HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS? - A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH

1. Why could/did not you learn English till now?

Most of us cite a lot of excuses to justify our failure to learn good English over the years. Some of these excuses are given below:

1.   I was educated in such government/private schools and colleges, where my teachers and lecturers never taught me good English!

2.   My parents were poor, ignorant and uneducated. So, they did not encourage me towards learning good English.

3.   I did not know about the importance of English language when I was a student or as a professional/employee later.

4.   My friends and relatives did not motivate me towards improving my English because I had such circle of members in my pathetic life.

5.   I bought a few English dictionaries and grammar books but I could not learn much English from them.

6.   I was so busy in my life that I did not get time to focus on English language adequately.

7.   I always got low marks in English subject and so slowly I developed inevitable fear about it.

8.   It is difficult to learn English in villages and towns where nobody uses English for their communication or otherwise. 

Facts

In fact, you did/could not learn good English so far, for the following reasons:

1. You liked watching films, playing cricket, spending time with your friends and doing so many such other things but never had interest to learn English.

2. You misused a lot of time in your life till now because you did not know the value of time and the importance of English in particular.

2. Why should anybody learn English at all?

English is being widely used in most of the countries in this world during the last 200 years. The British ruled many places (colonies) in this world and in course of time they accorded independence to all of them. We call them third world or developing countries. In all these countries, because once the British ruled them for years, English became highly used language of communication.

The Development of the USA as a Super Power

The United States of America has a history of about 400 years but it became the most dominant economic power during this short period of time. Students, job seekers and businessmen started migrating into this country rapidly to benefit from the opportunities and facilities available there. Since English is widely used in the U.S.A., many started according more and more value to this language during the last 50 years. We cannot be happy and successful in the U.S.A. if our English language skills are poor. So, people in other countries also started considering ‘English’ as a great language for all.

The Power of Western World

English is widely being used in many European countries like England, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. Just as we imitate the habits and culture of rich and influential people in our society, we also feel like learning and using that language, which is mostly used and respected in developed countries. So, for us, English means a language related to rich, successful, influential and happy people across the world. Therefore, we love English. If we have to be successful, happy and comfortable in our personal and professional lives, we must learn and use good English, wherever and whenever possible. This is our common view.

The Context of India

During the last 100 years, English acquired such great status in India also that using English widely became a status symbol for anybody. Be it in your home, society, school, college, university, firm or any other place or setting, where interaction and communication is taking place widely, if you use English effectively, you would be respected by most of them. So, English became a very influential language in India also due to the impact of many factors like westernisation, great employment opportunities for those who are good at English, education abroad, foreign jobs, etc.

Wide Usage of English

There are extraordinary books written in English on various subjects by different authors and writers from various regions and countries. There is an ocean of information on the Internet. To take competitive examinations, face job interviews, to give presentations, to understand foreign speakers better, to express our feelings and views in an internationally influential language, we need to be good at English. These are just a few examples. To put it simply, one can say that we cannot imagine this world today without ‘English’. Now English occupied such status in our minds and lives across the world.

No Choice

So, the fact is that whether you like or do not like English language for any reasons, nobody is bothered about your views on it. If you do not use English widely, you shall be considered as an ordinary person in most of the contexts you come across in your life or profession. English is a dominant language in India. So, you must learn and use it to get a good image in your life or workplace. You must live in the present. If you want to be influential and attractive in the present society, one choice is to be good at English.

3. How to Improve your English?

I conceived a formula to make one simply understand the format and process required to improve one’s English in course of time. It is PMPA. In this formula:

P stands for       Passion

M for                Material

P for                 Practice

A for                Application

Passion

Passion is a strong desire for something. We think and work hard to somehow acquire or achieve them over a period of time. Most of us have, generally, passion for some or all of the following:

1. Money

2. Company of persons of opposite gender

3. Foods and beverages

4. Sports and games

5. Comforts

6. Luxuries

7. Valuable items of property

8. Entertainment

9. Gadgets

10. Unique items and things of mystery and suspense

Passion for English

If we have passion for learning and using English, we concentrate more and more of our energy and time on the point of acquiring those skills but unfortunately very few of us have this strong desire and commitment towards English. We neglect English as much as we can do. This is why we often fail to learn and use English effectively in our life or profession. So, avoid such careless attitude and develop passion for English. Better late than never. If you want English, you should work hard to achieve it. If you have the will, there are many ways to improve your English language skills.

Difference between your Mother Tongue and a Foreign Language

All of us learn and use our mother tongue naturally in our lives because we get focused to it regularly from our birth to death. So, you can learn it easily. Foreign language is one, which you don’t listen to, speak, write and read like your mother tongue. So, to learn and use any foreign language, you must make constant efforts towards acquiring and retaining those skills. The more you try for it, the more you learn. It takes a lot of time to achieve considerable command of a foreign language. English is a foreign language for us. So, you cannot learn it unless you work hard in that direction.

Material

We need necessary material to improve our English language skills. Some of this material is:

1. Books

2. Audio-visual resources

3. Internet

4. Social and professional environment

Books

There are different kinds of books reading which, regularly; we can improve our English language skills. Some of these books are:

1. Standard English grammar books

2. Standard English dictionaries

3. Storybooks, novels, dramas, scriptures

4. Weeklies, monthlies, yearbooks

5. Journals, encyclopaedias

Audiovisual Resources

We can learn English listening to and watching such programs, in which English is the medium of communication. Consider the following audiovisual resources available now to all of us:

1. Listening to English programs on radio

2. Watching English feature films, serials, speeches and programs on television channels

3. Watching various programs and presentations on sources like YouTube

4. Buying and using CDs and DVDs on English language

Internet

Internet made our lives simple and comfortable because we can access any kind of information within seconds, sitting in our comfortable and affordable places, anywhere in the world. It costs very little but provides us with limitless extent of information on any topic we like to know about. So, if you want to improve your English fast, perhaps Internet is the greatest resource for it. Whatever you want to learn, it’s all there on the Internet. Just check it! If you want to learn English as a modern man or woman, with speed and intelligence, Internet is the short-cut. There are a multitude of Apps on English language. Search for them attentively, download them and read and watch them quite often to march ahead.

Social and Professional Environment

Check if there is any direct or indirect provision in your society or professional environment to learn English. Consider the following points:

1. Somebody in your neighbourhood, who knows good English

2. Regular meetings and conferences in your workplace wherein English is used widely

3. Religious programs where English is used

4. Libraries in your place

5. Cultural activities in your firm or institution

Practice

We all know that ‘practice makes a man perfect’ but how many of us did it in our real lives. We always stop at theory but never get into the aspect of practising it. Theory means knowing about something and practice means doing it actually. We can learn English language substantially practising four aspects of learning process. These are:

1. Listening

2. Speaking

3. Reading

4. Writing

Listening

What we listen reaches our brain and we can get it stored there only if we memorize it until it gets recorded there. We can learn English listening to the following:

1. Radio

2. Speeches of eminent English speakers

3. Education related programs on television

4. Parliament sessions

5. Listening to your peers and superiors when they are talking in English in any context

6. Prerecorded CDs and DVDs on English language

Speaking

Most of us do not speak English with others thinking that there may be mistakes in it. We should speak English regularly without thinking on whether it is right or wrong. We can speak English in the following contexts:

1. With our family members at home

2. With our classmates or colleagues

3. With direct viewers on a stage

4. With our friends or others over phone

5. With those who don’t know our language at all

6. Participating in group discussions

7. Participating in competitions like elocution

8. Speaking in ourselves creating different characters and contexts creatively

Reading

We can improve our English, reading a wide variety of reading material, such as:

1. Books written by noted authors and writers from various countries in the world

2. Dailies like The Hindu and The Times of India

3. English textbooks of school level learners from standard 1 to 10 and afterwards

4. Periodicals like Outlook, Week, India Today and Reader’s Digest

5. Yearbooks like Manorama Yearbook

6. Industry and profession related books and journals

7. Books on general knowledge and current affairs

8. Government publications like Employment News

Writing

After the entry of cellphones into our personal and professional lives, we almost stopped writing except for tests and examinations with a clear purpose. Earlier there was the habit of letter writing among us but we almost stopped writing letters now. Writing is very important to improve our English. We can do it in the following contexts:

1. Taking down notes when somebody is speaking in a meeting

2. Writing articles with personal interest

3. Typing emails with grammatically correct English

4. Chatting with friends online using correct English

5. Writing speeches and stories creatively

6. Participating in writing related competitions regularly

7. Preparing summary of a material we have read

8. Preparing PPTs on topics of our interest without checking online

9. Writing letters to the editors of newspapers and other publications

10. Writing complaint/suggestion/appreciation letters to persons and organizations

Application

We know about subjects like applied physics and applied mathematics. It means studying a subject relating it to what is happening now around us in a given period of time, a context or a professional arena. Similarly, we should apply/use the English language, which we learned through different ways investing our deliberate and committed efforts for a long time. There is no use of knowledge and skills, which we acquired, unless we apply it in our real lives. It’s like having plenty of money in our possession but dying, burying it all in a pit without telling anybody. Disused knowledge and energy is like misused potential provided to us by God and nature abundantly.

Listening

Listen to any story, speech, news on radio or television or in a public meeting and explain it in your own words to somebody that did not attend that program. This way, you can feel that you have the ability of understanding something spoken, just by listening to it carefully. It means you can understand English pronounced by others correctly and speak it well when explaining it to others. Similarly, see a feature film on television or in a cinema and tell the story to your friends in English. Thus you can enhance your potential of learning English through the skill of careful listening. If you learn a lot through listening, you can express a lot through speaking. Listening is a very important aspect of learning. You can improve your accent, listening and talking about it later, to show your power of listening comprehension.

Speaking

Make it a habit of speaking English, wherever and whenever possible. You might have practised a lot reading grammar books and other material on functional/communicative English but what is use of it if you don’t speak English and make others believe that you know how to communicate in English in different contexts. English spoken out is a symbol of our measurable strength and that hidden within us forever is a matter of knowledge and information. Stored and concealed knowledge is like decomposed material whereas expressed and shared skills are like fresh water and air. If you don’t speak, nobody understands you. If you speak fluently and confidently, everybody recognizes and appreciates you one day or the other. So, speaking out is very important.

Reading

Reading may be silent or audible. We can read fast silently but we cannot identify the errors in our pronunciation/accent this way. So, often, read out English stories and other material in such a way that you and others can also listen to it. Thus, you can identify your pronunciation and accent errors and correct them. Also, others, who are better than you at English, can correct your spoken English. Therefore, reading out English, as frequently as possible, is one way to improve your English. Paper presentations, reading out annual reports, conducting seminars as per the written order of schedule, reading and explaining study material in different contexts, reading out newspapers are some ways of application of our reading skills, acquired earlier. If you read out alone, it’s practice. If you do it publicly, it’s application. Both are necessary aspects of learning.

Writing

Spoken words are like letters written on a wet beach passionately. A tide may erase it at any point of time. So, it’s an unreliable record of your communication and thoughts. Written words are like those engraved on a solid rock which last for a long time. Written words form part of human history whereas spoken words facilitate timely and contextual sharing of information. Write English in as many forms and contexts as possible. Write blogs online, write your personal diary, write stories, write speeches, write notes on anything heard, write letters, write poetry, write on anything that you like. Writing substantially contributes to know what we are and what we can do for others now or later. Hundreds of creative and intellectual personalities created history writing on a wide variety of themes they liked. Literature is the knowledge base of a society, religion or country. So, have passion to write whenever and wherever you feel like doing it.

The End

The preceding guidelines and order of learning process must help you learn English slowly. However, we cannot include all points in a linear order, when we intend to discuss a given idea or subject comprehensively. We feel that there is still something to be shared with our target audience/viewers/readers/customers. We can call it ‘miscellaneous points’, which are equally important. I would present them below. You must focus on them attentively and strive to learn English based on the knowledge and insights provided therein. Don’t take it as ‘negligible’.

4. Miscellaneous Points

Remember that you are learning good English to improve your image, your chances of satisfaction and success in personal and professional lives and your character as a whole. You are not learning English for the sake of your employer, teacher or anybody else. What you learn and use is your asset but not that of your teacher or employer. English is like a jewel. If you wear it, you may look more attractive!

Check Yourself

Never think that you know a word or a grammar point very well. Always have the question ‘Am I using this word correctly?’ A standard English dictionary and a standard English grammar book are your reliable teachers. Don’t depend on a subject expert or your teacher always. He may clarify your doubt carelessly or wrongly. You will continue using it that way later. Thus you are further spoiling your standards of English. Printed words are more reliable than the undependable knowledge base and memory power of your colleagues or instructors. Crosscheck always when you want to confirm something. Know that you commit mistakes. Try to correct them continuously. Nobody is a living dictionary. So, avoid such impressions about yourself or others. Depend on great books to improve your English and knowledge but not on moody humans!

Plenty of Material

Never feel and say that there is no good material to read. Go to any noted bookstore in your town, city, district, state or country. There are hundreds of great books and audio-visual material on many subjects. Knowledge is widely available now in the modern world. Check different bookstores and buy standard material. You must take the initiative to buy good books. Never expect others to think and work for you. If you have no passion to improve yourself, why do others bother about you? You are responsible for your destiny. You are made of your thoughts and actions. Update yourself continuously.

Native Speakers or other Speakers     

We often doubt on whether we should depend on a native speaker to improve our spoken English or read a book of a foreign author. Someone living in England, Canada, the USA or Ireland generally knows better English than one living in Bangladesh, India, China or Japan. So, when possible, depend on spoken and written works of native users of English rather than on those spoken or written by others. For example, George Bernard Shaw wrote better English than R K Narayan. If you want extraordinary English skills, read books of that order only, not ordinary books written by somebody. You can read any book for pleasure but for learning great English, you must depend on great books only. Watch television channels like BBC, National Geographic and History for standard English. There are some good Indian television channels also like NDTV.

English is everywhere    

Never think that you can learn good English only through reading grammar books and dictionaries. They guide you properly when you get doubts and questions. To get doubts and questions, you must read, listen to and speak a lot of English being encouraged and inspired by what is happening around you regularly. Concentrate on all places, contexts, products and services where English is being used widely. You can learn a lot of English with this broad outlook towards observing the usage of English in various ways everywhere. You must love English words, wherever they are.

Accent/Pronunciation

If there are about 196 countries in the world now, there may be 200 varieties of spoken English as well because various geographical and cultural influences impact the accents of different people in different places. British English, American English, Australian English, Indian English…there are many varieties. Speak such English which you can understand easily if someone else speaks it to you. Let not the accent of your mother tongue tarnish the beauty of your English. You cannot follow International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) based pronunciation or Received Pronunciation (RP) either. So, never try to imitate a native speaker of English (someone in England or the USA). Speak in such a way that your colleagues and friends can easily understand it. Language is for reliable communication but not a medium to showcase our superiority in using an accent everywhere.

Which English Dictionary?

Many have this doubt. I consider Oxford, Cambridge, Merriam Webster, Longman, Collins, Macmillan English dictionaries reliable to a great extent. There may be some other varieties of standard English dictionaries also, about which I don’t know. So, check different dictionaries in various bookstores and online, and decide about it on your own. You know the best about what you want. Let not others impose their choices on you when you have an active brain. Enquiry is a good habit. It means we have curiosity and intelligence of our own to some extent. Apply them often! Buy large and heavy dictionaries if you want to learn more. Buy small and light dictionaries if you wish to remain as an innocent child forever! Prefer to buy those English dictionaries, which come with a DVD containing all that is given in hard copy. You can upload the soft copy version of these dictionaries into your computer system and learn English extraordinarily. Soft copies are provided with many unbelievable features of learning these days. You can learn pronunciation of each word also better this way. There are many exercises and lessons, apart from main dictionary, in these versions.

Which English Grammar Book?

You must assess to what extent you know and can use English grammar perfectly in your personal or professional life. Buy a grammar book accordingly. If you cannot learn English reading English to English grammar books, buy such grammar books, which explain each point of English grammar in your mother tongue. When you are learning a foreign language, learn it reading such books, which you can understand easily. Don’t complicate this learning process, reading difficult books initially. Remember that learning happens slowly.

How should we learn a Foreign Language?

We should learn any foreign language through our mother tongue. If your mother tongue is Telugu, you should learn English through Telugu. Unfortunately, many English medium schools and colleges in India started promoting the medium of English only in their institutions, neglecting the mother tongues of formative learners altogether. Consequently, they cannot learn English or their mother tongues well. Mother tongue is like our mother. We should know about other mothers through our mother only because our mother is greater than all others from our perspective. If you are not good at your mother tongue, you cannot learn any language perfectly. Every language is beautiful and powerful. We should learn any language systematically, studying and observing its realistic usage in different contexts, and its standard grammatical and cultural contexts.

Who can make me a great English Speaker within a year?

Never believe if somebody says that he or she can make you a fluent English speaker within a few weeks or months. English or any language is not something which can be artificially injected into you like a vaccine. You are not a robot to scan, remember and use everything just like that. You have to constantly learn and use English through different ways to be a fluent English speaker. You can achieve that standard of English usage through regular practice only. Language is also like a living organism. It keeps evolving continuously. So, regularly you must update your knowledge and skills of English. No spoken English institute can change you forever. Most of them are professional liars and hypocrites.

English is a Difficult Language!

It is true. There are many complications in the nature, development and usage of English because it took various words from different cultures over the decades. We cannot remember those spellings, pronunciation, meanings and usage unless we learn them carefully and practice them passionately. If anybody is using good English, it means he or she is making a great effort continuously to acquire and retain those skills. Similarly, you must also keep doing it to be good at English. There are no shortcuts to learn great English. You should be a great learner and user of it to achieve it.

Aim at Perfection

Most of us use English depending on the status of the other person to whom we are communicating, written or oral. We use one kind of English if we are sending a casual email to a friend and one kind of English if we are sending a professional email to somebody who is very authoritative, powerful and superior to us. In fact, it is a bad habit. Always try to use the best English you know, not minding the context of the communication or the status of the other person. You must use grammatically correct English every time. Then only you can improve your English. Have respect for the perfection of the language you are using but not about the context or person you are dealing with. Everybody feels happy if you use good English. However, you can use simple English when you know that the other person cannot understand if you use the highest standard of English you know. There must be perfection even in simple language you use.

Which Word or Phrase?        

We often have an idea but fail to remember the exact word or phrase related to it. It is a universal issue as far as usage of any language is concerned. We ask somebody about it, explaining our idea. This is the only way out because we cannot identify the exact word in a dictionary just knowing what it means. At least we must know the first letter of that word. So, keep learning about every word and phrase, which you have to use in your regular life and profession. To that extent, you can be a good user of English. Once you are good in your familiar field, you can work on other words and contexts also slowly. The more you practice language, the more you learn.

Vocabulary Building

How many words, their spellings and meanings, and their right usage do you know in English? It is your vocabulary. To improve your vocabulary, you must constantly learn about new words and their correct usage. You must have curiosity about different words. Then only you can love all those words and try to learn and use them in your life or profession. Referring to a standard English dictionary, whenever we come across new words, is one way to improve our vocabulary. There are thousands of words in English language. How much you learn depends on how much you love the language and how constantly and passionately you are working to improve your vocabulary.

Memorization

Memorization means practicing something in your mind repeatedly until you can store it permanently there. Ancient Indian learning system was based on memorization. We call it ‘Gurukula’. If teacher taught something, his disciples repeated it many times orally. This oral practice was to remember those words forever. We should do so to improve our English language skills also. Practice a new word and its usage rigorously in your mind. You must be able to recollect that word and use it properly even after 100 days or a year. It happens only when the details of that word are stored in your conscious and subconscious mind. It requires constant memorization of new words and their usage. Do it on and on and on.

Distractions

Distraction is anything which attracts you towards it when you don’t like it for some reasons. You often feel that there is no enough time to learn English. In fact, you are cheating yourself thinking like this. Get attracted only towards those things, which help you learn English directly or indirectly. You should know and practice how to control and train your mind according to your needs and circumstances. Nothing can distract you if you have willpower to learn English. You would get a lot of time to learn English if you honestly try to avoid unnecessary habits and things from your life. Think how much of your precious time you are using every day to improve your knowledge and language skills. You can certainly identify your drawbacks and demerits. Identify, plan, correct and transform yourself. Tune yourself to utilize your time and energy for only such things, which improve you as an intelligent, disciplined and creative one. Avoid passing time just like that. Save it and use it.

A Reliable Guide

We always want to have a reliable person to depend on in our process of learning English. Our friends, colleagues, relatives or well-wishers may not be good at English, and even if they are, they may not be interested to help us every time we have a doubt or question related to English. Check if somebody can help you. There may be one or two in your access. Otherwise, keep reading, listening, speaking and writing as much English as possible. You would master English one day. Practice is our best teacher. You could learn your mother tongue without any teacher or helper because you got continuously focused to it. Similarly, concentrate on English only wherever and whenever possible. Depend on standard English dictionaries, standard English grammar books and Internet to learn English if you don’t have anybody to help you in this direction. Many learn a lot on their own!

What if I can never Learn English?

Human beings have many phobias. It’s logical or intuitive fear of something. They are all living happily removing their fears slowly or not doing what they cannot do. You can live happily even if you cannot learn or use good English. Do such things in your life where English need not be used at all. Millions of people are living without knowing and using English. Honesty and hard-working nature are good qualities. They are more powerful than English. So, try to attract others practicing these qualities in your life and profession. English is just a jewel. You can live happily without wearing it also. There are many other jewels in and around us. Identify and use them. You can be happy and victorious.

Author Statement

I prepared this ‘advice material’ based on my knowledge about and experience in usage of English during the last 10 years. It is mostly prepared without referring to other material. This small guide is intended for enthusiastic learners of English. No part of this content can be copied or used anywhere in a commercially profitable or legally objectionable manner. I am solely responsible for everything written in this material. If you have any doubts and questions, reach me the following way:

Email id:              rajayogi@live.com                                        

Cellphone:           91-9573169823                                

My blog sites:      virahini.blogspot.in

            dcraju.blogspot.in  

© 2015 Datla Chiranjeevi Raju