Advanced English: How to Take Your Skills to the Next Level

Have you been learning English for a while,but you feel like you’ve stopped making progress? Maybe you know grammar really well, but you find it difficult to express yourself still? Find it hard to understand native speakers? Well, don’t worry - learning English is a long and difficult process!

Like any language, or any skill, it takes a long time to master it. In the world of learning a foreign or second language, it is well known that learners reach a period at which their progress slows down, and it requires more effort to improve. This is known as a learning “plateau”, which is the same word we use to describe an area of high altitude, relatively flat land; the kind that is often found in mountainous regions of the world. This period of slower progression is very normal and affects the majority of us at some point. It can be discouraging and hard to push through, but it’s worth it. Here are a few pieces of advice for improving your English at an advanced level.

Focus on vocabulary in phrases

Learning grammar often forms the basis of English courses, but it will only get you so far! To widen your understanding, especially of spoken English, you should learn more vocabulary. A lot of spoken English, particularly from native speakers, is formed into chunks, not individual words, that depend on the context. Finding out what they mean can really help you push through to a more advanced level. For self-study, you can try books like: English Vocabulary in Use, Advanced Everyday English, English for C1 and C2 etc.

Practice, practice, practice!

Of course, practice makes perfect. You need to make sure you keep practising all your skills (reading, writing, speaking& listening) as much as possible. It’s also important that you get regular correction. Getting a private teacher, or a conversation partner who doesn’t mind correcting you, is the best way to do this. It will help your English become more automatic. Practice can take many forms, but it’s good to try something new if you’re bored with what you normally do. Try: watching more English language series or films, writing to a pen pal, listening to podcasts, chatting to people around the world.  

Immerse yourself!

Surrounding yourself with a language and using it all the time will help you get to the next level. That’s why immersive language courses, like with International Languages Centres, help so much. You are using English every step of the way: in the classroom, with your hosts, out and about in the local area. If you can’t visit an English-speaking country,try using English as much as possible, for example set your phone and computers to English, get a conversation partner, read an English book, use English with social media etc.

At a certain point, you need to stop relying on the other languages you know to help understand English. Most English language courses will use English as the medium of instruction, which means you will only use English in the classroom. You will need to explain yourself only using English! It’s tough, but effective. It forces you to thinking English, and steers you away from translating all the time.

Focus on one variety

English is not a single, homogenous entity.There are many different versions of it around the world, even among different areas of the same country, each with their own unique vocabulary, pronunciation and other special characteristics. If your aim is to understand people from a particular area, then focus on what makes the English of that area special. Getting a local teacher or friends who know the variety is invaluable.  

The main advice is: don’t give up. It’s hard to improve your English at an advanced level but keep trying. ILC offers great English courses, online or face-to-face, take a look today and see what we can do.