Chinese language tips

When it comes to speaking English, Mondly is probably the best tool that can get you there really fast. Why? Because Mondly is based on the inductive method: learn by doing, context and example, and extrapolate to rules. In other words, start thinking in English rather than construct a phrase in your native language, apply the rules and only then translate it accordingly. Unlike deductive learning, where learners are given a set of rules they will need to apply, inductive learning is a discovery process where students discover rules by themselves by looking at examples. Think about those endless pages of rules you had to memorize in high school. That was no easy task. But once in a while, there was a teacher that really enjoyed the job and took the time to properly explain all the thinking behind them. Only then the rules would stick. Learning rules mechanically is usually next to impossible. But when you understand the process, collect bits of information and draw the conclusions yourself, everything becomes easier. And that’s exactly the teaching technique Mondly uses. You basically teach yourself. The experts behind Mondly know how amazing the human brain is. This is why they carefully selected the content so that you’ll practice and the brain will do the connections itself. You’ll don’t focus on the process but on the final result: speaking English like a native.

There are about 200 irregular verbs (and significantly more if prefixed forms are counted) in English. In most cases, the irregularity concerns the past tense or the past participle. Again, 200 may seem like a lot, but learning the English irregular verbs is like learning the periodic table. Once you know it, you just… know it. Especially if used regularly. Don’t forget that this is a central part of English grammar and mastering it will help you sound like a true native fast. Besides, mistaking one verb form for another is something you should avoid at all costs!

Basic grammar rules are a must if you really want to get proficient. You may not like them (most people don’t), but the truth is you can’t escape them. So first things first: learn what are the English parts of speech and how to recognize each of them. The main parts of speech in English are noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, interjection, numeral, article (or determiner). Let’s see some definitions and examples for the most important of them. Coming from the Latin nomen (name), a noun is a word used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things (common noun), or to name a particular one of these (proper noun). For example, in “the apples are green”, the common noun is “apples” and in “Sarah is 20 years old”, the proper noun is “Sarah”. A verb, on the other hand, is a word used to describe an action. In “Jon sings while I cook”, both “sings” and “cook” are verbs used to describe actions. An adjective is a word naming an attribute of a noun. In “Hannah is beautiful”, “beautiful” is an adjective used to describe the proper noun “Hannah”. And the list can and should continue (check the English grammar courses from Oxford for more). But in today’s lesson we’re focussing more on curriculum and tips, so let’s move on to your next step.

This scenario does not apply to everyone. But even if you don’t have friends interesting in practicing spoken English, the world wide web is the big place where you can find friends for every hobby or project you may have. Bring your friends together at a local pub or in a video chat and start a debate in English. For example, one topic that our English teacher used to get us talking was “pro or against animal testing”. You were so caught up in the debate we forgot we were actually speaking English. Just try it and watch your tongue untie.

The best thing about movies is that they can be both fun and educative. After exploring the previous tips you probably already know how you can use movies in your own advantage. From vocabulary to accents and intonation, movies can offer a great deal of information you can use to create your own syllabus and start training. Just choose your list and begin your research! You’ll soon find out that movie dialogues are easily digestible even for an ESL speaker.

As mentioned before, thinking in English can really help you improve your speaking skills. But more than thinking in English, you can act as both tutor and student. Remember the times when you did grammar exercises by yourself? Here’s what you could do now: listen to audios in English – it can be a podcast, audiobook or even a Youtube video of Jimmy Fallon – then record yourself while trying to repeat the exact same words. Comparing the two versions of the same audio will help you easily identify your mistakes and correct them. If the problem is your accent, diction could also help you improve.