A request: How do I maintain my English when I'm not in an English Country?

Howdy motivated language learners!

Today, I am going to answer a question that I received. The question is the title.

After spending so much time studying English, it can be frusterating when you are back in your home country and can't find people to speak English with. How can you keep practicing English when you are in a non-English speaking country? I will list some suggestions here.

1) Visit the English (or ex-pat) area of our city. Many non-English speaking countries have ex-pat areas. Sometimes this is a larger area of a city, or just one pub. Find the area or pub and visit it. You will hear English and be able to speak English.

2) Don't by shy! When you go to this area, don't worry about making mistakes. The people here are also learning a new language. They are probably learning your language. Mistakes are okay. They make them too.

3) Try to join and English speaking club. There may be one in your home city.

4) Get English books or magazines. Or, just use the internet. Read English out-loud. It helps improve your pronunciation and listening. You can even record yourself and play it back to listen for your mistakes.

5) Of course, watch English movies and videos. When I practice Japanese, I usually watch Death Note. Just last night, I watched a movie (I forget the title) that had English and Japanese. It was great practice!

There are five tips to help you practice. I have also written other blog posts on this topic. I will post links below.

A) Studying Without a Book

B) More Studying Without a Book

C) Dual-Language Books

D) Tutoring

E) Video 1, Video 2, Video 3

I hope these tips will help you continue studying English. Remember to have fun!

Thank you very much for the question. If you sent me questions, I'll do my best to answer them all.

If you are having trouble finding ways to study, we can fix that!

Matthew
englishispersonal@gmail.com