5 ways to make learning English fun as an international college student

Here are 5 suggestions on how to enjoy learning English. 

While listening to music, you will acquire new vocabulary and grammar, learn the rhythm of English and improve your listening skills.

• Make a playlist with songs you enjoy. Learn the lyrics by listening repeatedly while you are doing other things, such as cooking, cleaning, playing video games, or working out at the gym. 
• Search for the lyrics online. If you don’t understand some of the slang, you can search for the meaning in an online slang dictionary. 
• Sing the lyrics. After many listens, you will memorize the lyrics and improve your vocabulary and grammar at the same time.

Now you are ready to sing karaoke with your friends! 

You can speak English together, study together and you will learn about each other’s cultures. 

• Sit with classmates who don’t speak your first language. It can feel very weird to speak English with someone who speaks your native language.
• Sit with a new classmate every week. This will help you meet many new classmates during the course.
• Ask your classmates questions: Find out what you have in common! Invite them to have coffee or tea after class. Make plans to go to a movie or take a walk. 

Curiosity makes everything more interesting! You learn things you didn’t know before and you can see the world from a different point of view.

• Ask questions: classmates, your teacher and yourself! Wanting to know more will help you enjoy the topics you learn in class.
• Find more information about the vocabulary you learned in class. Search a thesaurus, a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms, for three new words a day. Use those words to speak about experiences in your life. When we apply new vocabulary to our personal experiences, it can be easier to remember the words.
• Listen to people everywhere you go: on the bus, at a restaurant, and walking on campus. Can you understand what they are saying? Can you hear a new word? Write it down so that you do not forget. Then search for the meaning or ask your teacher.

You will not get bored when you observe new things; you will have something to talk about with friends or family back home and you will learn more English to express yourself.

• Make a plan to try something new. You can do a new activity alone or you can plan to do it with a friend. 
• Be curious about the activity while you are doing it. 
• Take pictures when possible. Send a message to friends and family with a description of your experience and what you learned. 
• Write about your experience in a journal. Draw pictures. Make a short video.

If you are not distracted by your phone, you can be more engaged in the present moment.

• Put your cell phone in your backpack, and put your backpack far away from you. A cell phone is very tempting, so if you put it in your pocket, you will certainly start using it again.
• Focus on what is happening around you. If you are in class, listen and take notes. If you are talking with a partner, listen actively and respond with questions. 
• Don’t use your cell phone to look up words. Most students forget the meaning of the word after spending the time to translate it. 
• If you don’t understand something the teacher said, raise your hand and ask a question. There are probably other students who have the same question. Then write the answer in your notebook so that you can remember and practice it.

Try all five suggestions; develop your own ways to enjoy learning a language. Share your suggestions with your classmates and teachers - you might be able to help others have fun learning English, too!