Tip from

our Teachers

Tips from our Teachers

Tips and resources for improving your own English
Whether you are studying in a classroom with a teacher or trying to develop your
English on your own, there are lots of things you can do to use your time more
effectively and to use free online resources to help you.
We asked three of our expert online teachers for tips, suggestions and useful
weblinks to help you get the most out of your study time and here is what they had
to say.

From EnglishUp teacher Jessica B:

Two major challenges that students face when learning English are not being able
to understand what they are listening to and not knowing how to express
themselves.
To help my students overcome difficulties with expressing themselves I first try to
make sure they have the vocabulary they need.

Digital tip
You can use our free
Macmillan online
dictionary to find out what
new words mean and you
can even hear how the
word is pronounced.

www.macmillandictionary.com

To help students with comprehension I make sure I speak slowly and clearly and
use vocabulary that they are familiar with. When we look at new vocabulary I make

englishup.com.br

Page | 2

Tips from our Teachers

sure they learn the pronunciation of the words as well as the meaning. I also
encourage them to use it in context so that they can understand the different ways
we use certain vocabulary.

Digital tip
When you are learning new words its great to make a note of the new words in a
notebook. Evernote is a free app you can download from:
evernote.com
It works on mobile or
your computer and it
allows you to keep all
your notes online, so you
never lose them. You can
also use it to add images
and audio to your notes.
The notes that you add
on your mobile phone
also synchronise with
notes on the laptop, so
you can always find them
wherever you are.

Something I always tell my students is that they need lots of English listening
practice with different accents so they can get used to hearing different accents.

englishup.com.br

Page | 3

Tips from our Teachers

Digital tip
You can use the free online
pronunciation dictionary Forvo,
to compare the different ways
the same words can be
pronounced in different
countries.
www.forvo.com
Listening practice can be anything from listening to news articles to watching a T.V
show or listening to music. I always tell my students to make sure they listen to
different types of audio because the expressions or words used in them can be very
different and this will give them a variety of practice with a wide range of English
voices and accents.

Digital tip
You can find news videos in
British English at News in
Levels:
www.newsinlevels.com
The site has simplified
versions of the news for lower
level learners as well as written
transcripts to help you
understand.

englishup.com.br

Page | 4

Tips from our Teachers

Digital tip
If you want to hear North
American English you can go
to Voice of America Learning
English:
learningenglish.voanews.com
The site has lots of activities
to help develop your listening
skills and the recordings are a
little slower than normal to
help you follow.

From EnglishUp Teacher Marilia D:

When students get past intermediate level, I usually notice they are able to listen
and correct other people, but almost never correct their own mistakes. This results
in them making basic mistakes they wouldnt make if they could hear themselves.
To make them more self-aware, I suggest they write about a subject they know well
and then record themselves speaking about the same subject for 2 minutes. By
doing this, they are able to perceive the difference between written and spoken
discourse and they tend to focus more on accuracy. This way, they get to know
themselves as English speakers and that can be a very enlightening experience,
since they can observe their own production from another point of view.

englishup.com.br

Page | 5

Tips from our Teachers

Digital tip
You can check the accuracy of your
writing without a teacher, by going to:
www.languagetool.org
Just type in your text and LanguageTool
will highlight any problems with spelling
or grammar and suggest some
corrections. The tool also gives you a link
to a grammar reference so you can check the rule and understand what your
mistake was.

Digital tip
You can use your mobile phone to record your voice and then listen to check for
mistakes. Just use the voice memo app, record yourself and then listen.

Many lower level students dont trust themselves as speakers and believe they need
more time before communicating in English. So, my personal approach to this is to
provide material which students can use to talk about their own lives and use to talk
to other people.
I also recommend my students practice repetition based exercises by themselves,
and not in class. Letters of the alphabet, numbers lists of verbs for example. Theres
no need to spend a whole class trying to get a student to memorize those. Its better
to recommending they check this material for homework and then I check
understanding and pronunciation during the next class.

englishup.com.br

Page | 6

Tips from our Teachers

Digital tip
Here you can find a list of the 50
most common irregular verbs in
English:
www.perfect-englishgrammar.com/supportfiles/50_common_irregular_
verbs_list.pdf

As vocabulary practice I suggest that my students pick 3 words at a time and

practice making lots of different sentences with them. Once theyve done this, they
can choose three more and repeat the process.

From EnglishUp teacher Carmen R:

Speaking seems to be the most challenging skill for students of a foreign language
to overcome and mastering it is not an easy task.
Vocabulary acquisition is crucial for students success in a foreign language. Not
only words but the commonest and most useful phrases or chunks have to be
taught, reviewed and constantly practiced.
Something important to remind students though is that they should take risks and
shouldnt be afraid of making mistakes. These are part of the learning process.
One way to help learners improve their speaking is through vocabulary expansion.
Before discussing a topic, students should look up and think about some related
words, then they will have the opportunity to include this vocabulary during
discussion.

englishup.com.br

Page | 7

Tips from our Teachers

The best way to improve speaking skills though is to do lots of listening to different
kinds of materials, such as songs, movies and videos about different subjects.

Digital tip
You can find lots of English
language songs and activities to do
on LyricsTraining:
lyricstraining.com
Just choose your level, then watch
the music video and listen and type
in the lyrics.
Or you could just go to www.youtube.com and search for film trailers to
watch. A good exercise is to try to write down what you hear and then
compare it to the original script.

From EnglishUp teacher Paulo O:

Many students resist expressing their own opinions. It is important for students to
understand that private classes are the best opportunity to express themselves and that
the tutors are there to help them and not to judge them.
I try to ask my students lots of questions. I like to start the classes by asking whats
happening with them and I always try to expand the topics to develop a more interesting
conversation.
I always recommend that my students watch as much video as possible. This is a great
way to learn.

englishup.com.br

Page | 8

Tips from our Teachers

Digital tip
Lower levels can watch some of our EnglishUp videos at:

www.youtube.com/user/EnglishUpBrasil

For more learning tips and links to online resources go to

www.facebook.com/EnglishUp.Brasil
and click on Like.

englishup.com.br

Page | 9