You go to your English class, you learn loads… and then the whole week goes by without you saying a single word in English. Sound familiar? The secret to improving faster isn’t studying for hours, it’s making English part of your everyday life. Here are seven easy ways to practise English outside the classroom, even if you only have ten minutes.
1. Watch series in English (with English subtitles)
Start with something you’ve already seen in Spanish, so you can easily follow the story. Then switch the subtitles to English: you hear the words and see how they’re written at the same time. Sitcoms like Friends or Modern Family are perfect: short episodes and everyday language.
2. Listen to podcasts on your way to work
The metro, the car, the gym: dead time is perfect for listening. Choose a podcast about something you already enjoy (football, cooking, true crime…), so it doesn’t feel like homework. Podcasts for learners, like the BBC’s 6 Minute English, are a great place to start.
3. Switch your phone to English
It sounds small, but you look at your phone dozens of times a day. Set it to English and you’ll pick up words like settings, update or battery low without even trying.
4. Think out loud in English
Describe what you’re doing while you cook, or plan your day in English in your head. It feels strange at first, but it trains you to build sentences quickly, without translating from Spanish first.
Ten minutes of English every day works better than two hours once a week.
5. Keep a vocabulary notebook
Every time you hear a new word or expression, write it down with a full example sentence. Go over it once a week. Writing by hand helps you remember far better than just reading.
6. Read what you like, in English
You don’t need to start with a novel. News articles, recipes, song lyrics, forums about your hobby… If it interests you, you’ll keep reading, and your vocabulary grows without you noticing.
7. Talk to real people
This is the most important one. Find a language exchange, chat with tourists or join a conversation group. Speaking is where everything you’ve learned comes together, and where you notice what you still need to work on.
How to keep it up
The hardest part isn’t starting, it’s keeping going. A few tips that help:
- Start small. Ten minutes a day already makes a difference.
- Link it to a habit. A podcast with your morning coffee, an episode before bed.
- Don’t be afraid of mistakes. Nobody expects perfect English, and every mistake teaches you something.
Why learn English at Koyot Academy?
Practising on your own is great, but a teacher helps you know what to work on and corrects your mistakes before they become habits. At our English school in Mislata (Valencia), you learn with native teachers, in small groups, using a fully communicative method, so you get lots of speaking time from day one. We offer English at B1, B2 and C1 level, for teenagers and adults, with morning and evening groups.
