How to improve English conversation skills via online practice?

Contents

Online English lessons are mainly one-on-one lessons that you schedule yourself rather than studying with your peers in the classroom. Therefore, some people may find it difficult to continue, or may not know how to utilize what they learned in the lesson.

Here are some tips for continuing online English conversation and how to get the most out of it. Accelerate your progress in English conversation while having fun and continuing your lessons.

Tips for continuing online English conversation

Online English conversation is easy to frustrate because you manage your schedule yourself. Here are some tips to keep going.

a. Schedule

Not many people are strict with themselves and can handle whatever they decide on the day. Especially when work gets busy, it's easy to procrastinate or frustrate anything other than urgent.

If you have such a tendency, it's a good idea to first book a fixed time lesson for 1-2 weeks at a time. In addition, after the lesson is over, make a reservation for the lesson of the previous day that you booked together. This will prevent you from forgetting to book a lesson and getting sloppy and sloppy.

If you set the time before going to work in the morning or the lunch break so that you can take lessons even if you have overtime, you will not be able to skip it and it will be the same time every day, so check it one by one. It's convenient because you don't have to.

b. Set goals

Setting specific and feasible goals according to the purpose and checking the progress also leads to continuous motivation.

・ You can make phone reservations and order restaurants at overseas hotels by yourself.

・ You can get a rough outline of the contents of your favorite movies and dramas. You will be able to speak and speak

Setting feasible goals in weeks or months, as in these examples, can help reduce frustration. If you can achieve one goal, set another goal so that you can always see your progress little by little.

c. Make friends

Output is important for improving English conversation, but most of it is determined by the amount of input, especially for beginners. Since I have to input by myself, I tend to be frustrated by giving a reason why it is a lonely task.

In that case, make friends who can study together.

It's good to study systematically with your friends, or to join the English learning community. Also, if you feel uncomfortable about joining the community, it is effective to create an online English conversation practice diary on SNS and output what you have learned, or comment on other people's posts.

d. Find a teacher who is compatible

Find some teachers that suit you in terms of teaching and personality. You don't have to worry about "I don't like a teacher who doesn't fit today", and if you like the teacher, you can look forward to the lesson. If the instructor is also the same student, it is easy to understand the progress and how to proceed.

However, it may become a rut, so please make a reservation for a different instructor from time to time. Since each person has different habits and accents, it is important to familiarize yourself with the English of various people in order to improve your English conversation.

e. Take a proficiency test on a regular basis

It's hard to see if your English is improving, which is one of the major reasons for the setback. In that case, take a test of your ability on a regular basis.

We recommend the rare job PROGOS speaking test ( https://progos.ai ) and TOEIC, which you can take several times on a regular basis.

It's just a test of your ability, so the point is not to aim for a high score. If you level up, your score will increase naturally without any special preparation. Remember that the test is just a measure of your ability.

Tips for enjoying online English lessons

Speaking English can be a pain for beginners, but it's a waste to take lessons. Here are some tips to make your online English lessons more enjoyable.

a. Prepare

Preparation before the lesson is effective. Knowing what to do before class gives you confidence, and especially if you don't have the time, you can take the lesson as a review.

As a preparation method, first read the lesson assignments aloud. In addition, it is a good idea to make a note of any questions during the preparation and ask/confirm during the lesson. It will be a conversation practice, and the questions have been resolved, so I am two birds with one stone. If you have time, you can review it and you will have learned the same thing three times, so your knowledge will become more firmly established.

b. Set goals for each lesson

Before each lesson, set goals that you can achieve during the lesson.

Any goal is fine, but for example, "Small talk about a decided topic", "Speak yesterday's events", "Ask at least two questions", "Use the word ◯◯ as much as possible", etc. can be achieved easily and concretely. I will prepare something.

If you can achieve the number of times you have decided several times, give yourself a small reward! Eating sweets that you usually endure, watching TV for 30 minutes longer, lighting candles during bath time and relaxing, etc. will motivate you to prepare something that makes you feel happy and special.

c. Don't be afraid to make mistakes

Many people who are not good at English conversation sometimes say, "I'm worried about mistakes in grammar and vocabulary usage. I think too much and the words don't come out well."

It is natural that I am not good at it because it is a foreign language. Especially for beginners, it is important not to be aware of grammatical mistakes, but to actively speak out and accumulate successful experiences of "I understand!". Make full use of the vocabulary you know and speak more and more.

d. Speak positively

It would be a waste to take advantage of the special practice opportunities if only the instructors were speaking.

Even if the instructor does not ask you a question, try to talk about it yourself and talk as much as possible. If you remember your experience from the vocabulary, phrases, English sentences, etc. that appeared during the lesson, let's talk about it positively.

For example, if the theme of the lesson is "ordering a restaurant," you can think of various things, such as your favorite restaurant and food, a restaurant that you remember when you traveled, and the difference in waiter response that you felt while traveling abroad. It may be a little derailed from the lesson itself, but the lesson is not monotonous enough to complete the task, and it is fun to take.

e. Don't leave the parts you don't understand

If you can't hear it, listen back and check until you understand the phrase or word you learned. It is also very effective to make an example sentence by yourself and check with the instructor, "What if this is the case?"

If you have any questions during the lesson, it's a good idea to get in the habit of checking any small things. Many people feel embarrassed to ask such a question at school or at work, but I try to make sure that I don't understand without being embarrassed and solve it on the spot.

The criterion for whether you feel that you understand something or if you really understand it is "whether you can explain it to others." If you notice after a lesson, it's a good idea to ask at the beginning of the next lesson as "I forgot to listen in the previous lesson."

Tips for maximizing online English conversation

Online English conversation is easy and convenient, but it is difficult to improve your English just by taking lessons. Even if you feel like taking notes and studying in a school class, it is the same as not getting a score on the exam. Make the most of your lessons, not just take them, and make sure you learn what you have learned.

a. Learn the English sentences you learned in the lesson

Please remember the English sentences you learned in the lesson. Especially for beginners and beginners to improve their English conversation, it is most effective to learn a lot of short sentences that can be applied.

Then replace the words in the short sentence with something else and practice. Most of the usual daily conversation consists of a vocabulary similar to that of junior high school English. Rather than memorizing a lot of difficult words, let's memorize whole sentences that can be applied in various situations with simple phrases.

b. Have an English conversation alone

Try to soliloquy everyday events in English using the expressions you learned in the lesson. For example, "I have to clean", "What should I do with rice", etc. are all right.

The important point at this time is not to aim for perfect sentences. When I think about it in my head, words don't come out. No one is listening to it, so feel free to put it into words.

If you can't say what you want to say, try replacing it with another word, or just say the word. By repeating this process, you will be able to speak English instantly, and you will naturally have the habit of thinking in English.

c. Make a review note for the lesson and watch it during the gap time

Write down the phrases and words you have learned to create your own review notes. It's fun to write pictures and put stickers on it, and I hope it's easier to imagine than just the letters.

I'm not satisfied with just making notes, so I try to look around while commuting to work or school. Review is essential to make the most of what you have learned in the lessons and make the most of it, but I think that many people find it difficult to make time. Let's use the gap time well.