What’s the thing called when you go to another country for a few weeks because of a language class, and then a pandemic happens? Several people started practicing how to learn the English language before the pandemic, and now, suddenly, they have to stay at home. If you are amongst these people, chances are, it hasn’t been easy learning from home. You might have had to stall practicing English because you don’t know how to learn from home. 

But, do you know you can improve your English speaking skills even during the COVID19 lockdown?

As most people are working / schooling from home, it gives you more time to learn a language at home. 

In this article, we will share with you fun and insightful ways you can learn English while in the pandemic, with native English speakers. 

How to learn English during the pandemic

1) Hire an online native English speaking tutor

Although the pandemic has caused a lot of in-person learning to be put on hold, there are still some online forums and English tutors who can help you learn the English language virtually. 

From library resources to free online resources, you can access a lot of virtual learning materials. These materials can help you improve your English reading and writing skills. 

Also, if you are looking for native English writing services, a professional writing services review website like Pick The Writer or Writing Judge will help you with this process. 

2) Read aloud

One best way to learn a language at home is to read aloud from your favorite books. Reading aloud gives you more results because you hear the words you say when you read from your favorite book. So, you take note of which terms are difficult for you to pronounce. 

Some tips to guide you when reading aloud are;

• If you want to learn proper pronunciations, download mobile apps from strong English speaking companies like the British Council and Macmillan Education. 
• Next, type in the words you are trying to pronounce. 
• Listen carefully to how the app pronounces the word, and try your best to replicate it. 
• Also, note down the words that you are having difficulty pronouncing. 
• Keep practicing every day until you get the words right.

3) Listen to audiobooks

Another alternative to the above point is to listen to audiobooks. 

Audiobooks are generally read aloud by native English speakers, so you learn proper pronunciations from native English speakers. 

There are numerous audiobooks apps and websites that you can get free and paid audiobooks to listen to while at home. 

To learn a language at home using this method, make sure you listen closely to the narrator’s speaking. This will help you improve your English speaking skills. 

4) Listen to podcasts 

Yet another method of practicing English is to listen to native speaking podcasts. Several media websites host podcasts, where they talk or host interviews. 

Check them out and try to follow along as they speak. This will give you an understanding of native-speaking conversation basics. 

5) Engage in English games

Another effortless way to learn English from home is through gaming. With this method, you can play English games with your native English speaking friends, family, and even your tutor (if you have one.)

Some tips for learning the English language with gaming;

• Buy board games with their instructions in English, and test yourself to see how well you understand it. 
• Download online games like words with friends and play native English speakers. By doing this, you add more English words to your dictionary, and you test yourself on written English. 
• Read English instructions aloud to test your pronunciation and understanding of the words. 
• Download storytelling games, and read out the stories written in English. 

Gaming is an enjoyable way to learn a language at home, and anyone can do it. 

6) Sing along to native English songs

Singing is an entertaining way to learn any language. With this method, you don’t have to spend money buying books or subscribing to a podcast. All you have to do is download your favorite karaoke mobile phone app and sing along. 

With karaoke apps, the song’s lyrics will show on your phone as you sing along, so you can learn how to spell and pronounce some of your favorite English words. 

You can record yourself singing along and then play it back in your free time. By doing this, you can identify the words you need to work on pronouncing. Write them in your notebook, and learn how to pronounce them. 

7) Watch Native English speaking movies and TV shows. 

Thanks to the lockdown, we have a lot of time to binge on our favorite movies and TV drama. While Netflixing is a form of entertainment, it can also be a learning moment for anyone trying to build their English level skills. 

Language Learning with Netflix is a free Google Chrome extension that you can add to your website browser. It has a whole catalog of international movies and TV dramas. So, you can use this ad on your Netflix account. As you hear movie dialogues in native English language, you can read subtitles in two languages. 

Learning English by watching a movie will help you with translation. . 

You can also read the translation out loud. When practicing how to learn English with this method, try to pronounce the words the same way the actors do. This will significantly improve your English speaking skills. 

In conclusion

Don’t miss the opportunity to learn a language at home this period. With the different ways shared in this article, you can continue practicing English even during the lockdown. Also, there is no best way to learn a language at home; just try these methods until you settle on what works best for you.

About the Writer

Anna is a specialist in different types of writing. She graduated from the Interpreters Department, but creative writing became her favorite type of work. Now she improves her skills while working as a specialist at writing service review websites Pick The Writer, Writing Judge to assist a lot of students all over the world and has free time for another work, as well. Always she does her best in the posts and articles.