Tips to Improve Your English on Your Own

3
Min to Read
Updated on
Oct 20, 2020
Last published on
Mar 9, 2022
Tips to improve your English on your own | Canada Talents - Blog

There are a lot of different approaches when it comes to learning a new language, here are a few of them to get you started:

Movies & TV Shows

If you don’t want to lose too much time on it and keep having a normal life tv shows and movies are the right decision - first with English SUBTITLES then without -, try to find something you really like, do not start randomly to watch something you do not know. Choose a short format - like 20 or 25 min - to not get that feeling of just having binge watched tv show all day long, that’s maybe the excuse you were looking for to open a brand new Netflix account.

TED’s Talks

If you’re a pragmatic person and eager to learn more Ted’s Talk is a good option and the variety of topic is really width.

Comedy Central

If you are not that pragmatic but prefer to be up to date concerning the English/American jokes the youtube channel of Comedy Central is what you were looking for.

The Last Week Tonight by Jonh Oliver

If you want to familiarize yourself with the news - but still want it to be funny - the LastWeek Tonight presented by Jonh Oliver is really great.

Books

If you a bookaholic, all depends on your taste but here are some good options to start with:

  • Harry Potter of J.K. Rowling
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox of Roald Dahl
  • The Hobbit of J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Firm of John Grisham
  • These ones don't catch your attention? here is a list of other suggestions.

Mobile Apps

If you are more a digital kind of person who wants to always have the content in his pocket here are some apps you can download for free - at least the basic version of it -:

  • Duolingo (basic account): Duolingo is designed to help you learn English quickly. That means if you’ve never learned English before, by using Duolingo about twenty minutes a day, you can probably start to talk in simple English, read a lot of English articles, and listen to some basic English phrases in very little time. It’s really effective.
  • FluentU (basic account): FluentU takes real-world videos like music videos, commercials, news, and inspiring talks and turns them into English learning experiences. Unlike traditional apps, FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the English language and culture over time. You’ll learn English as it’s spoken in real life.
  • Babbel (basic account): Babbel is a great language app that has a strong focus on vocabulary. Babbel also lets users learn to understand a language by completing and repeating phrases. The app has four different approaches - Sound Recognition, Picture Recognition, Spelling and Fill in the blanks.
  • Meetup: Meet other people with a shared interest and share with them in person.
  • Tandem: Video chat with other people across the globe about topics you chose and if you do not find an interesting topic, create your own it will maybe get someone’s attention.

Of course, everyone has its own way of learning and here are only tips for you to start, your method will probably change or evolve with time.

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Tips to Improve Your English on Your Own

Canada Talents uses decades of experience from our team, volunteers and network to create curated content for the francophone community. We are focused on helping you to understand the cultural gap in order for you to thrive in your career in Canada.