Non-Monotonous Ways to Improve Your English

• Non-Monotonous Ways to Improve Your English

There is no trick to boost your English rapidly. No, it doesn’t work in a magical way. It has to come naturally, slowly, and effectively. According to me, a language can not just be learned or improved verbally. It has to be an amalgamation of visual, contextual, verbal, and auditory learnings. Your eyes, ears, brain, and tongue should simultaneously collaborate with each other. Only then can you gain control over the language completely. Let’s look at how to achieve this effectively.

• Contextual Learning
• Learn Etymology through Logic

Etymology is the study of the origin of words. Learn what the root words are, what are the various prefixes or suffixes. Let’s see how the chronology works. 

You learn root words and their meanings → You learn prefixes and suffixes, and their meanings → Clearer the meanings, your reading speed automatically increases. → Your understanding speed also increases simultaneously → You become more likely to use these words while you speak. 

Believe me, these exercises are fun and remove the monotony out of the burden of learning a language.

Let's take the root word “ego” For example

Ego derived from Latin simply means “self” or “I” . 

Now, let’s have a look at words formed using ego using various prefixes and suffixes. 

Egoist simply means someone who is self-centered or selfish. 

Egotist, on the other hand, means someone who constantly boasts about themselves or keeps talking about themselves. 

(Fun Tip: You can make your own story too. Like, to remember the difference between two words. Egotist, which slightly differs from egoist by a ‘t’, story: t for talk, hence someone who talks about themselves constantly. There you go!)

Similarly, Egocentric is someone who considers themselves as the center of the universe. Egomaniac comes from Ego + Maniac (obsessed) means someone who is self-obsessed.

• Vocabulary Building: Chart It down

If you cannot learn in a linear manner, or have problems remembering then chart it down. Make charts of root-words and interlinked stories around them. 

Here’s a small example, with the word “Dexter” meaning right hand. This story is based on the old myth that right handed people were considered more skilled, and the left-handed ones were deemed evil. Within recent decades, we have come to acknowledge that the “southpaws” or “lefties” are just as normal as anyone else. You can relate it to the famous TV series “Dexter” too. :)

To learn more about this, to best understand root-words and their uses, you can read “Word Power Made Easy” by Normal Lewis. You can accomplish a tremendous gain in a short period of time with concentrated efforts from this book. 

If you think you are way past the beginner stage and are ready to learn complex new words, you can go through “All about Words - An adult Approach to Vocabulary Building” by Maxwell Nurnberg and Morris Rosenberg. 

• Visual and Auditory Learning
• Cue cards

Perhaps the best way to learn/improve a language is to build a strong vocabulary around it. Cue cards can help you alot in it. They’re compact, and you can carry them around with you. 

What to do with these cue cards? 

→ Read 3-4 words and their meanings everyday. Try them in different sentences. It won’t take more than 20 minutes per day to get your head around those 3-4 words. Try using them as many times as possible while you speak.

• English Movies and Songs

Try watching English movies without subtitles and try tracking the English song lyrics. Let your brain understand what it sees and what it hears simultaneously. If you are new to English-movie watching, you might need subtitles in the beginning. But in later stages, try to avoid it as much as possible.

• Books

Books have always been the greatest source of learning. Read as much as possible.  Books make you learn a language by leveraging your attention into the imaginative world. Pick your favorites. Read fiction, history, essays, literature, whatever suits you. Reading books sometimes becomes boring for most people. So I would suggest an alternative of listening to audio recordings of the books. That can help too.

• Verbal Learning

There is no magic trick in this part. It is the same old school, conventional method. Practice! Do not be afraid of making mistakes. Those mistakes can be the best tutors. However, you can make it interesting. Read ahead to know how.

• Usage

Now you know the roots; you know the words and their meanings. The last thing left to do is usage. There is no shortcut to understand the usages. All you have to do is to practice as much as you can. Try learning multiple usages of the word. A word can have multiple meanings and can be used in multiple ways. 

For instance, did you know that “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.” is actually a sentence. You might be wondering what it means. Here’s your answer. 

• Keep up with the New words: Increases the Fun

Constantly be updated about the new words that are being added to the dictionary every year. Know what they mean and how you can use them in different ways. Be on a constant lookout for exceptional, funny, and interesting words. Building context between your experiences and the words can help you remember them easily. Some examples are as follows: 

• Writing

You can even try writing. Write about whatever intrigues you. Whatever you’re passionate about. Just write. You can even share your work on social media, giving people access to your work. Take their opinions, learn, and improve. You’ll be proficient in English before you know it.