Here are some helpful tips to improving your English skills. Keep in mind that everyone learns and studies differently, so some tips might be more helpful than others.
1. Come to the IWC!
We currently have eight amazing mentors at the IWC: two from India, three from the UK, one from Nepal, one from Russia and one from the USA. There are so many programs that we offer; and each program allows you to focus on a different skill.
Just Talk: In this program you can practice ‘free talking’ with a mentor. During a session you discuss multiple topics for around 5 minutes each, until the end of your session. This is good way to practice speaking spontaneously.
Speak Smart: In this program you have a debate with a mentor about an article for each session. This means you can improve your speaking skills. There is also an interview for your final session which requires you to introduce yourself and answer a few questions. This is a great opportunity to experience an interview in English.
Write Track: This program allows you to develop your grammar and writing skills, while you write a persuasive college-level essay with a mentor of your choice.
Present Like a Pro: You can practice giving a presentation with this program. You will make a presentation with a mentor of your choice and present it. This is a great chance to build up your confidence using software such as Power Point and Google Slides, and learn to make a great presentation. Power points are very important, while presenting it is the focus point for your audience, so it must be engaging and easy to read.
Write track PLUS: This program is similar to Write Track. However, the essay is about describing a specific topic in detail rather than making a persuasive argument.
2. Use subtitles!
I suggest watching a TV show or movie in English with subtitles, so you can read and listen to the words at the same time. This way you can develop your reading and listening skills concurrently. If there is a word that you don’t understand, then you can see the word and look for the definition.
If there are words of a specific topic that you want to learn, you can watch something that uses those words in context. For example, to learn more words about business in English, I recommend the film ‘Trading Places’. It’s very funny!
On the IWC Instagram we have post a about the “Top 5 Musicals to Learn and Practice English,” which was so generously posted by a previous mentor at the IWC. Please have a look and see if anything interests you, or maybe you have already seen the suggested movies? Let us know what you think in the comments, and if possible could you recommend any movies or TV shows to practice English?
3. Talk with friends!
There are a lot of international students at KNU and a lot of them speak English. I would recommend taking the opportunity to practice your speaking skills with them. This is a good way to build up confidence as well as make new friends. If you want your friends to help you with your English speaking skills, I’m sure if you ask them to assist you, they would be happy to help.
4. Translate a piece of text!
Translating is a really good way to improve your English skills while also practicing your reading and writing skills, too.
Find an article that you think is interesting and then try to translate it to English. Ideally you want to find an article that has vocabulary that you are currently trying to learn; this way you can memorise the words better. Overall, this is a good way to learn new words and practice writing or typing in English. It doesn’t have to be an article; it can also be a short story or a page from a textbook.
Useful vocabulary
Spontaneously (Adverb) - happening suddenly and not planned
Persuasive (Adjective) - something convincing
Concurrently (Adverb) - things happening at the same time
Context (Noun) - a certain situation in which something happens and helps to explain it
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