____________________________________________________________________________

The Best Ways to Improve Your EnglishBy Bruce J. Martin, eHow Contributor An increasingly popular world language, English has been the "power" language of politics, engineering and popular culture for several decades. Its increased popularity is due in part to the easier access to English media through the Internet and other technologies. Still, like any language, English has its peculiarities. Continued practice with experienced writers and speakers will improve your comprehension and communication skills.

Know and Motivate Yourself• First, recognize your own capacity to learn and your learning style. If you are a

visual learner, seek out images, movies and graphics that complement this strength. If you are a verbal learner, use textual sources. Auditory learners benefit from listening to the radio or podcasts. Identify through informal testing and trusted friends where your strengths and weaknesses are concerning English and then consider where you need to improve. Set reasonable and attainable goals that can serve to guide you as you progress. Such goals can be specific vocabulary development, taking a formal course, reading a book or joining an on-line English forum for active participation.

Practice, Practice, Practice• Learning a language is more than just reading a text or listening to an instructor.

Write regularly to practice English vocabulary and syntax. Publish your writings in a blog that encourages reader feedback. Use on-line websites to upload a video of you speaking about any topic you know well. Write letters or e-mail messages to English speakers you know will return your letter with their own style of communicating. Participate in an active forum about a topic you're familiar with so you can learn the jargon of your hobbies, career or other interests.

Use the Web• Use reliable Web sources to read and hear other proficient English speakers on

topics that you are familiar with and find professionally written articles about your job. By seeing and hearing others use jargon, slang and vernacular in context, your confidence will increase. Watch a video in your language with subtitles in English, or in English with subtitles in your language to see how the same ideas often have different idioms and expressions. Chat with an English speaker regularly on-line and ask for critical supportive corrections and suggestions to your communication. Reading English-language news elevates your vocabulary and typically shows very structured writing patterns.

Play in English• Sing karaoke in English to practice diction and vocabulary. Read comics in

English to learn street vernacular and context. Watch a movie solely in English,

considering context. A popular movie has one level of discourse, while an independent or artistic film has another. Acquaint yourself with English-language learning games, such as those by Nintendo, that have multiple learning levels. Take a trip abroad and converse with native speakers to hear their particular accent and vernacular and to practice everyday speech patterns. Remembering to use multiple resources will provide greater satisfaction and accelerate your progress in English.

Read more: The Best Ways to Improve Your English | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5234148_ways-improve-english.html#ixzz1pCHjEetl______________________________________________________________________________

Assignment 1: (internet search) read 2 articles in the Internet about how to improve one’s English. Write in point form 10 ways on how you would improve your English. Submit by hand the articles that you have read together with the 10 points on the 13th March, 2012

1.Buy a speaking electronic dictionary• Although most electronic dictionaries are not as good as paper ones for the

amount of information they give you about each word, some of them have the very useful function of saying the word with the correct pronunciation.

2.Use the Internet• For me, the Internet is the most exciting. I can find unlimited English exercises

through internet. Many of these sites offer free activities and can be a great way to continue to learn new words.These sites can help me improve my English.

3.Online chat• I can use some Internet programs such as, Yahoo Messenger ,MSN messenger

to meet a lot of English speakers who will help me to improve my spoken English. Just be prepared with a microphone and headphone.

4.Watch English language films with English subtitles• I’ll try to watch the first 10 or 15 minutes of the film with subtitles in Bahasa

Malaysia, switch to English subtitles after that, and only switch back to subtitles in Bahasa Malaysia if i get totally lost following the story of the film.

5.Listen to English songs• Read the lyrics as I listen to the songs. Listen to me favourite songs and sing

along to them

6.Learn a new word a day• I’ll keep my own vocabulary notebook and write a new word and its meaning in it

every day. Refer to it as often as possible so that the new words will stick in my head.

7.Read English children's books

• Children’s books have easier words. It can helps me to understand the story more easier and make more motivating to read.

8.Speak English with my colleague• I speak English with my colleague Madam Foo every day. She is my school

English teacher who was educated in English education. We have car pool ever day, so I have opportunity to speak English every day. In addition, she can’t speak Mandarin, so I have to force myself to speak English with her.

9.listen to radio in English• I listen to the radio channel in English every morning while I’m driving to school

every day. This can help me to improve my English because I’m listening to good pronunciation.

10. Set a goal for learning a few words a week• I make a list of how many words I want to learn each week, and study them

carefully. I’ll try to use them in conversation with my colleague and husband.