Having great English communication skills is essential in today’s global business world. Whether you’re working with teams internationally, documenting, negotiating or presenting, having a good grasp of English will definitely help your career.
This guide will show you how to become fluent in English in an efficient way as an IT or finance professional.
Why do some adults learn English quicker than others?
Besides their obvious characteristics,
- Consistency
- Hard work
- Coaching, etc.
They have learned how to learn.
They understand which techniques work and which ones don’t.
One technique that works well is using ‘flashcards’.
Flashcards are a tried and tested method.
They have been proven to help with learning many languages.
They are:
- Flexible
- They encourage active recall.
- Improves long-term memory
A study was conducted with 374 students, and 60.5% said they felt flashcards helped them with memorising.
Here’s how to use flashcards:
Start with key vocabulary. Use flashcard apps such as Anki, Quizlet or LingQ to learn new and common words and phrases. Use apps such as Anki, Speechling and Quizlet to practice spaced repetition. This will help you space your revision by looking at the cards that you are struggling to remember. Add multimedia to your cards such as images, audio and native speaker voice to help create stronger associations in your brain. Use whole sentences on your cards rather than single words, e.g., 'I eat an apple every morning.'
Revise every day. Aim for 10-20 minutes a day. Group your decks into categories like food, travel, business, etc. This will help you link new words to known words. Try active retrieval by writing out the answer before turning over the card. Make sure to revise both ways to help you remember. Once you are more advanced, you can have the target language on both sides. Use your new vocabulary in real life situations. Look at your analytics in your app to see how well you are remembering.
Leave a comment below with your favourite language learning tip! ⬇
P.S. Check out Daniele Ponzo’s Effective Business Communication for Tech Experts here.
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