When it comes to learning a language if you don’t use it, you lose it.
You’ve been working so hard on improving your English, and you’re worried the coronavirus quarantine will set you back months.
But as long as you’re willing to put in a little effort, you have nothing to worry about. There are many ways to improve your English language skills during self-isolation.
If you're struggling, however, we've put together this handy list of activities that'll help you improve your English from the comfort of your own home.
Table of Contents
- Keep chatting in English
- Talk to yourself in English
- Watch movies with English subtitles
- Watch the news in English
- Listen to English audiobooks and podcasts
- Try a free language app
- Learn a new word a day and maintain a word bank
- Find and follow a recipe
- Read. Read. Read
- Start writing in English
1. Keep chatting in English
One of the best ways to improve your English from home is to make sure you’re still having plenty of conversations in English.
Stay in touch with English-speaking friends and chat with them regularly. Video calls are ideal, but even messaging will help you practice your writing and reading skills.
There are so many ways you can do this.
You could try WhatsApp; you already know how that works!
You could try Zoom, a video conferencing platform you can use on your phone and desktop.
You could even try Houseparty, a phone app that lets you video call multiple friends at once and play quizzes and fun drawing games.
2. Talk to yourself in English
We talk to ourselves multiple times in a day, and we generally do it in the language we are most comfortable with.
Hereafter, consciously decide to think your thoughts in English. This is an excellent way to build your confidence, build your vocabulary and develop your English.
When you find the time and space, you can even try talking out loud while sitting in front of a mirror. This way, you can tackle your accent, pronunciation and body language.
3. Watch movies with English subtitles
Who said movies aren’t educational? So how can you improve your English through a movie marathon?
Pick a film you’ve never watched before and put English subtitles on. In less than a second, you’ve turned watching a movie into watching a movie and reading at the same time!
It’s not the most formal style of learning, but it’s still effective.
Most importantly, it’s fun.
4. Watch the news in English
Yes, many of us might not be big fans of the news, but it plays an important role in improving your English language prowess.
Unlike movies and TV shows, news programs will have a more professional communication style. You will also have the opportunities to learn different words when the news anchor covers different types of events.
You can also choose to watch specific news segments like the sports section to make it interesting.
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5. Listen to English audiobooks and podcasts
Many people miss this step while trying to learn a new language. You might think that podcasts and audiobooks might be dull, but they are the exact opposite of that.
With both forms of audio entertainment trending and gaining followers everyday, you can most definitely find a podcast covering topics in the area of your interest.
Make this a habit, listen to an audiobook while jogging or a podcast episode while cooking. This is a background exercise that doesn’t take any time but helps a lot in improving your English.
Also read: Daily used English words
6. Try a free language app
When you’re wondering how to improve your English from home, a free language app might be the place to start.
Rosetta Stone is one of the more popular apps, but there are plenty of others to choose from.
These include Babbel and Fluent Forever (which is offering all users 30 free days of language learning with the promo code STUCKATHOME).
You can also chat with google assistance, Siri, Alexa, Cortana or any other AI assistants out there.
7. Learn a new word a day and maintain a word bank
Building your vocabulary is an essential step in becoming a pro and improving your English. To do this systematically, buy a notebook, look up websites like Merriam webster and note down one word and its meaning every day.
Make sure to use the words you learn regularly. When you find some free time, go through your notebook to refresh and recap the new words.
8. Find and follow a recipe
A great way to improve your English language skills is to do everyday tasks that require you to read and understand instructions in English. That includes baking and cooking!
So, find a recipe online that you’ve always wanted to try and follow it through from beginning to end.
Not only will you get to improve your English skills, but you’ll also get a bonus cake or meal from it.
It’s a win-win!
9. Read. Read. Read
Reading is potentially the best way to improve your English language skills, and you can do it from the comfort of your home.
You can read books, magazines, online newspapers and even blog posts.
Whatever you enjoy reading, read it! If you do it consistently every day, you’ll notice the improvement in your language skills in no time.
10. Start writing in English
In terms of writing, you could start a daily journal or a weekly blog post. Whatever you choose to write, make sure you’re doing it regularly so you can flex your writing skills and improve your English with every passing day.
