Learn English by yourself. You don’t have to take a language class or live in a country where English is the main language to learn English.

Even though anything that helps is good, you can also learn the language on your own with the help of some tools and tips.

The English language is one of the ones we use the most every day, which can be helpful if you want to learn English on your own.

Even people who say they don’t know English know at least a few English words, like smartphone, tablet, book, hot dog, podcast, etc.

ICDRA gives you 7 tips that will help you learn English on your own like a pro.

1- Explore your electronic devices

With technology getting better and more people using smartphones and tablets every day, it might be a good idea to change the language of the operating systems to English.

Since you must already know the Portuguese words that are used in each menu, button, etc., you will probably make a connection between the commands, which will help you learn more words. 

At some point, your brain will be so used to Portuguese words that it won’t even think about them anymore. Instead, it will look for things like “add new contact” when you want to add a new contact, etc.

Add to your word bank:

• Top slang in American and British English
• Colors in English
• Greetings in English

2- Watch series and videos in English

Do you have any favorite TV shows or movies?

How about combining the useful with the fun and using your interests to improve your English language skills?

In this case, watching the videos with English language and subtitles is a great choice. If you listen to and read English words at the same time, you will improve several skills at once:

• Improve your listening.
• Understanding the meanings of words within a context (which is much more useful than learning words in isolation).
• Learn the correct pronunciation of words.
• See the spelling of certain words.
• Internalize grammatical structures.
• See also: Idioms in English

3- Listen to English songs

If you’ve ever studied English and been frustrated by listening exercises with boring, old, or totally uninteresting audio, don’t give up!

By adopting the correct method, learning English can become extremely motivating and enjoyable. Why not use your favorite songs in English, which are already in English, to improve your listening?

In learning a foreign language, listening is a skill. When you listen to music, you not only learn how to understand what is being said, but also how to say it.

You can play a phrase at a time and try to repeat what you hear, for example. After that, when you know most of the words, you can sing along. If it’s true that “whoever sings his evils amazes,” then your schoolwork will be going great guns.

4- Don’t use the exact same words.

One of the biggest problems with people who are learning Portuguese is that almost everyone tries to translate everything into Portuguese, and what’s worse, word for word.

It is very important to remember that some structures, verb tenses, and even words do not exist in both languages. For example, in English there is no word for saudade. We use the verb to miss, for example, to say something similar.

In the same way, there is no conjugation for the Present Perfect tense in Portuguese. When we say, for example, “I have already been to Ireland,” we should focus on what the sentence means and not worry about how it sounds in Portuguese.

Learn in a light and easy way. Don’t think about the parts; think about the whole. You won’t be sorry at all!

5- Read short stories every day

“Practice makes perfect,” don’t they say? So don’t put it off! Start your plan to learn English today, and make sure it includes small amounts of English reading every day.

What do you gain from these readings? Simple:

• Make your vocabulary bigger.
• Learns how sentences are put together.
• Find a good way to remember how to spell.
• Read as many times as necessary.
• The important thing is that you feel like you understand the main idea and message of the text at a certain point. If you need to, you can go back to the same text in a few weeks.

Your knowledge of the language will already be a little bit more advanced, so it’s likely that you’ll be able to understand what’s written better.

Don’t forget that hurrying is the enemy of perfection!

6-Teach by shadowing

Shadowing is a way to learn a language. To use shadowing, you need a recording made by a native English speaker and a written transcript of what was said.

The main part of this method is listening to the audio while reading the text at the same time. At this stage, it’s important to pay close attention to both how the words are said and how they are said.

In the next step, you must play the audio and read the text at the same time, speaking along with the original recording.

Shadowing helps you improve your ability to understand what you hear and how you say things, which are both very important for talking to other people in English.

7- Don’t be afraid to talk to people.

Think you don’t have enough words in your vocabulary to talk or that your grammar skills aren’t good enough for you to conjugate verbs properly? Don’t have that thought!

The most important thing in a conversation is to get it going. Don’t worry and don’t feel bad about making mistakes. They are part of the way that everyone learns.

Take the chance to train if you know someone who is also learning English or who already speaks it well or is a native speaker.

The talk doesn’t have to take a long time and be formal. A simple conversation about the time, the day, or school will help you get your tongue loose.

Now that you know how to learn English on your own, just roll up your sleeves and get to work.

Good studies!