hello everyone I'm marc I'm an English teacher and coach from Toronto in Canada
but I live in Rome since I began teaching English in 1996 students have
often asked me the same question how can I learn English faster and more
efficiently ? the answer to this question has been rolling around in my head for
some time now I'll give you advice on what not to do
when learning English first so first off don't translate word by word from your
own language try to figure out the meaning by reading through the sentence and then
try to understand it from the context if you don't know how to say a certain word
in English trying to explain it by using the language and the vocabulary you
already know so this might seem difficult but it works
second don't give up on your studies be constant never stop learning
research shows that if you give up on your studies you'll relegate your
english to the back of your mind it's like going to the gym for a year and
then taking a year off when you return all your muscles will hurt
that's because you didn't work out for a year so never give up now number three
don't be shy when you speak English by gaining confidence in the language
you'll become better at it if you are confident you won't think about your
grammar mistakes when you speak to people in English they understand you
are learning the language so don't worry nobody expects impeccable English from
you so how about those points are you actually using them well I hope so
now let's talk about what you should do with learning English try to immerse
yourself in the language what do I mean by immerse well let me
tell you about my own experience with Italian I moved to Italy in 1997 for the
first two months I had 360 degree contact with the language and I spoke
Italian with some mistakes my friends were Italians the environment
was Italian the air that I breathed was Italian
the whole context was Italian well I learned Italian in two months I was able
to have a real conversation with someone even making some mistakes now and then
obviously I don't expect you to move to the USA or to Canada or to the UK or
even to Australia however you can recreate your
English learning environment but how these are the most important things how
for your listening comprehension I suggest watching TV in English by
renting or buying movies or even by using the Internet
you can find tons a myriad of movies with English subtitles complete series
or TV programmes even on YouTube you just need to google English movies and
then for example you can type Casablanca ok series like the mist friends Sex and
the City or TV programs like 2020 or Dateline there is a myriad of links to
shows programs or movies in English I would also recommend English podcasts
they are easy to get you just need to subscribe to the ones you are most
interested in and again there tons of English podcast for example English
vocabulary podcast or English grammar podcast or English pronunciation podcast
or English speaking podcast I think yes etc there tons of podcasts when
listening you don't need to pay particular attention to what you're
hearing your mind will subconsciously retain the English you hear getting used
to the sound of English will definitely help you improve your comprehension
and understanding obviously this is particularly true if you live in
a context where every American or British movie is dubbed just like here in
Italy in order to learn new vocabulary I suggest reading a book you've always
wanted to read in your own language for example a book that you'll enjoy when
you learn a language it is extremely important you enjoy what you're doing
when reading it isn't important to look up all the words you don't know it is
however important to try and understand new words by context when an author
writes a sophisticated word they usually explain it in the successive sentences
likewise when an author uses this kind of word once you'll often find it
repeated several times throughout the rest of the book in this way by the time
you've got to the end of the book you'll have found it several times in context
and you will have differently learned what it means I've seen students
translating every single word they didn't understand for long-term retention
this has been proved to be ineffective after a few weeks of not actively using
or reencountering the words they so meticously looked up in the dictionary
they simply forget them in order to use what you've already learned I suggest
going to venues where foreigners usually hang out try and meet new people they
don't have to be native English speakers they could be from anywhere but your own
country tell them you're learning English and
you'd like to practice what you've learned talk about the weather
the city their or your life in general the news anything you think will be
appropriate for that occasion meet new friends online there are hundreds of
chat rooms for English students even on Facebook there are millions of English
speaking groups by now you know you can either text or speak live with anyone on
the Internet I suggest you always mention you're
learning English and you want to practice there are many people who are
learning English and wish to use what they've learned traveling visit a
place outside your country anywhere you go you'll find people who speak English
by traveling you can practise the English you've learned firsthand try to
put yourself in situations where you have to speak English in order to
communicate in this way you're forced to use what you've learned I strongly
suggest traveling alone so that you don't speak your own language and thus
you speak only English if you live in a country where English isn't the first
language I strongly suggest attending English lessons make it a habit
don't stop attending this will definitely increase your level of
English and will maintain what you've learned so far well I hope you've found my
advice helpful if you'd like to make a comment or to post a question just do so
under this video don't forget to subscribe to my channel if you haven't
and please share the video with your friends they might even thank you for
thinking about them thank you very much for watching and have a great day. See you next time, bye bye