Sometimes people feel hesitant (nervous) about studying English alone, or don’t know how to start. But if you realize that all the resources you need can be found at home, there are no more reasons to feel hesitant.
Especially now with the internet, you can learn anywhere. But the truth is, the internet is not only your best source for learning English, but also the easiest way to study at home any time you want.
Sometimes people feel hesitant (nervous) about studying English alone, or don’t know how to start. But if you realize that all the resources you need can be found at home, there are no more reasons to feel hesitant.
Especially now with the internet, you can learn anywhere. But the truth is, the internet is not only your best source for learning English, but also the easiest way to study at home any time you want.
You also get to study at your own pace without having to follow the instructor’s lessons or the accomplishments (progress) of your classmates. You get to study at a comfortable pace, which makes it a more effective learning experience for you.
So, how can you start your self-study journey? You should find a method that you are most comfortable with, and something that you enjoy at the same time.
Here are 5 ways to start your self-study journey:
- Listen to music and learn all the lyrics. What are your favourite songs at the moment. Do you like Justin Bieber or Bruno Mars? Practicing with popular songs is always better because you always hear them playing, whether you’re listening to the radio, at the coffee shop or mall. You may want to avoid rock and rap, because the lyrics are often too fast or difficult to hear. It won’t be good practice for your diction and pronunciation. For starters, go to YouTube and search for a music video that you like. listen to it over and over again until you know the song very well. After that, search for a lyric version of the song or write the lyric by yourself. For example, you can listen to Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are” music video first and then sing along with the lyric version of the song. Once you’re ready to do the entire song alone, it’s time to do a karaoke version (music only) of the song.
- Watch English videos, movies and TV shows. Watching English videos, movies and TV shows can help improve how your speaking, comprehension and communication skills. You’ll be able to hear a lot of people talking to each other using the most current forms of English. This will help you learn slang terms, English idioms and phrases, and help you broaden your English vocabulary. If you are having problems understanding what the actors are saying, you might try using subtitles first. Once you are more familiar with the words, try removing the subtitles and test out your English comprehension.
- Chat with friends online. Chatting with friends online is a fun way to self-study English without even realizing it. It’s different from talking to a teacher, or studying in class. You can chat on social media or even through Skype. Chatting is an amazing way to learn English because you’re putting into practice what you’ve learned in a casual, stress-free way. Through keyboard chatting, you get to check for grammar errors before you hit that “enter” button. With online voice calls, you’re practicing your conversational English. Additionally, getting your friends to speak in English with you makes it a more motivating task for you. Not only can you prove to them that your English is getting better, bug you also feel fulfilled knowing that you can speak English freely with your friends anytime.
- Read books ,articles and magazines. Reading is as important as listening. Reading and listening both sharpen the mind and train you to think in English too. Non-native English speakers always have to translate English in their minds, which causes the delay in their response. However, if the mind is trained to think in English, it will be easier to understand and speak the language. The more you read, the more exposure to English sentence structure, new vocabulary, and formal and casual speech patterns you get. This means you have a whole lot of sentences to choose from when you start to speak English. You can read anything you want because every new word learned or old word re-learned is added knowledge and practice for you.
- Write about something you’re thinking about. Eventually, you will have to put into practice what you have learned through self-study. A great way to start is to write something of your own. It doesn’t have to be a published article (have your own blog for example). You can simply start with a personal journal. Writing your own piece puts all your learning together – how much you know about English Grammar, vocabulary and overall understanding.
After writing, feel free to check your own work for any errors. To do this, it’s best to put your product in a file so you can use grammar check to locate mistakes and errors in your work.
Self-studying English is not easy – but it is definitely possible to do. With hard work and determination, this is a challenge you can overcome. You must always keep yourself motivated and encouraged. Always support yourself and remind yourself why you want to learn English.
Setting a goal in mind will keep you going. You can set a weekly goal for yourself like learning 10-20 new words in a week or talking in pure English in one conversation with a friend. This should help you stay motivated.
Of course getting your friends to join you in your English learning journey and finding fun ways to learn English will also help you. But at the end of the day, the passion should always come from you.
Indogro always encourage their students to be active and confident with their own self. We make English lessons into something fun, so it can make students eager to learn. Always prioritize the interaction between native teachers with students as well as the interactions between themselves. That way, they won’t hesitate to study English anywhere or anytime with their friends.
We always say to our students: “Believe in yourself – you can do it!”