You finished your hard-earned English course, but after a while you start to forget the things you learned and even find it difficult to communicate. This situation is more frequent than you might think, since many people finish their English courses as if it were their only purpose, but the purpose of the courses is not for you to finish, but for you to learn and use the language. And this last point is where most people have problems, in using the language.
Languages are not formulas that you learn and remember all your life, in fact, learning languages is more like exercising, because if you don’t exercise you lose what you have achieved.
For this reason, we bring you some suggestions that can help you not to forget what you have worked so hard to learn.
1. Travel
The first one is quite simple (if you have the money) and fun since, if you travel to an English-speaking country, you will be naturally exposed to the language you learned and you will be able to put into practice your level of comprehension and production. What you should do is make it a goal to speak English as much as you can while you are traveling, at the airport, to ask for directions, to shop, and you can even try to make friends, all this in order to get you to use the language.
2. Use the Internet
Currently, there are many online options for practicing English and reviewing grammar or vocabulary. Among the most popular are Duolingo, Memrise, Busuu, HelloTalk, among others. Also, there are websites like myenglishpages, englishpage, freerice, etc., with a variety of exercises and activities that will help you practice. In addition, you can follow profiles on social networks like Instagram, TikTok, of teachers and institutions that will also help you keep your English up to date.
3. Conversation class
Instead of enrolling in a traditional course or starting at the first level, you can try a conversation course. This way, you will be able to practice what you know and be in contact with the language. This type of course is ideal for students who have already finished all the levels or feel that they are not practicing enough, and the classes can be more adaptable to the students’ needs.
4. Teaching classes
Yes, that’s right. Teaching English is a great way to keep your knowledge up to date. What’s more, you will probably learn more by teaching since you will have to review the material before you teach it and look for ways for students to practice it. This will also help you remember how you learned and some of the topics you possibly found difficult when you were a student.
Finally, we recommend that you keep up to date in your learning; do not see finishing a course as the end but rather as the beginning of your journey to put into practice everything you have learned. Thanks to the internet, social networks, streaming services, and smart phones, we can be in contact with English on a daily basis, putting it into practice. It’s up to us to make the effort.