Ways to Practice your Languages

Alone With OthersReading Internet

Magazines and NewspapersBooksActive reading…use what you

have read (eg note down interesting grammar/vocab in context)

Find tasks with exercisesFind subjects that interest you

(eg history, linguistics, education, cooking)

Pre-read…think about some words that might appear in the text

Both read the same article and prepare questions for the other person about it

Writing

DO IT!

Post-read/watch…write a short summary of something you have just read/heard or your opinions on it

Keep a writing diary…write a couple of sentences each day, and once a week turn some of them into a short piece of writing…and get it checked!

Practice linking words/phrasesTry something new…eg

describe a graph/tableWrite descriptions…people,

places, experiences

One person dictates, the others write

Both write an answer to the same question, then swap and check other persons…see what ideas they have

Write a story in a group…write one sentence then pass it on, and see what you have in the end

Describe pictures, then compare your descriptions

Listening Get lyrics for songs you enjoyActive listening (see reading

above)Listen to internet radio/newsEg www.bbc.co.ukIf you hear someone talking the

language, speak to them…and, obviously, listen!

Watch TV…activelyListen to talking books, and

read along with what they say if possible

One person reads, the other summarizes what they have just heard

Have a debate

Speaking/Pronunciation

Record what you are saying, then listen to it for mistakes

Talk to yourself…it’s not crazy and you shouldn’t be embarrassed if you’re the only one listening!

www.howjsay.com

Talk to others in your foreign language (not your own!)

Describe pictures or ask/answer questions about them

Solve some puzzles togetherWhat would you use/take/do in

a certain situation?Put people/things in order of eg

usefulness, then justify your

Ways to Practice your Languages

opinionsRead aloudHave a debateSpell words and get others to

write them down (or random lists of letters)

Vocabulary Make mind maps of topics that appear often (eg family, environment, politics) or starting with a completely random word

Put words in groups…by prefix/suffix, by phrasal verb particle

Look around a room and name all of the objects

Describe people you have seenFind vocab exercises eg cloze,

word transformation, sentence transformation

Learn words in families eg noun, verb, adjective, synonyms, antonyms

Choose a type of phrase eg opinions, and write as many of them as you can

Make a mind map, then pass it round the group for each person to add to – everyone will add something different

Have a competition to write vocab lists eg How many parts of the body can you name in 5 minutes?

List vocab you think of from a picture/text/headline

Translation…if possible with someone who speaks the other language

Read a list of words/numbers to others for them to write down, then check if they got them right

Scattegories/Tutti FruttiCharadesHangmanPictionary

Grammar Internet exercises eghttp://www.englisch-hilfen.de/

en/exercises_list/alle_grammar.htm

Grammar/text books Summarize key grammar points

in your own wordsCheck you know when/why

each tense is usedWrite out verbs without looking

at a list(If not in English, always include

genders with new words!)Learn verbs with their

prepositionsPut posters on your walls with

difficult grammar points (only 1 or 2 at a time though!)

Teach!