Learning English as a second let alone a third language is hard. Trust me I know! English was the fifth language I learned, and now, it’s the language I feel the most comfortable with! But that definitely wasn’t always the case.
When I first came to the United States, I barely spoke any English. Enough to go through customs, which was heavily reinforced by hand signals. After taking the English placement test to see what level of English class I needed to enroll in, I did surprisingly well. I only had to take 6 credits of ESL courses – dedicated to International students. At the same time, I was enrolled in a Public Speaking class and a Math class. Here are some of the steps I took outside the classroom to become more comfortable with English.
Limited my interaction with people that spoke my native language: This doesn’t mean that you need to stop talking to them, but the less time you spend speaking your native language, the better. When I first arrived to my dorm, I did not have a roommate, but I was blessed to have two Togolese students as suitemates. Togo is about 3 hours drive from Benin – my native country. Both countries share similar culture, and speak some of the same languages. Being 6,175 miles away from family, it was nice having people with a similar cultural background. The only problem was that we were always speaking French. We also didn’t like the cafeteria food and would rather cook for ourselves and eat together, which limited the level of interaction we had we native English speakers. My priority was to succeed in America and I needed to speak proper English to do that. How can I do that if I am always in my room speaking French and not getting out of my comfort zone?
Got an American roommate: At the end of my first semester, I told the residence director I wanted an American roommate. That way, I would be forced to speak English. The key to learning English fast is total immersion into an English-speaking environment. The next semester, my roommate was American. And the two Togolese students were still my suitemates. Perfect balance!
Didn’t limit my interaction to just my American roommate: Practice with any native speaker as often as possible. This will also help you learn slang and colloquialisms, which are important if you want to fully immerse into this environment. Also, one of the problems that international students face the most when learning American English is being able to listen and understand. In general, Americans speak very fast. But not every American speaks at the same speed or has the same accent. Practicing with a variety of native English speakers will expose you to different accents, speed and ways of speaking.
Joined clubs and organizations: This is a great a way to meet people, make friends, and practice your English at the same time. If you would like to learn more about all the clubs available at your campus, talk to your International Student Advisor. When it comes to clubs off campus, I really like https://www.meetup.com. You can join a group and meet people near you who share similar interests. If you love to volunteer, try https://www.volunteermatch.org to find volunteering opportunities in your area.
Watched movies in English: If you are a beginner, leave the subtitles in your native language then switch to English subtitles as you progress and finally remove all subtitles. This was the first strategy I used when I was still in Benin and was preparing to come to the United States. Take your time and make sure you understand what you are watching. I found this website that has a list of 10 modern American classics movies for learning English. It also has some tips on how to learn English through movies and films.
Finally, a strategy that I never used but that I’ve heard is very helpful:
Play video games in English: This is the only advice on this list that I didn’t follow myself as I am not a gamer. However, I have so many friends that found this very useful. If playing video games is something you are really passionate about and that you spend a lot of time doing, learning English while playing will be beneficial.
Improving your English is all about practice!