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How to learn English quickly - Some tips

1. Read everything you can get your hands on

Classic literature, paperbacks, newspapers, websites, emails, your social media feed, cereal boxes: if it’s in English, read it. Why? Well, this content will be full of juicy new vocabulary, as well as a fair amount you already know.

2. Actively take note of new vocabulary

This tip is a classic one for good reason: it works! When learning, we often enjoy a new word of phrase so much that forgetting it seems impossible. But trust us, not everything sticks the first time. To fight this, get into the habit of carrying around a funky notebook or using a tool like Evernote.

3. Talk with real live humans

What is a language for if not to communicate? It’s true that speaking a language helps it stick in your head far better than only reading or writing it. Just think of how many times you’ve heard people say that they “understand, but can’t speak English.

4. Start with what you really need

Your English studies are likely to go far more quickly if you constantly remind yourself of your motives for learning. Are you going on a study exchange? Then, focus on vocabulary related to your studies. Have an overseas conference? Brush up on conversation starters to use with the other participants. Going on a gap year? Looks like travel and tourism vocabulary will be your guide.

5. Don’t desmotivate yourself 

When you start to feel like you’re not making it good – which happens to all learners at some point – don’t say, “I don’t speak English,” or “I’ll never get this.” In fact, ban those phrases from your vocabulary! They only blur your understanding of the progress you’re making and convince you that your dreams of speaking English well are impossible.

Have a look of this video too, with some tips to learn English explained by an native speaker.

ENGLISH ORIGINS (INTENSIVE READING)

ORIGINS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

English language history can be divided into 3 parts, so lets have and intensive reading about this realy interesting adaptable and subestiamted language. Because in ancients times, English language had not the reputation nowadays has.

English is a West Germanic language that originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain in the mid 5th to 7th centuries AD by Anglo-Saxon settlers. With the end of Roman rule in 410 AD, Latin ceased to be a major influence on the Celtic languages spoken by the majority of the population.[citation needed] People from what is now northwest Germany, west Denmark and the Netherlands settled in the British Isles from the mid-5th century and came to culturally dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain until the 7th century. The Anglo-Saxon language, now called Old English, originated as a group of Anglo-Frisian dialects which were spoken, at least by the settlers, in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It displaced to some extent the Celtic languages that predominated previously. Old English also reflected the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms established in different parts of Britain. The Late West Saxon dialect eventually became dominant. A significant subsequent influence on the shaping of Old English came from contact with the North Germanic languages spoken by the Scandinavian Vikings who conquered and colonized parts of Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries, which led to much lexical borrowing and grammatical simplification. The Anglian dialects had a greater influence on Middle English.

After the Norman conquest in 1066, Old English was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English or Anglo-Saxon era, as during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase known now as Middle English. The conquering Normans spoke a Romance langue d'oïl called Old Norman, which in Britain developed into Anglo-Norman. Many Norman and French loanwords entered the local language in this period, especially in vocabulary related to the church, the court system and the government. Middle English was spoken to the late 15th century. The system of orthography that was established during the Middle English period is largely still in use today. Later changes in pronunciation, however, combined with the adoption of various foreign spellings, mean that the spelling of modern English words appears highly irregular.

Early Modern English – the language used by William Shakespeare – is dated from around 1500. It incorporated many Renaissance-era loans from Latin and Ancient Greek, as well as borrowings from other European languages, including French, German and Dutch. Significant pronunciation changes in this period included the ongoing Great Vowel Shift, which affected the qualities of most long vowels. Modern English proper, similar in most respects to that spoken today, was in place by the late 17th century. The English language came to be exported to other parts of the world through British colonisation, and is now the dominant language in Britain and Ireland, the United States and Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many smaller former colonies, as well as being widely spoken in India, parts of Africa, and elsewhere. Partially due to United States influence, English gradually took on the status of a global lingua franca in the second half of the 20th century. This is especially true in Europe, where English has largely taken over the former roles of French and (much earlier) Latin as a common language used to conduct business and diplomacy, share scientific and technological information, and otherwise communicate across national boundaries. The efforts of English-speaking Christian missionaries has resulted in English becoming a second language for many other groups.

Global variation among different English dialects and accents remains significant today. Scots, a form of English traditionally spoken in parts of Scotland and the north of Ireland, is sometimes treated as a separate language.

Gongratulations, you have finished to read this book and I really hope you have learned not just the history but some new vocabulary too.

As bonus information lets see this really short video with all the main features of the development of English language.

ORAL SUMMARY

ORAL SUMMARY

Oral summary definition: 
"Students learn how to verbally summarize sections of a text, chapters, articles, or chunks of a text." (Miller & Vaetch, 2011) In this image above, a girl is using expression while speaking. When giving an oral summary a student should be talking with expression, accuracy, and using hand gestures. It makes the oral summarization more exciting and alive. Students should also vary with their pitch. An oral summary should be brief such as a complete paragraph. For some teachers an oral summary can even be a page long if a student is summarizing a long chapter or text.

How you may use it: 

A teacher can use this strategy by selecting a text to be read aloud to the class. The teacher will model a think aloud on how to create an oral summary of the text. Then read a paragraph aloud and have students think-pair-share discussing what they would say as an oral summary of the segment of the text. Have students read independently a segment next or with a partner and share an oral summary of the text with a partner. Another way this strategy can be used is students write their written summary on a poster board. They present the poster using their public speaking to orally summarize a part of a text. This is a two step strategy where students have to brainstorm, write their summary, and then orally present it with expression.


How it will benefit student learning:

It will allow students to communicate in a face to face or group setting, which is a necessary skill for students to be successful in the future. It also allows students to be able to work through specific problems that they normally wouldn't think about. Talking orally helps them solve problems they are having. It's also beneficial in the professional world how you present yourself speaking orally with correct grammar, vocabulary, body language, and eye contact.

So, to finish, an oral summary will be like the example of the video:

WRITTEN OR SPOKEN?

WRITTEN OR SPOKEN?

In English language we tend to use the same phrases and expression no matter if we are writing or speaking with someone. But, there are some differences we have to take in count at the moment of express our ideas correctly and appropriately.

First, read the following summaries about three people and then look at the video below to understand the difference about expressing talking and in a writen way.

Leonardo Dicaprio

The winner of the Oscar for the best actor loves help to social change, more specifically to everything related to the environment and ecology. The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has been operating since 1998 and works in four different areas: the protection of biodiversity, the conservation of the oceans, the preservation of wild areas and climate change. He has also started up with Mark Ruffalo the NGO. The Solutions Project, whose objective is to promote renewable energy. In fact, with their campaign 100% want to convince the world that it is possible to banish polluting and perishable energies before 2050. For this, they carry out studies with prestigious universities such as Stanford (California) and propose and support new laws to facilitate the access to renewable technologies.

Mark Ruffalo

He is a renewable energy advocate and founder of Water Defense. He is also on the Board of Directors for The Solutions Project, which accelerates the transition to 100% clean, renewable energy for all people and purposes. Mark Ruffalo penned an on-line article outlining his concern about the lack of regulation in natural gas drilling. On September 19th, Solutions Project and Mark Ruffalo hosted an event at the Plaza Theatre to launch #ATL100, a multi-week media campaign to bring awareness to the city’s recent commitment to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2035. Ruffalo expressed his hope that #ATL100 will spark climate action and move toward Martin Luther King Jr.’s idea of the Beloved Community. “This work is inspired by Dr. King’s words and teachings and actions,” he said, “I’ve always seen [environmental activism] as a continuation of the social justice movement. With The Solutions Project, we want to empower front-line communities to have freedom from energy dependence systems.”

J. K. Rowling

"Harry Potter's Mom" donated to charity so much that from a billionaire she became a millionaire. It means that she donated 16% of his fortune. Joanne knows well what it means to be poor because when she wrote her first book, which was rejected on many occasions by different publishers, who surely have already repented, had to live on a social subsidy. Rowling wrote several books precisely to donate the profits received from his sales to different foundations. In additions he has a charitable foundation of his own Lumos. This foundation has a flexible, evidence-based model that supports governments in moving from outdated orphanage systems to caring for children in families and child-friendly, community-based homes. Since 2009, Lumos has prevented 20,915 children from entering harmful institutions. They work to keep families together and provide support for children within their communities.

Now in the following video, the topic will be the same but, to speak we usually use more informal expressions.

Here you have some examples of formal and informal expressions which can be used in a written and in a spoken way.

LITERATURE IN CLASSROOM

Literature in the Classroom

In today’s fact-obsessed culture, why is literature important and why do teachers put such an emphasis on this subject? Why bother having kids read stories, spend their time with books about things and events that aren’t even real? Why not just teach them what they need to know and send them on their way?

Of course, to most educators these questions seem ludicrous. Of course literature is important—why would it have such a central place in the curriculum if it wasn’t? But you may not realize in just how many ways literature really does contribute to a child’s education. Because education is and should be about more than passing on dry information; it’s also about fostering critical thinking skills and an understanding of the world around us.

Cultural Value

Stories have been of central importance to the human race ever since it began, as far as we can tell. Cultures are built on stories—histories, myths and legends, fables, religions, and so on. If students are to understand and participate in the culture to which they belong, they must first learn about the stories that culture has been built around. And while books aren’t the only kinds of stories out there, they are one of the most important.

Expanding Horizons

Everyone has a tendency to get so caught up in their own lives that they forget what’s going on in the world around them. And children and teens are particularly prone to this. It’s a goal of education to expose them to ideas from other cultures, to teach them about the histories and peoples of other times and places. Literature is an ideal way to do this. Huckleberry Finn, for example, puts students into the mind of a boy living in the south in the 1800s, letting them experience his life firsthand. Through this experience they learn what it was like to live in that time period, how the people talked and thought and acted.

Building Vocabulary

Having a large and wide-ranging vocabulary is essential for a number of reasons. It helps with both writing and reading abilities, of course, but it also allows for more complex discourse. The larger your vocabulary is, the more in depth and thoughtful discussions you can have on important topics and issues, both in and outside of the classroom.

Here you have a video prepared to make you to notice the difference about reading literature:

WHATS MY PROBLEM?

What’s My Problem?

This is a brilliant EFL game to practice giving advice. It should be played after the ‘giving advice’ vocabulary lesson has taken place. It is a great way for students to see what they have remembered and what needs reviewing. This game works well with any age group, just adapt it to fit the age you’re working with.

• Why use it? Speaking and Listening; Giving Advice

• Who it's best for: All ages and levels

How to play:

• Write ailments or problems related to your most recent lesson on post-it notes and stick one post-it note on each student’s back.

• The students must mingle and ask for advice from other students to solve their problem.

• Students should be able to guess their problem based on the advice they get from their peers.

• Use more complicated or obscure problems to make the game more interesting for older students. For lower levels and younger students, announce a category or reference a recent lesson, like "Health", to help them along.

These games will keep your students engaged and happy as they learn! Remember, these are just ten on the hundreds of different EFL games that you can plat with your students. As you get more confident in the classroom, you can start putting your own spin on games and eventually make up your own.

Whatever the age of your students, they’re guaranteed to love playing EFL games in the classroom. An EFL classroom should be fun, active and challenging and these games are sure to get you heading in the right direction.

Here you have an example about problems to use in this game.

BOARD RACE

Board Race

A good EFL teacherwill use this game in the classroom. Board Race is a fun game that is used for revising vocabulary, whether it be words from the lesson you’ve just taught or words from a lesson you taught last week. It can also be used at the start of the class to get students active. It is a great way of testing what your students already know about the subject you’re about to teach.

• Why use it? Revising vocabulary; grammar

• Who it's best for: Appropriate for all levels and ages

How to play:

• Split the class into two teams and give each team a colored marker.

• If you have a very large class, it may be better to split the students into teams of 3 or 4.

• Draw a line down the middle of the board and write a topic at the top.

• The students must then write as many words as you require related to the topic in the form of a relay race.

• Each team wins one point for each correct word. Any words that are unreadable or misspelled are not counted.

First, watch this helpful video of real teachers using this game in the classroom by Bridge TFL:This is best played with 6 students or more - the more, the better.

FCE ESSAY STRUCTURE

FCE ESSAY STRUCTURE

An essay is an opinion piece with which we analyze a topic, a situation or a problem from different points of view, arguing each one of them and expressing our opinion about it. For this reason, an essay has the following characteristics:

Purpose: With an essay, what we do is evaluate a subject, situation or problem that is, in some way, of interest or controversial. Normally it is considered as an activity to be carried out after a debate that has taken place in class. In the exam, of course, you will have to imagine the debate.

Tone and registration: Being a writing about a serious or controversial topic, the essay is a formal writing, so we must use an objective tone. In addition, the linguistic record should be formal, avoiding common words (eg, things, stuff, get, etc.) and contractions (eg, can’t, don’t, won’t, etc.).

Structure: Like all writings, an essay must have a defined structure. To start, we can choose to give it a title or not. Personally, it seems more appropriate for me to write an essay with a title. Then, the body must be divided into introduction, idea 1, idea 2, idea 3 and conclusion. That is, in general, an essay must have 5 paragraphs, although it is not mandatory.

Opinion: There are countless ways to express your opinion in an essay, so you must choose the one that best suits your style. However, it is normal to remain impartial throughout the writing and express your opinion only in the last paragraph, by way of conclusion. The most important thing is that you justify everything you say in the brief.

Consistency: Consistency is fundamental in all writings, but especially in the essay. Being a justifying and argumentative text, you cannot write unconnected sentences and paragraphs, so your ideas must follow a logical and well connected order using appropriate connectors.

In the following video you have a overview about the essay

Now it is time to practice by yourself!

FIRST CERTIFICATE (FCE) CAMBRIDGE

FIRST CERTIFICATE (FCE) CAMBRIDGE

The Cambridge English: First exam, also known as the FCE exam or the Cambridge First Certificate, is designed for students with a high intermediate level of English. It is the most popular of the Cambridge exams, because it is usually the minimum level required by university programs in English-speaking countries.

Part 1 (75 minutes) - The first section of the First Certificate exam assesses reading comprehension, grammar and vocabulary. This part has a total of 52 multiple-choice questions, to fill in blanks and column relations. During this part of the FCE you have to read approximately 2,200 words in total.

Part 2 (80 minutes) - The second section of the Cambridge First Certificate evaluates the written expression. You have to write two texts, each between 140 and 190 words. The first writing is an essay. For the second wording, you can choose between different text formats; article, letter, criticism, etc.

Part 3 (40 minutes) - The third section of the First Certificate assesses oral comprehension. Short speeches, conversations or other types of messages are heard in native English and questions about what has been heard are answered. Each recording is played twice. There are a total of 30 questions in this part.

Part 4 (14 minutes) - The last section of the FCE evaluates oral expression. Students do this part of the test in pairs, and they may have to do this part on a different day than the other three parts of the test, depending on the test center. The oral test is divided into four short subsections, the first two speak only one and the other two speak with the other applicant

Here you have a video explanation with some exmples:

FUTURE SIMPLE

THE "SIMPLE FUTURE"

The "simple future" refers to a time after the current one and expresses facts or certainties. In this case, there is no place for attitude.

The "simple future" is used:

1. To predict a future event:

2. It will rain tomorrow.

3. With "I" or "we", to express a spontaneous decision:

4. I'll pay for the tickets by credit card.

5. To express willingness or willingness to do something: I'll do the washing-up.

6. He'll carry your bag for you.

Examples:

I will [I’ll] call you tonight. (Te llamaré esta noche.)

She will [She’ll] arrive late. (Llegará tarde.)

They will [They’ll] be happy to see you. (Estarán felices de verte.)

Have a look of this chart where you can identify how future simple structure works.

Note: in current English, will has a preferential use over shall. "Shall" is used primarily with the first people, I and we, to offer or suggest something, or to ask for advice (see previous examples). With the rest of the people (you, he, she, they) "shall" is used only in poetic or literary constructions, e.g. "With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes.

CONTRACTIONS

I will = I'll

We will = we'll

You will = you'll

He will = he'll

She will = she'll

They will = they'll

Will not = won't    

Here you have a video explanation about the simple future tense. 

Now it is time to practice! 

Click on the link to go to the worksheet.

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/future-1-will/exercises