Immersion

English is the official universal language. It is, by far, the language of international trade, finance, diplomacy, etc. It is used not only in English spoken countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and The United Kingdom but worldwide. If you want to learn English, there is nothing better than working, studying (Preply, 1-on-1 online lessons for any budget) or going on holidays to the UK, Australia or the USA or, even better, having an English girlfriend or boyfriend🙂.

However, these options are not always available, possible or affordable.

What can you do?

• Chatbots are conversational programs that mimic human intelligence. They are fun, entertaining, and very useful for ESL students.

1. Replika is one of the finest and most fascinating Artificially intelligent chatbots. Maybe, it is the first commercial chatbot companion powered by artificial intelligence. It is described as “an AI companion who is eager to learn and would love to see the world through your eyes. Replika is always ready to chat when you need an empathetic friend.”
2. Evi is a learning AI. She is probably the most popular artificial personality on YouTube.
3. Kuki, formerly knows as Mitsuku, is an award-winning AI brain designed to entertain humans.
4. ChatGPT is an absolutely astonishing chatbot launched by OpenAI in November 2022.

• Google is your English friend.

Go to Google and click on Search settings, Languages and select English as your language of choice in “Which language should Google products use?” and “Currently showing search results in:” English.

Make sure you save the settings by smashing the blue SAVE button below the page!

• Use a digital assistant: Google Assistant, Alexa or Siri.

1. Let’s try Google Assistant. Change your Language on your smartphone: Tap the Settings (Ajustes en español), scroll down and tap on System, then tap on Languages and Input, Languages (country/region), and Add a language: English (United States). Long press English (United States) and drag it to the first position to set it as your default language.
2. Open the Google Assistant app and say, “Assistant settings.” Make the most of your Google Assistant. Under All Settings, tap Lock screen, and turn on Assistant responses on lock screen. Turn Personal results and Continued Conversation (for asking follow-up questions) on. Allow Google Assistant to use your device’s current location: Touch and hold the Google app icon. Tap App info, Permission, Location, and set location access to Allow all the time. Besides, you may want to set news sources (All Settings, News), video services (All Settings, Videos, e.g., Netflix or Disney+), music streaming services (All Settings, Music, e.g., Spotify or YouTube Music), and podcast services on Google Assistant
3. Some queries: Hey Google, what does my day look like? What’s on my agenda today? Good morning. What are my reminders for this week? Remind me to book an appointment for my flu jab. Delete my reminder to… Wake me up at…, Set a reminder/timer for…, Add … to my shopping list, Play [some music/song name/album name, happy music, classical music] on [music service] (e.g. Play BBC1, Play The Joe Rogan Experience on Spotify, etc.). Pause the music. Turn it up/down (change the volume).
4. More queries: What’s the weather like today? What’s 10 euros in Thai bath? What’s the capital in Thailand? How do you spell Bangkok? Flip a coin/Roll a dice. What’s the definition of love? What does a cow sound like? Open Gmail. What is 23 * 12? Count to 10. Is 17 a prime number? What are the divisors of 24? Give me a random number between one and ten. What time is it (in Thailand)? Where am I? How are Alphabet’s stocks doing? How do you say cow in Spanish? Show me nearby cinemas/restaurants. What’s the latest about the coronavirus? What’s in the news? What’s the latest news from CNN?
5. Let’s have some fun: Do you like Star Trek? Make me a sandwich. How can entropy be reversed? Tell me a joke/quote. Read a poem/a bedtime story or tell me a story. Who’s on first? I am your father. How many roads must a man walk down? Where’s Waldo? Do a barrel roll. Sing me a song/a lullaby/Old MacDonald. How are you? What’s your favorite song? Compliment me. How do I look? Are you SkyNet?
6. Alexa: A. Download and open the Alexa app. Select Devices, + (the plus sign in the top right corner), Add Device. B. Settings, Music & Media, Link New Service: Spotify, TuneIn. C. Skills & Games, myTurner Radio (Alexa, ask my Turner Radio to play BBC World Service); Sweet Dreams (Alexa, open Sweet Dreams or ask Sweet Dreams to play rain). D. Settings, News, Flash Briefing (Alexa, play my Flash Briefing). E. Turn on Follow-Up mode: Devices, select your device, use the toggle to turn the Follow-Up mode.

Some examples: Alexa… Where is Chuck Norris? High five! Who’s on first? Simon says, ‘I love Bew’. Speak like Yoda. Tell me a joke/something interesting/a love story. Sing me a song. Play rock, paper, scissors. Knock, Knock. Can you bark? Which came first: chicken or egg? Talk like a pirate. Flatter me. How many kilometers are in a mile? What is the value of Pi? Play BBC World Service. What does rhyme mean?

• Monolingual dictionaries

Try as much as possible not to translate your thoughts and sentences into English, but think directly in English.

To do so, you should avoid using online translators, such as Google Translator and WordReference, but take advantage of monolingual dictionaries like The FreeDictionary, Dictionary.com, and Snappy Words

• Visual dictionaries

Visual dictionaries are dictionaries that primarily use pictures or drawings to illustrate the meaning of words. They are also very useful because they help you to think in English, too.

Some examples are Visuwords, and Visual Dictionary Online.

• Operating system and applications

Install or change the default language of your operating system from your native language to English. If you use Windows 10/11, open the Settings windows, Time & Language, Language & Region or Region & Language, Add a language.

If you use GNU/Linux, you can change the language of both the operating system and all your installed applications. It depends on your distribution (Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, Fedora, etc.) and desktop environment (GNOME, Xfce, MATE, Cinnamon, etc.) how to set it. If you are using Ubuntu, go to System Settings, Language & Region, Language and select English (United States).

There are also many applications that let you choose the language during the installation process. Futhermore, modern browsers, such as Brave, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, allow you to install many extensions that are very useful for learning English. Once you have launched your favorite browser, select Tools/Settings, Add-ons/Extensions.

Firefox offers personalized recommendations. Click on Tools, Add-ons, Recommendations, and install a recommended extension by clicking the + Add to Firefox button. There’s also a blue Find more add-ons button you can click and search for other extensions.

• Language Exchange and make friends online

It is very difficult or impossible to achieve a good level of English or any other language without talking to native speakers. You may enrol in an academy or online learning platform, have private lessons (one-to-one or groups), learn it at your school or travel abroad.

Another option is a language exchange. You and another willing man or woman agree to meet up from time to time to practice speaking in each other’s language.

Why is it a good idea? You will learn the language of everyday life in a relaxed atmosphere. I am talking about informal expressions (I gotta leave now; Hi guys, what’s up?), idioms (I can’t make up my mind yet. I know that nobody wants to address the elephant in the room. I’m glad the cat didn’t get your tongue), and slang (Who blew off? Oh, you cheeky monkey!) that native speakers use all the time. Besides, you can get to know some interesting people and expand your social circle. The limit is always your time, not your money. There are several options: face to face conversation; correspondence (a pen-pal is someone you write letters to and receive letters from and come to know by friendly correspondence); or just chat with people using Discord, WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, Messenger, or similar apps.

Making friends online can be one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to improve your English. You can join specific, interested-based communities, be active in those communities daily, and/or start a conversation in a Facebook group; join some Discord communities; meet friends or potential partners through school, work, friends, or dating apps, find social events in your area (Meetup.com), etc.

Some Language Exchange sites are: MyLanguageExchange.com, ConversationExchange.com, Polyglot Club, Penpal World and Interpals.

• Best Apps for Learning English: Duolingo is a fun, freemium app for learning English through quick, bite-sized lessons. It uses game-like methods to encourage users to keep coming back to learn every day. Memrise is a language learning program available online and as an app that focuses on teaching real-life, conversational phrases and words. HellowTalk connects you directly with native speakers to chat with them. Rosetta Stone uses an immersive approach to help its students reach native proficiency in their target language. It aims to teach you to speak the language like a native, but it is pretty pricey. Busuu is another digital language learning app. It offers vocabulary and grammar practice through short, self-paced study exercises.

• To succeed in life, you need three things: practice, practice, and practice a bit more.

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed, Michael Jordan.