Learning English skills today is much easier than it was ten or twenty years ago thanks to advances in technology. Even with all these advances, many people tend to overlook these benefits and how they can help them improve their English language skills. To help you start thinking about how the technologies you use every day could potentially help you, let’s take a look at some you can start using today.
Blu-Ray Movies
Blu-ray movies include a wide array of language options. Instead of watching the movie in your native language, set it to English with the subtitles set to your language. As you watch the movie and read the subtitles, it will help you get a good idea of the conversations being spoken.
Now, you want to watch the movie a second time and set English as the spoken language and the subtitles. Play the movie, listen to a sentence, pause the movie, then speak aloud what was just said. You should also read the subtitles and make sure you understand each word on the screen. Repeat the process for the entire movie.
Google Translate
Google has this wonderful tool that will translate words from one language to another. There’s also an audio option you can click on to hear how the word should be pronounced. Use this tool to help learn new English words every single day. Translate a sentence from your native language into English and practice speaking and writing it until you fully understand it.
Google Search
Google is also a great tool to learn the proper spellings of English words, their definitions and proper grammar usage. All you have to do is enter the word into Google and click “search.” For example, you could look up the words “complement” and “compliment” as these words are often used incorrectly and mean different things, even though they sound almost identical when spoken.
Online and Smartphone Apps
There are different types of apps that can help improve your written and spoken English skills. For instance, you could download an English word search game to help learn new words. Some online apps will even match you with other people who are also learning English.
We hope these tips for using technology will benefit you as you continue to improve your English language skills. For more tips, test prep materials, please feel free to continue exploring our website further or contact us directly for further assistance.
*The original version of this article first appeared on IELTS Canada Test.