Little and often: 5 learning tips for busy people​

Listen, busy people! Here are five easy ways to practise your English – and you’ll be glad to hear that none of them will take longer than 10 minutes. Some take only a few seconds. And, of course, we’ve kept the tips short, so they’re quick to read.​ By the way: you’ll find even more tips in issue 5/24 of Spotlight magazine.

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Change the language settingsEinstellungen​settings on your phone and other deviceGerät​devices to English. On an iPhone, go to “Einstellungen” > “Allgemein” > “Sprache und Region”. This will take just a few seconds to do, but it’ll give you micro-practice in English every time you glance at sth.einen Blick auf etw. werfen​glance at your phone. The same terms will keep popping up, so you’ll soon pick up the keywords for navigating the online world. We think you’ll want to “like and subscribe” to this great little language hack, but should you want to change it back, it’s “Settings” > “General” > “Language and region”.​

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Keep notes on your phone or in a small notebook. Whenever you hear or read an interesting English phrase, take a moment to note it down (or record it as a voice note). Your collection will soon grow and you’ll be able to read (or listen) to all this new language from time to time.​

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If you’re on social media, do you follow any English speakers? Maybe you could choose an actor, musician or lifestyle guru to follow, and check what they’re up: be ~ to sth.etw. vorhaben, machen​up to from time to time.​

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Click on a Google doodle – the special little version of the Google logo on their homepage. It often commemorate sth.  an etw. erinnern​commemorates a special event or festival, and there’s a short text to read. The doodle changes almost every day, so there’s always something fresh and interesting to discover.​

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What’s for dinner tonight? Once a week, spend a few minutes on an English-language cookery site to find a new recipe. The BBC Good Food website is very clear and reliable – and has many international styles of cuisine, not only British food! The world is your oyster: the world is your ~die Welt steht einem offen („oyster“ = Auster)​oyster – and you’ll be reminded of interesting words, like “oyster”!​