Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

S_Queiroz · Joined: 24 Mar 2009 Posts: 1

Hello,
I am Brazilian English learner and I would like to know what can I do to speak better, because I can't talk with another one without doing some mistakes and I would like to improve my listening too.
Please, give me suggestions!!

scottish_tiger · Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 90 Location: Scotland

Hi,

The best method to improve both your speaking & listening skills in English is to use the language as much as you can. This means finding many different sources of oral English, whether it is befriending English speakers you may meet around your town or city, joining a group of Brazilians who wish to only converse in the language or watching TV shows were you know there are no visual aids (Portugese or Brazilian subtitles) or listening to the radio. I hope that this helps, and you will find new ways to improve your English language skills.

Scottish Tiger
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I am always happy to help you learn English.

sourwine · Joined: 26 Apr 2009 Posts: 17 Location: Germany

Hi,

I would like to add some advice, too. If you cannot find english TV shows or movies, then maybe you can use the internet to watch movies or even listen to english radio stations.

You can download podcasts about issues that interest you, than you can listen to them repeatedly if you are not sure you understood everything.

And as scottish tiger has already recommended (but it cannot be said too often): the best way to learn english and improve it is to use it. Speak as much and as often as you can.

Good luck Smile

aviano · Joined: 05 May 2009 Posts: 4 Location: Poland

Good resources are here: http://www.agendaweb.org/
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Somewhere Over The Rainbow...

scottish_tiger · Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 90 Location: Scotland

Other sources worth a look at to practice your listening skills are:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

http://www.itv.com/ITVPlayer/?intcmp=NAV_1002

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?iref=videoglobal

but I am certain that you could find others more suited to your needs & language level. Is there a local Brazilian English language TV or Radio station that you can use? This may provide news relevant to your interests in addition to a chance to meet other speakers face to face.

Good luck & keep us informed with how your studies are progressing as you get more practice.

Scottish Tiger
_________________
I am always happy to help you learn English.

F9750021 · Joined: 18 May 2009 Posts: 8

The best method must be to read more articles. Speaking skill is also very important. Reading magazine is a good way to improve English,too. Because you can start to read from your interset. For example, you like to know fashion imformation, you can read the magazine which has fashion imformation.

rando · Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 6 Location: Philippines

S_Queiroz, if you want to improve your listening skills, I suggest you try the ff:

1. Listen to debates/parliamentary news/new channels on television, making sure that you don�t perform any work during these listening practises. Concentrate about the topic or debate which is going and then at the end of the discussion put down or speak out your thoughts and feelings.
2. Try to download or listen to listening test materials for test like SATs and GREs.
3. Practise listening skills with your group of friends, it will make you more comfortable talking in real-life scenarios.

For more tips on communication and ESL, try visiting this link, http://www.improvingvocabulary.org/blog/category/esl-vocabulary/

Ciao!