The Top 7 Ways to Learn English When You’re On the Go

By Danit Ianovici

I’ve been in the teaching world my entire life, and in the ESL world for the last 8 years. I have seen even some of the most confident people, who walk into an English lesson or a meeting, freeze up and lose their personal charm. For many of these people, it doesn't have much to do with their knowledge of the language, it has more to do with their ability to control themselves in a situation they suddenly cannot control.

So what do you do?

Do you fold? Reject the invite to the meeting? Write up a script? Hire someone to do it for you?

None of the above.

The following tips are for the beginner-intermediate English speakers or for the intermediate-advanced speakers who find it difficult to showcase their talents. From school life to work life and beyond, we all have enough on our plate without worrying about having to speak English. If you follow the tips below, your English skills will see maximum improvement with minimum time invested. It’s a slow and steady race, but you will see the finish line.

1. Read While You Listen

English is all around you, you don’t even have to look that hard for it. But you might not notice it since it’s constantly whizzing past your ears. If you read while you listen, you’re keeping your attention with the English your hearing and you’re more likely to register it. Not only that, but you’re activating the part of your brain that processes language much more. Here are a few tips on how to do that:

• Subtitles in English - add English subtitles to everything you watch

• Listen to videos with subtitles - For example, TedX and Youtube often offer subtitles for their videos

• Look Up the Lyrics - I had a client once tell me that they realized in their 40s they had been singing Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds wrong their entire lives. Learn the lyrics to songs, you’ll be surprised how many words you’ll learn

• Listen to Audiobooks and try to follow along with the text!

2. Settings > Language > English

Our phones have become our most prized possessions. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is for another blog, but here, we can use your phone as an advantage to help you reach your English goals. Change your phone settings to English and you’ll begin to see in a matter of days how much more you’re thinking in English

3. Move to England

Obviously that is not an option for most of us. However, you can bring England to you! Make an active effort to surround yourself with English. Join groups of people who meet up to practice, get on a call with someone once or twice a week where you speak only English, chat online with random companies (it’s just for practice) or even people, listen to the radio in English, read current events in English, do it all. I can guarantee you won’t forget your native tongue.

4. Talk...Even If It’s to Yourself

One of the biggest challenges my clients face in the English language is their confidence. This comes with your ability to think in the language you are speaking in. Think in Chinese, speak Chinese, so when you speak in English, you must train your brain to think in English. The best way to do this is to think out loud to yourself. As you go about your day try to find opportunities to speak what you’re doing out loud.

For example: “I am preparing for my meeting at 3:00 and then I will have a call with my boss. I am running to catch the bus to go home. I am going to pick up my kids and then cook dinner. Etc.”

5. Use Apps

Luckily, you’re in the business of learning English and not Kiswahili, so you have plenty of resources online to help you. Use apps like Duolingo or Memrise to help you. Many of them have quick lessons that suit your busy lifestyle and can be done between meetings or on your lunch break.

6. Read...Out Loud

Read books, blogs, news articles, memes, whatever you can, but do it out loud. Set aside some time when you are most alone and read to yourself. With this technique, you gain triple the effect: your read, speak and listen all at once.

7. Include Your Family & Friends

The best way to get yourself involved in something like gaining more confidence to speak English, is to involve as many people you surround yourself with on a daily basis. Can you start writing emails at work in English with a few colleagues? Maybe have lunch with someone who speaks English. You could also incorporate English into your family life by speaking at the dinner table or teaching your family songs, or even reading them books.

Life gets hectic, but that doesn’t mean you can’t improve your English on the go. I find it works best for busy bodies when a process like improving your English confidence and competence, can more easily be incorporated into our daily schedule. The tips mentioned above are perfect ways to weave English into your daily life which, in time, will help you in ways you could not imagine.