7 ways to quickly improve your English language skills

Either in a notebook or on your computer, start making a list of useful words and phrases. Every time you hear or see a word you’re not familiar with, note it down. Don’t only focus on the word itself, but search for synonyms and phrases in which it’s used. After all, you might understand what words such as “precedence” or “tantalizing” mean, but do you know how to use them accurately?

As helpful as listening and reading tasks may be, you also need to use English interactively and practice your own speaking skills. If you’re lucky, you’ll be friends with a few native speakers who can help you out, but if not then try to meet up with someone else studying English. Another option is to talk to yourself in the mirror or record yourself. Listening to the sound of your own voice might be a little bit awkward at first, but you will be able to hear mistakes of which you weren’t previously aware.     

Let’s face it, academic phrases won’t just fall from heaven and straight into your brain. Even if your English is already quite good, don’t be complacent and underestimate stressful factors such as the time pressure in an exam. You still have to practice, no matter how much time you have left before your big day. Try coming up with a word of the day, and then try to employ it as often as possible. If you do this, don’t waste time on extremely specific words you will never actually use. Instead, focus on conversational English which is likely to be relevant in the exam.      

In order to improve rapidly, you should ask a lot of questions and resolve them. Don’t just read phrases. Ask why they are used in a particular way, whether other constructions are possible as well and don’t trust everything you read online. Of course, it is tempting to be content with the first answer that pops up on Google, but you’ll find more rewards if you show a bit of curiosity.

If studying the English language only feels like a burden, it will seem tedious and you won’t perform as well. This is why it’s important to stay motivated and enjoy the experience of learning a new language. Find ways to add entertainment into your studies, such as playing word games with friends that will boost your critical thinking skills.

Obviously, learning a new language is a long-term project and you can’t start from zero and write an academic paper a week later. But, when building on a decent foundation, you can achieve great results quickly if you devote yourself intensely. Especially for exams like the IELTS, you should really know what questions will be asked, what the formats look like and how to deal with the respective tasks. Try to stay focused and improve certain parts, rather than frantically trying to catch up with everything at once.

Laura Kabelka works in Communication and Marketing at StudentJob AT.