How to read this blog

This is blog with advice how to learn English and have fun while doing it.

First time reader? Start Here (in top navigation menu), because you need to start from the beginning (from oldest posts). You will learn:

• how to learn basic words quickly
• how to improve your pronunciation
• how to improve your vocabulary by reading (and what to read)

Subscribe

In Start Here I already mentioned excellent forums for English learners:

• English Language Learners (ELL) for beginners, and English Language and Usage (ELU) for more advanced students
• Language Learning (LL) - with advice how to learn ANY language.

Really, if you are serious about learning English, you should go and subscribe for once weekly updates, at least at ELL, and possibly also on ELU and LL. Go and subscribe, I will wait you here. :-)

Subscribed? Not sure? Here is a sample what awaits you there:

ELL: English Language Learners

Question: The word "exploit" has two meanings: good and bad. How to guess the correct one?

How it is even possible that word can mean two opposite things? This is English!

Comments links to list of some such words in wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym

ELL - Is a forum for English Learners. It is OK to ask how to say something, or ask for an explanation of  some word - but first, check online dictionaries and explain why you are still confused.

As most forums, these also have some rules. Forum members do not want their time wasted by answering trivial questions, but they do like interesting questions (and good question will earn you some points). Before asking, do your own research and mention what you already know (with links) in your question, so answers can build on that. There is a good chance that your question was already asked, do your own search.

Or you may want first just read forum for a week or two, to see how the forum works, which questions are OK and which are not, to avoid embarrassment.

• What you CAN ask: https://ell.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic
• ... and what NOT to ask: https://ell.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask

opinion-based ("what is your favorite ...")
proofreading ("please fix any errors in my letter")

A good example how to ask a question "right way": What's meaning of “the leading edge of edgy”

ELU: English Language

This is forum is for "Serious English Language Enthusiasts": Questions (and answers)  might be too complex for beginners. Small sample:

• How many tenses are there in English?

... after reading this, you will understand that instead of learning complex grammar, you better just learn the bare basics, then read/listen more (many hours) of correct English.

• Irregular verbs: the history of the suffix “-en” used in past participles
• Why are there 4 ambiguous phonetic symbols in IPA representations of English?
• What does “for Mr. Spicer, The Mooch was a bridge too far” mean? (explaining a phrase related to recent politics in USA)

LL: Methods/tools for learning languages

Several questions about ways to gain/improve accent like a native:

• I am learning for long time, but I still sound foreign. How I can develop native accent?
• How do I lose an accent in a foreign language?
• Pros and cons of using IPA over other phonetic alphabets
• Which of these is more effective: having a silent period, or speaking from day one?
• Ups and Downs of learning from non-native speaker rather than native speaker

Convinced? Go and subscribe.

Also, you can subscribe to my own blog (in upper right) to get notification about new posts here (about once monthly, sadly).

Training Pronunciation: Your Favorite Songs

Of course, best song or rhyme to repeat all day long (loudly, to train muscles in your mouth) is some of your favorites.

Here is how to make a training material from a favorite song in few easy steps:

• Think about a favorite song (that is easy) where you can clearly hear the words (harder)
• Copy lyrics text from link aboveand paste it to https://tophonetics.com/
• Select output format (try both side-by-side and line-by-line, see which works better for you in the next step), British/American English, and click on "Show Transcription" button
• Copy the generated transcription and paste it to your own document to print it.

Lyrics: azlyrics.com has the lyrics (words of a song), or if not: google for it.

Example: Foreigner: Waiting for a girl like you, one of my favorites, which I was lucky enough to listen to live :-) you can google for a video.

Formatting: I used Open Office for formatting. Very easy:

• open new text document
• copy-paste side-by-side transcription
• Ctrl-A to select all text
• Ctrl-M to remove all formatting (colors, formats, fonts, etc)
• Swipe with mouse the left column and make it bold.

Not all songs are good for training. Slow songs are much better than some rapid hip-hop songs.  Ted Power has big collection of songs good for pronunciation training (and which song for which sounds), you can google for music video to check if you would like it enough to use for your own training.

Foreigner, album "4":

"Waiting For A Girl Like You"	"ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ə gɜrl laɪk ju"
So long	soʊ lɔŋ
I've been looking too hard	aɪv bɪn ˈlʊkɪŋ tu hɑrd
I've been waiting too long	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ tu lɔŋ
Sometimes I don't know what I will find	səmˈtaɪmz aɪ doʊnt noʊ wʌt aɪ wɪl faɪnd
I only know it's a matter of time	aɪ ˈoʊnli noʊ ɪts ə ˈmætər ʌv taɪm
When you love someone	wɛn ju lʌv ˈsʌmˌwʌn
When you love someone	wɛn ju lʌv ˈsʌmˌwʌn
It feels so right, so warm and true	ɪt filz soʊ raɪt, soʊ wɔrm ænd tru
I need to know if you feel it too	aɪ nid tu noʊ ɪf ju fil ɪt tu
Maybe I'm wrong	ˈmeɪbi aɪm rɔŋ
Won't you tell me if I'm coming on too strong	woʊnt ju tɛl mi ɪf aɪm ˈkʌmɪŋ ɑn tu strɔŋ
This heart of mine has been hurt before	ðɪs hɑrt ʌv maɪn hæz bɪn hɜrt bɪˈfɔr
This time I wanna be sure	ðɪs taɪm aɪ ˈwɑnə bi ʃʊr
I've been waiting for a girl like you	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ə gɜrl laɪk ju
To come into my life	tu kʌm ˈɪntu maɪ laɪf
I've been waiting for a girl like you	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ə gɜrl laɪk ju
A love that will survive	ə lʌv ðæt wɪl sərˈvaɪv
I've been waiting for someone new	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ˈsʌmˌwʌn nu
To make me feel alive	tu meɪk mi fil əˈlaɪv
Yeah, waiting for a girl like you	jæ, ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ə gɜrl laɪk ju
To come into my life	tu kʌm ˈɪntu maɪ laɪf
You're so good	jʊr soʊ gʊd
When we make love	wɛn wi meɪk lʌv
It's understood	ɪts ˌʌndərˈstʊd
It's more than a touch or a word we say	ɪts mɔr ðæn ə tʌʧ ɔr ə wɜrd wi seɪ
Only in dreams could it be this way	ˈoʊnli ɪn drimz kʊd ɪt bi ðɪs weɪ
When you love someone	wɛn ju lʌv ˈsʌmˌwʌn
Yeah, really love someone	jæ, ˈrɪli lʌv ˈsʌmˌwʌn
Now I know it's right	naʊ aɪ noʊ ɪts raɪt
From the moment I wake up 'til deep in the night	frʌm ðə ˈmoʊmənt aɪ weɪk ʌp tɪl dip ɪn ðə naɪt
There's nowhere on earth that I'd rather be	ðɛrz ˈnoʊˌwɛr ɑn ɜrθ ðæt aɪd ˈræðər bi
Than holding you tenderly	ðæn ˈhoʊldɪŋ ju ˈtɛndərli
I've been waiting for a girl like you	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ə gɜrl laɪk ju
To come into my life	tu kʌm ˈɪntu maɪ laɪf
I've been waiting for a girl like you	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ə gɜrl laɪk ju
A love that will survive	ə lʌv ðæt wɪl sərˈvaɪv
I've been waiting for someone new	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ˈsʌmˌwʌn nu
To make me feel alive	tu meɪk mi fil əˈlaɪv
Yeah, waiting for a girl like you	jæ, ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ə gɜrl laɪk ju
To come into my life	tu kʌm ˈɪntu maɪ laɪf
I've been waiting	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ
Waiting for you	ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ju
I've been waiting	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ
I've been waiting, yeah	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ, jæ
(I've been waiting for a girl like you	(aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ fɔr ə gɜrl laɪk ju
I've been waiting)	aɪv bɪn ˈweɪtɪŋ)
Won't you come into my life?	woʊnt ju kʌm ˈɪntu maɪ laɪf?

Training Pronunciation: More Rhymes

As I mentioned in Songs and Rhymes, you can train pronunciation with songs and rhymes.

All are from Lit2Go and have audio, like all Lit2Go reading materials.

Easy start is simple nursery rhyme like Rain, rain go away

Rain, rain go away, reɪn, reɪn goʊ əˈweɪ, Come again some April day, kʌm əˈgɛn sʌm ˈeɪprəl deɪ, Little Johnny wants to play. ˈlɪtəl ˈʤɑni wɑnts tu pleɪ.

Or limerick The Old Woman of Leeds

There was an old woman of Leeds;	ðɛr wʌz ən oʊld ˈwʊmən ʌv lidz;
Who spent all her time in good deeds;	hu spɛnt ɔl hɜr taɪm ɪn gʊd didz;
She worked for the poor	ʃi wɜrkt fɔr ðə pur
Till her fingers were sore,	tɪl hɜr ˈfɪŋgərz wɜr sɔr,
This pious old woman of Leeds!	ðɪs ˈpaɪəs oʊld ˈwʊmən ʌv lidz!

Pronunciation transcription is made with Lingorado, as I said on IPA page.

You can save the text on your computer, format it and print.

Few more easy rhymes (with audio) from Lit2Go:

There was an Old Man with a beard

There was an Old Man with a beard,	ðɛr wʌz ən oʊld mən wɪð ə bɪrd,
Who said, “It is just as I feared!—	hu sɛd, “ɪt ɪz ʤʌst æz aɪ fɪrd!—
Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren,	tu aʊlz ænd ə hɛn, fɔr lɑrks ænd ə rɛn,
Have all built their nests in my beard!”	hæv ɔl bɪlt ðɛr nɛsts ɪn maɪ bɪrd!”

There is a Young Lady whose nose


A was an Apple pie

Mistakes Made by Thai Learners of English

Mistakes made by English learners with Thai as a first language.

There are many pages

• 10 common errors in pronunciation
• 10 grammar mistakes
• few more mistakes
• Research paper English Pronunciation Problems of ThaiStudents
• 10 mistakes (Facebook  mostly in Thai)
• Typical mistakes noticed on the streets, including confirming negative answer
• 13 error types and 27 problems (with minimal pairs training)
• Yes confuses farangs - Thai sentence ends with "Yes". Great way to confuse farangs
• Hard to pronounce: 

1. consonant clusters: find - fine, st in question
2. difference between R and L
3. S at the word's end (very common in English, never in Thai)

Tongue twisters:

• Thirty thousand thieves thought it was Thursday and drank milk from a thistle shaped glass.
• red lorry, yellow lorry
• clock, schedule, bulb, Scotland, squirrel, colonel (IPA: klɑk, ˈskɛʤʊl, bʌlb, ˈskɑtlənd, ˈskwərəl, ˈkɜrnəl)

Graded Reader

Graded reader are articles specially adapted for different grades of student, from elementary to advanced. On lower level, they have limited vocabulary and use simple grammar, gradually increasing.

There are many available, with and without audio, just google for "graded reader".

I found you few:

• Lit2Go HUGE collection (many hours of audio, sorted by level, theme, book collection)
• ESL Fast
• News in Levels and Jokes in Levels

Online English Resources

Free online English Courses

• The best collection of link for English learners - advice about accent, listening, reading and writing, selected video links. Worth bookmarking.
• edX.org has hundreds of free courses, like TOEFL Test Preparation, Conversational English Skills and many more
• Voice of America - Let's Learn English
• British Council
• BBC and BBC Learning
• English for Career Development at Coursera is free (and many more, some with a fee and possible financial aid)
• Omniglot
• Wiki Learning English

You may want to try several courses. It will cost you nothing, just your time :-)

I really like edX.org, because many courses use the same platform, and it is easy to use (started by MIT and Harvard Universities). I used edX.org for multiple courses, most were good experience. Reading courses is free, and for a small fee, you can get a certificate of the completion.