Top 5 Practical Tips to Improve Your English - 99aupairs
October 19, 2023
When learning a foreign language such as English, it’s always recommended to talk with all kinds of native speakers, it may be with your host kids, host parents, servers in restaurants, taxi drivers, or your newly found Aupair friends. However, there are also some other ways you can improve English as an Aupair aside from speaking with those people we mentioned. We understand that English courses can be very expensive and sometimes the class schedules can be hard to manage when you’re an Aupair. That is why we compiled our top 5 practical tips to help improve your English while you’re in Australia.
1. Download English Language Apps – There are several apps you can download to help you learn English even if you only know very little about it. Consider downloading apps like Duolingo, Awabe, or Learn English Daily. You’ll quickly pick up common phrases, sentences, and verbs even as a beginner. Try to set aside about 20 minutes of your time to improve your English. You can do this while eating breakfast, doing the laundry, or even while watching over your host kids – you still need to pay attention to the kids just checking over them every once in a while, glancing at your app and memorising simple words until you get better at pronouncing and reading them.
2. Turn ON the Movie Subtitles – You can do this even while you’re still in your home country. Adding subtitles to your favourite movies and shows is an easy way to get your daily dose of English learning. It can get distracting at first but like everything else in life, you’ll get used to it. It won’t only expose you to words you’ve never heard of before, it will also help you spell the words correctly as well.
3. Visit Your Local Library – Did you know that local libraries in Australia allow you to get a membership card so you can borrow or rent English books and movies, sometimes for free? Some libraries even have book clubs and short English courses for non-native speakers to learn English in Australia. Not only that, but they also invite regular speakers that will give you a chance to listen to different native English speakers. Pretty awesome, isn’t it?
4. Start Writing a Daily Journal or Blog – Practice makes perfect. On that note, start by writing only a couple of English sentences on the first day. You are going to get it right soon if you keep on practising. Since it’s your daily journal or blog, you are in control of whatever you want to say. Doing this will help you practice your English skills and in the future, once you’re really good at the language, you’ll have something to look at and compare with. Don’t forget to tap yourself on the back when that happens!
5. Use Free Online Resources – You can find websites that offer free English courses that you can take online. Some of them have a music video that you can watch and complete all the sentences of the song. Social Media is another useful platform because it allows you to follow different social media pages that provide tips and pointers to improve your English. Even while you’re at home, you can still practise your English with someone from the other side of the world!
Learning a foreign language is not an easy task but with the help of these top 5 practical tips to improve your English, living in or visiting Australia as an Aupair wouldn’t be that hard for you. Remember, the more you think, write, read and speak English, the sooner you will be good at it!
If you need help in finding your perfect host family, apply today. You can also drop us a message on any of our social media accounts or send us an email at support@99aupairs.com so you can finally start your Aupair adventure in Australia and improve your English more!