2 . As a language learning enthusiast, I’ve come up with the best apps for learning English from the thousands of mobile apps out there.

Best for Pronunciation: ELSA Speak

ELSA Speak is probably the best mobile app around for helping you improve your English pronunciation. The app’s greatest strength is its intensive AI feedback, but ELSA also provides mini-training sessions to really perfect your pronunciation. The AI analyzes your recordings based on pronunciation, intonation and fluency then points out exactly which parts sound inaccurate.

Best for Immersing in English Videos: FluentU

FuentU is a language learning app that teaches you English through authentic videos like news reports, movie scenes and interviews, with learner tools for all levels. Each clip has interactive subtitles so if you’re not sure what a word means, you can hover over it and get in explanation. The app also gives video examples for each word so you can learn vocabulary in context.

Best for Practical Topics: Babbel

Babbel has you learn and practice English with realistic conversations that surround things that you’re personally interested in. Lessons are short and consist of written and audio versions of the grammar featured in the lessons. Then you are able to complete practice exercises to solidify your understanding.

Best for Fun Beginner Lessons: Lingodeer

Lingodeer uses games and short exercises to teach beginner and intermediate English learners. Lingodeer takes a gamified approach to language learning with a goal-oriented curriculum consisting of structured lessons and regular reviews. Lingodeer’s lessons are arranged according to themes, such as sports, weather, parts of the body and shopping.

In summary, whether you’re focusing on pronunciation, immersion, practical themes, or engaging beginner lessons, ELSA Speak, FluentU, Babbel, and Lingodeer have got you covered. Every language learner’s arsenal should include these apps as they pave the way for effective and enjoyable English language learning. Each is unique in its approach, but all aim to make your English learning journey as straightforward and motivating as possible.

How are you?

Best wishes!

Yours,

Li Jin

4 . With a thirst for a new challenge, I decided to begin my language journey and my only regret is that I didn’t start earlier. Since starting to learn, I have made good progress. The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) is a test of Chinese language for non-native speakers. In July 2020, I passed my HSK3 exam with a score of 100 percent. I am now almost ready to start HSK5.

Learning to speak Chinese isn’t as insurmountable as I once thought. When I speak to native speakers in Chinese, they almost always understand me. I also find it not too difficult to remember characters and I am now even able to write over 400 characters. I find studying the language relaxing and worthwhile, particularly writing the characters.  The thing I find most challenging is listening since native speakers talk at such a speed. I can’t always understand what’s been said, but my weekly online language exchanges help with this greatly.

Despite my progress, it has still been the challenge I desire and has taken a lot of hard work. Furthermore, there is a long way to go before I reach my goal of fluency. The key to progress is to be patient and persistent (坚持不懈的). The satisfaction that comes from simple things like ordering food in Chinese, buying things on the Internet or communicating with a taxi driver makes all the hard work worth it.

My biggest takeaway from learning Chinese is that it’s not only doable but can also be enjoyable. Learning Chinese not only helped me in day-to-day life, but deepened my cultural understanding of such a colorful and beautiful country.  Considering where I am now, compared to two years ago, as long as I keep studying hard, I can image a time when I’ll be able to read famous Chinese novels not in English but in the original text. So, to all my non-Chinese friends, I always say “Don’t give up. Embrace (拥抱) the challenge.”

5 . Foreign visitors to the UK might be disappointed when they learn that not everyone there speaks like Harry Potter and his friends. Usually, there’s an assumption by many non-Brits that everyone in Britain speaks with what’s known as a Received Pronunciation (RP，标准发音) accent, also called “the Queen’s English”. However, while many people do talk this way, most Britons speak in their own regional accents (口音).

Scouse, Glaswegian and Black Country — from Liverpool, Glasgow and the West Midlands — are just three of the countless non-RP accents that British people speak with. There are even differences in accents between towns or cities just 30 kilometers apart. What is even more disappointing is that not speaking in a RP accent may mean a British person is judged and even treated differently in their everyday life.

In a 2015 study by The University of South Wales, videos of people reading a passage in three different UK accents were shown to a second group of people. The group then rated how intelligent they thought the readers sounded. The lowestrated accent was Brummie, native to people from Birmingham, a city whose accent is considered working class.

However, there is no need to be disappointed though you are not speaking in a RP accent. In fact, doing the opposite may even give you strength.

Kong Seongjae, 25, is an Internet celebrity from Seoul. After studying in the UK, he picked up several regional accents. He’s now famous for his online videos, where he shows off the various accents he’s learned. “British people usually get really excited when I use some of their local dialect words, and they become much friendlier. I think it makes a bit of bond between local people and foreigners to speak in their local accent,” he said.

So if you’re working on perfecting your British accent, try to speak like someone from Liverpool, Glasgow or Birmingham. You may not sound like Harry Potter, but you are likely to make more friends.

6 . As someone who’s been studying English for many years now, you might think you know the English language pretty well. But if you overheard a British person say, “A Billy left some bees and honey in my sherbet (冰冻果露) last night,” would you understand what they meant?

Probably not, but many native speakers may not know what this person was saying either.

The example above was a sentence that a London taxi driver might say to another member of his or her tribe. In plain English, the sentence would be, “A customer left some money in my cab last night.”                  

So, what exactly is meant by “tribe”?

A recent article on the BBC Culture website pointed out that nearly all of us are a part of a tribe. This is a group that defines (定义) who we are and even how we speak. And with each tribe comes its own “secret language”, as the BBC called it.

If you work in a certain industry—education, for example—you may use slang words (俚语) and acronyms (首字母缩略词) that only other people who work in that industry would understand. Or if you live in a certain city, you might use a slang word to describe a landmark in the city that only locals would understand.

These so-called secret languages each have their own fascinating history. In the US, for example, the underground “ballroom” (舞厅) tribe of 1970s and 80s New York City and its language were showcased in the 2018 FX show Pose.

These secret words don’t always stay within their tribes, however. Words from many tribes, especially musical cultures such as rap and hip-hop, often enter people’s everyday vocabulary. For example, the phrase “to have beef” — meaning “to be in a conflict” — was made popular by US rappers. Today, it’s widely used by native English speakers all over the world.

As BBC reporter Susie Dent wrote, “We are all surrounded by amazing secret languages, full of history and stories and in-jokes (内部笑话). And one thing is certain: our tribal conversations will never run out.”

8 . “Shuan Q” is a meme (网络流行语) which can be used as a popular way to say “I’m speechless” with a matching emoji (表情包) at ached behind. No one can deny the power of the Internet. Some believe it makes language weaker but some see a brighter side, believing it makes online communication easier between strangers.

An elementary school teacher in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, says that the evolution of Internet slang is not all fun and carefree. From his daily observations, he believes the “geographic boundary” between Internet slang and formal language is disappearing. On many occasions, the composition she has received from pupil have been flooded with abbreviated slangs (网络梗).

During last year’s Two Sessions, several representatives put forward proposals such as “regulating online language” and “banning vulgar (粗俗) words”, specifically to address this issue, expressing the need to reduce online language misuse and strengthen the protection of Chinese.

However, many experts and scholars of linguistics and communication including Feng Zhiwei disagree. Feng, believes that Internet language is a natural product of the dynamic development of language, and it is not necessary to ban it.