The English language plays a crucial role in our daily lives, and no matter how challenging we try, we can never undermine the relevancy of this language. It may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the most accepted official language in social, cultural, and business scenarios.
Whether you are representing your school in a discussion competition, or are sitting for an interview with a company, good language skills can surely supply you with that added advantage. Proficiency in English can also assist you to score well in most competitive exams since it is one of the skills put to test. Good communication skills are an investment to have, in every walk of life. Many, however, struggle with it and often miss out on chances.
To Become an Expert in English
In this article, we will mention some simple tips, and tricks that will help you enhance your language skills across 4 domains – Vocabulary, Grammar, Spoken English, and Writing to become an expert in English.
To Be An Expert in Vocabulary
One of the most comfortable forms to maintain your existing writing skills is to add unknown words to your written vocabulary. The English language is among the most voluminous of all languages, and this implies that you’ll never run out of vocabulary words to learn and use. All forms of the written word—from fiction to journalism to prose to essay writing to poetry to play—benefit from a strong vocabulary. To that end, the time you spend enhancing your vocabulary skills is time supported in your writing skills.
Most of us have not spent much time discovering new vocabulary since we were high school or college students. Here are some tips to assist you to begin learning new vocabulary words:
- Create a reading habit. Vocabulary building is easiest when you discover words in context. Seeing words occur in a novel or a newspaper article can be far more helpful than seeing them appear on vocabulary lists. Not only do you achieve exposure to unfamiliar words; but you also see how they’re used.
- Utilize the dictionary and thesaurus always. Online dictionaries and thesauruses are useful resources if used correctly. They can speed your memory about synonyms that would be better words in the context of what you’re writing. A full dictionary definition can also educate you about antonyms, root words, and related words, which is another method to learn vocabulary.
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- Play the word games. Classic games like Scrabble, Wordscapes and Boggle can serve as a fun way to expand your English vocabulary and crossword puzzles can as well. If you want to be proficient, follow up rounds of these word games with a little note-taking. Keep a list of the various words you learned while playing the game, and then learn that list from time to time.
- Use flashcards. A quick way to create a large vocabulary is to study several words via flashcards. In today’s digital era, a wide collection of smartphone apps make flashcards convenient and easy to manage. Striving for one new word a day is valid. You can always go for more, but it may not be good to assimilate dozens of English words every single day.
- Subscribe to “word of the day” feeds. Some web platforms will supply you with a word a day—either on a website, an app, or via email—to help you boost your vocabulary. You can add these words to ranging word lists.
- Use mnemonics. A mnemonic device is a form of word association that allows you to remember words’ definitions and appropriate uses. For example, think of the word obsequious which represents “attempting to win favor from significant people by flattery.” Break down that word into components: “obse” is the beginning of “obsessed,” “qui” displays like the French word for “yes” (oui), and “us” is like the word “us.” So you can assume that the big word obsequious is “obsessed with saying yes to us”—which is kind of what it means!
- Practice using new words in discussion. It’s possible to collect a huge vocabulary without actually knowing how to utilize words. This implies you have to take it upon yourself to put your dictionary into use. If you come across an impressive word in your reading, make a point of using it in conversation. By testing in low-stakes situations, you can practice the art of word selection and, with a little bit of trial and error, hone in on the right word for a particular context.
To Be An Expert in Grammar
Many people, when they hear the word grammar, experience a raised heart rate, feelings of nausea, and unmanageable sweating.
Maybe grammar gathers up bad memories for you, or perhaps you love it more than candies. Either way, it can be a challenge to train your children. But don’t worry about that! You and your children can become grammar experts—and maybe even grammar lovers!
Let’s look at knowing a few methods, to improve your grammar usage and become an English expert:
Grammar Games – One of the favorite grammar games for everyone in the word chain. This is one tough game that demands fast thinking and creativity. Now the question is how do we play it and how does it benefit us with grammar?
We begin by forming a group of people and giving them a word that fits the selected theme. Limit them to specific parts of speech like nouns, verbs, or adjectives. The person has to begin the game with the last letter of the word delivered.
Let’s say you’re practicing with adjectives and began with “wonderful,” then the next person might state “lazy” or “loud.” This allows you to improve your thinking ability and rightly differentiate between various forms of speech, which is the very foremost rule of grammar.
Grammar, Let’s Be Friends! – Do you have a friend who always has a practice of pinpointing grammatical errors, and you pretty much don’t interact with them, for the fear of getting offended? Let’s be friends with them rather, and make it a point to speak in English, no matter how many times they fix your grammar.
The next step at your end should be to go home, organize those mistakes, and write them on paper. Since this is coming from a friend you won’t feel bad and when learning is done with joy, it always adds more importance.
Watch Movies/TV series – Well, a piece of common advice on every point. Read, write and speak more often. Do you watch TV series or online videos, movies, or lessons in English? If not, this can be a great way of enhancing your English in general and getting the sag of the grammar and its usage in specific.
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To Be an Expert in Spoken English
Speaking practice is one of the most fun and rewarding parts of learning English. Once you can communicate even a little English, there are loads of forms to enhance your skills quickly while having tons of fun. Here are some top tips for enhancing your spoken English and having a great time while you do it.
- Practice with a Friend
If you want to enhance your English speaking skills, there is no replacement for practicing with real conversations. When speaking to someone, you have to remember English vocabulary, use grammar ideas and also do things like reading the other person’s body language. All of this takes training.
If you don’t have an English-speaking friend ready to practice with you, consider finding an instructor for English lessons or a language exchange partner you can connect with online. Aparna mulberry is one of the best international spoken English tutors and you should join the course “English Padikkyam with Inverted Coconut” by her in the ENTRI Learning App.
- Online tutors
With ENTRI, you can connect with an online tutor for English conversation lessons for affordable fees. You can select your plan based on factors such as price, features, and specialty (including conversational English).
Your tutor will assist you to gain confidence by practicing your English in a real conversation. You can also work towards goals and ask them to tailor lessons to your requirements or set specific homework.
- Language exchanges
There are lots of websites designed to help ESL learners associate with native English speakers for language exchanges. Aparna Mulberry is also a native English speaker you can interact with.
You may be hesitant to jump into a conversation with a stranger when you’re still learning a foreign language, and that is common. Remember that communication skills are made one mistake at a time.
Language exchanges can also be unpredictable and tricky to manage. Don’t fall into the trap of spending too much time talking in your native language and not English. Be mindful of this if you begin a new exchange and set time limits for each language.
- Practice by yourself
It can be beneficial to talk to yourself in English. You can practice your writing skills at the same time and make flashcards of phrases or sentences to practice. If you aren’t sure how to pronounce a word, look it up in the Cambridge dictionary online to hear both US and UK English interpretations.
If there are individual sounds in the English language that you find hard to pronounce, you should practice those alone too.
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- Record yourself speaking and listen back
You have been learning English for so long to read this article, so you probably understand how many English words should sound when spoken aloud. That implies you can become your pronunciation trainer.
It can be helpful to record yourself speaking and listen back for any mistakes. Try watching a few lines of an English Netflix show with the subtitles on, and then record yourself telling them back. As the cliche goes, “you are your own most harmful critic,” so you will get the opportunity to correct as many pronunciation mistakes as any good teacher could.
If you are working with correct pronunciation then YouTube is a real gift. Try exploring for “native speaker English pronunciation errors.” If there are any new words or sounds that you discover unnatural to say, others will surely have struggled with them too — and have probably molded exercises to say them more easily.
- Concentrate on listening
Listening is a massive part of having a conversation. So, one of the most comfortable methods to work on your conversations without a partner is to practice your listening skills.
It can be useful to watch English movies or TVtv shows, listen to English podcasts, and play English-language music. However, the most practical way to learn while listening is to practice with activities.
- Learn expressions and idioms
Like every other language, spoken English varies greatly from the English you’ll see in a textbook. A great method to avoid being confused is to learn some phrases and idioms connected to your interests, work, or location.
Are you learning English to move Abroad? Take a look at these “100 Common Phrases for everyday usage”. If you are learning to improve your professional skills, try learning these English at Workplace: Top 11 tips to follow.
To Be An Expert In Writing
Many people work hard with writing in English and it can seem like a real challenge to be proficient. Don’t worry, here are some easy steps that you can take to enhance your written English and impress people with your writing mastery.
- Boost your vocabulary
To describe yourself clearly, you need a fine active vocabulary. That’s not just being able to recognize lots of words – it represents being able to use them perfectly. Do this by learning new words with sentence examples, not just word lists.
- Master English spelling
It is very important to you to know how to spell those words accurately. Incorrect spelling alters the meaning of your sentence. For example: ‘bare’ and ‘bear’ sound identical but ‘bare’ points to naked and ‘bear’ is a large animal. Also, incorrect spelling makes it hard for the reader to comprehend what you’ve written.
- Read regularly
People often say that we learn to write soundest by reading. Reading in English is reasonable in many ways. It is a great way to get a vision of the various styles of writing and see how to use words properly.
- Enhance your grammar
Grammar is very essential because it enhances the quality of your writing. Always use the proper tense and remember to use punctuation. Punctuation is a great way to make your writing precise and eloquent.
- Just do it!
Writing can be difficult in some ways. However, the best way to enhance is to get a pen and paper or sit in front of your computer and write. Be ready to write several interpretations of each text because even for professional writers, the first draft is never flawless. Remember, practice makes excellent, so now is the best time to sit down and get started.
It is not always about how fluently you can speak, or how grammatically right you are, you also ought to understand the correct usage of words in sentences for becoming an expert in the English language. We often ignore the relevance of this part of learning.
Usage is basically about individual words, and phrases, which sometimes are connected with grammar mistakes. For the learner who is looking for patterns in language, this can be irritating as it has to be learned case by case.
As a general rule, one must remember that If the error fails to comply with the generalizable rule for all members of that word class, then it is a grammatical error. Otherwise, it is a usage error.
You can follow the above-mentioned tips for each component of the English language, to become an expert in it. Spoken English is considered the most significant part of English learning to an expert in it. You can join our spoken English course titled “English Padikkyam with Inverted Coconut”, for better learning of speaking English.
