HOW TO BE BILINGUAL IN ENGLISH

Learning a new language like English and subsequently becoming bilingual and proficient in it can be a long and arduous task. But starting to study a new language is a great way to broaden your horizons, not only to learn the language itself, but also to become fully bilingual , knowing more about where it is spoken, the history and the culture of the people who speak it. , and any subtle nuances it may have.

So how do you learn a new language? How to be bilingual in English? Well, here are some tips for being bilingual .

Start learning from a young age

A person who has the ability to speak two languages is called a bilingual , although a multilingual (someone who can speak more than two languages) can also be called in the same way.

Being bilingual is not unusual. Many people in the world who belong to countries where English is not the official language often grow up bilingual. They speak their mother tongue and usually even one or two other dialects from their homeland, as well as learning English.

The key is to start learning young . Not only do you have more time to perfect your fluency in English in your formative years, but children are known to pick up skills much faster in their early years, unconsciously and effortlessly, and most importantly, retain what they learn.

Children are also less shy and will not feel awkward or hesitate to test their language skills and converse with other children, unlike adults who may find it more difficult.

Therefore, if you are teaching your child to be bilingual, it would be good ideas to :

• Have one parent speak only one language and the other speak English
• Speak only your mother tongue at home, as your child will likely learn English at school.
• Let your child hear and practice both languages.

Still, it's never too late to learn a new language and have that skill. All you need is a lot of perseverance because the road to becoming bilingual is long.

Start with the alphabet and vocabulary

It is essential to remember to expand your vocabulary in whatever language you decide to learn. Learning new words will improve your vocabulary . It may cost you to start learning English from scratch. So start learning a few words every day . These words can be objects, animals, food, places, numbers... anything.

Just start small and add a dozen words to your vocabulary every day, write it down with the meaning and pronunciation. As you go, try to form simple one-sentence sentences using that word, and remember to keep a book to write down what you learn.

Once you have learned the English alphabet and a good number of words, you can start trying to put them together using grammar .

This is perhaps the most complicated part of learning English. Every language has a different set of grammar rules, and it can be quite difficult to pick up the subtle nuances.

There are rules for verbs, adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, articles, tenses, and some languages, and all of these rules are extremely delicate. Again, keeping a written record of what you learn is vital, and revisiting what you learn even more so.

Read, watch movies, listen to movies.

The easiest and perhaps the most effective of the bilingual tips is to watch TV shows, movies, or even the news in English with subtitles to learn the language.

This is a great way to learn new words in their specific context , and not in an isolated situation where you're looking for a random new word to learn. When you learn a new word in context, you are much more likely to use it again.

Try to write down words that you find particularly difficult to understand so that you can come back to them later and review them.

This is also a great way to learn the pronunciation of words . You may not understand every word that is spoken, but this is a great way to instinctively know what that particular word means, simply by understanding the context in which it is used.

You can start with children's shows, but there are some fabulous long soap operas to keep you hooked for a long time, maybe long enough that you learn English just by watching the show.

Reading comics or subscribing to an English newspaper for news snippets is also a great way to learn.

Find a partner to talk to

It's all very well practicing alone at home, but having someone to converse with in English is the best.

Why?

• When you talk to someone else , especially someone more proficient in English than you are, you will be able to learn from them . You will have the opportunity to improve your pronunciation by listening to them speak and even pick up conversation phrases and idioms instead of reading and learning them from a textbook.
• Having a study buddy encourages healthy conversation, debate, and discussion . You not only learn vocabulary and grammar, you also learn facts, information, knowledge about cultures and customs. Ideally, having a native or already fluent speaker to practice with increases your scope of learning and you will have someone to correct and guide you.
• That said, having a beginner partner is also great. Both of you will have the opportunity to make plans and set goals together and have someone to practice with. Unlike talking to a native speaker, in this case, both of you will not feel intimidated and will be more confident and less shy about making mistakes and learning from them.

Take a class or join a course

The best advice to be bilingual in English is to receive face-to-face classes or enroll in an online course , since it is the best way to learn and improve in English.

Classmates are a source of competition that motivate you to do your best. Participation in interactive debates and discussions with a study partner is excellent. Now imagine how much you can learn from an entire class full of people.

There are many courses to learn and become bilingual in English, but at Hebe Adventure we have the best selection of English courses and summer camps in English so that you or your children become bilingual quickly.

On the other hand, since we're on the subject of online learning, you can use apps on your phone, iPad, and other devices, play interactive games, and make use of other technology to help you on your journey to becoming bilingual in English.

Practice

The last and best piece of advice for becoming bilingual is practice .

You can do everything right, learn to read, write and speak English, become bilingual... but it won't do any good if you don't practice, because technically, you'll never finish learning English.

Fluency is the key to mastering English, and the only way to become fluent is to make sure you don't get rusty. You can use reading material, movies, TV shows, and music to keep from losing touch with English. Talk to people in English as often as you can, do your best to keep practicing until one day it becomes a second language for you .