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8 Ways to improve your English!1. Join a Club on Campus – there are many English-speaking clubs that are open to new members, for example: LPG, BBC, ESU, EAG, etc. This is a good and free way to meet people and improve your English with people who have the same goals.2. Make your own Study Group – if you are not interested in a CNU English study group then ask friends, classmates or coworkers who have free time (perhaps after class) and make time to get together and speak with them. One person could be the group leader each week and provide new material with which to discuss. Even if it’s an extra hour per week, the more practice you get, the better you will become. Advantages- it’s free and fun- you meet people and practice speaking English- it’s hard to get speaking practice but forming a study group allows you to get more practice- a different person can be the leader every weekDisadvantages- it’s hard to organize a time when people are free because they are so busy- some people don’t like this because there is no error correction 3. Internet – there are a ton of free sites that can help your English no matter what skill you want to work on (idioms, grammar, vocabulary, etc.). Even my site – safenglish. has a lot of useful links. Go to and type in what you want to work on, there will be a lot of sites that will be helpful.These days, there are many English teachers who put their lessons on YouTube. Free lessons are available for various grammar points.Advantages- a lot of topics and skills out there (websites on idioms, vocabulary, grammar, etc.)- Disadvantages- sometimes there’s too much material- not many speaking sites- you need access to a computer, which can be hard to get4. Extensive Reading (read for pleasure) – find a graded novel that is a level below your English ability and read. This has been proven to help you increase your vocabulary, grammar, even speaking ability, along with, naturally, your reading ability. The best thing about reading is it’s cheap, it’s fun and you can do it anywhere (on the bus for your commute, while you are waiting for a haircut, at a coffee shop).Most graded readers are found at bookstores, but make sure to find a book that is interesting and below your English ability or else you’ll spend most of the time not reading but looking up words in your dictionary. On any page you should understand around 90 – 95 % of the words on that page or you will be constantly looking words up in your dictionary.Advantages-cheap, fun and easy-graded readers are available at many book stores-you can read anywhere (on the bus, waiting in line, at a coffee shop, before bed)- a lot of reading is proven to help you improve not only your reading skills but also your speaking skills!Disadvantages- you need to do a lot of reading for it to be effective- some people who don’t like reading can find it boring- if the book is too hard you spend more time looking up words than reading (be sure to get a book which is a lower level than your English)- no listening practice5. Watch movies, TV shows, sporting events, the news – watching English programs will help you increase your listening ability and pronunciation as you become more familiar with the English that you hear. If the program is too difficult try using Korean subtitles, if it is easier than try using English subtitles, if it’s an easy program try not using subtitles at all.Note: below shows the difficulty of each genre. Usually comedy and news are the most difficult. Comedy because it uses a lot of cultural references for jokes and news because of the vocabulary that is used. Simple action movies tend to use the most basic vocabulary and there are not too many cultural references you need to understand.Advantages- it’s entertaining and free- can give you access to authentic English- good way to learn slang, idioms and specialize vocabulary (sports vocabulary)- good way to learn about different cultures- Disadvantages- some programs (CNN) can be too hard- most programs you will need subtitles, possibly Korean subtitles- all listening practice, no speaking practice- too many idioms, slang, specialized vocabulary- some accents may be hard to understand6. Music – music is a great way to remember English as songs are very catchy and easy to remember. It’s also very fun and most people already listen to music as their hobby. If you have an mp3 player or iPod, it’s easy to listen to music anywhere. Be careful though, sometimes a song’s lyrics are not grammatically correct.Advantages- easy to remember lyrics that are catchy- can do it anywhere (listening on the bus, at night, walking to class)Disadvantages- some lyrics are not grammatically correct- some songs are hard to understand (pronunciation)- all listening, no speaking7. Flashcards – one way to remember new vocabulary is by using flashcards. Write whatever words you want to remember on flashcards and everyday quiz yourself on the new vocabulary. When you are certain that you know a new word you can remove that from your flashcard pile and add new words that you may not know.Advantages- good way to remember new vocabulary- cheap and easy- good for people who want to improve their vocabularyDisadvantages- if you don’t have a good memory you might find flashcards difficult- if you don’t think about the new word deeply, it is easy to forget- some people learn words out of context so it is important to learn words in context and see what words come before and after it8. Get a foreign friend – a good way to help you increase the amount of time you speak, your listening skills and learn about culture is to make a friend from a foreign culture. Advantages- real, authentic English- learn about a new culture- speaking, listening practice- if you ever go abroad you have firsthand experience about communicating with people from foreign countriesDisadvantages- there are not many foreigners in Gwangju- there might be a cultural miscommunication- some accents may be hard to understand- if they are not teachers they might speak too quickly or use too many idioms or too much slang ................
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