2. Keep a Diary or Blog in English Writing can be a very creative and relaxing activity.
Keeping a diary or blog in English is the best way to get regular writing practice. As well as sharpening up your grammar skills, writing will also improve your ability to use everyday English. You could be writing about your disappointing rainy vacation or the exciting baseball game you watched on TV—it’s up to you! Of course, you can write entries as often as you want. However, try to write more every week. Set goals for yourself so that you need to write more, faster. If you’re a perfectionist who hates making mistakes, you can show your diary or blog to native speakers and ask them to correct it for you. Don’t worry if you don’t know any native speakers though, lang-8 is a great language exchange website where language learners can help each other with writing. Looking back at your previous writing work and seeing how you’ve improved over time will boost your confidence, too!
3. Host a Cultural Event at Home It doesn’t have to be a huge party, but hosting a cultural event is a fun way to learn about the culture of English-speaking countries. Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving are well-known examples. For Halloween, many people like to dress up as monsters, ghosts or their favorite movie characters. If you’re hosting your own Halloween party, you can encourage your friends to bring their own ghost stories in English and read them by candlelight to create a spooky atmosphere. A fun spring holiday is Easter. It’s very popular with children, but who says adults can’t enjoy games and candies too? You can have an Easter egg hunt by hiding chocolate Easter eggs around your home and writing out clues in English! You aren’t limited to these holidays either—you can have a historical movie night or cook traditional food from somewhere in the English-speaking world. It doesn’t matter what you decide to do, as long as you bring people together and enjoy yourselves while practicing English.