Are you preparing for an English exam?

This time of year is very busy for exams. Are you preparing for one? Do you have any tips to share?

Advice for learning English

What's your best advice for learning English? Should you concentrate on the grammar first, or just jump in and start talking? What advice would you give someone who's just started learning English?

British English or American English?

Are you learning British or American English? Do you find one more easy to understand than the other?

Watching films in English

Do you watch films in English, or do you prefer to watch them in your own language?

Some types of film (animations, cartoons etc) are easier to understand in English, but you can probably understand a lot more than you think! Next time you watch a film on your DVD player, go to the menu and change the language settings to English. You don't need to watch the whole film in English, but even five to ten minutes is good practice.

Which films would you recommend watching in English?

Practise your English writing skills

If you've got a Twitter account, use it to update your friends or colleagues in English. You've only got a maximum of 140 characters, so your message needs to be short. (= fewer mistakes if you're worried about this!) You can use the same abbreviations on Twitter as you do when you text, and you don't need to worry too much about punctuation. Just make your updates interesting!

How important is English to you?

Do you need English for your job, or because you live in an English-speaking country, for example? Do you use English to stay in touch with friends around the world on Facebook or Twitter, or do you only use English at school or at work?

An English ghost story

How do you feel about helping me to write a scary ghost story? I can start it off, but then anyone can join in and write the next few sentences. All you need to do is to read what was written before, then carry on the story!

Here's the beginning.

… It was a dark and stormy night. Outside the wind was blowing through the branches of the old oak tree, making a "whoo.hoo" sound. Inside I was drinking a cup of hot chocolate in front of a warm, log fire. I was just about to get up to close the curtains when I heard a loud knock on the door…

Do you use an English coursebook?

Are you studying English with a coursebook? Which one do you use, and what do you think about it?

What are your favourite English songs?

Is there an English song you like listening to? Do you know all the words to it, and can you sing along, or do you have to replace some parts with "la-la-la-la"?

Learning English in five minutes a day

There's a lot you can do to learn English, even if you only have a few minutes a day.

Here are five ideas to get you started:

- watch TV or a youtube video for five minutes a day
- listen to a podcast, internet radio, or a new song in English
- read a page (or two) of a book you particularly like. Make a note of three new words / phrases and find out their meaning from a good dictionary
- review the vocabulary you learnt last week. Do you still remember the words? Have you heard or seen them used in the last week?
- post a message on the HelpMe! forum (if you have a question) or on the Penpals forum, if you want to make contact with someone else learning English.

What else can you do to learn or use English in five minutes a day?