حوراء الحصن
23-05-2007, 09:30 AM
READ IT
Read as many English books, newspapers and magazines as you can find.
LISTEN TO IT
Try some of the radio stations
TALK IT
Talk to friends who are also learning English. Make a rule that perhaps for an hour, or when you go out together, you will only speak English to each other!
English is an easy language to start learning because:
it has no genders. Apart from people, all objects are 'neuter', not 'masculine' or 'feminine'. So you say 'it' for such things, and do not need to learn any genders.
it usually has easy verb endings. Apart from a few 'irregular' verbs, verb endings are easy, and hardly change.
adjectives remain the same for all words - there are no different endings to learn.
the singular and plural pronoun 'you' is the same. There is no need to decide whether to use a polite form, or an intimate form, when speaking to someone
The difficult parts of English are:
the spelling of a word may not show what the pronunciation (way of saying) the word is.
This is because English words came from many different sources. It is not a 'pure' language.
because English came from two main sources - old French, and old Anglo-Saxon, there is a very large vocabulary of words. Words with similar meanings may have come from both sources.
native English speakers use a lot of idioms, that is - words used in a way which is not their obvious meaning. An English speaker may say,
"I do not think much of apples."
This does not mean he doesn't often think about apples. It means that he does not like apples very much!
But don't worry. You will find that you can understand and communicate even when you have not been learning English for long
Read as many English books, newspapers and magazines as you can find.
LISTEN TO IT
Try some of the radio stations
TALK IT
Talk to friends who are also learning English. Make a rule that perhaps for an hour, or when you go out together, you will only speak English to each other!
English is an easy language to start learning because:
it has no genders. Apart from people, all objects are 'neuter', not 'masculine' or 'feminine'. So you say 'it' for such things, and do not need to learn any genders.
it usually has easy verb endings. Apart from a few 'irregular' verbs, verb endings are easy, and hardly change.
adjectives remain the same for all words - there are no different endings to learn.
the singular and plural pronoun 'you' is the same. There is no need to decide whether to use a polite form, or an intimate form, when speaking to someone
The difficult parts of English are:
the spelling of a word may not show what the pronunciation (way of saying) the word is.
This is because English words came from many different sources. It is not a 'pure' language.
because English came from two main sources - old French, and old Anglo-Saxon, there is a very large vocabulary of words. Words with similar meanings may have come from both sources.
native English speakers use a lot of idioms, that is - words used in a way which is not their obvious meaning. An English speaker may say,
"I do not think much of apples."
This does not mean he doesn't often think about apples. It means that he does not like apples very much!
But don't worry. You will find that you can understand and communicate even when you have not been learning English for long