How to Learn English by Speaking at
Home: 10 Fun and Easy Ideas
Why Learn English from Home?
It’s comfortable
It’s convenient
It makes you productive.
It’s pressure-free.
It’s enjoyable
1. Sing Karaoke
Home, you can just relax and sing your
favorite songs as loudly as you want! It
doesn’t matter if you prefer Frank Sinatra,
Lady Gaga or One Direction—as long as
you sing in English, you’ll improve your
speaking skills while having a good time
2. Read Out Loud
Reading silently can help train your mind in the
English language. However, reading out loud will train
your tongue to speak English properly
You can pick any book, poem or short story you
want and start reading the words out loud.
3. Exercise with Workout Videos
Among the best exercise videos are those from exercise expert
Shaun T. You can try his classic “Hip Hop Abs” or “Insanity.”
4. Host an English Night Dinner
Well, it could also be a breakfast or lunch, as long as the whole point is
for everyone to speak English the entire time.
5. Play Monopoly in English
The game concept is easy, but for non-English speakers, reading the text on
the cards can be a challenge. So if you’re playing, reading the text out loud
should prove to be helpful.
6. Chat with Friends Online
This way, you can practice speaking in English in a
conversational way. This will be good practice for you both.
One of the most useful video and voice chat apps is Skype.
7. Call a Customer Support Hotline
hink of it as a free English lesson. One way to do this is
to ask questions about their products. If you’re calling a
beauty product manufacturer, try Avon’s Hotline at
1-800-FOR-AVON.
8. Record Yourself
Simply start by finding a piece that you’d like to
read, and then open up your device’s Audio
Recorder and start recording yourself.
9. Memorize Your Favorite Movie Lines
For example, if you want to say Tom Cruise’s
lines in “A Few Good Men,” simply type “A Few
Good Men transcript” into Google’s search
box.
10. Make an Audioblog
ou can talk about whatever you want: movie
reviews, share stories, give your opinion, etc. After
you record them, you can upload it to your blog
and let other people hear what you have to say.
How to Improve Your English
Pronunciation to Talk Like a Native
1. Learn to Listen
There are many guides to get you started in learning to listen. We have some great
articles here about learning to listen from movies, songs and music and podcasts. You
can also find listening exercises online, like this one from Rong-chang.
2. Notice How Your Mouth and Lips Move
Use a mirror
Put a finger in front of your lips (like you’re saying “shh”).
3. Pay Attention to Your Tongue
Some difficult sounds for non-native speakers to
make are the letters “L” and “R,” and the sound “TH.”
Pronouncing them correctly is all in the tongue!
4. Break Down Words into Sounds
Words are made up of syllables, or parts. The word “syllable,” for example,
has three syllables: syl-la-ble. Turning words into parts can make them easier
to pronounce.
5. Add Stress to Sounds and Words
If this all sounds too complicated, don’t worry about memorizing all
these rules—the best way to learn is by listening and practicing.
Remember that most native English speakers don’t know the rules
either, they just say what “sounds right.” With enough practice, you can
get what sounds right too.
6. Use Pronunciation Podcasts and Videos
There are some excellent video and audio guides on English
pronunciations that you can use to improve. The English
Language Club has videos that show how to make different
sounds in English.
7. Record Yourself
Use a camera and not just a sound recorder
because it’s important to see how you speak,
not only hear it.
Compare your recording to someone else saying the
same words or sounds.
8. Practice with a Buddy
Find someone to practice pronunciation with, either in
person or through online communities like Language
Exchange or InterPals.