PRACTICE YOUR ENGLISH

Increasing their reading comprehension level is the goal of many ESL students; the ability to understand more complicated texts and even being able to understand English newspapers is really satisfactory. The good news is that the path to reach a good level of comprehension would not be so hard if you put into practice the following tips.

1. Learn and practise all the vocabulary that you can. The secret to increase your reading comprehension is to increase your vocabulary base. Very often, when you don’t understand the meaning of a sentence, it’s because you don’t know the meaning of one or more words within it. In the same way, the more you read, the more new vocabulary you’ll learn hence progressing on your reading level. One of the big advantages of learning vocabulary this way is that you are learning vocabulary within context.

To increase your vocabulary base, we recommend you to visit the Vocabulary section where you’ll find many free resources. If you’d like to learn new vocabulary by watching videos, don’t miss out the VocaTube series.

2. Always have a good dictionary to hand. A bilingual dictionary is basic in order to search for the meaning of the words that you don’t know and therefore give a proper meaning to what you’re reading. When you look for a word, make sure to re-read the sentence in English again until it makes sense.

If you have an upper-intermediate or advanced level of English, you should be using a monolingual English dictionary in order to get the definition of the word in English. For those who like reading online content, there are many dictionaries available on the Web that will solve all your queries. You can find a selection of them on the Dictionaries section.

3. Be constant and get to know your limitations. Don’t start reading detective stories if you have a basic level of English. Instead, don’t be ashamed to choose titles for children where the amount of used vocabulary is reduced and easier to understand. From there and once you feel comfortable, you can move on to teenage titles to finally reach novels.

It’s also very important to be constant and to set realistic targets like reading 3 hours during the week or a book every week. If you’re constant, you’ll notice that your vocabulary increases progressively along with your reading comprehension.

If you travel to Ireland, the UK, the US or any other English speaking country, don’t forget to pay a visit to a bookshop. Many of them have second-hand books and you’ll be able to get bargains like 4 books for 1 euro, a pound or a dollar. Get some books whose difficulty matches your level of English and start reading them. If you don’t mind, you can underline and write the meaning of the words that you search for in the dictionary.

If you’re not travelling to an English speaking country, have a look at websites like Amazon or eBay for the relevant country (Amazon UK, eBay UK, Play.com, Amazon US, eBay US). You’ll probably find a book that you like at a reasonable price (remember to add the postage and packing costs of your country of residence).

Finally, when you feel comfortable with your reading comprehension level, try giving it a test by reading some of these online newspapers :)

Given the craziness about the World Cup that we’re experiencing this summer, we’ve prepared a post for you so that you can watch a football match with the commentary in English, which we’re sure you’ll understand. Moreover, with this vocabulary you’ll be able to make some points and comments about the game and thus show your knowledge of English.

Let’s begin with the stadium and the most important parts of the pitch:

Stadium
Football field / pitch
Goal
Box
Sideline
Halfway line



Vocabulary related to teams and players is:

Team
Manager
Player
Goalkeeper
Defender
Midfielder
Striker

Regarding the referees and refereeing activities:

Referee
To referee
Lineman
To book
Yellow card
Red card
Give the foul
Give the penalty
Offside

More vocabulary related to key actions during the game:

Half time
Full time
Extra time
Injury time
The Score
Goal
To win
To draw
To defeat
To shoot
A foul
A free-kick
A corner
A pass
A tackle

Some examples for the use of this vocabulary and phrases commonly used are:

Messi is a fantastic player, he plays for Argentina.

That was a good ball, he almost scored a goal.

The ball is in the box and it’s a clear chance for Brazil.

Oh! What a tackle, he deserved a red card!

This is an amazing team; they keep possession of the ball over 70 percent of the time.

Ronaldo missed the penalty that could have made his team to win.

That player is booked; he already has a yellow card.

Look at that shot at goal; it should have been a goal.

Great defending!

The goalkeeper made a very good save.

A YouTube video where football vocabulary is explained as well is:



Link to the Video in YouTube

To finish, some related links for you to practice football vocabulary in English:

Vocabulary at the BBC

More slang vocabulary at the BBC

Football, History, Vocabulary and Games

Football Dictionary

Podcasts about football in English

Printable files (PDF format) to work on in the classroom featuring this vocabulary about football and also related to the World Cup in South Africa

Do you have enough time during the day to make the things that you like? Would you like to learn English but don’t know where to get the time? Your problem is very typical; lack of time is experienced by many. You know, time is money, but in my opinion it’s more valuable than money, since how and where do we buy time? Leaving apart philosophical questions, in this post we describe some handy tips to make the most of your time and improve your English level by listening to podcasts.

To be honest, the idea of this post came to me the other day while reading an article about “10 Minutes Gym” and I thought that there could be many people that would like to learn English but who have very little time during the day. The idea is simple: try to learn English while you carry out other tasks. Two things at the same time, is that possible? Yes it is, and with podcasts it works out very easily.

A podcast is nothing more than an audio file (normally in mp3 format) that you can download from the Internet and copy to your mobile phone (if it reproduces mp3) or an mp3 player like the iPod or any other from brands like Creative, Sony or SanDisk. Once you’ve copied the podcasts you’re interested in, next thing to do is to start listening and enjoying them.

The value of this is that you can do many other activities while listening to the podcasts. Some examples are:

• While commuting: if you walk, travel by car or any other transport.
• While doing exercise: we tend to prefer music, but while we run or are at the gym, it’s also possible to listen to podcasts about topics we’re passionate about.
• While doing the housework: cooking, ironing or general cleaning.
• When connected to the Internet: while browsing, on Facebook, checking your emails and so on, it’s also possible to listen to podcasts or even some digital radio like for example the BBC one.
• Even while studying or working: only if you’re allowed to! :)

Why do podcasts help you to improve your level of English? Well, there are several reasons but mainly they can improve “your ear” and your comprehensive skill or listening. You can only improve your ear by practicing and listening once, listening twice and listening once more. Try to download podcasts in different accents: American English, British English, and Irish English... so that you ear gets used to these. Moreover, there are podcasts that contain grammar or vocabulary lessons so you’ll be able to improve your listening, along with other aspects of your English.

Where can I get podcasts? We could list hundreds of websites, but it’s better if you visit our podcast category and decide for yourself. Furthermore, if you have iPod and iTunes then you can subscribe to the podcasts and get updates automatically, it’s very handy.

Would you like to share another activity that you do while you listen to podcasts? Please let us know in a comment.

FYI, the preparation for this post took more than 10 minutes.

How do I say “I have a headache” in English? What if I get sick and I don’t know how to explain my symptoms to the doctor?

Don’t give up, Diana and I want to help you so you’ll be able to express your illnesses in English and that’s why we have made a new learning guide. This time it’s a complete English vocabulary list about the most common types of pain and illnesses.

Let’s begin with a general question:

How do you feel?

I feel…
Sick
Tired
Nauseated
Like I have a fever
I’m burning up
Like my head is going to explode


The types of pain that you can suffer are:

Sharp
Dull
Throbbing
Tingling sensation
Burning
Ache


Let’s specify and concentrate on the pains and illnesses related to the head, nose, throat, stomach, muscles and skin.



Head
Headache
Fever
concussion

Nose
Nosebleed
Sneeze
Runny nose
Itchy nose
Sore nose

Throat
Cough
Dry Throat
Sore Throat

Stomach
Stomach ache
Vomit
Nausea

Muscles
Cramps
Strain

Skin
Rash
Burn
Cut
Graze
Bruise
Fracture
Sunburn
Bite
Sting
Blister

It’s also worthy to know some of the typical illnesses such as:

Cold
Flu
Mumps
Depression
Measles
AIDS
Cancer
Diabetes
Herpes
STD (Sexually Transmitted disease)
Skin fungus
Anemia
Anorexia
Dehydration
An Ear Ache
Hemorroides
Hypertension
Obesity
Varicose veins
Vertigo
Asthma
Bird flu
Osteoporosis
Gastritis
Heartburn
Cardiovascular disease


Some examples

I haven’t had a cold for 3 months.

I only eat soup when I have the flu.

I get headaches if I drink too much coffee or coke.

The boxer got hit in the face and got a nosebleed.

I usually get a fever when I have the flu.

My sister got a concussion when she fell of her bike.

I was cleaning my office last week, and there was so much dust that I started sneezing.

Do you have a Kleenex? I have a runny nose.

My nose is always itchy in the spring, because of all the pollen.

When I have a cold, I blow my nose so much that it gets really sore.

Did you know there are different kinds of coughs? Dry coughs and wet ones too.

How do you deal with a sore throat?

I always get a stomach ache after eating theatre popcorn.

I hate vomiting. I have very little control over it and tend to just vomit where I am.

Whenever I get nausea I drink some ginger ale that I have let go flat (released the gas).

After my gym class my muscles are sore but they are not strained.

Lots of women get cramps during their periods.

I don’t have sensitive skin but I get a rash if I wear anything made of gold.

I burnt my hand last year with oil, when I was frying potato chips.

One of the most painful cuts is a paper cut.

Last weekend I fell of my bike and grazed my hands.

The man got punched in the face and it left a purple bruise around his eye.

She fractured some ribs after falling on the ski hill.

Tourists always seem to get sunburns at the beach

Mosquito bites are so itchy.

I have never been stung by a bee.

This document has been written in collaboration with Diana Tower, an English teacher with 3 years teaching experience. She is also the author of the free Web page Helping you learn English.