How can I Learn English Words to be Like a Native Speaker?

This is a good question if you are willing to enrich your language to sound like a native speaker. That is to say, learning a language requires improving the four skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Listening and reading are your “input” from which you gain new words and their pronunciation in order to use in speaking and writing which are your “output”

In this article, I will help you with to-the-point tips which you can follow to enrich your vocabulary and consequently, improve your language level to sound like a native speaker.

• Read

Reading from different sources will add to your vocabulary. You can read books, novels, or short articles on everything. I prefer that you start with the fields you are interested in. Afterwards, you can read about different topics. Reading is essential as it exposes you to many words and expressions that native speakers use regularly. You can read articles on different websites such as the?BBC, CNN, and National Geography Magazine,?or you can simply google the topic you want to read on. Remember to have your notes of the new words and try to use them in a context

• Listen & Watch

Audio and visual means of learning are effective especially for those who are not interested in reading. You can listen to?songs?and learn from their lyrics. However, I do not prefer songs because I believe that music is distracting. Another alternative, which I prefer, is?podcasts. You can listen to?6-Minute English podcast?by the BBC or?VOA?(Voice of America) podcasts. The good thing about both podcasts is that they have scripts. Thus, you can download any script and read it while listening. This will help you underline the key words and expressions. As far as movies are concerned, you can download movies with English subtitles. Watch them on your laptop or PC, so that you can pause and repeat. Podcasts, songs, and movies have native speakers who you learn from. Gradually, you will familiarize with the words and expressions they use and the way they pronounce them.

• Answer Quizzes

A fun and easy way to learn new words is to answer vocabulary quizzes. It will help you identify?synonyms?(different words with the same meaning) and?antonyms?( different words with opposite meaning). You can pick a topic and answer a quiz on. Think about the words that you are going to learn and will not forget especially if your answer is wrong because we do not forget our mistakes easily.

• Use a Dictionary

A dictionary is indispensable for any ELL (English-language learner). I always check any new word in a monolingual dictionary to understand its features. For example, a dictionary will show you if the word is commonly used or not, formal or informal, the word form (verb, noun, adjective…etc.), and how it is used in examples. Moreover, a dictionary like Thesaurus gives you the synonyms and antonyms of words, which will add many equivalents to your vocabulary.

• Converse

Engaging in a conversation with a native speaker will motivate you to communicate, and consequently use all what you learn. Talking to someone whose mother tongue is English, is helpful in catching new words, learning when and how to use them, and pronouncing them properly.

To conclude, there are different ways and sources to learn new vocabulary. It is not difficult, but it needs persistence to reach a native like speaker level.