[joseph sheehan]

Hi, I've got a "C" in English language at GCSE but would like to improve my written english a great deal with a view to going to university sometime in the not to distant future. I'm strongly considering doing the IGCSE English language course with the national extension college (a corresspondence course company based in Cambridge). But trying to avoid using an additional private tutor for extra help and support, at great expense to myself! Has anyone got any ideas on how I could improve my english on my own. I know to improve on maths you just practice questions every day ect. But with english you can't do that. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[rocket0612]

I found reading helped me a lot as it develops your syntactical awareness, improves your grammar and builds your vocabulary.

[KythingToWrite]

Don''t just read—read actively. At this point, you don't even need to make a distinction between your Lang and Lit studies. Pick up a book and pick up a pencil, and read through a chapter (By chapter, I mean a chapter of usual size. Dan Brown's and Tolkien's chapters are not usual size!) and take notes of whatever interests you. Don't break the flow of your reading just yet! Also, make sure to note down any unfamiliar words. Don't do anything with them—just note them down.

By this point, you should be enjoying the book. First chapters are designed to hook you. If you're not feeling interested, try another book (at least at this stage. You'll need to read not-so-appealing books later, though.) and do the same. Then, go back and reread that first chapter (this is why the chapter shouldn't be too long or too short) and try and guess the meanings of those unfamiliar words. Read through the bits that you liked/didn't like, and note down why you felt this way. That's Literature, and it comes a lot easier as you go along, or if you enjoy reading. Then check up the words in a dictionary, and move on to the next chapter!

Reading is the best way to improve your English. At this stage, however, just reading won't work the way you want it to. Enjoy books, but take it a step further and think actively about them. Find new words, new phrases, and use them. Use a thesaurus. If you've got a good teacher, let him/her know you're using words from a thesaurus, and ask them to make sure that the way you're using them is appropriate.

And that's about it. Read actively, and write. Write loads, based on what you read. IGCSE English isn't very hard, and GCSE is a little easier. With some effort, you should be able to get up to an A or B.

Hope that was helpful!

[laura1234]

It probably sounds pretty simple but just practice. Have english conversations with other people who speak English, read english books, magazines etc and watch English TV shows. Just try and surround yourself with it and keep practising. I got pretty good at speaking French once, but I never practiced and now I can hardly remember anything.

[rocket0612]

I came across this, 70 ways to improve your english:

http://www.usingenglish.com/articles...r-english.html

My favourite on the list is visiting the pub!

[kathryns_word]

You


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App