How I’ve improved my English in 2 months

Before going to Norway my English wasn’t very good. Despite the fact that I used to play CSGO a lot with foreigners and watch English series with French subtitles, I wasn’t improving. Here in Norway everyone speaks English. It is related to their cultures, history and of the small number of people (around 5 Millions). There is almost no dubbing, few documentation in Norwegian and classes in University are in English most of the time.

My English is still not impressive (especially my oral expression). Past few weeks I was struggling to find my words to make a correct sentence, it is a sort of handicap and in addition I wasn’t able to understand well international students as they were speaking quite fast. However I would want to share some useful tips that helped me improve.

Wait for it :))

Tip 1 : Put everything in English !

Change the language of your phone, pc, whatever you are using right now in English. Even your social media (e.g set your Youtube trending section in American or British).

If it is too complicated to hold, take it step by step. As I like my language it was tough at the beginning but I managed to live in English during the day and then at the evening I gave myself a break by watching videos/Twitter in French.

If you like a social network very much and think this would be complicated to stop or using it less, create a second account with only people speaking English.

Tip 2 : Find entertaining topics

The best way to find interesting or exciting subject that catch your attention/reflection is to use Reddit. This is a social network gathering different subjects in subsections called subreddit. People from all around the world join to share. You can find EVERYTHING, I used to watch soccer matches in high quality on the subreddit : r/soccersteams that closed recently due to legal reclamation. Indeed streaming soccer without right is prohibited (R.I.P). Or you can find unethical life tips on r/UnethicalLifeProTips, seduction tips on /r/seduction/, motivation advices on /r/DecidingToBeBetter/… I would like to enumerate every single topics but just see by yourself :).

Below, a little humorous video explaining how Reddit works.

Alternative could be seeing English subjects on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube …

Tip 3 : Tools are important

I used a grammar book (Le Robert et Nathan) containing basic grammar (i.e a small grammar explication of no more than 2 pages following by one or two exercises).

It was useful for remembering simple rules that I had forgotten. I did two pages a day. This is a good way to gain confidence.

If you plan to translate a text, use DeepL. Currently, it’s the best (and free) translator. You can see the meaning of each word by clicking on it and modify the sentence with suggested words. Otherwise if you want to know the meaning of a single word use the online Cambridge Dictionary, WordReference or Linguee(to see utilization of the word in different sentences) but avoid translation in your native language just for a word. Indeed, when you speak English you shouldn’t translate what you have in your mind every times. It will help you a lot to remember the word and its definition however if the word is hard to remember I suggest to know the exact translation in your native language.

For lazy guys like I am, that don’t want to go to a website and then input the word, just type on Google the word followed by “meaning”.

e.g : “overwhelmed meaning“

Tip 4 : Watch series, documentaries or reality TV shows(In English)

As I am easily frustrated when I don’t understand concepts, it was quite hard to put subtitles in English even if you understand the context mostly.

So the next advice is to put subtitles in English on series. If it is possible for you and have the necessary vocabulary work without. Don’t forget to put the sound louder as possible (don’t break your ears) to distinguish words. I noticed recently, two months ago that I wasn’t able to listen and read correctly at the same time unless I turn the sound up loud enough.

Best series for learning are sitcom like Friends, the office, community… I don’t really like that kind of show but you should learn plenty of expression used in daily life.

If you are feeling frustrated to don’t understand I suggest you to take a TV serie that you have already watched before or you can alternate episodes with and without subtitles because usually there’s a reminder of the episode at the beginning.

There are also reality shows that you can watch without having an headache. It is really fun and doesn’t require you to understand much.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians sounds fun. ElimiDate a realityTV dating show “in which one contestant chooses between four contestants of the opposite sex by eliminating them one by one in three total rounds” (Wikipedia) is also great.

Make your choice.

Tips 5 : Read books

I haven’t applied this tip but I swear it should work better than you imagine. Start by reading simple books like Harry Potter. When I was young, I used to read many books and it helped me expand my vocabulary in my native language.

Tips 6 : Practice your expression

Whether it’s your oral or written expression, you must practice to make significant progress. There are several discord channels that allow you to speak to other english learner. Just search on reddit or discord to find some.

I used the Cave of Linguists discord to speak with other people. They organize weekly events like writing contests or recording contests about various subjects (literature, movies…). There are also game events like Pictionnary. Put yourself in touch with them for more information.

An other great way to communicate is to install the Tandem app. In my opinion Tandem is more entertaining than discord as it is easier to talk to a single person than to a group. By using discord you might be overwhelmed by all the people speaking at the same time and in these kinds of discussion groups you have to speak quickly and be an actor in the discussion. An other discord’s drawback that could be a positive point for others is you don’t know the person you’re gonna talk to.

Tandem is less an oral communication tool because people generally prefer to text than speaking but it’s definitely worth a try. You will discover people in a more personal way since it’s designed to be a social network.

Also you can write! Writing will force your mind to think in English. Start your own blog or write story about your life like a diary. I really appreciate writing, the best way to quantify your efforts and progress over time.

I must have forgotten some things. Anyway, maybe this will help.