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Free Interactive English Practice on Twitter

Practice your English for free everyday by using #SE4UChat on Twitter

I’m going to start using a new hashtag on Twitter that encourages student participation.  That means YOU!  I will use the tag #SE4UChat for any interactive tweets.  When you hit reply, make sure to use the same tag and I will always see it and respond.  Hopefully others will as well!

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Using Twitter to Improve English

Twitter is a great place to practice your English.  In this article > English on Twitter, I list popular hashtags used by English teachers and students to communicate on Twitter.  Hashtags are a great way to find exactly what you are looking for.  If you are looking to chat, use #SE4UChat and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Follow people and topics that interest you and read the links they share in English.  This will help you to expand your vocabulary and improve your grammar structure.

Get Interactive

In order to truly improve your English skills (or any language) you have to USE the language.  Produce it.  Construct sentences using the vocabulary and grammar that you have previously learned.  Only reading things isn’t going to get you to the next level, you must get involved with using the language.

Make Mistakes

Making mistakes is all part of the learning process.  Nobody likes to make mistakes, but you just have to try! Reply to one of my tweets and if your sentence isn’t correct, I will correct it and then you will have learned from your mistake.  If you don’t try, you’ll never know if you are ‘doing it right’.  This is a very common mistake for language learners, they don’t try because they are embarrassed and therefore, never progress.

It’s FREE

There is no cost involved when you are practicing on Twitter or other social media platforms.  Take advantage of the tweets I send out and use them to improve your English skills and accomplish your goals.

I hope to see you on Twitter soon!  My user name is SkypEnglish4U and you can also find me by using  #SE4UChat

 

 

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Practice English on Snapchat

Practice English on Snapchat by chatting back and forth with me in English

Take advantage of social media and get free practice using English on Snapchat.  I will be posting daily ‘stories’ and sharing things from my life and English vocabulary.

  • Don’t know what Snapchat is?  Have a look here at this tutorial >> Snapchat 101

This is a great way for people to get practice USING English.  Over the years, I have learned that most of the students that I talk to have a great passive vocabulary, but are just missing the opportunity to speak and use that English they have stored in their mind.  From an early stage in language development, you can read and understand things, but producing language, especially in the spoken form, is more difficult and requires practice.

Enough of the boring stuff, onto the fun!  How can YOU use English on Snapchat?

First of all, follow me : SkypEnglish4U

English on Snapchat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find your friends from contacts or by searching and you can also ‘friend’ many celebrities.  You and your friends can ‘snap’ back and forth as a normal messenger system, except that the messages disappear after a short time.

I will post ‘stories’ with different things and while you are watching them, you can swipe up and respond to me directly.  I encourage you to send me a snap, better yet a video snap so that you can practice speaking.  You can send me a question, respond to my ‘story’ or just tell me about something, ANYTHING really.  Get involved and active with your English.  I look forward to hearing from you!

tutorial (noun) a book, computer program, etc., that teaches someone how to do something by explaining each stage of a process
take advantage (idiom) to make use of something well; to make use of an opportunity
*practice using these words in the comments section and I will check them and give you feedback*
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English on Twitter

Using English on Twitter is a great way to get daily practice and keep your English skills sharp.

Do you use Twitter?  If you do, you are one of 236 million monthly active users!  If you don’t, you should (go sign up and come back and continue reading).

How do you use Twitter?

Many people use twitter to share information.  Whether it is sharing personal things for friends to see or other information that you want the whole word to see, Twitter gives you that platform.  Some people just use twitter to communicate directly with other users and direct their tweets to them using their @username.

Practice your English on Twitter by reading English articles shared by people or watching videos about topics that interest you.  Communicate with people!  If you see a funny picture that someone shared, tweet back to them and tell them what you think.

Do you use #hashtags?

Twitter started the hashtag craze that we now see all over every type of social media.  This is where you really get the good stuff.  Do you like pizza?  Enter #pizza into the search box and every person that has ever used the hashtag #pizza is going to come up in the results.

Practice your English on Twitter by using hashtags that will bring you to an endless supply of helpful links.  Here are some of the ones I use (and they all link directly to the results on Twitter so give them a click, you’re welcome)

#English #LearnEnglish #ESL

#BusinessEnglish: Anything related to Business English / English used at work

#EngDaily: English should be practiced on a daily basis, so this # is for when you have a little bit of free time and want to get your brain going in English.

#EngGrammar: Any link related to Grammar

#EngVocab: Any link related to Vocabulary

#EngQuiz: Any active learning exercise/Quiz

#EngNow: Involves you NOW!  Practice opportunities, active learning exercises or videos

#EngPls: ‘English Please’ Anything in English.  A common # for learners who want to communicate in English.

Exam prep? #IELTS #TOEFL #TOIEC 

Do you have twitter friends?

As I mentioned above, some people use twitter to chat with their friends and other users.  Some people find it easier to express their feelings when they are using a ‘user name’ and people may have no idea who they really are.  Things can get messy, I suggest keeping it clean and not getting involved in any cyberbullying.  Use the anonymity to your advantage and get practicing, no need to be shy if nobody knows who you are!

Practice your English on Twitter by making friends with others who are learning English.  Get involved in discussions and answer questions from English teachers.  Use #EngPls and #Twinglish to find other learners just like you and get chatting.

Do you follow me?

YOU BETTER!  @SkypEnglish4U  Tweet to me with any questions you have and I will do my best to get back to you ASAP.

 

#EngVocab
platform(noun)  A place, means, or opportunity for public expression of opinion
Cyberbullying (noun) The use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature
anonymity (noun) the condition of being anonymous.

*practice using these words in the comments section and I will check them and give you feedback*

10 Fun & Easy Ways to Learn English Faster

We’ve all heard a thousand times that the only way to really learn English is to be totally immersed in the language, completely surrounded by it everywhere you go. But we wanted to go deeperthan that and find quick and easy ways to start getting immersed. So our research team put together 10 steps that you can follow, in this order, to make learning English faster and a whole lot more fun.
#1: Find some English radio stations and podcasts in iTunes
There are tons of podcasts about all topics imaginable these days: entertainment, politics, news. A good way to find one is to look for a podcast from a TV channel you usually watch in your cable TV. Look for one that interests you and listen to it in your car while driving. You’ll train your ear that way!
#2: Check out the Top Videos on YouTube and watch for at least a few minutes
Most of them are hilarious! It will be so worth it. Try looking at the comments to pick up some words and sentences you aren’t familiar with, but be careful there is all kinds of bizarre stuff in YouTube comments.
#3: Talk and sing to yourself in English
When you are alone at home, or of course in the shower, start talking! Sing a song in English the way it sounds to you, talk about the weather or any other topic. Do this frequently and your pronunciation will drastically improve – guaranteed!
4#: Do you have an English-speaking idol? Go to YouTube and watch all of his/her interviews in English
You can spend hours doing that listening to interviews and it sure won’t feel like studying. But it is! It helps you a great deal.
5#: Sit near people who are speaking English on the bus or in the park. Listen in…
Okay now don’t be a creepy eavesdropper! But, see what words you can pick up and listen to the flow of the conversation. How much did you understand? What general topic were they talking about? Did you hear an interesting word you might want to look up after?
#6: Pay attention to billboards, signs, advertisements, magazine stands and establishment names
Look and think about what these ads mean. How many words do you recognize? Did you see that same word elsewhere? Make up sentences about what you’re seeing.
#7: Love music? Try figuring out the words/lyrics of your favorite songs
Watch video clips with lyrics on YouTube and sing along. Read the translation and build up your vocabulary. Listen to “clean” versions of songs and try to figure out what dirty words were taken out. It’s fun!
#8: Watch TV clips, episodes or soap operas in English
It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand what they’re saying, watch anyway! Try to understand why something is funny or sad . If the joke is related to the word itself, then maybe that is why the joke does not make sense in your native language. What would be the best translation into your language then?
#9: Engage in a conversation on Facebook with friends who post in English
When you have English speakers in your timeline, you see their posts daily and get inside information about news and viral videos in English. Your friends can be your teachers! Their timeline basically sort out the best material for you to study.
#10: Produce, produce, produce. No matter how shy you are or how much you don’t “get” English, force yourself to speak
Help out a tourist who looks lost. They won’t mind you struggling with the language while you’re doing them a favor! After class, talk to your teacher about how things are going and what you need help with in English. When traveling, ask around for directions in English, even if you don’t need them! Try purchasing things online and by phone, or using customer support in English.

It does not matter if you talk slowly, you are learning, that’s only natural!
BONUS TIP: When seeing a new movie look up the original title on IMDB.com
The translation sometimes does not correspond directly to the original. Find out what the original title really means. Ask yourself how the translation makes sense.  What is the relation to the movie? You will never forget a new word that once it’s associated with an unforgettable movie. Works every time!
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Using Pinterest to improve your English

I have been ‘pinning’ for a few years now and thought it was really a great way to waste time…  until now.  Thanks to ESL Hip Hop, I have now found an actual use for Pinterest.

Most people use Pinterest to ‘pin’ (share) recipes, pictures of their dream house, internet memes, and basically anything you can think of.  It is a virtual pin-board for you to organize into categories as you wish.  pinboardI am a victim of the food boards, the vacation dream spot boards and drifting off into the land of make-believe  as I pin away.  The other day something on twitter caught my eye.  ESL Hip Hop posted about a Pinterest picture dictionary.  EUREKA!  What a great idea!   He has a ‘board’ dedicated to vocabulary from a particular song.Screen shot 2013-06-14 at 11.16.53 PM

I am a very visual person, so seeing the picture in real life context really hits home with me. Let’s face it, we’ve all had enough of the lame illustrated furniture vocabulary in books written in 1972.

hit home – refer to or be relevant or familiar to; “I hope this message hits home!”

What should you do about this?  Sign up to Pinterest and follow my boards and ‘pin’ words that you do not know to your own boards and study them daily.  Once you feel that you know a word, you can move it to a different board.  You can name it ‘Words I Know’ and only glance at that one once in awhile.  As I mentioned earlier, it is a great way to waste time– BUT, if you are browsing around and reading the captions in English, you are learning at the same time!

[googlefont font=”Chewy” size=”50px” margin=”10px 0 20px 0″]http://pinterest.com/skypenglish4u[/googlefont]

I would love to hear what you think about this method of learning vocabulary.  Leave me a comment below!