Top Tips for learning English - taken from BBC Point 1 Be clear about why you want to learn English. Do you want it for your job, to help you get a job, to talk to English speakers, to help you study? Point 2 Be clear about how good you want your English to be. How good do you want to be at speaking English, listening, reading, writing? Point 3 Have a clear image of yourself when you have achieved the proficiency that you want. What will you see, what will you hear, how will you feel? Point 4 If possible, enrol on a language course. If you can't, put yourself in situations where you can use English which leads on to ...... Point 5 Look for opportunities to learn and use English. Speak English whenever you can. Listen to the radio and CDs in English, read and write in English. If you look for opportunities, you will find them. Point 6 Write down new words and phrases in a notebook. Keep the notebook with you so you can look at it when you have a spare moment. Point 7 Practise, practise, practise. There's an expression in English. If you don't want to lose it, use it. This is very true when it comes to learning foreign languages. Point 8 Find a learning buddy or colleague. Find someone you can learn English with. Speak with each other. Send each other messages in English. Point 9 Learn little and often. Make it a habit to learn English ten minutes each day. This is much better than learning for longer once a week. And the final point: At the beginning of a learning period, ask yourself, "What do I want to learn today?" At the end of a period, ask yoursef, "What have I learnt today?" There's a story about a teacher who told his students, ?You know you're making progress in English when you speak in English, think in English, and dream in English. One day a student came into the class very excited and said, "Teacher, Teacher, last night I dreamt in English." The teacher said, "That's wonderful. What did you dream about?" And the student said, "I don't know, it was in English." Hisham, may you achieve your dream of learning English. George Pickering is an educational coach, consultant and trainer. He is an associate tutor at the University of Sheffield, and a British Council inspector of language schools in the UK.

How to Practise Your English Speaking How to Practise Your English Speaking: -Start a film or book club. -Volunteer to help other people, -Take part in a film conversation, -Use Skype, -Take English lessons, -Before you start speaking. If you don't live in an English-speaking country, and you don't have friends or family to speak English with, where can you practise your English speaking skills? It's easier to have a conversation if you have a reason to speak – something to talk about. These ideas all give you a reason to speak with another person. Start a film or book club Invite people to discuss a film that you all watch together, or a book that you are all reading. Prepare questions before, to help people talk about specific aspects. Volunteer to help other people Does your town or company often welcome foreign guests? Can you offer to translate for them? Or perhaps you can offer to help children or students with their English homework. Take part in a film conversation Watch a film on DVD, and decide in which part you can speak with the film character. Listen to what the character says (and the reply) then rewind, and either mute or pause the DVD after the film character speaks. Take the other character's role, and reply to the first character. You can also find film scripts on the IMDb site. Print it out, then practise taking a role in the film. Use Skype Chat with other people in a penpal forum via Skype. You can get to know them first by writing to them, then invite them for a conversation. Take English lessons This is the most expensive option, but paying for private or group lessons is a good way to regularly practise your English. If you have a job, maybe your company can also arrange lessons for you. Before you start speaking – Try to plan what you want to say. Make sure you know the most important words or technical terms that you'll need. – Practise standard expressions. For example, "Pleased to meet you", or "How are you?" Getting these expressions right makes you feel more confident to continue the conversation. – As well as concentrating on what you want to say, also concentrate on listening to the other person. Give your full attention, and make sure you understand by using clarifying expressions such as "Sorry, do you mean…" or "I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Can you repeat that please?" Don't forget: being a good speaker also means being a good listener. People will want to have conversations with you if they know you're interested in what they say!