Better English

Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "global language". While English is not an official language in many countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a second language around the world.
Many people across the globe are taught subjects in their vernacular language. This at times becomes a problem when people try to learn English or try to interact with people who mainly speak English. This not only impacts the time taken to learn English but also has an overall impact on pronunciations.
There are some of us who despite graduating from an English School are not up to mark with spoken and written English. Many reasons are attributed to this viz. not paying much attention to the English language, as the primary language used at home is not English and speaking with friends in one’s own mother tongue.
Following are the ways in which you can help yourself to learn and improve English
1. Read as much as possibleReading is the first step to help you on your journey towards improving and learning English. Read as much, whenever and wherever possible. Start with reading the section of the daily newspaper that you like the most. If you are interested in the sports section, then start with reading that. Slowly you will gain interests in reading other sections of the newspaper as well.
Subscribing to a magazine of your interest area will also help you. If you like reading about celebrities then subscribe to a magazine that provides such information. If you like reading about the latest trends in the IT industry then subscribe to a magazine that provides this information. Go ahead and subscribe to the article of your interest area.
Make a point to read at least one book in a month. You could read any book; novels, self help material, business books, subject books, etc.
Reading billboards also helps, as guys from the creative field create some of the best marketing messages and copies that I have ever read. This will help you in improving your vocabulary.
While reading you will encounter some words which you do not understand at all, in such cases you should underline such words and find its meaning using a dictionary and add it in your vocabulary log (more about this ahead in this article).
Looking up the meaning of a word on the Internet is very easy. Visit www.google.com and type in define:word. For example you need to find the meaning of “intuition”, then visit www.google.com and type define:intuition (without any space in between).
2. Watch English Movies, TV Programs and Listen to MusicThe next logical step is to watch as many English Movies and TV Programming as possible. Watching movies and TV programs has an ever lasting impact on you, but beware of movies and TV Soap, Comedy or Drama that uses a lot of slang language. This will destroy your learning process.
I would recommend watching channels like Discovery, National Geographic, History and BBC.
Get MP3s or CDs/Cassettes of some old slow English songs. Keep listening to them till the time you can understand each word sung. This will get you used to various words and will improve your overall understanding of the language.
Again during this exercise note the words that you don’t understand in a vocabulary log (more about this ahead).
3. Get your pronunciations rightWe all have pronunciations for every English word that we use, unfortunately some of it is correct and some incorrect. In the previous point where I asked you to listen and watch as many movies/TV programs/Songs, etc as possible, you should also focus on listening to the pronunciations. If there is a word which you pronounce differently, then try to rehearse that word over and over again till such time where you feel comfortable with the pronunciation and try pronouncing it the same way while speaking.
4. Group LearningHaving a group of 3 – 4 committed friends can help a lot. If you don’t have one, then identify people who are really interested in learning. Form a group and motivate yourself to learn and improve collectively. The more you share, the more you learn. Always understand that having 3 – 4 friends in a group helps because each person in the group is trying his/her best to learn and when each of you in the group shares, you get to learn 3 – 4 new rules, pronunciations and vocabulary.
I would recommend that you forward this article to as many friends as possible and derive a group of 3 – 4 friends who are really serious about learning and helping you learn. Don’t expect to get any luck in the first try. You need to speak with as many friends as possible to get a solid 3 – 4 friend group.
. Speak EnglishReading, listening and improving vocabulary is all good, but not till the time you don’t make use of your learning by speaking and writing (More about writing ahead in the article).
Speak with your friends and family members in English. Initially when your friends and family listen you talk in English, they might give you a negative vibe and reaction as they are not used to hearing you talk in English. Some of your friends might mock at you and laugh at you. Don’t let this bother you. After all it’s your life and you have a mission to improve at English as a language. Take each step as a learning step, you might climb at times and at times fall, but you should only concentrate on improving/learning English. Set it as a goal in life. Read the article on Achieving goals in 5 disciplined steps
6. Increase and improve your VocabularyAs you read newspapers, magazines, online articles or watch movies, TV programs, news or listen to songs you might find words which you don’t fully understand. In such cases note those words in a Vocabulary log (more about vocabulary log later). Once you have noted the words, locate its meaning using an online or offline dictionary and update your vocabulary log.
Trying to use one word to express you is better than creating a sentence with many words. E.g “I am not feeling well” can be said as “I am unwell”. Do you get the point?
You can also improve your vocabulary by trying to solve Cross Word puzzles and by playing various word games available online. This link could help you http://games.yahoo.com/word-games
Note on Vocabulary logThis will be your best friend when it comes to improving your vocabulary. Start with taking a long register and divide that into two parts. The last part of the register should have around 20 – 25 pages and the first half with the balance pages.
On the last 20 – 25 pages, create 4 – 5 columns on all the 20 – 25 pages. Write any word that you don’t understand in the column while reading / listening. You should focus on adding 2 – 3 words every day in those columns.
Once you have written those words, then lookup their meaning using an online/offline dictionary and write the meaning of those words in the first half section of the book and write sentences using those words. You should have atleast 2- 3 sentences written to help you understand different ways to use the word.
7. Seek a mentor to help youSeek a mentor who speaks fluent and impeccable English. This will help you progress much faster than expected. Don’t feel bad if your mentor taunts you or pin points your mistake many times, he/she is just doing his/her job. Just follow your mentor.
You could ask your friend, boss, spouse or neighbor to be your mentor. Let him/her know your goal and intentions and request him/her to guide you through the process of learning. Always speak with him/her in English and ask to be corrected wherever you go wrong.
8. Write short stories and essaysOnce you get a little comfortable with English as a language then start writing short stories and articles on things which interest you the most. You can create an online blog at blogspot.com and create articles about anything. You could be an expert in some area and could write articles on providing solutions to common problems for which people hunt for solutions.
While writing keep in mind to use vocabulary that you have learnt so far and don’t feel shy of what people might think about your article or essays. Just write!
9. Join an English CourseIf you are at the beginner level it is good to enroll yourself for an English course. You need to research on various institutes which offer such a course. It is always best to meet the faculty/teacher before enrolling as this helps you understanding his/her teaching style and process followed.
How to motivate yourself to learn If you are not motivated to learn then you might get frustrated and possibly give up. Ask yourself the following questions and be honest with yourself.
(a)Why do I need to improve English? (b)Where would I need to use English? (c) What skills do you need to improve English (Speaking/Writing/Listening/Reading)? (d) How soon do you need to see results? (e) How much time/money can I devote to improving English?