Learn English with Katie

English teacher. Language learner (French, Spanish, Polish and German). Follow me on Instagram @learnenglishwithkatie or Twitter @LearnEngKatie. Visit my website: www.learnenglishwithkatie.co.uk

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Do you ever write in English? What do you write: emails, essays, social media posts, a journal or something else?

I’ve helped students prepare for IELTS, FCE and CAE exams and learning how to organise a piece of writing is very important. Only part of the final grade is for grammar and vocabulary. The rest is for things like answering the question clearly and organising your ideas.

If you write emails in English, it’s also good to plan and organise what you want to say (unless it’s a really short email).

Of course, if we’re writing on a computer, we can edit and rearrange our text as often as we want to but if you are writing by hand, which still happens in some exams, planning is extra important.

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When you learn a new word, find out what kind of word it is. A good dictionary will tell you. Knowing this will help you to make good sentences and avoid a lot of mistakes.

You don’t need to learn the English names for these things, like “noun” and “adjective”. You can learn their names in your own language if you like. It’s more important to understand the idea that there are different kinds of words that come in different places in a sentence. 

I wrote a newsletter about this a few weeks ago and I’ll put the link in the comments. 

Discover the building blocks of language

Learn about "parts of speech" and try my quick quiz

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Reading is a great way to improve your vocabulary. Graded readers and online reading exercises are a good way to practise reading.

If you are advanced, then you can probably read anything you want, including stuff written for native speakers. But if your English is a lower level, it’s important to find something that’s the right level for you.

So what’s the right level? The right level is text with a few new words but not too many. If there are no new words, then it’s too easy for you. If there are too many new words, you might find it difficult to understand, even with a dictionary, and you’ll lose confidence and motivation.

What if you don’t know your level? Then graded reading exercises are a good way to find out what your true level is! Just guess which level might be right and try it. If it’s too easy or difficult, then just go up or down or level until you find what’s right for you. You can easily do this for free with Internet resources. I suggest you find out your level before you spend any money.

By the way, people sometimes tell me that their English is level 6 or something. I don’t know what this means because different schools, different countries and different websites have their own systems. In my last school, we had 6 levels and 6 meant advanced. In my first job, there were 20 levels and 6 meant lower intermediate!

Here are the most standard ways to talk about your level:

A1 = beginner

A2 = elementary/lower intermediate (or pre-intermediate)

B1 = intermediate

B2 = upper intermediate

C1 = advanced

C2 = proficiency

If you need help finding reading for your level, I’ll put some links in the comments. And remember that different websites have different numbers of levels so a 6 on one site is not the same as a 6 on another.

Links for reading:

learnenglishwithkatie.co.uk/reading

learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading

engoo.com/app/daily-news

breakingnewsenglish.com/

newsinlevels.com/

learningenglish.voanews.com/

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How do YOU use social media to help you with your English?

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You might have seen websites and books that promise to teach you English without you having to learn any grammar. I personally don’t agree with this.

I think that you can learn some basic communication without having to know grammar rules. There are also some amazing people who seem to be able to pick up a language without formal study. If you learn a language as a child, you can get an instinct for the grammar without formal learning.

However, for most adult learners, some grammar knowledge is a big help. Most of the mistakes I see are grammar mistakes. Most of the questions I’m asked about why we can or can’t say something are about grammar. In my opinion, some grammar study can take your English to the next level.

On the other hand, you don’t need to get stressed about making mistakes. If you make a few small mistakes, other people will probably still understand you, and communication is the most important thing, right?

Do we really need to learn grammar to speak English?

A look at why I think grammar is important.

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If you can’t find your mistakes by yourself, then get some help. The best way to do this is to find a class or a teacher but I know not everyone can pay for lessons. 

Other possibilities are to find a friend to practise English with and they might be able to point out your mistakes. You can ask other people in a Facebook group like mine. There’s also a website called hinative.

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Do you know how to record your voice on your phone? You might have an app to record your voice or you can download one. Alternatively, you can use WhatsApp to send a voice message to yourself!

Then find a video that’s appropriate for your level. A video made for English learners might be better than a movie for lower levels. Listen to a sentence, pause the video and repeat the sentence. When you’re ready, record yourself saying it.

Then play your recording and the original video to compare them. Sometimes you hear things in a recording of yourself that you can’t hear when you’re actually speaking. This method will show you where you have pronunciation problems that you need to work on.

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Can you learn ten words a day? It doesn’t actually have to be ten words. Some people can manage more and for some people, five might be easier. The actual number is not important. The idea is to set a realistic daily goal so you keep making steady progress. Don’t try to learn too many words at once because you probably won’t remember them all.

Where are you going to find these ten words? Read. Watch videos. Follow English-language pages on social media.

If you’re interested in buying my e-book, click here.

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BBC Learning English has an app and I think this is easier to use than the YouTube channel because you can find the A-Z list of programmes and see which level everything is.

Simple English Videos has both British and American speakers.

TED talks are not created for English learners but they are great for advanced learners.

TED-Ed talks are aimed at younger native speakers but that doesn’t mean the vocabulary is easier.

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I’ve had students who don’t understand when they hear a word but they know it when they see it written down. I’ve also had students who don’t understand a written word but they know it when I say it. Reading and listening at the same time can help students like these.

It can also help you if you have problems with listening, pronunciation or spelling. Try watching a video with subtitles, listening to a song and reading the lyrics or downloading an app like beelinguapp.

This suggestion is not for everyone though. If you want to reach a good level of listening, you have to turn the subtitles off eventually.

If you would like more learning tips and English lessons by email, click here and sign up.

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Read more here.

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Some tough love: if you don’t speak because of fear, you’ll never get any better. You have to accept the fear and make yourself speak anyway! It’s the only way to stop being scared.

There are ways to make it easier. Talk to yourself first. Talk to a friend or a teacher who you trust. Remember that nobody speaks perfectly, not even a native speaker. And remember that you can learn a lot from your mistakes. If you would like learning tips and English lessons by email, go to learnenglishwithkatie.substack.com and sign up.

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It might seem hard to think in English but you can get better at it if you practise. When you think in your language and translate everything before you speak, this slows you down. It can also lead to more mistakes because a lot of things don’t have a direct word-for-word translation.

For more speaking tips, buy my “English Speaking Challenge” e-book: https://payhip.com/b/z1X97

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Reading is a great thing to do to improve your English, especially vocabulary, but I know not everyone likes books. That's OK. There are lots of other things you can read.

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Do you get stuck because you don’t know the right words? Read more to build your vocabulary.

Do you know the words but don’t know how to put them together? Do some work on your grammar.

Do you have a problem with pronunciation? Watch some YouTube videos about correct pronunciation.

Or do you know the grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation but you lack confidence or fluency? Then just practise more.

And if you find it difficult to do these things on your own, maybe you would benefit from some lessons! I give one-to-one lessons online and help students with these problems all the time. Get the e-book from my shop: payhip.com/learnenglishwithkatie

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Talking to yourself gives you practice in making sentences even if there is nobody to listen to you. You still have to think about grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. Try talking about your day or about something you watched or read recently, for example.

Reading out loud will not magically make you a good speaker but it can help you with pronunciation and speed. And you might learn a few new words at the same time.

Even writing can help you with your speaking because they both involve making sentences. In fact, writing is a bit like speaking in slow motion! It’s good because it gives you more time to think.

Get the e-book from my shop: www.payhip.com/learnenglishwithkatie

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If you feel a bit stuck with your English, try something that you've never done before. This can also help you learn new vocabulary. Here are some things you could try: find an English class join a Facebook group find a new YouTube channel or podcast  try a new app listen to songs try graded readers play word games