A video about some and any (English Grammar Item)

TIPS FOR ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS

Lady Gaga even used these rules ;D

5 Speaking Rules you need to know!

   1.     Don't study grammar too much

This rule might sound strange to many ESL students, but it is one of the most important rules. If you want to pass examinations, then study grammar. However, if you want to become fluent in English, then you should try to learn English without studying the grammar.

Studying grammar will only slow you down and confuse you. You will think about the rules when creating sentences instead of naturally saying a sentence like a native. Remember that only a small fraction of English speakers know more than 20% of all the grammar rules. Many ESL students know more grammar than native speakers. I can confidently say this with experience. I am a native English speaker, majored in English Literature, and have been teaching English for more than 10 years. However, many of my students know more details about English grammar than I do. I can easily look up the definition and apply it, but I don't know it off the top of my head.

I often ask my native English friends some grammar questions, and only a few of them know the correct answer. However, they are fluent in English and can read, speak, listen, and communicate effectively.

Do you want to be able to recite the definition of a causative verb, or do you want to be able to speak English fluently?

   2.     Learn and study phrases

Many students learn vocabulary and try to put many words together to create a proper sentence. It amazes me how many words some of my students know, but they cannot create a proper sentence. The reason is because they didn't study phrases. When children learn a language, they learn both words and phrases together. Likewise, you need to study and learn phrases.

If you know 1000 words, you might not be able to say one correct sentence. But if you know 1 phrase, you can make hundreds of correct sentences. If you know 100 phrases, you will be surprised at how many correct sentences you will be able to say. Finally, when you know only a 1000 phrases, you will be almost a fluent English speaker.

The English Speaking Basics section is a great example of making numerous sentences with a single phrase. So don't spend hours and hours learning many different words. Use that time to study phrases instead and you will be closer to English fluency.

Don't translate

When you want to create an English sentence, do not translate the words from your Mother tongue. The order of words is probably completely different and you will be both slow and incorrect by doing this. Instead, learn phrases and sentences so you don't have to think about the words you are saying. It should be automatic.

Another problem with translating is that you will be trying to incorporate grammar rules that you have learned. Translating and thinking about the grammar to create English sentences is incorrect and should be avoided.

 3.  Reading and Listening is NOT enough. Practice Speaking what you hear!

Reading, listening, and speaking are the most important aspects of any language. The same is true for English. However, speaking is the only requirement to be fluent. It is normal for babies and children to learn speaking first, become fluent, then start reading, then writing. So the natural order is listening, speaking, reading, then writing.

First Problem

Isn't it strange that schools across the world teach reading first, then writing, then listening, and finally speaking? Although it is different, the main reason is because when you learn a second language, you need to read material to understand and learn it. So even though the natural order is listening, speaking, reading, then writing, the order for ESL students is reading, listening, speaking, then writing.

Second Problem

The reason many people can read and listen is because that's all they practice. But in order to speak English fluently, you need to practice speaking. Don't stop at the listening portion, and when you study, don't just listen. Speak out loud the material you are listening to and practice what you hear. Practice speaking out loud until your mouth and brain can do it without any effort. By doing so, you will be able to speak English fluently.

   4.     Submerge yourself

Being able to speak a language is not related to how smart you are. Anyone can learn how to speak any language. This is a proven fact by everyone in the world. Everyone can speak at least one language. Whether you are intelligent, or lacking some brain power, you are able to speak one language.

This was achieved by being around that language at all times. In your country, you hear and speak your language constantly. You will notice that many people who are good English speakers are the ones who studied in an English speaking school. They can speak English not because they went to an English speaking school, but because they had an environment where they can be around English speaking people constantly.

There are also some people who study abroad and learn very little. That is because they went to an English speaking school, but found friends from their own country and didn't practice English.

You don't have to go anywhere to become a fluent English speaker. You only need to surround yourself with English. You can do this by making rules with your existing friends that you will only speak English. You can also carry around an iPod and constantly listen to English sentences. As you can see, you can achieve results by changing what your surroundings are. Submerge yourself in English and you will learn several times faster.

TalkEnglish Offline Version is now ready for download. In this package, you can utilize over 8000 audio files to completely surround yourself in English. There are over 13.5 hours of audio files that are not available in the web form. All conversations and all sentences are included, so even if you don't have many English speaking friends, you can constantly surround yourself in English using your MP3 player. This package is available at the English Download page. Take advantage of this opportunity and start learning English faster. Click on the link or go to http://www.talkenglish.com/english-download.aspx.

   5.     Study correct material

A common phrase that is incorrect is, "Practice makes perfect." This is far from the truth. Practice only makes what you are practicing permanent. If you practice the incorrect sentence, you will have perfected saying the sentence incorrectly. Therefore, it is important that you study material that is commonly used by most people.

Another problem I see is that many students study the news. However, the language they speak is more formal and the content they use is more political and not used in regular life. It is important to understand what they are saying, but this is more of an advanced lesson that should be studied after learning the fundamental basics of English.

Studying English with a friend who is not a native English speaker is both good and bad. You should be aware of the pros and cons of speaking with a non native speaking friend. Practicing with a non native person will give you practice. You can also motivate each other and point out basic mistakes. But you might pick up bad habits from one another if you are not sure about what are correct and incorrect sentences. So use these practice times as a time period to practice the correct material you studied. Not to learn how to say a sentence.

In short, study English material that you can trust, that is commonly used, and that is correct.

                      Summary

These are the rules that will help you achieve your goal of speaking English fluently. All the teachings and lessons on TalkEnglish.com follow this method so you have the tools you need to achieve your goal right here on TalkEnglish.com.

source : http://www.talkenglish.com/ExtraLessons/SpeakingRules.aspx

Spelling & Pronunciation - Words with Silent Letters

This is a video that you can watch and learn about Speaking Skills : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjYKiRqFRss&feature=relmfu

WRITING SKILLS

Getting Your Written Message Across Clearly

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Plan before you start writing

© iStockphoto/cenix

A colleague has just sent you an email relating to a meeting you're having in one hour's time. The email is supposed to contain key information that you need to present, as part of the business case for an important project.
But there's a problem: The email is so badly written that you can't find the data you need. There are misspellings and incomplete sentences, and the paragraphs are so long and confusing that it takes you three times more than it should to find the information you want.
As a result, you're under-prepared for the meeting, and it doesn't go as well as you want it to.
Have you ever faced a situation similar to this? In today's information overload world, it's vital to communicate clearly, concisely and effectively. People don't have time to read book-length emails, and they don't have the patience to scour badly-constructed emails for "buried" points.
The better your writing skills are, the better the impression you'll make on the people around you – including your boss, your colleagues, and your clients. You never know how far these good impressions will take you!
In this article, we'll look at how you can improve your writing skills and avoid common mistakes.

Audience and Format

The first step to writing clearly is choosing the appropriate format. Do you need to send an informal email? Write a detailed report? Create advertising copy? Or write a formal letter?
The format, as well as your audience, will define your "writing voice" – that is, how formal or relaxed the tone should be. For instance, if you write an email to a prospective client, should it have the same tone as an email to a friend?
Definitely not.
Start by identifying who will read your message. Is it targeted at senior managers, the entire human resources team, or a small group of engineers? With everything you write, your readers, or recipients, should define your tone as well as aspects of the content.

Composition and Style

Once you know what you're writing, and for whom you're writing, you actually have to start writing.
A blank, white computer screen is often intimidating. And it's easy to get stuck because you don't know how to start. Try these tips for composing and styling your document:

• Start with your audience – Remember, your readers may know nothing about what you're telling them. What do they need to know first?
• Create an outline – This is especially helpful if you're writing a longer document such as a report, presentation, or speech. Outlines help you identify which steps to take in which order, and they help you break the task up into manageable pieces of information.
• Use AIDA – If you're writing something that must inspire action in the reader, follow the Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA) formula. These four steps can help guide you through the writing process.
• Try some empathy – For instance, if you're writing a sales letter for prospective clients, why should they care about your product or sales pitch? What's the benefit for them? Remember your audience's needs at all times.
• Use the Rhetorical Triangle – If you're trying to persuade someone to do something, make sure that you communicate why people should listen to you, pitch your message in a way that engages your audience, and present information rationally and coherently. Our article on the Rhetorical Triangle can help you make your case in the most effective way.
• Identify your main theme – If you're having trouble defining the main theme of your message, pretend that you have 15 seconds to explain your position. What do you say? This is likely to be your main theme.
• Use simple language – Unless you're writing a scholarly article, it's usually best to use simple, direct language. Don't use long words just to impress people.

Structure

Your document should be as "reader friendly" as possible. Use headings, subheadings, bullet points, and numbering whenever possible to break up the text.
After all, what's easier to read – a page full of long paragraphs, or a page that's broken up into short paragraphs, with section headings and bullet points? A document that's easy to scan will get read more often than a document with long, dense paragraphs of text.
Headers should grab the reader's attention. Using questions is often a good idea, especially in advertising copy or reports, because questions help keep the reader engaged and curious.
In emails and proposals, use short, factual headings and subheadings, like the ones in this article.
Adding graphs and charts is also a smart way to break up your text. These visual aids not only keep the reader's eye engaged, but they can communicate important information much more quickly than text.

Grammatical Errors

You probably don't need us to tell you that errors in your document will make you look unprofessional. It's essential to learn grammar properly, and to avoid common mistakes that your spell checker won't find.
Here are some examples of commonly misused words:

• Affect/effect
  
  • "Affect" is a verb meaning to influence. (Example: The economic forecast will affect our projected income.)
  • "Effect" is a noun meaning the result or outcome. (Example: What is the effect of the proposal?)
• Then/than
  
  • "Then" is typically an adverb indicating a sequence in time. (Example: We went to dinner, then we saw a movie.)
  • "Than" is a conjunction used for comparison. (Example: The dinner was more expensive than the movie.)
• Your/you're
  
  • "Your" is a possessive. (Example: Is that your file?)
  • "You're" is a contraction of "you are." (Example: You're the new manager.)
  • Note: Also watch out for other common homophones (words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings) – such as their/they're/there, to/too/two, and so on.
• Its/it's
  
  • "Its" is a possessive. (Example: Is that its motor?)
  • "It's" is a contraction of "It is." (Example: It's often that heavy.) (Yes, it is this way around!)
• Company's/companies (and other possessives versus plurals)
  
  • "Company's" indicates possession. (Example: The company's trucks hadn't been maintained properly.)
  • "Companies" is plural. (Example: The companies in this industry are suffering.)

To learn more about commonly misused words, misused apostrophes, and other grammatical errors, take our Bite-Sized Training session on Written Communication.

Tip:
Some of your readers – arguably an increasing number – won't be perfect at spelling and grammar. They may not notice if you make these errors. But don't use this as an excuse: there will usually be people, senior managers in particular, who WILL notice!

Because of this, everything you write should be of a quality that every reader will find acceptable.

Proofing

The enemy of good proofreading is speed. Many people rush through their documents, but this is how you miss mistakes. Follow these guidelines to check what you've written:

• Proof your headers and subheaders – People often skip these and focus on the text alone. Just because headers are big and bold doesn't mean they're error free!
• Read the document out loud – This forces you to go more slowly, so that you're more likely to catch mistakes.
• Use your finger to follow text as you read – This is another trick that helps you slow down.
• Start at the end of your document – Proofread one sentence at a time, working your way from the end to the beginning. This helps you focus on errors, not on content.

Key Points

More than ever, it's important to know how to communicate your point quickly and professionally. Many people spend a lot of time writing and reading, so the better you are at this form of communication, the more successful you're likely to be.

Identify your audience before you start creating your document. And if you feel that there's too much information to include, create an outline to help organize your thoughts. Learning grammatical and stylistic techniques will also help you write more clearly; and be sure to proof the final document. Like most things, the more you write, the better you're going to be!

courtesy: http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/WritingSkills.htm

10 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR READING SKILLS

In the modern age of information, reading truly is a fundamental survival skill. Here are ten tips that anyone can use to improve their reading skills:
1. You don't have to be a great reader to get the point.
Some people read fast and remember everything. Others read slowly and take a couple of times to get all the information. It doesn't matter, really, so long as when you read, you get the information you're seeking.
2. Know WHY you're reading.
Are you reading for entertainment or to learn something? Decide why you're reading before you start and you'll greatly improve your comprehension and your enjoyment.
3. You don't need to read everything.
Not every magazine, letter, and email you receive contains information you need. In fact, most of it is simply junk. Throw it away, hit the delete key! Just doing this will double the amount of time you have available to read.
4. You don't need to read all of what you DO read.
Do you read every article of every magazine, every chapter of every book? If so, you're probably spending a lot of time reading stuff you don't need.
Be choosy: select the chapters and articles that are important. Ignore the rest.
5. Scan before you read.
Look at the table of contents, index, topic headers, photo captions, etc. These will help you determine if, a) you have a real interest in this reading, and b) what information you're likely to get from it.
6. Prioritize your reading.
You can't read everything all at once (and wouldn't want to). If it's important, read it now. If it's not, let it wait.
7. Optimize your reading environment.
You'll read faster and comprehend more if you read in an environment that's comfortable for you.
8. Once you start, don't stop!
Read each item straight through. If you finish and have questions, go back and re-read the pertinent sections. If you don't have questions, you got what you needed and are ready to move on.
9. Focus.
Remember, you're reading with a purpose, so focus on that purpose and the material. If you lose interest or keep losing your place, take a break or read something else. You can keep track of where you are by following along with your hand. This simple technique helps you focus and increase your concentration.
10. Practice!
The more you read, the better reader you'll become (and smarter, too)! So, feed your mind: read!

courtesy: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Allen9.html

HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS

It is important to practice your English speaking skills.

English is one of the world's major languages, with approximately 341 million native speakers and an additional 267 million people who speak it as a second language. There is high international demand to learn English due to its use as a lingua franca in global industries such as tourism and media. However, the irregular pronunciation and stress patterns of English mean that many students lack confidence in their ability to speak English accurately. Fluent English speaking skills can nevertheless be achieved with regular practice and motivation. 

Instructions

1. • 1
     Perfect your pronunciation. Practice saying the letters of the alphabet aloud, one by one, and identify those that you struggle to pronounce accurately. Pay particular attention to mastering English sounds that are not present in your native language. "Th," "r" and "l" are letters that often present students with problems.
     
   • 2
     Learn new vocabulary. Students often lack confidence in speaking English because they fear they do not know the correct words to express their ideas. Develop a routine for learning new vocabulary, focusing on words that are likely to be of use to you when speaking English in real life. If you are learning English for work reasons, for example, concentrate on learning words that relate to your particular field. Knowing these words in future will give you the confidence to communicate more clearly.
     
   • 3
     Study the rules for word stress in English. Learning to stress the correct syllable in words is one of the best things you can do to perfect your accent and sound less like a foreigner when you speak. Stress in English can be complicated and there are some words where not even native speakers can agree. However, by learning the basic rules, you can significantly improve your English speaking skills.
     
   • 4
     Listen to English-language multimedia. Try listening to English pop music on your way to work, or watch English films and television programs in the evenings. This is a fun way to get exposure to the English language as spoken by fluent native speakers. While enjoying the music and videos, you will subconsciously absorb information about the tone and rhythm of the language, as well as new vocabulary.
     
   • 5
     Practice speaking English. Look for native speakers in your local area who might be willing to meet up with you and practice speaking English. If this is not possible, try arranging conversations over the Internet using programs like Skype. Ask the native speaker to make notes on your pronunciation during the conversation and give you feedback afterwards about ways you can improve.
     
     courtesy: http://www.ehow.com/how_7978609_learn-english-speaking-skills.html
     

IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS

Make sure you have the right software to take advantage of what is available on the WWW. You can download players and find links to online radio stations at real.com, windowsmedia.com and winamp.com.

The RealPlayer allows you to listen to RealAudio and use the Internet like a radio station. Many sites now also provide listening using the Windows Media Player - or even have their own players on the site. Once you have the RealPlayer you can begin to listen to English as it is used in everyday life. The possibilities are almost unlimited. You can:

• Listen to All Things Considered news stories on NPR
• Listen to the BBC.

Try some of the radio stations I recommend on my broadcasts page.

Films in English are an excellent language resource. Follow my tips on how to use films to improve your English.

Keep up to date with current events and watch an English-language news station, such as BBC World. Watch news reports on events you are already aware of.

Find out how to switch languages on your TV. If you have digital or satellite TV there are several channels that broadcast in multiple languages. Eurosport is one and Euronews is another.

Use my online English radio stations list, Popular radio stations live on the web..

Read my poem of the month or joke of the month and then send off for the monthly sound files.

Use the dictation pages to test your understanding.

Here is some of the advice I give my students:

• Accept the fact that you are not going to understand everything.
• Keep cool (idiom=stay relaxed) when you do not understand - even if you continue to not understand for a long time.
• Do not translate into your native language (synonym=mother tongue)
• Listen for the gist (noun=general idea) of the conversation. Don't concentrate on detail until you have understood the main ideas. 

courtesy: http://www.zozanga.com/listeningskills.htm