How to Learn Advanced English
Created: Oct 10, 2024
Last Updated: Oct 10, 2024
If you've hit the language-learning plateau and you are struggling to incorporate more complex vocabulary and sentence structure into your spoken and written English, it's time to find out how to learn advanced English.
Firstly, we would like to start by comforting you. Language is tough to understand, and it can be a long journey to fluency. The key is to be patient and find a method that works for you and your learning style. From learning English through films to using language-learning apps to reading books, there’s a tried and tested method for everybody.
If you're a person who is:
- Looking to relocate to an English-speaking country and want to feel confident in communicating
- Struggling to access higher education courses due to the language barrier
- Wanting to understand and enjoy English films, music, or literature
- Worried about being able to translate challenging materials at home or work
- Wanting to converse easily with friends and family
- Wishing to be able to write clearly, concisely, and coherently in the English language
If any of those situations above apply to you, we're here to help. At Flurret, we believe language learning should be interactive and engaging. We know that learning advanced English is a continuous process, and we also understand that the English language has lots of difficult rules, ambiguous meanings and unusual word orders.That's why our platform is designed for people just like you - making English fluency, fun, memorable, and a personalized experience.
Learning advanced English for beginners and intermediates
To move from intermediate or basic language skills to advanced English, it’s useful to understand how your brain processes language. Receptive skills, like reading and listening, are key to the process of remembering new words. These skills help your brain take in language patterns and vocabulary and transform it into something you can recognize and confidently use.
Here’s how it works:
- When you read: Your brain sees and begins to remember new words. Even if you don’t know every word on a page or website, your brain uses clues from the other words in the sentence to figure out what it means.
- When you listen: Your brain picks up how people say words and how people talk to each other. This helps you learn what the words mean and makes it easier to use them again next time you need them.
The more you read, watch and converse in English, the more your brain starts to create connections between different words and their meanings. So, each time you add a new word to your memory bank, it gets easier to use and clearer to recognize.
The challenges of advanced English
It’s important to remember that English is a complex language due to a variety of reasons:
- Borrowing - much of the English language originates from other languages. We have vocabulary originating from Latin, French, Viking, and Arabic and the language continues to evolve, particularly due to the influence of social media in recent years.
- Accent & Dialect - For such a small island, England and the UK have many different dialects and accents, making pronunciation challenging. Words can vary from town to town. For instance, a bread roll might be called a "breadcake" in Yorkshire or a "barm" in Manchester. American English also has regional variations, like "sub," or "hoagie," for a type of sandwich. These unique and unusual parts of language make it difficult for non-native speakers to understand and replicate.
- Homophones - There are several words in the English language that are spelled the same but have entirely different meanings. For example, you may wait for a bus but how heavy the bus is is called its weight. Some words are spelt identically but have different meanings and pronunciations e.g. to take a bow and a bow and arrow.
- Spellings - Due to the borrowed nature of English, there are irregularities in spellings so although there are ‘rules’ of spelling, there are also a lot of exceptions.
By practicing reading and listening often, you will slowly expand your vocabulary and become more confident in using advanced words in your everyday speech or written language. Before you know it, you will be using words that used to be confusing more naturally!
1. Watch English-speaking movies
Far too often movies are overlooked as a medium for language learning. To pick up new words to store in your vocabulary, watch a classic American or British movie with subtitles. You may start this journey with subtitles in your native language to translate, then move on to subtitles in English to ensure you’ve understood the vocabulary and phrasing, until eventually, you rely on subtitles less and less.
Pay close attention to how sentences are structured and the pronunciation of new words. Don't be afraid to repeat the lines you hear out loud to familiarize and begin memorizing the phrases you hear. If it helps you feel more confident, start with a famous movie with well-known quotes and catchlines such as The Godfather or Star Wars.
Top tip: Try taking a 2-minute clip that's packed with dialogue and rewatch it a couple of times. This way, you can ensure the words are soaked up in your memory until you no longer struggle to understand meanings and definitions.
2. Learn words with Flurret before you watch films
With Flurret, you can learn advanced vocabulary from movies before you even watch them - no more pausing to check a dictionary!
Flurret is tailored to your skill level. Our initial fluency test assesses your current language ability, guiding your learning journey as you explore our movie hub. This gamified platform gives you access to easy-to-follow definitions for every word in each film. By the time you watch the movie, you'll be familiar with the vocabulary and able to enjoy it without feeling confused.
3. Listen to English every day
We get it, everybody learns best in different ways. However, simply listening to spoken English often can improve your English comprehension skills and strengthen your pronunciation. Listen to English podcasts, TED talks, or audiobooks to train your brain to memorize sentences, accents, and words. You will eventually be able to challenge yourself to more advanced materials. Having that exposure to the English language regularly will help pick up the flow of speech.
One of the more popular ways of making sense of the English language is through music. Global musical artists often use clear lyrics that explore emotions and tell stories, making it easier for learners to connect with the language in different ways.
Listening to songs allows you to hear rhythm and intonation in a fun and memorable way. You can learn advanced English words as well as begin to pick up cultural references. Plus, singing along to your favorite hits will speed up your learning!
The more you listen, the faster you develop your advanced English language skills.
4. Speak English every day
Converse with native speakers: Don’t be afraid to ask questions and seek help. There’s no shame in learning and you should be commended in your desire to learn a new language. There are plenty of people looking to learn languages, so perhaps you could teach them a thing or two and learn from each other? Ongoing practice is vital to becoming fluent in any language.
Read out loud: This method is simple yet effective. Practice pronunciation by reading a line of English out loud, whether it’s from a book or a news source.
5. Write English every day
Keep a journal or write an online blog. This is a great way to practise English spelling and grammar. If you’re feeling brave, try turning off spelling and grammar checkers - if you rely on these to edit your work, you’ll never learn the reason why you’re making mistakes.
There are online communities that encourage communicating in English, so you can practise writing English with other people on the same learning journey as you. Platforms such as Reddit are great for finding new communities!
6. Keep a list of new words
The notes application on any mobile phone is a great tool for sharing all your thoughts. They're also a great place to store unique words or idioms you've heard or read. The point of this list is to revisit it later, using Google or a dictionary to find definitions. These could be interesting words you've never seen before from a book, or terminology from a course.
This notes list then becomes a personal dictionary, so you can read over it and try to recall the meanings you've learned. However, you must try to use these words in your own writing and speech.
7. Learn a word a day
There are numerous websites that allow you to learn a word a day. Words are selected daily, offering a detailed definition and examples of ways to use it in a sentence or conversation. This is a great activity for children and adults alike, helping you expand your personal dictionary with interesting vocabulary you may have never seen before. Make sure you look up the definition in an English dictionary, not a translation.
8. Learn the origin of words
All words have a root and then prefixes and suffixes are added. If you can identify the original root of a word, it will help you to identify other words with the same root.
9. Turn to TikTok educational videos
TikTok is a social media platform where anyone and everyone can publish short videos. This is a fantastic micro-learning method, so you can use it to learn new words in short bursts.
There are plenty of English teachers and educational accounts on TikTok that teach dialect differences between British and American English, as well as how to apply English text to real life situations.
Some popular TikTok accounts include:
- @theforeignsun
- @english_for_beginners8
- @antonioparlati
When it comes to advanced English, video content could be just one of the mediums that work best.
10. Read fiction books
Read fiction books to improve your knowledge of creative vocabulary and style. Writing fiction is also a great way to improve your English and is also a great emotional outlet.
Start by finding your favorite books in English, that way, you will begin to recall the story to give you a basic understanding of what the text is about. We recommend avoiding older texts, as you may encounter words that are outdated and no longer used in modern English.
Reading English literature helps you gradually build up your vocabulary and understand the structure of a sentence. If you don’t mind scribbling in your books, try underlining or highlighting new words. After each chapter, grab your dictionary and find meanings.
Note: Don’t feel pressured into understanding everything in the texts you read. At beginner or intermediate level, you can only learn so much at a time. Make sure you enjoy language learning and focus on consistency, not perfection!
Additional tips for developing English skills
- Open University free courses: If you’re new to English and want to learn without commitment, there are plenty of free courses available at the Open University. Learn at your own pace and get access to educational materials without paying a penny!
- Online gaming: Believe it or not, gaming is a good way to develop your English. Even just a casual chat over a game of Fortnite with a native speaker will help you pick up new words without even realizing it. Learn, have fun and make new friends across the world - it doesn’t get much better than that.
- Change your phone and computer settings to English: It might feel strange at first, but a simple switch of your language settings can be super effective. This forces you to interact with English daily until it becomes more natural.
- Set SMART goals and track progress: Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals is a good way to stay on track with improving your knowledge of the English language. Maybe it's learning five new words a day or practicing speaking for 10 minutes when you wake up each morning. What matters most is setting realistic goals that don’t feel too difficult to achieve.
Before you know it, your limited vocabulary will expand until you can confidently read, write, speak, and watch television without constantly reaching for a dictionary. Don’t give up, celebrate your small wins and enjoy yourself, because that’s what it’s all about!
Start your journey to Fluency with Flurret
Hopefully, this blog has inspired you to check out multiple different methods to improve your English. We also hope you have learned a couple of new words along the way!
If the thought of immersing yourself in an English movie without disruption sounds appealing to you, you're in luck! With our helpful platform, you can learn new words before you watch. Also, you'll have the opportunity to reach new skill levels at your own pace.
Sign up to Flurret and start learning new words today - it’s free during our Beta test!
Glossary
We hope you have enjoyed reading this blog, but we also understand that some of the words we have used may be new to you. Here are some words referenced in this text and their definitions:
- Plateau - To reach a point where activity, feelings, or progress stop and show little or no change. For example, after months of studying English, a learner may find that their improvement has slowed, reaching a plateau in their language skills.
- Ambiguous - When a word can have more than one meaning.
- Coherently - To work in a way that makes sense and is easy to understand. When you speak or write coherently, your ideas are clear and connect well.
- Prefix - A prefix is a group of letters added to the start of a word to change its meaning. For example, take the word "happy." If you add the prefix "un-" to it, it becomes "unhappy," which means "not happy." So, prefixes are used to create a new meaning.
- Suffix - A suffix is similar to the above, but it is added to the end of a word. For example, if you have the word "play" and add the suffix "-ful," it changes to "playful”.
- Outdated - When something is no longer used, due to it being old, relevant, or replaced by something newer or better.
- Idioms - Phrases that have a meaning different from the literal meanings of the individual words. For example, “break the ice” means to start a conversation in a new social setting.
- Irregularities - Things that do not follow usual rules or patterns. In English, some words are spelled unexpectedly and can go against the typical language rules.