5 Reasons To Learn English as A Second Language

Committing to learning English is a serious decision. To succeed in this endeavor, you need to be ready to invest a lot of time and effort, but eventually all your hard work will pay off. In case you haven’t made up your mind yet, here are 5 reasons that might persuade you to go for it.

• English language is spoken in 180 countries worldwide. Since there are only 196 - or 195, according to different sources - independent countries in the world, it means that wherever you go, you will be able to communicate, understand and be understood.
• Your chances to find a great job will be significantly better. While the overall effects of outsourcing on global economy is still unclear, the ability to speak English will help you to secure a job offer from an English-speaking company. In 2004, USA- and UK-based corporations outsourced 42% and 17% of jobs, according to the findings of the latest “English Next” study conducted by the British Council.
• Do you spend most of your time online? If so, learning English is definitely a good idea for you, since the English language continues to dominate the cyber space (even though other languages as Chinese experience a rapid growth in this area).
• The number of people speaking English as a Second Language keeps growing and has already exceeded 1 billion people. That’s a great community to belong to! We doubt you can find anything even close on Facebook.
• Shakespeare, Elliot, Plath, and Whitman - these are just a few of the great timeless classic writers who created in English and whose works are a must-read for any educated person. While there are many good translations, do not miss out on pleasure that comes from enjoying the beauty and complexity of the English language and read the originals instead.

Do you have your own reasons for learning English? Share with us in comments!

Meetup: Groups for ESL Students

New York is a great place to be an ESL student. You are fully immersed into American culture, exposed to the English language and get to see with your own eyes everything that makes New York one of the most exciting cities in the world. But as welcoming and densely populated as the city is, sooner or later you might run into a problem of not knowing enough people with whom to practice your English language skills. Your classmates might not be always available – after all, everyone has a lot of responsibilities to deal with on a daily basis – and your new American friends might not be always willing to play the role of English tutor due to the very same reason. Online language communities like Livemocha that we wrote about earlier are definitely a great solution, but nothing beats a face-to-face conversation.

Enter Meetup.com, a hugely popular online network of local groups. The membership on the website is free and you can join as many groups as you want. Those of you interested in practicing your English, should check put these groups:

We Are New York was founded in January 2011 and has only 7 members to date. Yet, it’s very active – in less than 3 months, WANY held 2 meetups and has 6 more scheduled. The events are not only free but also are a lot of fun. Along with your fellow Meetup group member, you will sing karaoke to one of the most famous songs about Big Apple, Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

New York City English as a Second Language was created in 2005 and has over 450 members, all of whom are raving about the group. If you want to make new friends, practice your conversational and reading English skills in a relaxing atmosphere and have fun while doing that, email the group’s organizer, Al, and ask to join the NYCESL.

Small Talk for ESL Students

To develop and practice your English skills, you need to talk as much as you can, preferably with native speakers of English, so you could get a feel of the English speech flow. For those of you who have American roommates, friends or coworkers, it should be pretty easy. However, for most of you finding conversational partners other than your classmates and professors might be a bit challenging, even in a city as big as New York. Yet you don’t need to know someone to start a conversation; you can talk to cashiers at the supermarket, sales assistants at department stores, people you meet at a party, or commuters on a train. The good news is that you don’t need to engage into long discussions which might be hard for you to maintain at this point; all you need to do is to master the art of small talk. Small talk is actually a big part of American culture and the ability to start a light yet interesting conversation is valued very highly. Here are some topics that you should definitely consider discussing:

Weather
It does not matter if it’s raining cats and dogs or it’s the hottest day of the year; you can talk about how much you like or hate it, whether it makes you miserable or  happy, and of course, how it’s different from your home country.


Hobbies
It’s always interesting to learn what other people like to do in their spare time, so don’t be shy, go ahead and tell a person you met at a party about your lifelong passion for writing poetry, painting, or running 5 miles every day. If they happen to share your enthusiasm, you might have just made a new friend.


Entertainment
Talk about new releases, hottest bands or latest scandals in the world of show business, which there are plenty of. Remember, though, that we all have different tastes and preferences, so don’t be too quick judging Justin Bieber’s haircut, Blake Lively’s acting chops, or Snooki’s drinking habit. A shouting match or, worse, a fistfight with a die-hard fan of any of the above is never a good idea.