Four Skills to improve English language skills:

3 min readMay 25, 2023

When we learn our native language, first we listen, then we speak, then we read and finally we write.
Listening, speaking, reading and writing are the four language skills we need to develop for complete communication.

The four skills are mentioned below here:

Listening and reading are receptive: input, i.e. the exposure you have to authentic language in use. Speaking and writing are productive: output, i.e. the action of producing language as part of the process of second language learning.
Practice makes perfect, which means that want to improve a certain skill you have to practice the following four skills. So, we will need to practice the mentioned four skills at beginning, period.

Listening is an important skill that allows us to receive, understand and evaluate information that is communicated to us.
As human beings, we seek to interact on a daily basis with each other.
Listening is also a tool that helps us to tailor our approach when communicating with others on different levels and gives us the ability to either present or receive response.
Everyone’s level of listening is different given variables such as time, place, feelings, beliefs etc.

2. Speaking:

It is often the hardest of the four language skills, but as soon as we can speak a little English there are lots of ways to improve quickly and have tons of fun.
If we think in your native language and then try to speak English, we’ll always have to translate between languages. Translating isn’t an easy thing to do!
Even people fluent in two or more languages have trouble switching between languages. The solution is to think in English.
We’ll notice that when we think in English, it’s easier for us to speak in English, too.
Whenever we can, take a few minutes out of our day to stand in front of the mirror and speak. Choose a topic, set a timer for two or three minutes and just talk.
Watch your mouth, face and body language at the time of exercise.
When we speak in English, how often do we stop? The more we stop, the less confident and the less comfortable.

3. Reading

If we want to learn English more quickly, lots of reading is important. The more we read, the more input our brain gets about how the language works. When we read in English, we can improve our vocabulary, our grammar, and our writing skills at the same time.
Reading is the best way to improve our vocabulary!
The context of articles, stories, and conversations helps our figure out and understand the meaning of English words in the text that are new to us.

Writing skills include all the knowledge and abilities related to expressing ourselves through the written word. It is a sound understanding of language through grammar, spelling and punctuation.
People with excellent writing skills can tailor their tone and word choice to different situations and people.
In general, writing should follow the extensive reading stage. It offers us the chance to actively use new words so that acquire even more meaning.
All the above mentioned tips can be reduced to just one: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!
Whatever learning style we have, whatever our native language are, the key to acquire and master a foreign language is PRACTICE it as much and as often as possible

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