This is a list of the top 10 most important tips to help you in your English studies. It does not include things like “go to a language school” or “live abroad” because not everyone can afford the time or money that it takes to do these things.

If you follow these tips you will be able to study much more effectively and you will see some rapid improvement in your English skills. Good luck!

10. Make a list of words to remember

If you see or hear a word that you don’t know then write it down, immediately! Then when you have some spare time look it up using alc or excite or on your dictionary and write down the English meaning.

Try to keep a single list of words in one place that you want to remember, you can write them in a notepad or send them to yourself in an email or do what I do and keep them in a Microsoft Outlook Task item.

Look at this list every day and try to remember as many of the words as possible, these are your words now so try to use them whenever you can.

9. Try to remember a word the first time

This is not very easy to do but if you can force yourself to memorize a word as soon as you have looked it up and put it in your list you will be able to learn so much quicker. There is something special about that first time you see a new word, it is ‘fresh’ and if you keep practicing then you will be able to remember words much quicker and start using them straight away. It may take you one or two attempts but that is OK, keep looking at the list and you will soon get used to remembering words quicker and quicker.

8. Read English Internet sites

Reading English online is great as you can work at your own pace and use a translation service like alc or excite when you don’t understand something - it is so easy to cut and paste a word or sentence into alc and find out what it means. I am planning to create a list of good sites to read, of course the first one you should read is marakas69.com !!

7. Online chat with instant messenger or email

Online chat is a great way to practice your reading and writing skills as well as giving you a good base for spoken conversation. Things like Email and Microsoft Messenger and even private messages in mixi or gree are a really casual way to communicate so it doesn’t matter if you are not writing is not perfect.

The best thing is if you can chat to a native English speaker that would be just great, try to pick up as many common phrases and ways of saying things that you can and then try to use them yourself. Don’t just copy and paste from their conversation though! Typing out what you want to say will help you remember it for the future.

If you want to practice then send me a message here and I will be happy to chat with you.

6. Write a blog or write comments on a blog

Writing a blog is the next step to practice your English skills and is quite scary at first. If you don’t have your own blog already then get a friend to invite you to mixi and start writing in English. Write about things that interest you and try to be as accurate as possible. If you make mistakes that is OK no-one is going to mind.

Writing English in public like this will help you focus and if you don’t know how to say something then that is where you will learn the most.

On to part 2