watch an English movie that
you are fond of over and over again till you understand it complete, and then
enact the movie yourself. Repeat this exercise with another movie. This will
not only improve your speech, it will also improve your ability to listen.
Listening and repeating is the best way to learn a language. I know people who have learned a complete language perfectly just by watching the movies and listening to the songs. Of course, this works better if the language you are trying to learn is closer to your own native language. However, remember that English is a mix of a number of different languages.

How to Strengthen English Listening Habits?

Now, in order to strengthen your English listening habits for an extra leverage, let us take a look at the three types of listening one must indulge into and further ways to improving your skills in each.

Type 1: Passive or Inactive Listening

Passive listening plays a dormant role in the communication process. The listener simply listens and absorbs the meaning of the language and is not expected to react or put his views across. As a foreign learner, passive listening allows you to acquaint the verbal form of speech and take time to assimilate what you listen. It is the most comfortable way of taking massive input. Here are some important aspects you can instill to maximize learning from passive listening: Focus on understanding each word in individual sense and in correlation with the constructed sentences. Do not deviate your concentration in putting emphasis on preconception of the context while listening.

● Rehearse and summarize in your mind what you comprehended from the
speech as an aftermath.

● Take note on how vocabulary is used interchangeably to get a hand on
varied ways of expressive ability.

● If possible, pen down the main frame of sentences in short hand for further
reference.

● Keep observation on the pauses used while conveying the emotion of the
context. There are clause, sentence and paragraph pauses in conversational
speech in a rhythmic pattern which you must focus on while listening English.

● As a foreign listener, at times the speech might sound out of your pace to
absorb the meaning of it. Do not get intimidated with the volume of words and
sentences while listening as it might keep you from taking whatever input you
can anyway.

● In case of listening live to a speaker, note the lip movement made while
pronouncing the syllables, vowels and consonants differently.

Type 2: Extensive Listening

Furthermore and beyond specific information, Extensive listening includes listening to long textual narratives which in return builds the listener ’s stamina to take in more and more bulk of conversational language and understand the contextual reference in larger lengths. After listening to a particular audio book on repetitive mode, you will observe that you are consciously picking up the pronunciation and can fairly summarize the meaning in portions. Extensive listening is a great self tutoring method for learning second languages. While making extensive listening a habit, keep the following points in mind for exceptional learning.

● Use different mediums like English audio books, recordings, videos, entertainment pieces, musicals, debates and dialogues for extracting a variety of accents, speech alterations and genres of vocal English.

● To avoid hurtling up while listening extensively, pick a topic of interest and 
listen through till the end.

● Since mostly you can repeat and take a pause while listening to pre 
recorded mediums, list down new words and phrases you come across and
look up for the meaning of complex vocabulary to keep up with the flow of speech.

● One of the best way to keep a log of different pronunciations while listening
to voluminous text is to pen down the words as they sound. This will give you
an edge on the phonic tone to understand what you listen better.

Type 3: Responsive Listening

In interpersonal communication, responsive listening is the half kernel of the two way process. Now as a non native learner, getting into habit of responsive listening is a place where you are active as a listener as well as a speaker. Engaging yourself with this type of listening will build your grasping speed and make you spontaneous with the language. Once you start practizing it as a habit, you can further optimize listening through these elements:

Responsive listening is a behavioural act. Keep the focal point on listening calmly rather than getting anxious about how you would frame your response.
Ask the speaker to reiterate if you do not get the context clearly. It is always better and elucidating to seek clarification rather than responding in irrelevance.

Take time to apprehend what you listen before jumping to a response
It is observed that very often people practice prejudiced listening and neglect the minutes. As a settler to the foreign language you must keep a flexible and open mind while listening so as to ingest the actual meaning of what is being spoken.

“Do It Right Now”: Steps to Start Improving instantly

Step 1: Watch an English movie

Step 2: Make an honest list of all the words that you thought were pronounced in a different way.

Step 3: By the end of the movie, if your list is small, your pronunciation is not so bad. However, if your list is long, you need to work on pronouncing those words.

Step 4: If you are not sure about the pronunciation, use the help of Internet tools or download a dictionary app on your phone to help with correct yourself. 

Easy Methods for Improving English Reading Skills

Learning how to read is an important part of learning English. It expands your
vocabulary and gives you fluency. If you are in a country where English is the main language, you will not get by without learning how to read. Also, reading is
substantially easier than speaking and writing, or even listening.

● Remember to always read a book that is of your level. Do not get ambitious
and read a book above your level because that would involve words that you
will not understand. Reading English can get downright weird! Why? ‘Read’ and ‘read’ have the same spelling but different meanings as well as pronunciations. ‘Read’ is pronounced as ‘reed’, which is in present tense while ‘read’ is pronounced as ‘red’, which is in the past tense.

A few steps for you to start improving your reading skills are explained below.

Decide what you want to read Preferably, you should stick to reading a book that is your level. Do not decide to read Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. You can do that when you have successfully mastered the language. That novel will not disappoint! You can read children’s books, newspapers, comics, or anything else. Once you have decided, go pick up the books from the library or bookshop.

Take it slow

Reading takes patience. Do not try rushing through the book or newspaper. Concentrate on every word that you read. If you do not understand a particular word or phrase, look it up in a dictionary or on Google. Do not proceed without understanding it completely.

Reread

Rereading is a good exercise. You know how when you watch a movie for the second time, you pick out all that bits of information that you missed out on the first time you watched it? Rereading does the exact same thing. At times, while reading, a person fazes out. That means he or she is reading but not really concentrating or understanding.

A second read makes everything clearer.

A list of unfamiliar words

Make a list of all the new words you come across with their meaning. After you finish reading the text, go through this list and try using the words in your daily life.

Read aloud

Read every few sentences or paragraphs out loud. Concentrate on your pronunciation. This will help in developing fluency while reading. Fluency in speech is not the only thing that is important!

Summarize

Once you are done reading, summarize everything you read by either writing it down, or by speaking out in front of friends and family. You could also do this by yourself in front of the mirror. Remember to do this in English.

“Do it Right Now”: Steps to start improving instantly

Step 1: Pick an English book or topic over the internet of your interest

Step 2: Keep a dictionary, pen and a paper alongside

Step 3: Scan, skim and start reading the text out loud in a subtle speech

Step 4: Break the words that are difficult to pronounce at one go into sounds and speak in a connecting flow. In you don't know how that particular word sounds, refer to an audio dictionary and follow. Eg: Anticipation = An - tee — see — pay — shun.

Step 5: Note down new phrases, words and expressions you come across while reading and simultaneously take meaning from the dictionary.

Step 6: On completion, review the topic in your head.

Step 7: Note the estimated time you took to read the text, number of words read and as a trend, try and speed up with every third time you read. 

Simple Techniques for Memorizing Extensive

Vocabulary, Phrases and Idioms

The hardest part is memorizing all those new words!

It has to be done though. You cannot hope to master the language successfully without learning the words and phrases that make it up.

The best way to expand your vocabulary and knowledge of idioms is through reading. Hence, making that list of new words is important! However, watching English movies will give you a bigger knowledge of idioms and phrases.

Now, when you build your English vocabulary as well as stock of phrases and idioms, you can disintegrate your learning into two levels:

Fundamental level: There are 2000 to 2500 words which are called the foundation blocks of English language. These words are not particularly listed but comprise of each first word for every meaning that you learn to the count. These include certain words like how, why, where which are not replaceable by another word. For phrases and idioms, the cardinal ones will fall in the fundamental category.

Extensive level: Every word, phrase or idiom with similar or opposite meaning and intent as of the fundamental ones will form the extensive list for a more in-depth learning.

Tips for expanding vocabulary:

● One word at a time

Do not try to learn the entire dictionary in a weekend. That will not do you
any good! Start small. Once you find a new word, incorporate it in your daily
use.

● Spend every spare minute reading

Read, read, and read! Books will expand your vocabulary to a large extent.
Pay close attention to what you are reading. If you do not understand a word,
use a dictionary to find its meaning.

● Context skills

Usually, while reading it is easy to decipher the meaning of a word from the 
sentence it is used in i.e. the context. In this sentence, you can figure out that
the word ‘decipher ’ means to understand or convert into normal language. If
you come across a word that you cannot completely understand, before turning
to the dictionary, trying figuring out what the word could mean. Then, you can
cross check with the dictionary to see if you were right. This will build your
context skills and it is important in English because a lot of words are similar
and pronounced in the same way. Some words even have the same spelling
but mean something completely different

● Practice

Of course, practice makes perfect. Use the new vocabulary you have, or you
might forget it before you even get a chance to use it. After learning a word
and understanding the context it is used in, make it a point to put that word in
your sentences.

● Use the dictionary

I know I said do not learn the dictionary in a day, but skimming through it and
picking out words that fascinate you is a good exercise. Learn these words
and use them so you get used to the context they are used in.

● Play with words

Play games like scrabble or words with friends or ruzzle. These games can
increase your vocabulary in a fun way. Ask friends to help you along the way.
Since these games have a competitive twist, you intend to learn new words
faster. Even Pictionary is a good game to learn new words. Since you are
drawing the words out, the meaning of the word stays with you.

● Crosswords

Make it a point to do the crossword every day. They can be a little
overwhelming but with a little help, one can usually manage to complete the
whole thing. They not only give you new words as you go through the thesaurus, but you general knowledge also expands. I think this is a brilliant
exercise for learning a language.

● Write a journal

Start a written journal where you pen down your thoughts in English. This
way you can practice writing as well. Remember to use the words you learned that day.

● Listen

When others speak, listen! Observe how native English speaker use their
words. Do not hesitate in asking what they mean if you don’t understand
something. When you learn listen, you will also learn the usage of idioms,
phrases, slang and colloquialisms. This will make you more fluent as well as
understandable.

● Associations

When you learn a new word, associate it with something so that you have an
easier time recalling it later. It could be a colour, a feeling, another word, or anything else. For example, ‘quintessential’ – one of my favorite words  means ‘the perfect example of something’. You can associate it with your favorite dish, your favorite actress or actor, your parents. Use these associations to remember the word.

● Make a list of words

In a diary you keep with you, make a list of all the words you come across in
a day. When you get home or in your free time, open a dictionary and find the
meanings of each word you collected.

● Learn the roots

Make it a point to learn the roots of the words. This is an interesting way to
remember the words. Mostly every word in English has roots in either Latin
or Greek. It is fun to learn how the word came about. Languages keep evolving, so a word that meant something in the 17th century would not mean
the same today.

● Use the word

Again, this point is so important that I am repeating is over and over again. If
you do not use the words you learn, you will forget them. Learn to use the
words. Make is a habit.

● Prefixes and suffixes

English has a lot of words that use prefixes and suffixes. A prefix is a word
that is added before another word. A suffix on the other hand is a morpheme
that is added to the end of a word.

“Do It Right Now”: Steps to Start Improving instantly 

Step 1: Pick a subject or a noun

Step 2: Look for words and descriptive phrases in the dictionary which can describe or narrate about the subject

Step 3: Note down the relevant words with it’s meaning, synonyms and antonyms

Step 4: Now, using those words, construct descriptive sentences about the subject and place phrases in the right sequence.

Step 5: Repeat the process with other topics, objects and nouns.