Guide for Fast Improvement in English

By Albie de Sousa

Philosophy
1) Give the language life. Don’t just translate between your native language and English.
When you think of an English word, don’t think of the translation into Spanish,
Portuguese, etc. Think of a picture, a feeling, an emotion. You can use Anki to help you
learn A LOT of vocabulary this way
2) Addiction – find something you’re passionate about and watch/read about it in
ENGLISH. You will learn lots of English because you enjoy yourself.
E.g. SBS On Demand (https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/) is free.
Stan (https://www.stan.com.au/) costs about $10 per month.
English e-Reader (https://english-e-reader.net/)

Specific Steps for Improvement

1) Writing. Please write 2x per week. Ask your teacher nicely to correct it.
Lots of students understand grammar and vocabulary but can’t use it in free practice.
You must be able to produce the language independently to move to higher levels.
You can keep a journal. You can watch a movie and then write a summary or an
opinion piece. Or you can combine writing + grammar with Step 2
2) Grammar. Controlled practice (in class) then free practice on your own. This is how
you do free practice. Choose a grammar point – e.g. passive voice. Find pictures on
Google Images. Describe the pictures using the grammar point.

The novel, To Kill A Mocking A Mockingbird, was written by

Harper Lee
If you don’t understand the grammar, you must do controlled practice first. Go to a
website such as Perfect English Grammar (https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/)
or Englisch-Hilfen (https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/alle_grammar.htm).
Do an exercise then do free practice. No free practice = No progress.
3) Pronunciation. Look carefully at the mouth movement of native English speakers.
Watch TV, movie or even a pronunciation video. Pause. Hold up a mirror to your face.
Check that your mouth movement is the same. You can also read the newspaper
aloud. This will help your ears understand if you are pronouncing words correctly.
4) Vocabulary. Anki. The best way to learn vocabulary fast. Fedor Shirin explains how to
make Anki flashcards (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIomwwx2gns)