How to learn English on your own: sharing some methods and insights for learning English

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This post was last edited by Garden Granny on 2016-9-1 at 12:09 to share some insights on learning English. First of all, there are no shortcuts to learning English; one must take things step by step in a steady manner. I wonder if most people are like the original poster – they have some basic knowledge and can understand English, but their spoken language skills are extremely poor; especially when dealing with foreigners, they often fail to express what they want to say. It’s always those same words, over and over again. Let’s summarize here. 1. If you have no prior knowledge in this area, the author recommends buying a book on phonetics and learning slowly. The original poster thinks that some people, although not starting from scratch, have terrible pronunciation, and it would be best for them to learn phonetic symbols as well. Word pronunciation is very important. Even if you don’t read it, you have to listen to it. Unlike Chinese, in English pronunciation is linked to spelling; if you know how to pronounce it, you know how to write it. In fact, as long as you master phonetics, many other problems will gradually become easier to solve. The poster believes that those who need to improve their spoken pronunciation should, if possible, find a good teacher or a professional English tutor. After all, learning phonetic symbols requires mastering many techniques – such as knowing where the tongue should be placed and which part of the mouth is used for pronunciation – and guidance is needed for these things. Find a good teacher to show you the way and help you master the learning methods. There are online English classes that offer specialized courses on phonetics; the original poster has taken these courses themselves and used to attend them regularly. Some of them are free, so everyone can give them a try. Those who want to learn phonetics can take courses for beginners, covering pronunciation and grammar. It can effectively correct pronunciation; combined with sentence pattern practice, it helps to further reinforce vocabulary and grammar, making it suitable for beginners. It is especially suitable for beginners to learn*. Buy a book on phonetics or a phonetics chart to hang on the door; it’s best if it comes with MP3s and pictures. It can be stored on a phone, computer, or MP3 player to mimic the pronunciation inside. When learning to pronounce the International Phonetic Alphabet, it is important to pay attention to the teacher’s mouth shape and observe the changes in the pronunciation areas; one should actively imitate the pronunciations. Beginners can practice by mirroring themselves in a mirror, especially when it comes to the position of the tongue for vowel pronunciation. The degree of openness of the mouth is closely related to the tone of the sound, and one can use a mirror to observe the differences in mouth shape as well as the movement of the tip, surface, and sides of the tongue. For example, with sounds like u and o, i and e, e and ε, etc., mastering the correct degree of mouth opening is very important for accurate pronunciation. II. If you already have a certain foundation, you still need to memorize words. Don’t memorize by rote; the original poster believes this to be the least efficient method, as well as one that makes it easiest to give up halfway. When it comes to memorizing words, it’s actually quite easy if you practice a lot and speak more, trying to use those words in sentences. Especially songs; those who are interested can choose some English songs they like and try to memorize their lyrics. Previously, the original poster would definitely recommend Renren Movie to everyone. But this is a pain in the OP’s heart. Anyone who watches American TV shows knows this. The original poster didn’t find any good resources either. I wouldn’t recommend it. If anyone has any good resource websites, feel free to leave a message and share them. I’d recommend an old classic series – \"Friends\". Each episode of this show is only about 20 minutes long; it’s been recommended by many people. The original poster has watched it – the dialogue is simple, consisting of common sentence patterns, and the speaking pace isn’t fast either. The image quality is just so average. There’s actually another great show too, \"That ’70s Show\" – it’s funny, heartwarming, and in any case worth watching. It seems there are legitimate videos available to watch on a certain platform, but the ads are extremely long! And there might be ads during the movie. I’d recommend two more shows – \"Sex and the City\" and \"Desperate Housewives\“. These are more advanced versions, and they both deal with women’s stories. If you’re a girl or a lesbian who wants to improve their English, you should watch these. It’s a relatively modern film; the pronunciation is very standard and the spoken language is practical. Tip: When watching American TV shows, don’t really think you’re just passing the time for entertainment; if you really want to be entertained, then why learn English? Take your notebook with you; when reading, when you come across a good sentence or a good word, pause first, repeat it several times out loud, ponder it, then write it down in your notebook before continuing to read. Then there are movies; personally, I think watching animations is great, like \"Up\" and \"Chicken Run\" and so on. They’re all pretty good; the words aren’t too difficult. The sentence patterns are also simple and common; the key is that they are easy to understand!