Tip I – Our Attitude plays an important role in our life. Those who have a positive attitude achieve success at any cost while those with negative attitude fail miserably. Our attitude determines our Altitude. This applies to learning a language also. The learner  should never think it is difficult to learn a foreign language. He/She should always think “I can learn English and I will speak English”. This should be the “mantra” of the positive
learner.

Tip II – Secondly, we should not be afraid of speaking/using the language in public. Whether right or wrong, start speaking in English, though your vocabulary will be limited. Do not be ashamed or feel inferior when you make mistakes. Even if somebody laughs at you, always remember that English is not your mother – tongue and you are not a native speaker. If you make mistakes while speaking your mother-tongue, you should be really ashamed. But English is the Universal language and you are learning it to improve your communication skills. Can you imagine a foreigner speaking our mother-tongue without making any mistakes? Don’t we get excited and thrilled when they say “namaste” in Hindi and “Vanakam” in Tamil? So, using simple words, start speaking. A healthy and confident child never learns to walk without falling down.

Tip III – Reading aloud helps a lot in improving your vocabulary (words) and pronunciation. So, every day, preferably in the morning read English news paper like ‘The Hindu’ or any book aloud. If you do not understand the meaning of the words, do not run and get the dictionary immediately. Very few people understand and know the meaning of the words in the first attempt itself. Read the same paragraph thrice and try to relate the meaning with the context. Slowly, the meaning will be registered in the mind vaguely. Now, if the dictionary is referred, you will be quite surprised and excited to know that you have almost guessed it right. ‘The Hindu’ news paper is suggested for good reading, because of the perfect construction of sentences, good vocabulary and error-free grammar.

Tip IV – Another way to improve your vocabulary is to take five words from the dictionary and learn the meaning and use them in sentences. This practice will help you a lot in improving the vocabulary. Please remember that without words, no sentence can be framed or spoken. If you know many words only, people will be interested in listening
to you. They will not be interested, if the same words are used again and again or you
get stuck in the middle of the sentences due to lack of suitable words. Reading loudly
for thirty minutes is suggested as a regular exercise to improve the vocabulary and
pronunciation.

Tip V – Last, but not the least, whenever you watch television, watch English News, English commentaries and then English movies. It will sound as Greek and Latin in the beginning. But don’t give up. Keep on watching and Listening. Listening is a wonderful skill which enables us to learn everything.

While watching the movies, please observe the following:
1. How do the characters start the conversation?
2. What kind of words are they using?
3. How do they form (construct) the sentences?
4. How do they use their tone and voice?
5. Which tense is used in the dialogue?

These observations will be very useful for spoken English. Try to frame your sentences in the same pattern, while beginning a conversation.