Building Vocabulary Tips

#1 Audio Books & Reading

Audio Book / Reading Method

Choose a book (novel) that has an audio book with it.
Listen to the audio book and read at the same time.
Shadow the audio book for 20 minutes a day.
Do not rush thru the story. Read the chapter two times before moving on to the next chapter.
Focus on dialogue, not so much the story line.
1. See how words are spelled (with an "-s" or "-ing" at the end of words).
2. Listen how the words are pronounced.

Sample link and book: https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/1/alices-adventures-in-wonderland/
Link for other titles: https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/books/
Sample titles:
- Eat Love Pray, by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Harry Potter, by JK Rowling
- Autobiographies by Steve Jobs, Michael J Fox, etc.

Top 3 resources for audio and text:

Elllo (English Listening Lesson Library Online)
1. www.elllo.org/index.htm
2. Amazing website for lots of video and listening with text lessons.
Voice of America - Learning English
1. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/
2. Live TV and Radio for English Language learners. You cannot live without this website!!
Breaking News English
1. breakingnewsenglish.com/
2. On this site, the lessons are free. There are 7 levels, from elementary to advanced. Lessons have up to 26 pages of printable activities. There is a new lesson every two days. And all lessons are based on stories currently in the news - as the world's news breaks

Read Aloud From Your Book Practice

Choose a book, preferably the one that you are using with the audio book technique.
Read and speak aloud, do it slowly.
Think about what you are saying and how you should form the sounds and say the words. (later you can get faster!)
Read aloud for 15 minutes a day.
Use the BIG MOUTH technique. What is this?? This is my special technique for improving your pronunciation. While you are speaking out the text, open your mouth very wide with each word. Really exaggerate the sounds. Why do we do this? Because you are forcing your mouth to work harder to make the new sounds and you are thinking carefully about what you are saying. Don’t worry. You won't talk like this forever! This exercise is only to help you adapt to the different sounds of English, which you don’t use in your own native language.

HOT TIP – For best results, do this before you go to sleep at night. You may DREAM in English! This is a good sign for your fluency!

Quick Movie / Subtitle Method

Choose an English movie that you would like to watch.
Watch the movie all the way thru one time with your native language subtitles.
Watch the movie a second time with English subtitles.
Watch the movie a third time, with NO subtitles.
Watch the movie again, but this time in five-minute chunks. Try to repeat dialogue from the movie.
1. If you are struggling with the dialogue, repeat that segment until you can repeat it clearly.
2. Focus on how they are pronouncing the words. (This is also great for practicing accent modification.)

AJ Hoge's Movie Technique ( Extended study)

Day 1. Watch 2-3 minutes scene with English subtitles. Do it 4-5 times for this day. Write down any new words and look up the meanings and review the list each time you watch the scene.
Day 2. Watch the same scene without subtitles. Watch the scene 4-5 times.
Day 3. Watch the same scene, pause after each sentence, and repeat after the actors. Copy their pronunciation.
Day 4. “Track” or “shadow” the same scene. Speak with the actors at the same time, no pausing. Copy their pronunciation. Use English subtitles if needed.
Day 5. “Track” or “shadow” without subtitles and copy the pronunciation, emotions and movements of the actors.
Day 6.(optional ) Use the same scene and record your voice as you “track” or “shadow” it. Compare your voice recording to the actors’ pronunciation.
Day 7. Go to next scene and repeat this process. Keep doing this until you finish the movie.

Watch AJ Hoge explain his method here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=791cOfTEkEc