10 Simple Ways to Learn English Fast and Easy

10 Most Useful Steps to Teach Yourself English

1. How to learn listening

Watch English Movies and TV Shows with subtitles. In your Chrome or Firefox browser install extension for Subtitles on YouTube. You can also watch English movie with subtitles in your language or multiple language subtitles at the same time. Movies or TV Shows can make learning fun and enjoyable. Listen to English Podcasts or Radio. I used to listen podcast by A.J Hoge (Effortless English) and Bob The Canadian.

I have made several playlists on my YouTube channel. Save these playlists to learn with fun. It includes learning English with TV series, movies, podcasts, audiobooks etc.

My YouTube Playlist

2. How to learn speaking and pronunciation

Just reading is not enough. Practice what you've learned. Remember every source has it's own uniqueness. Like when you read business news you learn business vocabulary. Similarly, general news channels has more political and formal content.

I personally use Microsoft Edge browser to read web articles aloud. 'Microsoft Guy' is my favorite TTS voice as it sounds very natural. You can also read your PDF books using Microsoft Edge browser. This will help a lot with pronunciation.

There are some easy ways to improve your speaking skills.

a. Read Out Loud.

b. Record and listen to your own voice.

c. Watch tongue twisters, pronunciation video on YouTube and practice them.

d. Download apps and practice with other students around the world.

e. Find a partner to practice on a daily basis.

3. Join English Speaking groups and communities

Join groups on Facebook, Reddit, Telegram etc. Always ask questions in a group or forums even if you know the answer. Your questions will start discussion. So everyone will get chance to share knowledge or learn something new.

On Reddit I've joined community named as "English As a Second Language". Telegram groups are useful if you feel sharing phone number for WhatsApp group is risky. Facebook has thousands of groups for every single topic.

Join Us On Telegram

4. Learn English phrases and idioms, not just words

Most of us like using dictionaries and learn new words. However, you can not become fluent speaker unless you learn phrases. Your goal should be to learn at least 5-10 new words and minimum 5 new phrases on a daily basis.

When we learn phrases rather than words in English, we are more likely to remember what we have learned. This can help us to gain confidence and fluency in new language more quickly. Also you will make less number of errors.

5. How to improve your reading skills

Newspapers, Blog articles, eBooks, magazines, novels etc. Most successful people on earth reads at least one book in a day. Reading also gives you chance to learn from other's experience or mistakes. Do not read books which are too difficult to understand. Buy book which has simple language and never force yourself to finish book.

Highlight text and Read in portions. If you make habit to highlight useful word and phrases than it will be easier to remember when you read same paragraph next time. You can also use Chrome/Firefox extension to highlight words in web articles. Reading in portions will help you to retain information which builds confidence.

6. Save bookmarks or keep a diary

Online dictionary apps and websites gives you options to sign in. This allows you to save your words and phrases for future reference. You can also write down in a notebook or diary. However, after 10 years you might not have same old diary with you.

You can certainly access your vocabulary bookmarked online even if you forget password. There are also apps which allows you create your own dictionary and save backup to cloud. To save phrases by favorite app is Google Translate (Phrasebook).

7. Do not force yourself to learn grammar

English grammar is not necessary to speak English fluently. Most of the native speakers learn less than 20% of grammar rules. English grammar focuses on word order. This will slow down your learning process. As you will think more about sentence structure or word order instead of speaking naturally.

Even after learning 1000 new words, you might struggle to frame sentences. But if you learn 1000 new phrases than you will become very fluent in English. Idioms can help you to enhance your conversational abilities by demonstrating to native speakers that you understand the idiom's cultural meaning and context.

8. Think in English

Most of us are habitual of thinking in our regional languages. You need to make a habit to think in English. Whenever you talk to yourself in your mind, try to talk in English. So next time when you try to speak, you will naturally speak in English.

This will remove hassle of thinking in your language and then translating to foreign language. Never ever translate from your language to English. Because grammar rules and phrases are different for every language.

9. Pay attention to sounds that are stressed

You'll need to stress, or emphasize, particular words and syllables (sounds) when speaking English. This will give them different meanings. Vowel sounds that have been stressed are longer, louder, and higher in pitch than vowel sounds that have not been stressed.

Air comes out of our lungs with more power with stresses sounds. Stressed sounds are stronger than unstressed sounds. In phonetics, the degree of emphasis placed on a sound in speech is known as word stress. Listen to native speakers and try to repeat in similar way to improve stress in your speech.

10. Start group discussion on various topics

Group discussion will boost your confidence level. It will also improve your thinking, listening and speaking skills. Even if you are a shy person or hesitant to talk in front of others, you will be happy to participate in group discussion.

There are some topics for debate in English.

a. Internet is blessing or curse.

b. Why Individual Data Privacy is important?

c. Is Social Media Good or Bad for Society?

d. Think globally Act locally. (Climate Change)

e. Teamwork vs Individual work.