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Introduction
Is your busy schedule stopping you from learning English? If you find it challenging to juggle work, family, chores, and social life while learning a new language, you're not alone. Luckily, achieving your language goals is far from impossible. With the right mindset and strategies, you can excel in English, even with a full-time job.
In this blog post, we'll explore 7 effective steps to help you turn your language goals into reality!
Contents
7 Tips and Tricks to Learn English with a Full-Time Job
7 Tips and Tricks to Learn English With a Full-Time Job
These seven tips are some of the best techniques for anyone to learn a language on a busy schedule. With these tips, make sure to keep two things in mind:
Consistency is key. All of these tips are much more effective if you stick to them consistently. So make sure you try to be realistic with yourself and choose strategies that you know you will be able to dedicate your time to.
All these tips are for outside the workplace. Sure, it’s definitely possible to improve your English while working, but for today, let’s focus on ways that you (or your employees) can improve their language skills outside of work.
With those ideas in mind, let’s get started!
1. Plan a Doable Schedule
The first thing any language learner should do is to plan a realistic schedule. This helps keep you organised and guarantees that you have time to study. Here, the most important thing is to make your schedule doable. In other words, don’t plan to study for 3 hours every day after work if you know you will get burnt out.
Languages take a long time to learn, but it’s a much smoother process if you take small, consistent steps. Practising for 30 minutes every day for 6 months is much better than planning a 14-hour English schedule that makes you so tired you give up after 2 weeks.
2. Listen to Podcasts
If you have a long commute to work or you like to listen to music while cleaning your flat, podcasts are a great option to improve your English skills. There are many podcasts for every learner’s level and you can find topics on just about anything!
If you have a very basic English level, you can find podcasts with slow speech designed to improve your grammar skills. If you have a more advanced level, you can find podcasts on a variety of topics to increase your vocabulary and your listening comprehension. It’s a great way to get some extra English input while you’re doing some dull tasks.
3. Try Self-Talk
Sure, maybe you’ll sound silly and it certainly doesn’t replace having a real conversation, but self-talk is a great way to train your brain to start thinking in English. This strategy is extra helpful for beginning students who are struggling to make full sentences when speaking.
The way to do this is by trying to talk to yourself (aloud, if you’re alone) about daily tasks. Start converting your thought process into English. For example, something like:
- “What do I need to do today?” “Oh right, I have to go to the supermarket, then have dinner with my friend”
- “Where did I put my shoes? I can’t find them...”
Simple thoughts that you normally have automatically in your native language can be said in English as a way to start helping your brain naturally use English as a way of thinking and communicating. So, if you need that first push to increase your fluency, this is a great strategy that you can do on your own.
4. Watch TV in English
There is an enormous amount of TV series and films available in English that can be used as authentic learning material. Don’t underestimate how helpful watching an interesting TV series can be for your language skills. If you are someone who loves to watch TV after supper, then consider watching something in English with English subtitles.
The key to this is to try to be actively paying attention. If you are watching a series, but mostly scrolling through social media, then that’s not an effective way to study. Get out a notebook and write down words you don’t know. Pause and rewind the programme if you don’t understand something. Listen to see if the actors pronounce a specific word differently than you do.
This step connects to the first tip, as well. Try to plan when you will do this. If you do it every day, perhaps you’ll become tired of constantly pausing your show. Be honest with yourself to help stay consistent.
5. Take Lots of Notes
As we mentioned in the last step, taking notes is a great way to keep track of what you have learnt. Also, the process of writing down notes helps reinforce your memory, so it’s a great technique for all language learners. If you have a full-time job, you might not have time to use a traditional textbook to learn, but you definitely will have time to quickly jot down personal notes.
If you love keeping a notebook on hand, then a physical notebook is a wonderful tool that you can keep at your desk at work, as well. Though if you don’t like to carry more than you need - just use your mobile! Write down some notes in a productivity application, so you can do this step even when you’re on the go.
6. Set Clear Goals
One of the most important techniques for language learning is to set clear learning objectives for yourself. This way, you can track your progress and see if these techniques are helping you. The key is to make very specific goals that you can check. For example, having a goal of “being fluent in English” is incredibly difficult to measure. How do you define fluent?
On the other hand, having an objective of “Learn 200 words by March”, or “Understand all the B1 grammar topics in two months” are more specific goals that you can check. These clear goals will help you monitor your progress and help keep you motivated.
7. Take Online Classes
Finally, if you don’t have time to travel to an English academy, then consider taking online classes. If you only have one hour a week, for example, then you can sign up for a one-hour lesson using just your computer in the comfort of your own home. Online classes are a great way to improve your English even if your time is limited.
Online classes are a great option for anyone with limited time on their hands. Whether you want to take your English skills to the next level or you want your team to improve their English together, an online class is a great way to get personalised English learning, no matter where you live.
At Sunago Education, we believe that online classes are one of the most effective ways to learn a language in the modern age. You can take both individual and group lessons specialised to your learning goals, so no matter who you are and what your objectives are, online classes are an accessible way to learn a language with a full-time job.
Don’t Stop There!
It doesn’t matter if you can only dedicate 30 minutes a day to English, anyone can improve their English skills if they take the steps to do so. So now comes the most important part - actually go do it!
Making your dreams come true starts with the first step. If you're ready to take your English skills to new heights, sign up for online classes at Sunago Education and embark on a rewarding language journey.
Happy learning!
Sunago Education is your one-stop English solution provider. With its team of professionals with over 25 years of experience in delivering effective English educational programmes, Sunago Education brings quality English teaching to the comfort of homes.
Visit https://www.sunagoeducation.com/ today and speak to us today about how we can help you master the English language.