For many people, improving their English language skills will be a challenging.
I have been interested in English since a kid, but it was not until I turned 19 that I seriously began to study it. At the time, I was attending a university in Hokkaido, but I decided to pursue higher education in Australia.
The reasons for aiming for an overseas university were that I wanted to live overseas for a long period of time and to improve my English skills. As a result, I first attended a language school in Sydney for one year, and then attended James Cook University (JCU) in Townsville.
Personally, the hardest time for me in learning English was during language school. At that time, I needed to improve my English within a year to the level of an overseas university.
In my case, I was good at reading and listening, but not so good at speaking. On the other hand, in terms of English, I was not at a level where I could go to an overseas university in all areas (reading, listening, writing, and speaking).
However, I was able to develop a number of habits to improve my English on a daily basis, and this is how I was able to acquire English skills at the level of an overseas university.
In this article, I will introduce four habits that you can do to improve your English. These habits can be practiced even in Japan and can be applied to any level of English.
Four habits you can create to improve your English
Understand grammar and structure
Learning English vocabulary and grammar is obviously important for improving your English. In addition, remembering prefixes and suffixes will help you understand English more effectively.
A prefix is the beginning of an English word, while a suffix is the end of a word. Examples include the following.
Prefixes
re: again
recall, reborn, reelection
in: into
include, inside, incomeSuffixes
able: capable of
reliable, adaptable, enjoyable
ful: full, fullness, contentment
poweful, helpful, careful
By remembering these, you will be able to guess the meaning of words that are new to you. For example, if you know the word reborn, you can combine it with the prefix re to get some idea of the meaning.
Read books and media articles
One of the habits I had during my time studying for a foreign university was to read books and media articles. In terms of what kind of books and articles to read, you should basically read genres that interest you.
In my case, I mainly read books related to psychology, which was my planned major before entering university. This helped me to understand the technical terms and English phrases of psychology, which facilitated my studies after entering university.
In reading something in English, it is also important to understand English in English.
In the beginning, you will tend to consciously translate English into Japanese when reading. If you find a word you do not understand, you can look it up in the English translation.
If you can make it a habit to try to understand English only, you will be able to improve your understanding of English.
Find a mentor who speaks English better than you
It is very important to find a mentor who can give you objective advice on how to improve your English. It is better to have a mentor who can give you advice on the areas you need to work on (reading, listening, writing, speaking).
During my time at a language school in Sydney, I had a teacher who gave me advice mainly on English writing.
Specifically, I received weekly writing assignments from him, which he corrected and gave me various advice. I repeated this process for about six months.
Thanks to this, I had almost no writing-related problems (reports and essays) after entering university, and I was able to obtain above-average grades on campus.
Of course, finding a mentor is not easy, but it can be found by actively seeking such a person.
Reading English Sentences Out Loud
A common challenge when beginning to study English is that it is not easy to get your pronunciation across to native speakers. During my first year of study abroad, there was a time when I struggled because my pronunciation was not understood.
It is important to practice your English pronunciation by reading English sentences out loud every day. It is also good practice to test your pronunciation with native English speakers around you to see if they can understand you.
As you practice more and more, your pronunciation will gradually become more understandable, and you will naturally gain confidence.
If you have an opportunity to give a presentation in English, it is also a good idea to record it.
