How to improve my English [Archiv]

Aqualon

2003-11-18, 22:52:57

A very good thing to get the right "feeling" for english is to watch english news-channels like CNN. My only preparation for the german abitur was to watch 2h CNN per day for 2 weeks. And I got 13 of 15 points, so I think it really helped.

But that depends what kind of test you'll write. If it's a discussion or an essay, my method could probably help you. But if it's an grammar test, that method won't help you very much. You can find several pages concerning english grammar:

http://englishplus.com/grammar/
http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/intro/intro.htm

Aqua

zeckensack

2003-11-19, 05:57:32

Reading English novels is great for understanding and vocabulary, and I heartily recommend that. The same thing applies to movies and TV (as suggested by Aqualon). What it won't teach you is usage. So ...

Write! In short, spam some forums :D
No, really, that helps a lot. 3DC may not be the best place to start as there are few native speakers around here and English forum traffic is low.

-|NKA|- Bibo1

2003-11-29, 04:18:02

Or start playing rpgs in english.
Oh yeah, and watch nbc , cnn or other news channels. Just don't watch BFBS, if you can get it, especially the soaps. IMHO they don't speak english, they just mumble or slur some vowels, which somehow the other people seem to understand ;). Too much inbreeding on the island, i guess ...
Cya
Bibo1

The Heel

2003-11-29, 11:12:58

thx for the site!!

Gast

2003-11-29, 11:35:11

The best way is to watch movies in english. Start to watch your DVDs in english and your listening comprehension will improve really fast. Chatting in ICQ is also helpful ;) But dont chat with chinese like I did... you dont learn anything from them.

cr33per

2003-11-29, 19:36:04

Yesterday I got my English Test back and I happily got 13 points, so I improved myself about 3 points.I`ve read Harry Potter 5 before the test and I think it has been really helpful!

Yours,
creeper

Horai

2003-12-04, 20:26:35

I'd just like to say that you all write better English than a lot of English people I come accross so don;t worry too much.

Gast

2003-12-04, 20:27:07

Original geschrieben von Horai
I'd just like to say that you all write better English than a lot of English people I come accross so don't worry too much.

BigBen

2003-12-07, 03:50:13

Hi,

i'm preparing me for an english studies right now and my major problem is, that i'm lazy like a bone (in german: stinkfaul) :D
Unfortunately books (novels & co) are not my thing, but this didn't mean that i hate those kind of books!
I have more than enouth to do with magazine like c't, the german Technology Review *g* ... so i started playing a MMORPG (Star Wars Galaxies) besides my english vocabulary and grammar exercises and acceded into an english speaking guild - try to find native speakers, otherwise it sucks! I use my second computer (http://dict.leo.org - great site!) and my dictionary to translate words while playing :)

But you have to watch english tv and movies as well (books are also good), because it's important to know how to use words and in some cases how to spell it.

The english language has the most vocabulary of all other, so lerning english takes you years!

Good speed! (Viel Erfolg?!)

Regards
Ben

ps: i hate all these english phrases, you must learn them, there is no other way *arrgh*

cr33per

2003-12-07, 21:04:04

I've just read the following sentence : Fear the Dirt, For the Dirt is evil! ... What kind of grammar construction is this and how to translate it ?

Yours sincerely,
creeper

Maki

2003-12-07, 23:34:39

Reading English newspapers and other magazins is also good for improving your English. Look at the next mewspaper shop. Especially in an airport or a train station.

Gast

2003-12-09, 09:44:44

It's Probably not of much use to you now...
...but...
I think you should just make some friends on an instant message program..make sure they speak decent english... and ask them if they would tell you how they would have said something..had it been their sentance. Then talk away.

Of course this is probably more useful for practical use.. I imagine the english on your tests are probably overly proper and I guess it would matter what kind of english your taking and whether you were talking to a brit or american, but having people constantly correct you saying... I would have said this..or this would have sounded better like that... Seems to really help making new languages flow.
Anyway
Now that Ive wasted time
and Babbled on way to much for what little help I offered

I am off
later

Ailuros

2003-12-10, 13:53:18

....make sure they speak decent english....

Looking for a needle amongst straw? :D

As a greek with a fair knowledge of some latin, handling english is actually a child's play at times.

Paradigm:

Kyrie,
It is Zeus' anathema on our epoch and the heresy of our economic method and policies that we should agonize the Skylla of nomismatic plethora and the Charybdis of economic anaemia.
It is not my idiosyncracy to be ironic or sarcastic but my diagnosis would be that politicians are rather cryptoplethorists. Although they emphatically stigmatize nomismatic plethora, they energize it through their tactics and practices. Our policies should be based more on economic and less on political criteria. Our gnomon has to be a metron between economic strategic and philanthropic scopes.
In an epoch characterized by monopolies, oligopolies, monopolistic antagonism and polymorphous inelasticities, our policies have to be more orthological, but this should not be metamorphosed into plethorophobia, which is endemic among academic economists.
Nomismatic symmetry should not antagonize economic acme. A greater harmonization between the practices of the economic and nomismatic archons is basic.
Parallel to this we have to synchronize and harmonize more and more our economic and nomismatic policies panethnically. These scopes are more practicable now, when the prognostics of the political end economic barometer are halcyonic.
The history of our didimus organization on this sphere has been didactic and their gnostic practices will always be a tonic to the polyonymous and idiomorphous ethnical economies. The genesis of the programmed organization will dynamize these policies.
Therefore, I sympathize, although not without criticism one or two themes with the apostles and the hierarchy of our organs in their zeal to program orthodox economic and nomismatic policies.
I apologize for having tyranized you with my Hellenic phraseology. In my epilogue I emphasize my eulogy to the philoxenous aytochtons of this cosmopolitan metropolis and my encomium to you Kyrie, the stenographers.

:D

Aqualon

2003-12-13, 20:36:10

Original geschrieben von cr33per
Fear the Dirt, For the Dirt is evil!
"Fürchte den Schmutz, denn der Schmutz ist böse!"

But I don´t know if that´s regular english grammar or some slang expression.

Aqua

Lunar_Gate

2003-12-23, 13:59:00

I´d suggest not to play rpgs because there u just can read what is spoken! Games like Metal Gear Solid e.g. are perfect for you! You hear AND see the text (and there´s a lot of text!).

Another way of getting practise is to idle in some multinational irc-channels!

Also u can write your mails in english! this helps you to find the right words! While u write u should have a dictionary or something kind of!

http://dict.leo.org/ <<<< german <-> engl.-translator!

Shao-Domi

2004-01-07, 05:53:50

My suggestion since I also learned a lot that way: English movies, English games (adventures and RPG), English books and English speaking friends. And since we're all geeks here, English message boards. ;)

American Guest

2004-01-27, 15:35:49

I just finished reading a very good translated article here and I thought I would check out the rest of the site.

I don't know if the original poster (or anyone else) is still curious of ways to practice their English. You are all welcome to visit an English speaking technology site I frequent. (It's how I found this site.)

Here's the main page: http://www.arstechnica.com/
Here's the forum: http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x

Both the news and the forum discussions are usually good examples of proper grammar (at least more than most tech sites I've visited) and it covers a broad range of topics so I find it interesting. Even though it is based in the United States, there are many registered members from around the world and whose primary language is not English. In other words, feel free to post as most people are patient and understanding with those who are still learning English.

As a couple people said earlier, I find your English to be as good or better than most Americans. Also, English seems more complicated and arbitrary than German. I took some German in high school (that was some time ago now) but I felt that German stuck to the grammar rules so much better than English. Maybe I'll stick around here and try to brush up on my German. I think what lacks the most for me is my German vocabulary. So many words I've forgotten. :-(

Lost Prophet

2004-01-29, 09:11:20

Original geschrieben von American Guest
I just finished reading a very good translated article here and I thought I would check out the rest of the site.

Hi! =)

I'm glad you found this site.
A comment in the corresponding thread (usually linked at the bottom left hand corner of the article) would be very much appreciated as well.

Original geschrieben von American Guest
I don't know if the original poster (or anyone else) is still curious of ways to practice their English. You are all welcome to visit an English speaking technology site I frequent. (It's how I found this site.)

Here's the main page: http://www.arstechnica.com/
Here's the forum: http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x

Both the news and the forum discussions are usually good examples of proper grammar (at least more than most tech sites I've visited) and it covers a broad range of topics so I find it interesting. Even though it is based in the United States, there are many registered members from around the world and whose primary language is not English. In other words, feel free to post as most people are patient and understanding with those who are still learning English.

qualty advice, learning through application usually works best. ;)

Original geschrieben von American Guest
As a couple people said earlier, I find your English to be as good or better than most Americans. Also, English seems more complicated and arbitrary than German. I took some German in high school (that was some time ago now) but I felt that German stuck to the grammar rules so much better than English. Maybe I'll stick around here and try to brush up on my German. I think what lacks the most for me is my German vocabulary. So many words I've forgotten. :-(

in my opinion the grammar is the hardest part in german and everything else is rather "easy", while i'd say with english it's vice versa (grammar isn't that hard, but all the exceptions and a proper vocabulary on the other hand are).

anyway, thank you very much to your post, the purpose of the translated articles and the english part of the forum was exactly to attract new english-speaking (non-german speaking) users.

cya, axel

MrSeanKon

2005-11-15, 22:33:36

Visit as many English forums! :smile:
My English are rusty but since I visit many English forums around the world it is good to refresh!

AlanWake

2005-11-17, 15:47:20

I recommend you watch DVD´s with English language. For example i watched the entire season 1 and 2 of FREINDS on Englisch and it definitely helped me improving my skills.

MrSeanKon

2005-11-17, 21:01:43

Yeah this improves the listening. :smile:

Gast

2005-11-18, 17:34:04

If you want to learn for a school essay i recommend you to read upper-level
English. IMO it is futile to watch TV series because they contain too many colloquial espressions. A friend of mine, a native speaker by the way, only wrote nine points in the Abitur due to his intense use of collloquial expression.

SoF

2005-11-20, 22:42:33

I recommend you watch DVD´s with English language. For example i watched the entire season 1 and 2 of FREINDS on Englisch and it definitely helped me improving my skills.

*g*
DrCockDrCocks - the patient is going to die - GREAT he got the hardest part :biggrin:

MrSeanKon

2005-11-20, 23:04:35

BTW SoF your English are better than many original English people! :D
You RULE man! :)

Grobblin

2005-11-21, 16:15:17

mf_2

2005-11-21, 20:31:49

"Fürchte den Schmutz, denn der Schmutz ist böse!"

But I don´t know if that´s regular english grammar or some slang expression.

Aqua

That sounds like the sentence type that comes up quite a few times in the Bible ( the King James translation ). I can't give you an exact quote on that from the Bible right now ( lack of time ), but I know it's in there somewhere ( just not about dirt but about other stuff .. ).
The King James Bible was translated a few hundred years ago in Great Britain, so it used quite a bit of what is know today as the 'Elizabethan English', a very flowery type of English also used often by William Shakespeare in his plays. So yes, I guess you could call it 'slang' ;) today but back then that was the language form of the rich and well-educated people, not of the average John Doe.

ScottManDeath

2005-12-04, 09:46:06

sing up for a foreign exchange like i do it right know. but u gotta be in school or a university to be allowed.
i came to wisconsin at the beginning of august and i'm gonna leave in june back to germany.
Second that!

After being here in Salt Lake City since August, I was told that my English improved. So it was good coming here.
The bad thing about English at school is, that you barely speak, so the prononciation is kinda underdevelopped. Same for listening :usad:

Armaq

2005-12-08, 03:25:24

Read books - while working in ireland Dan Brown was my best friend on rainy evenings, read all of his great books. Look out for an english speaking girlfriend. Get some friends who like to watch new movies in english. Get some work in a foreign country?
I was working on a project called: Dublin Port Tunnel. The name should give you all informations you need ;).

Deathironstorm

2005-12-08, 07:09:11

I am on an exchange program in Australia (Adelaide) for 5month so far(another 6 to go ,if I shouldnt decide to stay here to finish school/go to Uni after) and my english already improved heaps in terms of pronouncing ,speaking and understanding. I still have problems with grammar and of course my german accent isnt gone but I easily manage to get along in school ,host family etc.
You should really just try to get to an english speaking country. DVDs, radio and books (especially books) are fine but when you can really use the language and you have success it is fun and not studying anymore.

mf_2

2005-12-08, 19:59:39

You'll probably never get rid of the accent completely. When I was in Alabama, I met a Swiss couple who was living in the US already for like 15 years and they still had their Swiss accent.
My father is from Finland and he lives in Germany since 1985 and still has a Finnish accent when talking in both German and English.

Coda

2005-12-11, 19:03:56

I think the problem is that you do not notice that you have an accent. It could be a good exercise recording yourself and listening to it.

Grobblin

2005-12-12, 00:17:30

Hi,

I am in the U.S.A. right now and having an accent sometimes sucks because there are people who are making fun about me. but others say that they love how I talk. And some cute girls even said that is hot. :D

especially in the beginning it was hard, because nobody in my german class ever learned how to pronounce the th right. everyone pronounced it like a s. after approximated 2 month of trying to learn it I got it almost all the time now. the only difference I have is if there is a word which ends with a s, like is, and a th is following it.

Second that!

After being here in Salt Lake City since August, I was told that my English improved. So it was good coming here.
The bad thing about English at school is, that you barely speak, so the prononciation is kinda underdevelopped. Same for listening :usad:

I didn't have a problem with listening where almost all other people out of my german class had problems. I don't know why. maybe playing games such as Max Payne and other english games helped or watching CNN every once in a while even though I barely understood anything. IMO another helpful thing was visiting english IRC channels .

After I am back in Germany I will try to get into an english speaking clan, if I am still interested in playing games.

I still have problems with difficult words such shade and shadow whereas no teacher would have marked the wrong use of shadow wrong
Example: A car is parked in the shade. - The shadow is over the car.
whereas I still think I didn't understand it. :(
unfortunatly most of the people are pretty bad in explaining things because it's all common sence for them.

As ScottManDeath and I said ry to get to a foreign country eventhough there might be many difficulties, such as pronounciation or problems with the family you come in. there is allmost nothing which is impossible to solve.

An average or a little worse german student (such as me :D) shouldn't have any problems in subjekts other than english in an American school. because most of the time you are just asked to copy things out of a book and the tests are multiple-choice. Another thing I was suprised about is that they don't write essay in almost all of the test.

We worte 1 essay test in history and I was like the 3rd best in the class with an B+. Oo That's really kind of strange.

Messi

2006-01-13, 22:09:31

Because I will write an English Test in 2 Weeks (10th Grade), I want to improve my English a little bit more. Unfortunately i have got no english books at home, so I can forgot this possibility. Can you tell me about further alternatives of Improving my English at home.

Thx
Christian

turn on your TV, switch to CNN and don´t forget to listen while you watch

up¦²

2006-01-14, 16:26:47

Nothing wrong with accents :wink:
You can even in Germany hear where native speakers come from... same in the UK,IRL or USA and here in NL too.
Best way to learn is working and living in an english speaking country for a while!
Go for DVD's with original english soundtrack and use english subtitles :wink: works great!

but a heavy german accent sounds quiet funny - can't help it :uexplode:

... and never, nerver !, answer "How are you?" with more than "fine!" :whisper:

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/3473530298.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

dmxfighter

2006-01-22, 14:37:51

you can go to cinemas

MrSeanKon

2006-02-12, 18:21:09

you can go to cinemasNice idea! :D
It improves listening! :smile:

mf_2

2006-02-12, 20:57:46

Don't dig up old threads unless you have some important information.

To give my post at least some usefulness:
It has been my experience, that there isn't just one single thing you can do to improve your ability of mastering the English language. While going to the movies might improve your listening ability, how about writing and expressing oneself? I write in English forums ( to improve writing skills ), read English novels ( to improve reading skills and to be able to express myself a lot better, since I get to know a huge vocabulary ), watch English movies ( to be able to follow conversations more easily ). All those things together really help mastering English.

I'm now at the point where I can score 13 or even 14 points ( out of 15 ) without even preparing for a test. Furthermore, I'm a lot more self-confident when debating in our English class, since I know a huge vocabulary which I can use to express myself the best way possible. Also, I catch myself thinking in English rather than in German quite often.

Detritus

2006-02-15, 07:55:35

The best way to improve english and getting rid of german accent is to spent about 4 weeks ALONE in an english-talking country. 11th grade I nearly failed because of english (grade 5). Then I spent 4 weeks in a families house in our cities parnership-city in Ohio, USA, during a students-exchange. In 12th grade, Grundkurs Englisch, I managed to receive an average of 13/15 points.

Two years later I spent another 4 weeks in Ohio. Having a cigarette in a bar at Cinncinati-Airport I received my first compliment: a guy from Texas asked me wether I came from California.

Another 4 years later giving light to a couple at a pub in Birmingham, UK, the guy said to me: "Hey, you're american! Where exactly do you come from?" He was quite amused when I told him that I'm german.

So, while you're still at school, ask your English-Teacher about any upcoming student-exchanges and take your educational opportunity.

(Edit: just to clarify: because of the fact that I spent 8 weeks in US in the years 1991 and 1993 I must not be declared as a fan of todays USA)

Xanatos

2006-02-16, 16:58:59

actually, you should improve now you spelling ;D

Detritus

2006-02-16, 20:55:57

Thanks, same to you.

Please, just correct me; isn't this thread about improving English? :rolleyes:

Xanatos

2006-02-16, 21:42:12

I wasn't that serious;)

Gast

2006-02-17, 13:28:11

Thanks, same to you.

Please, just correct me; isn't this thread about improving English? :rolleyes:
It is ! But how late is it ? Samsday ? It gives some good pages on the internet about improving your English - just take a look at my awesome skills - all learned by myselve ! Thank you please - welcome ! Bye ...

mf_2

2006-02-17, 22:03:42

It is ! But how late is it ? Samsday ? It gives some good pages on the internet about improving your English - just take a look at my awesome skills - all learned by myselve ! Thank you please - welcome ! Bye ...

Since the quoted posting was created by a guest, it probably wasn't meant seriously, but just in case it was:
If you ask the question "How late is it?", you usually want to know the time ( in terms of hours and minutes ) but not the day of the week. In case you wanted to know the day of the week, it's 'Friday'. The day you probably referred to is called Saturday and doesn't occur until about two hours from now ( in case you go by the European Standard Time ). Also, instead of using 'It gives...', I would use 'There are...'. The expression 'It gives' is a typical so-called false friend. You can't simply translate from German to English word-by-word. Sometimes, you have to interpret the text a little bit instead of just translating one word after the other. 'Just take a look at my awesome skills' is probably the best part of the guest's posting.
Also, it's 'myself' and not 'myselve'. Furthermore, I believe ( although I'm not 100% sure on that one ) that it's 'learnt' and not 'learned'. I don't get the meaning of 'Thank you please - welcome!'. I see what you mean by 'Thank you', but what do you mean by 'Welcome'?

Just my 0.02ct

EDIT: I forgot to fix my usual typos.

touring

2006-02-23, 22:40:23

Hi Christian,
my suggestion to improve english language is reading Readers Digest in english version.
You can buy it mostly at german train-stations or book-shops.
Readers Digest writers use very clear and good english, and the articles are not too big, means not too long time needed to understand. good luck, touring

Grobblin

2006-02-24, 01:13:23

The best way to improve english and getting rid of german accent is to spent about 4 weeks ALONE in an english-talking country.
That's for sure wrong for the average student! I'm going to a highschool to which there go also two other exchange students. I've been in the US since August now and in the last couple days it was the first time, that i heard that I sound more and more American. Maybe that it's only because I've a cold but it's nice to hear.

BTW: If you participate in an exchange don't excpect too much of the schoolsystem! Ex.: The US highschool sucks big time. At least hte one where I am going to ^^

Hamilkar

2006-02-28, 03:14:16

Hear english music and try to translate the lyrics, search for the words that i dont understand and sing the song to get rid of my arab accent :biggrin:

mf_2

2006-02-28, 12:57:50

I'm not trying to be picky or something, but there's a mistake in your post. Since this is a board where people try to learn correct English, I'll point out the mistake.

That was your original post:

Hear english music and try to translate the lyrics, search for the words that i dont understand and sing the song to get rid of my arab accent :biggrin:

First off, 'Hear' is just plain wrong in this case. It should be 'Listen to'.
I believe it should be 'you' instead of 'I' in the phrase 'search for the word that I don't understand'. However, if you're not talking about what the reader should do but rather about what you are doing, then you can leave the 'I' but you should write 'I listen to'. You just wrote 'Hear english music .... ' which sounds like an instruction ( to somebody else ).
The same goes for the next phrase. You could write either 'I search for the words that I don't understand' or 'search for the words that you don't understand'. You mixed it up a little bit. So, it's note entirely clear if you're giving advice to somebody else or if you're just laying out your ways of improving your skill of the English language.

P.S. Sorry for the rant :biggrin: :redface:

Hamilkar

2006-02-28, 13:20:50

I'm not trying to be picky or something, but there's a mistake in your post. Since this is a board where people try to learn correct English, I'll point out the mistake.

That was your original post:

First off, 'Hear' is just plain wrong in this case. It should be 'Listen to'.
I believe it should be 'you' instead of 'I' in the phrase 'search for the word that I don't understand'. However, if you're not talking about what the reader should do but rather about what you are doing, then you can leave the 'I' but you should write 'I listen to'. You just wrote 'Hear english music .... ' which sounds like an instruction ( to somebody else ).
The same goes for the next phrase. You could write either 'I search for the words that I don't understand' or 'search for the words that you don't understand'. You mixed it up a little bit. So, it's note entirely clear if you're giving advice to somebody else or if you're just laying out your ways of improving your skill of the English language.

P.S. Sorry for the rant :biggrin: :redface:

thanks for the correction, you`re right, where do you lern english?I think thats not english from school, or not? :biggrin:

mf_2

2006-02-28, 17:02:21

Well, it used to be the English from school. But then I decided to spend a year abroad, in the United States. That was the time when my English really improved. Also, if you can't/don't want to go abroad for a while, try reading English novels. I read a lot of John Grisham novels before I went to the US. I also participated in English boards on the internet. That really paid off in school after a while, since I got a huge vocabulary and found many ways to express the things I wanted to say. So you don't always have to go to an English-speaking country for a while to be good at English, but it certainly helps if you decide to go. What grade are you in right now?

Hamilkar

2006-02-28, 21:07:52

Thanks, your tips are very good, sometimes I read some short stories from Hemingway, I really want to improve my English, thats why I´m searching for good tips, thanks.

Komplott | PoS

2006-03-01, 19:47:56

Detritus

2006-03-01, 21:53:36

imho nice and understandable english books to read are Terry Pratchetts Disc-World novels. Compared to german translation, you'll get about 80% of the jokes pretty soon.
Greetings to my eponym when you first encounter him. :wink:

mf_2

2006-03-01, 22:38:40

Hi
well, reading Grisham´s novles is not a good idea to get started in my oppion. I´ve read them in German as well as in English. His books are very complex and so not good for begginers. I think you should read some shorter and easier books for the startup. Or maybe read books you have read before in German. This makes it easier to understand. Iám now reading "The Elizabethan World Picture" by E.M.W Tillyard. This book is amazing but it is very hard to understand because it is written in a scientific language and for about 50 years. Another point is speaking English. Well shouldn´t be a problem in the age of the internet.
I wish all of you all the best improving your English.

MFG
PoS

Well, it really depends on who, in your opinion, is a beginner. I read my first Grisham novel just before starting 8th grade. And back then, I was not all that good in English at school. However, reading Grisham AND reading stuff on the internet AND posting in English-only forums together helped a lot. By the way: It's needless to say that I didn't understand every single word, especially in the first Grisham I read. But that isn't the whole point behind reading it. It's all good if you get the idea of the story or if you understand what's happening in the book. Then, eventually, you wil also start understanding those 'unknown' words.
As I already said, it really depends to whom I'm giving the advice. If the word 'beginner' means a little 5th-grader who just started his English classes a few weeks ago, I certainly wouldn't recommend Grisham to him. However, I still considered myself a 'beginner' after three years of English classes at the end of 7th grade. And that was about when I started reading Grisham.