Thanks to our friends at Porch for featuring us in their article about the importance of learning languages! Jay shared his tips for becoming a successful language learner. You can read the full article here.

What makes a successful language learner?

Firstly, they understand what language is. It is actually elementary. It only has three key ingredients: words, rules, and sounds. That’s it. Or, put another way, it has vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

Secondly, they focus on high-frequency words. Not all words are used with the same frequency; some words we use a lot and some we hardly ever use, so make sure you focus your attention on the words we use all the time. These are called ‘high-frequency words, and you can find word lists on the internet.

Thirdly, they focus on the most commonly used grammar – you don’t need a lot of it because it is so rarely used. For example, in English, you can learn three verb tenses – the present simple, past simple, and present perfect – and this will cover more than 75% of verb use. In other words, we hardly ever use the other verb tenses.

Finally, successful language learners focus on the sounds that are NOT in their native language. English, for instance, has 188 sounds in total, but many of these will be in your first language, so you don’t have to use learn them; it would be a waste of time. Instead, focus on the unfamiliar sounds.

To learn English successfully, you need to set a realistic study time per week and stick to it. It’s unlikely that you will be able to study for 1 hour per day, every day. It’s much better if you set 15-20 minutes every day and stick to that. E2 English has live classes and tutorials, which are great, but also lots of self-study where you can refine your vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.