To use all the words and sentences you have encountered, take notes. When you speak the language try to use new word that you’ve learned. Go over your notebook and see that you didn’t forget what you studied. Learn the grammar. One can do nothing serious without grammar, in general without knowing the rules. Use English dictionary & thesaurus and learn the word, its derivatives, synonyms, antonyms. Keep in mind that English means reading, writing, speaking and listening, at once. In this way, one can form complex connections between neurons and can improve the learning process. It was a time when I was silent in English, like a swan. Even now I am paying for this mistake. Have patience, especially the patience necessary to repeat all the time. Forgetfulness is a cruel truth. You should take some article in English and read it 20 times and repeat the process for two days… and then you have to tell over yourself. The article must be interesting for you! If you are learning English grammar you should take several different sentences and sort them. It’s necessary to read several English stories. Fairytales, papers, books, and then write summary. Build your English vocabulary by doing something new, e.g., do a new sport, start a new hobby, play a musical instrument, try gardening, learn to paint. In this way you will like to know a lot of new words. Learn to use specific words instead of general e.g., to walk (general)- to stroll, to trudge (specific). Read English in the original without a dictionary first to understand the general idea and then you will come to like it as with every book you will get more and more of the context. Personally I started with a book for children. Watch a film in your native language, try to remember every dialogue. If it’s necessary watch it for the second time and then download an English version. The main thing is to be attentive! This is the best way to learn everyday phrases. Of course you’ll have to learn grammar and read books with or without the help of teacher. Don’t neglect your native language (you must know it perfectly well !) - it’s the foundation for any language you are going to study! Always learn collocations rather than separate words! Don’t ever try to explain the inexplicable - memorize it! Try to use English every day. Quantity is not as important as periodicity. Read books. There you can find common phrases which can be used in your daily life. Say them loud to remember. When looking for a word you do not know, always use more than one dictionary. My favorites are by Cambridge, Oxford, thefreedictionary.com and Longman. Sometimes you can find something which is contained in only one of the dictionaries.
Commonly confused English word pairs
- Accept vs Except
- Affect vs Effect
- Advise vs Advice
- Capital vs Capitol
- Compliment vs Complement
- Conscience vs Conscious
- Ensure vs Insure
- Elicit vs Illicit
- Emigrate vs Immigrate
- Everyday vs Every day
- Fewer vs Less
- Hear vs Here
- Lose vs Loose
- Passed vs Past
- Principal vs Principle
- Stationary vs Stationery
- Than vs Then
- Their vs There vs They’re
- To vs Too vs Two
- Weather vs Whether