English lessons near you: at home, at work, or online
If you’re new in the UK and are struggling to land a job you actually like, or you’re finding it hard to bond with the locals, chances are you need to improve your English skills. Whether you need to work on your pronunciation, or simply expand your vocabulary, you’ll soon find out that if you put in the work, you’ll be able to access unique opportunities and simply enjoy your life in the UK that much more. In fact, once you can communicate fluently in English, you won’t have to worry about people not understanding what you say, and you’ll be able to socialise with people from all over the world, which will make it much easier for you to make new friends and adapt to life here. What’s more, you’ll become eligible for great job positions that require you to speak English fluently, which will lead to you having the lifestyle you always dreamed of having before coming to the UK, so what are you waiting for to start learning? Take a look at this guide and take the first step to become a fluent English speaker today.
How Many People Speak English Around the World?
Did you know that there are approximately 1.5 billion people in the world who speak English? This means that once you master the language, you’ll not only be able to communicate seamlessly in England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales, but you’ll also be able to socialise and work with people from all around the world. On top of that, you’ll become eligible for many jobs that require you to be bilingual in the UK and abroad, which will give you the freedom to live wherever you want to live and get to know amazing locations all around the globe.
A Short Guide to Boost Your English Vocabulary
Regardless of how many years you’ve spent learning English, it can be quite challenging to expand your vocabulary, especially if you don’t like to spend time memorising new words. Fortunately, there are other ways you can achieve this goal that don’t entail learning long lists of words by heart, and to illustrate this, here are some of the most efficient ways of boosting your vocabulary that you can try right now.
Read as Much as Possible
A great way to improve your vocabulary without even noticing it is to make the habit of reading every day. It doesn’t really matter what you read, it can be a magazine, a newspaper you like or a short story, the important thing is that you look up every word you don’t understand and write it down in a notebook or an app. To remember new words and phrases more easily, it’s really helpful to use them in a sentence, so try to be as much creative as you can.
Use Flashcards
Using flashcards will make learning new words much easier, and thanks to the many apps that are out there, you don’t even need to waste time making your own cards. In case you’ve never used flashcards, they are just cards that have words or phrases on one side, and their meaning on the other side, and if you use them at least a couple of times a week, they’ll really make a difference in the speed in which you learn. To start using this amazing tool, simply download apps like Anki or Quizlet, look for the decks in English made by other learners, and pick one that has vocabulary you find interesting.
Play Word Games
As you now know, learning new vocabulary doesn’t have to be a tedious process. In fact, there are plenty of games you can play that will help you have a more rich vocabulary while having fun. You can start by doing crossword puzzles at least once a week, and once you gain more confidence, you can play other games like Scrabble or Boggle with other friends who are learning English to put your skills to the test.
Useful British Idioms You Should Know
When talking to natives, it’s pretty common to hear people using idiomatic expressions, also known as idioms, which are phrases that are culturally understood, but that can be quite confusing for foreigners. If you take the time to learn them, you’ll sound more like a native, and you’ll be able to avoid any kind of misunderstanding when talking to British people, so here are some of the most popular ones.
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| An arm and a leg | This phrase means that something is too expensive | This is a beautiful dress, but it costs an arm and a leg |
| Barking up the wrong tree | When people use this idiom, it means you’re looking in the wrong place, accusing the wrong person or pursuing a mistaken or misguided line of thought | The detective thinks he’s going to solve the case, but I think he’s barking up the wrong tree |
| Beat around the bush | This is used when someone is talking about meaningless things to purposely avoid an important topic | Don’t beat around the bush! Tell me what happened right now! |
| Bite off more than you can chew | This means you’re trying to accomplish something that’s too difficult for you | Tom thinks he should take on another project this week, but I think he’s biting off more than he can chew. |
| You can’t judge a book by its cover | This idiom is used to say that one should not judge something or someone by how they look on the outside. | Just because someone looks strange doesn’t mean they’re not nice! After all, you can’t judge a book by its cover! |
Ready to improve your life in the UK and have the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of? If so, take the leap and start learning English with us at Listen & Learn! All you need to do is contact us today, and we’ll make sure you’re paired up with one of our qualified English teachers who will create a completely personalised language course that you will love.