There are many reasons why you might want to learn to speak English. Perhaps it is to improve your grades, to enable you to speak to English friends or because you plan on working or living in an English speaking country. What ever your specific reason for wanting to learn English, here are some things to consider and perhaps we will see you at Manor Courses this Summer on our residential English course.

1. What’s the most commonly used language among foreign speakers? English! So if you are ever in a situation where everyone in the room speaks a different language, the likelihood is that English will be the language that you all have in common – enabling you to communicate with people all over the world. And here is another fact for you – around 1,500,000,00 people in the world speak English with another 1,000,000,000 learning it!

2. They say that knowledge is power. With the internet a major source of knowledge for all, it is interesting to know that most of the pages published on the World Wide Web are in English. Over 1 billion pages in fact.

3. Keeping up with news from all over the globe is important. Channels like BBC Worldwide, CNN International and NBC are televised in English all over the world, so wherever you are you can make sure you know what is happening.

4. Knowing English can help you to get your dream job. If you are considering a career in science or technology it is likely that a lot of what you will have to read will be in English. Most computer applications are written in English, so understanding English will help you to advance. Being able to speak English could also help you to do business internationally.

5. Never watch a dubbed or subtitled film again! Learning English will mean that you never have to watch a dubbed English or American films again or rely on subtitles to know what is happening and then miss the action. Finally watch the Hollywood movies in their original form.

6. Read the English classics and best sellers. From Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ to Jodi Picoult’s ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ or Alice Sebold’s ‘The Lovely Bones’, you’ll be able to read them all in English. Not to mention the thousands of other books translated into English, so that people all over the world can enjoy them.

7. Understand what Rihanna is singing about. There is nothing like really understanding the lyrics of a song.

8. English can be learned pretty quickly. English has a simple alphabet and some people even find learning English easy! For example to make a plural of a word simply add ‘s’ and where in French you would say ‘la fille’ or ‘le chien’, in English you would say ‘a girl’ and ‘a dog’.

9. Speaking English will help you to travel more easily. English is spoken in over 100 countries so if you get lost and need directions, or simply want to have a conversation with someone – then you can and without taking a translator with you.

10. You will know a second language – how satisfying is that! Not to mention helpful for all of the reasons that we mentioned above. What are you waiting for?