How to improve your English skills

My most important piece of advice is: "Do something (anything). If you don't do anything, you won't get anywhere. Make it your hobby, not a chore, but above all have fun!"

Don't be in too much of a hurry. You're setting off on a long journey and there'll be delays and frustrations along the way. Sometimes you'll be in the fast lane and other times you'll be stuck in traffic, but there will also be lots of interesting things and interesting people along the way. Take your time to really enjoy the experience.

There are many ways to improve your level of English, but only you can find the right way for you. Here are a few tips that might help:-

Improve your Learning Skills

Learning is a skill and it can be improved.

Your path to learning effectively is through knowing

yourself
your capacity to learn
processes you have successfully used in the past
your interest, and knowledge of what you wish to learn

Motivate yourself

If you are not motivated to learn English you will become frustrated and give up. Ask yourself the following questions, and be honest:-

Why do you need to learn/improve English?
Where will you need to use English?
What skills do you need to learn/improve? (Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking)
How soon do you need to see results?
How much time can you afford to devote to learning English.
How much money can you afford to devote to learning English.
Do you have a plan or learning strategy?

Set yourself achievable goals

You know how much time you can dedicate to learning English, but a short time each day will produce better, longer-term results than a full day on the weekend and then nothing for two weeks.

Joining a short intensive course could produce better results than joining a course that takes place once a week for six months.

Here are some goals you could set yourself:-

Join an English course (and attend regularly).
Do your homework.
Read a book a month.
Learn a new word every day.
Visit an English speaking forum every day.
Read a news article on the net every day.
Do 10 minutes listening practice every day.
Watch an English film at least once a month.
Follow a soap, comedy or radio or TV drama.

A good way to meet your goals is to establish a system of rewards and punishments.

Decide on a reward you will give yourself for fulfilling your goals for a month.

A bottle of your favourite drink
A meal out / or a nice meal at home
A new outfit
A manicure or massage

Understanding how you learn best may also help you.

The visual learner

Do you need to see your teacher during lessons in order to fully understand the content of a lesson?
Do you prefer to sit at the front of the classroom to avoid visual obstructions (e.g. people's heads)?
Do you think in pictures and learn best from visual displays including: diagrams, illustrated text books, overhead transparencies, videos, flipcharts and hand-outs?
During a lecture or classroom discussion, do you prefer to take detailed notes to absorb the information?
Other English Learning Tips
Travel to an English speaking country:-

England is only a few hours flight away.
Specialist holidays are available to improve your English.
Take an English speaking tour or activity holiday.

Spend your time on things that interest you. If you like cooking then buy an English-language cookbook or find recipes on the net and practise following the recipes. You'll soon know if you have made a mistake!
Keep something English on you (book, newspaper or magazine, cd or cassette, set of flashcards) all day and every day, you never know when you might have 5 spare minutes.
If you are too tired to actively practice just relax and listen to an English pop song or talk radio

English Notes-Friends Education

Day, Night And Time

There are 24 hours in a day. The day is divided into "day(time)" and "night(-time)". Daytime is from sunrise (this varies, but we can say approximately 6am) to sunset (we can say approximately 6pm). Night-time is from sunset to sunrise.

Every day starts precisely at midnight. AM (Ante-Meridiem = before noon) starts just after midnight. PM (Post-Meridiem=after noon) starts just after midday. This means that 12am and 12pm have no meaning.

This diagram shows the cycle of a 24-hour day and the words we use to describe its parts. The day starts at midnight (at the bottom of the diagram).

The word day can have two meanings:
1. the 24 hours between one midnight and the next 2. the time between sunrise and sunset (as distinct from night)

Asking the time

Here are some phrases you can use when you want to know the time:

What's the time?
What time is it?
Have you got the right time?
What time do you make it?

Telling the Time

Telling the time

To tell someone what the time is, we can say "The time is..." or, more usually, "It's...". Here is a typical dialogue:

Question:	What's the time, please?
Answer:	It's three o'clock.

The chart below shows you two different ways to tell someone what the time is.

	more formal	less formal
	It's...	It's...
3.00	three o'clock	three
3.02	just gone three o'clock	three oh two
3.03	three minutes past three	three oh three
3.05	five past three	three oh five
3.09	nine minutes past three	three oh nine
3.10	ten past three	three ten
3.15	a quarter past three	three fifteen
3.20	twenty past three	three twenty
3.21	twenty-one minutes past three	three twenty-one
3.25	twenty-five past three	three twenty-five
3.30	half past three	three thirty
3.35	twenty-five to four	three thirty-five
3.40	twenty to four	three forty
3.45	a quarter to four	three forty-five
3.50	ten to four	three fifty
3.55	five to four	three fifty-five
3.57	three minutes to four	three fifty-seven
3.58	nearly four c'clock	three fifty-eight
4.00	four o'clock	four

100 Commonest English Words

Based on evidence from the billion-word Oxford English Corpus, Oxford have identified the hundred commonest English words found in writing globally:

1. the
2. be
3. to
4. of
5. and
6. a
7. in
8. that
9. have
10. I
11. it
12. for
13. not
14. on
15. with
16. he
17. as
18. you
19. do
20. at
21. this
22. but
23. his
24. by
25. from

26. they
27. we
28. say
29. her
30. she
31. or
32. an
33. will
34. my
35. one
36. all
37. would
38. there
39. their
40. what
41. so
42. up
43. out
44. if
45. about
46. who
47. get
48. which
49. go
50. me

51. when
52. make
53. can
54. like
55. time
56. no
57. just
58. him
59. know
60. take
61. person
62. into
63. year
64. your
65. good
66. some
67. could
68. them
69. see
70. other
71. than
72. then
73. now
74. look
75. only

76. come
77. its
78. over
79. think
80. also
81. back
82. after
83. use
84. two
85. how
86. our
87. work
88. first
89. well
90. way
91. even
92. new
93. want
94. because
95. any
96. these
97. give
98. day
99. most
100. us

subject

okD; dk og ‘kCn t¨ okD; es fdlh dke d¨ djrk gS vFkkZr okD; esa dke djus okyk subject dgykrk gSa!

mnkgj.k%

og tkrk gSa!

vaxsth gekjh enn djrh gSa!

igys okD; esa dke djus okyk ßogß gSa nqljs okD; esa dke djus okyk ‘kCn vaXkszth gSa!

I eSa] eq>s] eSus] eq>d¨

We ge] gesa] geus] ged¨

you vki] vkius] vkid¨

He og] mls] mlus ¼yMdk½

She og] mls] mlus ¼yMdh½

It ;g] bls] bld¨

They os] mUgs] mud¨] mUg¨us

v He, she, It, Ram, Shita, A boy, A girl or Any name-SINGULAR

v I, You, We, They, Boys, Girls, Friends-PLURAL

v MONEY, FARE, ADVICE, INFORMATION, WORK, NEWS, MARKS vkfn d¢ cgqopu ugh curs!

v people, children, cottle, sheep, fish, deer, parents, scissars, trousers, pantaloons, spectacles vkfn d¢ cgqopu curs!]

verb

okD; esa og ‘kCn ftlls dke d¢ g¨us dk irk pyrk gSa vFkkZr okD; esa g¨us okyk dke verb dgykr gSa!

mnkgj.k%&

os oagk tkrs gS!

og vaXkszth lq/kkjus dh d¨f‘k‘k djrk gSa!

verbs
go tkuk	come vkuk
learn lh[kuk	eat [kkuk
improve lq/kkjuk	get up mBuk
sit cSBuk	do djuk
read i<uk	teach i<kuk
speak c¨yuk	want pkguk
tell crku	talk ckrsa djuk
try d¨f‘k‘k djuk	win thruk
meet feyuk	play [ksyuk

object

okD; esa ftl ‘kCn ij fØ;k ¼verb) dk ÁHkko iMrk gSa! mls object ls lEc¨f/kr djrs gSa!

eSa fgUnh i<rk gqW!

og jkgqy d¨ ihV ldrk gSa

igys okD; esa fØ;k verb) dk ÁHkko ßfgUnhß ij i< jgk gS o nwljs okD; esa ihVus dk fØ;k dk ÁHkko ßjkgqyß iM jgk gS blfy;s igys okD; esa ßfgUnhß o nwljs okD; ßjkgqyß object gSa!

"I like English a lot."
What's the subject, verb and object in the sentence?
I is the subject.
Like is the verb.
English is the object.

Find Out Verbs, Subject and Object

og esgur dj ldrk gSa!

Hkkjr d¨ eSp thruk pkfg;s!

vaXkszth gekjh enn dj ldrk gSa!

os vaXkszth lq/kkjus dh d¨f‘k‘k djuk pkgrs gSa!

jkgqy ÝSUM~l ,tqd¢‘ku esa vaXkszth lh[kus vkrk gSa!

Wh/H Family

Wh Family
What	D;k
why	D;¨a
when	dc
Where	dg¡k
Who	d©u
Whom	fdls
Whose	fdldk
Which	d©u&lk
With whom	fdld¢ lkFk
H family
How	dSls
How much	fdruk
How often	fdrus
How many times	fdruh ckj
How long	fdruh ckj
How long	dc ls] dc rd] fdruk le;

WH Question Words

We use question words to ask certain types of questions (question word questions). We often refer to them as WH words because they include the letters WH (for example WHy, HoW).

Question Word	Function	Example
what	asking for information about something	What is your name?
	asking for repetition or confirmation	What? I can't hear you. You did what?
what...for	asking for a reason, asking why	What did you do that for?
when	asking about time	When did he leave?
where	asking in or at what place or position	Where do they live?
which	asking about choice	Which colour do you want?
who	asking what or which person or people (subject)	Who opened the door?
whom	asking what or which person or people (object)	Whom did you see?
whose	asking about ownership	Whose are these keys? Whose turn is it?
why	asking for reason, asking what...for	Why do you say that?
why don't	making a suggestion	Why don't I help you?
how	asking about manner	How does this work?
	asking about condition or quality	How was your exam?
how + adj/adv	asking about extent or degree	see examples below
how far	distance	How far is Pattaya from Bangkok?
how long	length (time or space)	How long will it take?
how many	quantity (countable)	How many cars are there?
how much	quantity (uncountable)	How much money do you have?
how old	age	How old are you?
how come (informal)	asking for reason, asking why	How come I can't see her?

Some Words which We use mostly

Hindi	English	Hindi	English
Munna	Kid	Namaste	Hello, Hi
Thela	Vendor Cart	Kahan	Where
Samachar	News	Kyon	Why
Aasman	Sky	Kis Liye	For What
Laal	Red	Hamara	Ours
Neela	Blue	Tumhara, Tera	Yours
Hara	Green	Apna, Mera	Mine
Safed	White	Pitaji	Daddy
Kala	Black	Mataji	Mommy
Bundar	Monkey	Nani, Dadi, Amma	Grand mother
Pagal	Moron	Nana, Dada	Grand Father
Jao	Go	Afsar	Officer
Bayein	Left	Gadi	Car, Train
Dayein	Right	Pyar	Love
Seedhe	Straight	Naak	Nose
Kona	Corner	Aankhen	Eyes
Roko	Stop	Haath	Hands
Aadmi	Man	Roti	Indian Flat bread
Aurat	Woman	Kapda	Cloth
Ladki	Girl	Hawai Jahaz	Aeroplane
Ladka	Boy	Nagar	City
Bachha	Baby	Gurudwara	Sikh Temple
Sadak	Road	Masjid	Mosque
Kinara	Side	Mandir	Hindu Temple
Bister	Bed	Girizaghar	Church
Hawa	Air	Ghar	Home
Pani	Water	Rajya	State
Thanda	Cold	Matlab	Means
Garam	Hot	Kahani	Story
Dhoop	Sunny	Kagaz	Paper
Badal	Clouds	Akhbaar	Newspaper
Barish	Rain	Tasweer	Photo
Wahan	There	Manjil	Building's Floor
Khana	Meal	Biwi	Wife
Chabbi	Keys	Desi	Local
Tala	Lock	NRI	Non Resident Indian
Dhanyawad	Thank You	Namoona	Sample
Bhai, Bhaisaheb	Brother	Rasoi	Kitchen
Bhen,Bhenji	Sister	Aarti	Prayer
Aaja	Come	Yatra	Journey
Ek,Do,Teen	One, Two, Three	Joota	Shoes
Char,Paanch	Four, Five	Billy	Cat
Chhen,Saath	Six, Seven	Gadha	Donkey
Aath,Nau,Dus	Eight, Nine, Ten	Gai	Cow
Dawai	Medicine	Gana	Song
Dard	Pain	Naach	Dance
Deewar	Wall	Gali	Street
Khidki	Window	Bazaar	Market
Darwaja	Door	Mandi	Wholesale Market
Naam	Name	Ghoda	Horse
Nadi	River	Khet	Farm
Kutta	Dog	Kameez	Shirt
Dhobi	Laundry Service	Patloon	Pant
Sabzi	Vegatables	Kaccha	Underwear
Doodh	Milk	Chawal	Rice
Machli	Fish	Samay	Time
Dekho	Watch	Suno	Listen
Kudo	Jump	Khelo	Play
Naha Lo	Bath	Munjun	Tooth Powder
Baal	Hair	Kaan	Ears
Pedh	Tree	Wood	Lakdi
Loha	Iron	Kharab	Not Good
Ganda	Dirty	Chootta	Small
Lamba	Tall	Rekha	Line
Naashta	Breakfast	Nanga	Naked
Bahar	Outside	Andur	inside

How to improve your English skills and English Notes