If you are someone who asks many questions when you start learning a new language, you are not alone, it happens to everyone. So, do not be afraid, we are here to guide you and help you.
What are the basic English skills?
Learning English involves the following parts / skills:
- Listening
- Speaking
- Reading
- Writing
What is the most important English skill?
Speaking along with listening are the most important English skills. You need to speak to communicate and you need to listen to understand messages. Nevertheless, all skills are important because they have a specific purpose.
How can you improve your English skills?
You need to keep doing what you are doing to learn the language; however, when you introduce new activities to improve your skills, you enjoy learning more.
- Try to be more confident. We tend to become shy when we want to practice our English, but if we do not get out of our comfort zone, we never will.
- Use technology as much as you can. As we have mentioned in other sections, interactive activities and games are one of the top preferences for English learners.
- Make friends who are learning English too. When you discover that there is someone who is like you, you get excited. Therefore, you will have a friend who can help you in your journey.
- Have fun. You can learn everything about English, but if you get stressed, it will not help you. You need to enjoy what you do, even if you are tired, do not give up and look at everything you have accomplished in you English learning journey.
Which English skill is the most difficult?
Speaking is one of the most difficult skills of the four English skills. While the other skills have their level of difficulty, speaking is the one English learners struggle with. It is completely normal to struggle with this skill because when we already have sufficient knowledge about the language, when it comes to speaking, we tend to suddenly forget what we want to say or how to structure it.
What are the most common mistakes that English learners make?
- Pronunciation. It is very common that when you start learning the language you may not know how to pronounce certain words or you may even confuse them.
- False friends. This happens a lot with Spanish; they have similar words, but the meaning is completely different.
- Using your mother tongue. When you learn English, you unconsciously make comparisons between languages.
- Word order. English learners often forget about what is the correct word order; this may lead to misunderstandings.
- When you forget to add ‘-s’ to third person singular verbs.
- Using the incorrect article (a, an, the).
Why do learners struggle with English?
If you are struggling with English, do not worry. We will give you some important notes to take into account. Learning English can be challenging, but if you are consistent, you will not feel pressured.
Usually, learners struggle with English because is not their native language. They have spent all their life using their own language and when they face something completely new that is unfamiliar to them, they see it as something difficult.
Moreover, confidence plays an important role. Learners may feel anxious when they face a moment when they need to interact with people. This may hinder their communicative skills.
When learners are not consistent, all their progress may be lost or part of it can be forgotten. Consequently, when they want to use vocabulary words or a grammar structure, they do not remember what to use.
Is it normal to make mistakes when learning English?
Yes!
Everyone who has learned English has made mistakes and it is from those mistakes that we really learn the language. They help you to improve your knowledge and give you better learning opportunities to work on.
You may feel sad or mad that nothing is working out the way you want, but remember that if you do not make mistakes, you will not learn anything which means that you will not enjoy learning English.
Just have fun!
What resources or materials can you use to learn English?
- Books
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Online videos
- Learning apps
- Podcasts
- Videocalls with native speakers
- Flashcards
- Sticky notes
- PDF worksheets
- Music
- Movies (with or without subtitles)
- English forums
- Language Learning Games
- Radio stations
- Interactive activities
How to stay motivated when learning English or a new language?
Everyone has felt down when they do not see progress in their learning journey and that is completely fine, it is a fun adventure but also challenging.
When you feel lost, remember the following:
- Why am I doing this learning journey?
- Acknowledge your progress.
- No pain, no gain. Even though, this phrase is mainly about sports, if you do not feel that learning English is challenging, then you will not learn much.
- If you feel exhausted, take a break. You need to rest in order to make more progress.
- Do not rush. This is a competence with yourself, not with someone else, so enjoy the process and make the most of it.