If you find it difficult to learn English, you are not alone. There are many famous writers like H. G. Wells and Mark Twain to politicians like Teddy Roosevelt and many other intelligent people who still have to struggle with spelling, usage and other things related to grammar. English is not an easy language to learn and use properly because there are a lot of puns and contradictions in English. However, by paying attention to common mistakes, you can begin to correct your mistakes, improve your vocabulary, spelling and writing skills, and in the end you will be able to speak English better.
If English is not your primary language, you can start by learning English or improving your English skills.
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Method 1 of 3: Fixing Common Errors
Step 1. Start by learning the difference between "your" and "you're"
Use these words in the form of a sentence error that you can easily correct. For example, "You're not coming to the dance, are you?" It is very important that you understand the difference between the use of these words and not repeat the mistake.
- “Your” is used to express “something that belongs to you.” An example of an appropriate use of the word "your" is "Is that your cantaloupe?" or "Where is your pocketknife?". You can try practicing the sentence pattern, then try replacing "your" in the sentence with "you are." If you feel that it can be replaced and it is appropriate, then you can also replace it with another form, namely "you're."
- You're is an abbreviation of the words "you" and "are", and the word You're can be used as a substitute for these two words. For example, "You are an excellent tennis player" could also be written "You're an excellent tennis player."
Step 2. Also learn the difference between their, they're and there
If the use of "you" and "your" is the main mistake that is often made, then mistakes in the use of these words can be another mistake that is often made. Spelling errors also often occur in these three words. This is because the existing spell-checking tools can't tell the correct usage, especially when you make changes to your sentences. These three words can be confusing, but you will be able to tell the difference clearly if you know the function of the three words.
- Their means “theirs.” Examples of appropriate usage are "Their balloon popped quickly" or "Have you not seen their baby?" This word is only used in the context of a sentence that states "more than one owner."
- They're stands for “they” and “are”, and is used instead of these two words in sentences. For example, "They are very much in love" could also be written "They're very much in love." However, this does not mean that "they're" implies ownership, as in "their".
- There is used to point to a location and there are several other uses. Examples of using the word are "Place the apple over there" or "There is nothing more boring than math."
Step 3. Learn the difference between its and it's
This may be quite confusing because it goes against the existing rules for using apostrophes. This is also an example of the differences that exist in abbreviations, in addition to those previously mentioned. The quick way is: use the words "it" and "is" in a sentence, then try replacing them with "its" or "it's." If the words "it" and "is" can be used in a sentence that you make, then you can replace them with "it's". If it turns out that "it" and "is" cannot be used in your sentence, then you need to replace them with "its."
- Use "its" when you want to show ownership. This form without apostof indicates an ownership by something (other than humans). Examples of proper use of "its" are "Its hair was really dirty" or "I can't compete with its power!" In that sentence, the owner of that hair and power is not a human.
- Use "it's" if you want to shorten the use of "it" and "is." Examples of appropriate usage are "It's not that great" or "When it's raining, I like to read."
Step 4. Use “two,” “too,” and “to” appropriately
This is also a common mistake, even a talented writer still often makes mistakes in using these three words. However, it was not difficult to distinguish the three words. The easiest way to remember it: “too” has two “Os”, which means the word denotes a comparison of amounts or indicates something more. For example, in the sentence "To be, or not to be," nothing refers to the ratio of amounts, so you don't need to use the word "too."
- “To” is a preposition, which will be used in front of nouns and verbs, and starts the prepositional phrase form. Examples of using "to" are "I want to visit France" and "I went to France."
- “Too” is used to show quantity or express approval of something. Examples of proper use of "too" are "There was too much alcohol the party" and "I ate too many ice cream cones." “Too” can also be used to indicate emotion and duration of time. For example, "You're way too angry" and "I cried for too long." The word "too" can be used to express agreement, for example "I want to go to the party too."
- "Two" refers to the number and can only be used as a number or number. Examples of the proper use of the word "two" are "I ate two large pizzas" and "There were two pro wrestlers at the party".
Step 5. Learn the difference between “less” and “fewer
“These two words are also words that are often used inappropriately, but it turns out that the use of these two words is not difficult to learn. "Less" is used to indicate the size of something, while "fewer" is used to indicate the amount. Once you've learned the difference between countable and uncountable nouns, you'll be able to tell the difference between "less" and "fewer" easily. For example, if there is “less traffic,” it means “fewer cars.”
- “Less” is used to indicate the size of something as well as uncountable nouns. Examples of using “less” are “There was much less water in the pool than last week” and “Much less applause could be heard at the game.” If you can't count the units of an object, you should use "less" to designate the object. For example, “there is less doubt,” “less oxygen” and “less morale.” In that example, the things mentioned cannot be counted.
- “'Fewer'” refers to countable numbers and nouns. The phrases “Many fewer people applauded” and “One more bike, one fewer car” are examples of proper use of “fewer”. If you can count the number of units of an object, such as marbles, dollar checks, cantaloupe, and video games, then that's a noun that can be paired with the word "fewer."
Step 6. Use “lay” and “lie” appropriately
If you also still use the two words wrong, you don't need to worry too much because other people are still making the same mistakes. People get confused because the past form of "lie" is "lay." However, the differences are easy to learn.
- Use "lay" to indicate that you put something. For example, “I lay the book on the table” and “Please lay your head on your desk.”
- Use “lie” when you are resting or leaning on something. For example, "I'm going to lie down now." Even though it's pretty obvious, it's confusing when you use the past tense, because "lie" will change to "lay." In other words, you can write "I lay down yesterday." In this case, use the context of time to know the meaning and difference.
Step 7. Use “random” and “literally” appropriately
These two words are the most frequently used words incorrectly. Therefore, learn how to use these two words correctly and your teacher will surely be amazed by your grammar skills.
- "Random" means the condition of something that is not very regular and not related to each other, especially in an order. In other words, "random" means a condition that does not have a pattern or is irregular. Often, people will use the word "random" when they want to express the words "surprising" and "unexpected." For example, you might make the sentence "It was not some random guy that talked to you after class." That means, the friends you talk to after school are friends who are in the same class as you, at the same school as you, living in the same city as you. In other words, it is not "random" when you talk to people you are familiar with.
- "Literally" can not be used to indicate the severity or badness of something, because "literally" refers to something that has actually happened, and that is a truth or reality. For example, when you say "I literally couldn't get out of bed this morning," it means that you are physically unable to move your legs, not because you don't want to move your feet. In other words, "literally" is not a figure of speech.
Step 8. Avoid using “text speak
” When you write, never shorten your writing with phrases you normally use in conversation, or instead use emojis to replace actual words. For example, you shouldn't end a sentence with an emoji in the form of a colon and a closing parenthesis. There is a time for yourself to use the "text speak". Therefore, let the words you put together convey the meaning you want to say, and use proper wording.
- Of course, we always want to write quickly but avoid the abbreviations you often use when writing messages, such as “ur.” In fact, start avoiding using these abbreviations even when writing short messages. This is important because when you get used to using these forms of “text speak”, you subconsciously train your hand muscles to get used to these words. Thus, you will not be aware when you use the “text speak”, even in a formal context.
- When you're talking, it's also a good idea to avoid spontaneous expressions like, "OMG" and "lol." If you really want to laugh, laugh, don't replace it with the existing "text speak" phrase.
Method 2 of 3: Improve Spelling and Vocabulary Mastery
Step 1. Be diligent in reading
The best way to improve your English skills is to read diligently. Read hard-to-understand books, not-so-good books, thick books, magazines, cereal boxes, bulletin boards, and other things. Read everything around you if you can. Reading a variety of books will not only improve your vocabulary, it will also improve your spelling skills. In addition, reading can be a great entertainment and can be a good alternative to watching television.
Try reading it aloud, especially if you don't feel comfortable doing it during class. The more you are comfortable and familiar with the existing vocabulary, you will also have better speaking skills and you will be more confident with your pronunciation and speech. Also, it can often be an interesting thing to hear those famous works read. For example, read Allan Poe's poem or another poem, and feel the sensation of the poem
Step 2. Learn the words you often spell incorrectly
English is full of contradictions and differences, which can often make it difficult to pronounce and spell words correctly. For example, why should there be a "b" at the end of the word "comb", even though the letter is not pronounced? Why do people pronounce "conch" like "konk" but don't pronounce "church" like the word "churk"? In this case, no one knows the reason. We have a variety of words that must be mastered, therefore master these words by learning the pronunciation and keep in mind the words that you have struggled to memorize. Here are some words that are often misspelled:
- definitely
- beautiful
- believe
- library
- nuclear
- neighbor
- ceiling
- exercise
- vacuum
- villain
- jewelry
- license
Step 3. Use a memorization tool that can help you memorize difficult words
Fortunately, people have been experiencing spelling mistakes ever since people started getting to know the spelling itself. Therefore, of course there are various ways or tools to help memorize these words. All you need to do is choose the most suitable way, so that the memorization process can be easier, and ultimately it will also increase your English score. Here are a few of the best ones:
- You cut a piece of pie
- you h ear with your ear
- Becauuse Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants. Just because.
- never be lieve a lie.
- An island is land.
- Eee! A c em et ery!
Step 4. Play different types of word games
There are many types of word games, both analog and digital, that can be used as basic exercises. Of course this way is much more fun than school work. Play Boggle, Scrabble, and Bananagrams to practice your spelling skills, and play crossword puzzles to improve your vocabulary mastery. There are also games like Crosstix, Hangman and ord Scramble that you can download and play for free on your gadget. You can also play well-known games, such as “Words with Friends.” Of course, these games are much more useful to you than Candy Crush.
Step 5. Turn off your spell check feature
Research conducted and published by the BBC shows that more than a third of respondents are unable to spell “definitely” correctly, and two thirds of respondents are unable to distinguish the correct spelling from “necessary.” Coupled with the "auto-correct" feature, it seems that the spell checker has indeed had a negative effect on a person's ability to spell words correctly. Turning off the spell-checker and other features may feel like a very bad thing to you, but it can also be an exercise to encourage yourself to learn and spell words correctly. In this case, you can still use the feature at the end of the task. At least, use it as your practice.
Method 3 of 3: Improve Your Writing Skills
Step 1. Try to use active rather than passive sentences
Verbs do have active and passive forms but good writers always use the active form. The passive form, which is commonly used in scientific reports and technical writing, gives the impression of a distance from the author. Meanwhile, the active form is just the opposite and requires an acceptance. In this case, by using the same two verbs, you can create a sentence that is much more lively with the active voice. Therefore, the active form is a suitable form in writing.
- Passive voice: "The city has been scored by the dragon's breath." If you look at it, the verb in the sentence is actually "to be", because the subject - the city - undergoes a change by something (the dragon's breath).
- Active voice: "The dragon's breath scorched the city." In this sentence, the dragon is the subject of the sentence and the verb-scorch-is used as the predicate of the sentence, not just a complementary verb in the verb phrase.
Step 2. Use as few commas as possible and use them appropriately
Many inexperienced writers have trouble using commas correctly. Actually, it's not as difficult as you think. The comma is not used when you want to give a pause, but it is used to separate clauses in complex sentences. That's not to say that commas aren't important punctuation, but using them too often will make your writing bad.
- Use a comma when you start a sentence with a caption: "Although I drank the poison Kool-Aid, my Wednesday was mostly boring."
- Use a comma in a sentence that has the word "because" only if the clause after the word "because" is a compound. For example, the sentence "I drank the Kool-Aid because I was thirsty" doesn't need a comma before the word "because." However, the sentence "I drank the Kool-Aid, because my sister left me home alone and there wasn't anything else to drink" requires a comma. In the sentence, you don't drink Kool-Aid because your sister left you, you drink it because there are no other drinks.
- Use a comma in the opening clause, for example "Fortunately, I carry a pocketknife." The sentence "To begin a novel correctly, forget everything you know" is also a good example.
- Use commas to separate conflicting clauses, for example "The puppies were cute, but smelled disgusting." Don't use a comma when it's an expression of approval, for example "I'm happy but I can't help it."
Step 3. Don't write sentences that are too long
In general, using fewer words will make your writing better. Many students and inexperienced writers think that writing at length and filled with figurative language will make teachers happy and think of them as brilliant students and writers. That is not true. You just need to pay attention to the clarity of your writing, don't make your writing look smart with confusing sentences. Don't write something you don't know and use new words appropriately to increase your vocabulary. Use concise and effective sentences and discard parts of the sentence that you feel are not needed.
- Adverbs and adjectives are a group of words that can be omitted. For example, the sentence "The flowing, fiery dragon breath beset the besieged and ragged city dwellers, cowering in their filthy, stinking, scorched rags of clothes, all matted and terrible" would be better replaced by the sentence "Flowing, the dragon breath scorched the city dwellers, who cowered in their stinking clothes."
- Avoid using ambiguous prepositional phrases. To avoid ambiguous or incomplete sentences, make it a habit to check for sentences that have incorrect prepositional phrases. This can be a good indicator that you need to rearrange your sentence so that the subject and predicate of the sentence are clear. For example, the sentence "In the field, over the cascading weeks, inside a house, like a weeping girl stood Joseph" would be better if you wrote "Like a weeping girl, Joseph stood inside a house in the field. Over the cascading weeks, he …"
Step 4. Stop using the thesaurus feature on your app
Many students think that right-clicking and replacing with synonyms offered by the thesaurus will make writing better. This is not the case.
If you want to use a more precise word or replace a word that you use too often, looking at the synonyms of the existing word can indeed be an alternative that you can use. However, if you do not know the meaning and use of the synonyms of the word, it is better to check before using the word
Step 5. Refine, refine and improve your writing
If you have good writing, it means you also have the ability to improve your writing. No single well-known writer can create a ready-to-use draft, and you certainly can't do that. If you want to be proficient in English and be able to get good grades in the subject, it is very important that you spend some time at the end of your writing assignment, both to reread your writing and proofread it. Although these two things are two related skills, the ability to double check and correct are two quite different things, and both are important things.
- Correcting your work means that you improve your writing by correcting sentences, checking the content of the writing and paying great attention to the task or writing that is being written. When you revise your writing, it means you "look back" at your writing and see your writing from a new perspective.
- When you read and double-check your writing, you are especially looking for errors in your sentences. Therefore, things related to spelling, use of comma punctuation and other details are something you should look for when reading and double-checking your work. This of course is done after you make revisions.
Tips
- Try not to daydream or busy yourself in class. This can make you miss very important things and can even get you reprimanded by your teacher.
- Try to make time to practice spelling regularly every day. Prepare yourself for the test by studying every day until the day of the test.
- Sit in the front row and try to ask your teacher for the right vocabulary.
- Asking and having your teacher repeat things you don't understand will not only train you to be a good listener, but it can also help a friend who happens to have the same question as you. In addition, it can also help you remember the material, so you can do your homework well.
- Provide your own reading space! This will make you feel more comfortable to read and will keep your bookshelf less full when you carry a lot of books with you wherever you go.
