Overview
How to use the online materials suggested below.
Students typically score worst in listening and writing, so make these your priority activities! Do not neglect vocabulary training either - knowing words will give you the power to score well in all sections of any exam.
Start by joining a classroom on vocabulary.com's website (free) - an engaging way for you to learn the groups of words you need.
Listen to spoken English for at least 10 or 15 minutes a day, five times a week. Listen for short periods each day for best results.
Read from your school text book and prepare your school lessons in advance. Your teacher will appreciate that you are making an effort. Learn exactly what kind of texts could appear in any exam you have to take in the future. Focus on reading academic texts on different subjects, and real-life texts such as hotel brochures, gym membership advertising, etc. Mix in some technical reading with numbers, percentages, dates etc. from serious websites like The Guardian.com. Read the culture sections of English newspapers online. Collect the words you don't know and insert them into a word group you create on vocabulary.com and study them regularly.
Boost Vocabulary
No limits vocabulary training!
English is a rich language, with thousands of useful words, but to speak like an average English native you probably need less words than you think.
This article at fluentyou.com. estimates how many words people use to survive, but if you are a high-level language student, or want to transfer your cultured speech skills into English you may need 35,000 words or more. So you need to keep studying vocabulary. Forever.
The positive side of knowing lots of words in English is that you will become more expressive, more interesting, and that knowledge will filter backwards into your arterial language (a.k.a. mother tongue) and enrich that too. You might even be able to complete crosswords in select newspapers - how cool would that be?
Read this short article at eastasiastudent.net to understand the difference between active and passive vocabulary.
Start here to improve your vocabulary skills:
- Addictive and personalizable vocabulary workout at vocabulary.com.
- More resources will be added as and when I find them.
I cannot stress enough how GOOD this is! It really is useful, easy to use and enjoyable. Check it out!
Listening
Internet resources to test and improve your listening skills.
Suitable for students at all levels:
Improve your B1, B2 and C1 listening skills.
- Ted.com talks are good for B1 level and upwards.
- academic-englishuk.com good for B2 level.
- Free listening tests at B2 level.
- Another listening test.
- Ant listening test paper (PDF).
- Download official Cambridge listening test materials.
Writing
Practice writing online using these resources:
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