Foreign Language for a person refers to a language that is not spoken in the region he is residing in. There are certain features that distinguish a foreign language from the second language; lack of similarities between the first language and the other language, less opportunities of use, different script and no historical links being the pervasive ones.
English is the language that is no more a cultural possession of English speaking countries. For its far reaching influence it has become a global language – ‘Lingua Franca’. There may be many possible reasons for one interested to learn English as a foreign language. Education, business, employment, travel, matrimony and simply for expanding the skill set are some of the common reasons. It is the dominant medium of communication in almost all fields of life and holds the position of official as well as the second language for many countries, institutions and organizations of the world. This is the reason for which over a billion people can speak English at least at a basic level and the gains are such fruitful that one will surely want to expand it to a further level.
Learning a foreign language is an easily nurtured skill. One can learn English as a foreign language both in the home country as well as the foreign country. A little time and effort on daily basis will help you a lot in the longer run. You can learn English for as less as ten hours time according to some experts. Here are some of the tips that will help you a lot if you are serious in your endeavors:
- Practice a lot; it makes the man perfect.
- Increase your vocabulary. Try to learn every new word you come across in your daily life. The best way to increase your database of vocabulary is to use it and the best way to do it to learn new words as sentences, i.e. how these are used in the sentence. You can use other memorizing tactics as well; LOCI method, Link Word method, and the Pimsleur method to name few.
- Follow the grammatical rules.
- Increase sensory input to your brain; read English, hear English and think in English – you can not learn a language until unless you think in it. So, avail all possible resources; be it music, movies, books, magazines or games.
- Select the English Learning Course with great care. The most important consideration in this regard is that the instructor should be a learned one. The course should include maps, brochures, flyers, classified ads, post cards, tourist information, catalogues, CD ROMs, videos, games, puzzles, magazines, music, movies, pictures and audio material. Remember, a reasonable English learning course is not more than a one year long.