Five ways to learn perfect English.

The English language seems easy at first, but it's hard to get really good at it. Why? What do foreign learners find so difficult about English? Here are my top five difficulties, with solutions.

1. Spelling

If I hear a new word in Spanish, I can confidently guess how it's written. Not so in English. For example, try reading these words aloud-

Fun

Photo

Enough

That's three different ways to spell one sound: f. Doesn't it drive you crazy?

The solution

Read for pleasure. My website is a good place to start! Plenty of intelligent native English speakers are bad at spelling. The ONLY people who can spell well without a dictionary are those who read a lot. If you read, you keep seeing difficult words spelt correctly, and eventually it sticks in your brain. I recommend graded readers. They are adult stories in a short book, made simple for foreigners like you.

2. Accents

Did you learn English before moving here? Perhaps you felt happy with your English level. But did you then step off the plane, speak to your first real British person, and think "Aaaagh!! What is he saying!!?!!"

That is a very common experience.

Travel fifty miles, from Liverpool to Manchester, and the accent is completely different. Watch this Youtube clip to hear 17 British accents in 5 minutes. (Accents don't vary so much in Canada, Australia and The US. Just in Britain.)

The solution

Use YouTube. Click here to watch a Woman from Newcastle teach you her Geordie accent. Click here to learn cockney. Alternatively, watch British TV with subtitles.

3. USA or UK?

British migrants first took the English language to America over 400 years ago. Their version of English has changed in that time, and so has ours. This is the reason why America and The UK have so many different words.

The solution.

Don't worry about verbs and grammar, because they are mostly the same. It's the vocabulary that's different, and the best way to learn is by topic. I recommend you start with these three topics: cookery, driving and clothes. This website lists them nicely.

4. Phrasal verbs

If you're going to understand English (especially spoken English) you need to listen out for phrasal verbs. Don't just notice verbs. Also listen out for particles after the verb. (For example off, on, out into, back.) A particle can completely change the meaning of a phrase:

"Turn the music off" is different from "Turn the music up"

"He told me" is NOT the same as "He told me off."

The solution.

Learn groups of similar phrasal verbs, but DON'T group them according to the verb. Instead, group them according to the particle. It helps, because one particle can give a similar meaning to lots of verbs.

Here is an example:

On means continue, keep going. 'Drive on' means continue driving, don't stop. Here are some other phrasal verbs meaning continue-

Read on = continue reading

talk on = continue talking

dream on = continue dreaming

go straight on = continue in a straight line

Go on = don't stop.

You might like this phrasal verb website.

5. Being polite

Every language in the world EXCEPT English has (at least) two ways of saying 'you.' We have only one way. We don't have a different 'you' which we use with strangers, to show extra respect.

So how can you show respect and be polite in English? One answer is to keep on saying please and thank you. Can you believe how often we Brits say please and thanks? We are obsessed with those two little words. But there is also another answer...

The solution

Use intonation to be polite. Flat intonation, which doesn't go up and down, sounds rude and cold. Friendly, polite intonation sounds more melodic. If you're asking a stranger a question, you really must speak with intonation which goes up and down. This video gives some lovely examples.

Good luck! If you would like to read my list of great websites for learning English, click here. If you would like your British friends to learn the secret of speaking English more clearly, read this blog. If you'd like me to teach you privately, please get in touch. My contact details are at the top of my page.

Glossary

solution = answer, remedy

step off = get off/ exit the plane

vary = change

cockney = the working class accent of London

version = type/ kind/ variety

listen out for = pay attention to/ try to notice

tell off = rebuke/ reprimand. E.g He kicked my dog so I told him off.

intonation = the rise and fall of the voice in speaking

melodic = musical, going up and down.

#learningenglish #phrasalverbs #improveyourenglish