Keep in Touch With Your English

What else can we do?
Hello, pupils,
On behalf of the former trainees that asked me for some advice of how to keep on track with
their English skills in a self-study management, I thought of some good tips which you can
follow in your daily routine to keep you familiar with the language.
First of all, there is no effortless nor fast English learning. That

does not exist, although in many advertisements people are led to believe in that miraculous
achievement.
Mastering a language requires practice, daily contact and an active and
meaningful use of it, but , most important I believe, is the inner motivation.
Although you might not need English for work, you´re only going to be successful if you
commit yourself to it.
So if you are really into it, I advise you to set your own goals weekly, monthly or annually and
to stick to the schedules. For instance, If you set the target of reading 1 chapter a week of a
book, or learn by heart a song and therefore adding new lexica to your vocabulary range, you
should commit yourself to it; it´s like sticking to a diet or a fitness plan: the program can be a
promise of success, but if you´re not persistent, next summer we´ll still be
using swimsuits instead of Brazilian bikinis ☺ .
So here are my tips that should be improved and sent to your emails whenever a new idea
comes to my mind:
- During training, study English for at least 10 minutes a day;
- Listen to the BBC World service (http://www.bbcworld.com): language should not

be an end, but a mean and a tool for us to take the best advantage of the world,
and BBC has extraordinary documentaries;
- While watching a DVD, read the subtitles in English: it´s a very good way to
match the Speaking with the Reading. Keep a small notebook with you and write down
some important words that are unfamiliar to you. Check them later in the dictionary. I
myself do this quite often;
- Use a monolingual dictionary: it helps you to improve your understanding skills
and strategies;
- Record your own voice and improve your accent;
- Keep a diary in English: not the story of your life (only if you´re willing to☺), but some
notes, for example to have your own Diary of Happiness (write down each day the best
thing that happened to you: someone special you´ve met, a meaningful quote, etc.);
- Have some Tandem partners: find someone in your company or in your closest
network with the same goals and arrange a weekly schedule to practice English
conversation. It does not require a huge amount of effort: take advantage of coffee
breaks at work, for example, or take the opportunity to write in English with your
Messenger contacts. Do not restrict yourself to informal

situations: make a schedule with your partner and decide themes. I advise you
to have “faithful” mates to practice with, and to correct each other whenever is
needed. Teamwork is very important!
- Music : who does not enjoy it? Commit yourself to one song every week.
Live with it for a week, learn it by heart: an excellent way of practicing fluency,
pronunciation, reading and writing, and you can use the most romantic verses with
your sweethearts ☺.
- Now, the Internet: the Web is a huge tool, and mainly in English you have a great
amount of resources available. The following are my favorites:
(Please feel free to let me know about other sites that you consider to be useful.)
- Audio books: a great resource to practice Listening skills and to enjoy a good
story. You can download the audio book to your mp3 and listen to it in your car. Some
sites are paid, but you can download them for free in some Torrents or in Emule. Make
a search in Mininova (there are others, look for them) and afterwards download it to
your BitTorrent.)
- Podcasts: download Itunes to your computer and subscribe some interesting

podcasts . It´s FREE. Check for Podcasts in CNN, BBC and SKYNEWS.
- Time magazine: you can read it online or buy at least 1 number a month. The
articles are very attractive and you have the opportunity to broaden your English at a
very higher level.
- Check out this site: TEDTALKS. *****(www.ted.com/talks) It´s a site of

conferences and presentations of themes regarding several knowledge fields: you can
search by speaker or by theme. I strongly advise you the following, although there are
much more:
Tony Robbins (my favourite conference): a life and motivational coach
Jane Goodall
War Tapes
Schools and creativity
Scientist of a stroke
Al Gore
- In Youtube, you can watch Larry King´s talk shows: just make a search for Larry
King and you´ll find many interesting interviews.
- Take the opportunity to watch online at Youtube the democratic debates

between Obama and Clinton. The disputes are extremely vivid,lively, dynamic,
straightforward and controversial. The Americans really know how to put up a fight in
the Media. Our politicians should learn from them how to get their ideas across and
reach to the public.
- The Google Talks: at Youtube you can search for the Google channel: there you find
several links: google authors/women/candidates, where you can listen for quite a long
time to intelligent people talking: try Noam Chomsky, for instance, or Elizabeth Gilbert.
- Now, to try some online exercises: Oxford University Press:

(http://www.oup.com/elt/?cc=global) here you can find several links to practice
language: try the adult section: Professional English. Some you can practice with your
children.
- Randall: http://www.esl-lab.com/
- Check out Livraria Britânica in Oporto: there´s a great offer of self-studying manuals
for different business targets and there´s a literature section. Why not choosing a book
for your next holidays?
- You can check in FNAC too: a good literature section at very good prices.
- Amazon: go to Amazon UK ( you can look at Amazon USA but the charges are
higher)and make a search of used books. Books that are published in America or in
England which you do not want to wait for, you can order them through Amazon at
good prices.I made that with the last Nobel prize of Literature who had almost any
translated work here in Portugal. In 4 days I was reading her. I often make purchases
through Amazon and it´s totally reliable.
These are my suggestions for you to keep on track with your English. That is what I personally
do on a regular basis. It´s a way of life, let´s say, it´s like a routine that you should integrate in
your daily schedule, and with time you´ll see considerable differences in your vocabulary range
and fluency.
Enjoy it and send me your feedback or more new ideas!
Sara Guimarães

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What else can we do?

First of all, there is no effortless nor fast English learning. That

Mastering a language requires practice, daily contact and an active and

- During training, study English for at least 10 minutes a day;

- Listen to the BBC World service (http://www.bbcworld.com): language should not

- Record your own voice and improve your accent;

Messenger contacts. Do not restrict yourself to informal

needed. Teamwork is very important!

- Podcasts: download Itunes to your computer and subscribe some interesting

- Check out this site: TEDTALKS. *****(www.ted.com/talks) It´s a site of

- Take the opportunity to watch online at Youtube the democratic debates

- Now, to try some online exercises: Oxford University Press:

Enjoy it and send me your feedback or more new ideas!

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