I know it seems hard to believe, but there’s a couple of ‘tricks’ you can use to speed up your learning progress! And I don’t mean the usual, hollow, not-so-inspirational tips like ‘Stay focused!’, ‘Stay consistent!’ or even worse, ‘Stay conscious!’.

One of the things that helped me learning Dutch was being surrounded by native speakers! And I thought, well, how can we simulate being around native English speakers? So you don’t feel stuck or quit learning English. How can you improve your English vocabulary? Want some tips? Here they are!

My 5 tips to improve your English vocabulary:

NYT mini crossword: Ever heard of the New York Times? They have a free mini crossword every single day! Just download the app and start gaming! Can’t come up with a solution: DM me 😉 I’m playing that game every single day.

NYT Spelling bee: another great game offered by my favourite English newspaper. Give it a try, you might like it.

A streaming service: Yes, I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: ‘Fernsehen bildet’ (watching TV is educative). Next time you open your Netflix or Disney Plus account, change the settings for language AND subtitles to English. You’ll thank me later.

Subscribe to a newspaper newsletter. This might need some explanation. Ain’t nobody got time {or money} to read a whole foreign newspaper. But, most US newspapers offer a free newsletter with a daily summary of hot topics. So, instead of an entire paper, you only have to read one newsletter to improve your English! It helps you to make sense of the day’s news—in English! How great is that?

Follow your favourite dictionary on Instagram. I do follow Merriam-Webster. They post one word a day, including pronunciation, origin, and examples. And let’s be honest: it’s the 1st app we open when waking up, innit?

Want one more tip? 
Language input is everything. Surrounding yourself with English, even passively, can make a huge difference. That’s why I created my podcast: to help you soak up the language in a fun, chill way. Listen to the latest episode here and sneak in some language input on the go!