Using Newspapers to practice English

Newspapers are a great way to practice your reading skill and improve your vocabulary.
In addition, newspapers have ‘real world’ English, which is very different to ‘classroom’ English.
Here are some online newspapers:
Weird News Links to strange news storiesUSA WeekendReuters Hourly News Short summaries of current newsThe Chicago TribuneThe Jerusalem PostThe Nando TimesThe New York TimesThe Washington PostWorld Newspapers On lineReact Newsmagazine for teensReader’s Digest World
Here are some tips:
- it may seem difficult at first, but keep going!- keep your dictionary close by and use it.- writing out vocabulary helps remember it. Start a vocabulary notepad. Use each page for the each letter, A - Z. When you learn a new word, write it in your vocabulary notepad on the right page.- explore the different sections of the newspaper. Some will be easier than others.

do you speak Hinglish?

The largest community of English speaking people is not American, as one would believe, but India. English and Hindi have been happily mingling together for a centuries now, just like Fench and English did after the Norman invasions.The fact that there are more people speaking English in India than Britain, America, Canada and Australia combined raises an important question about the way we teach grammar "rules" to foreign students.If one billion people find it normal to say "are you liking your meal?", what right do we have to say it's wrong? Grammar is merely an attempt to find order in what we say, it wasn't there before language itself. So the majority rule applies - if most people say it - it must be right.Even back in England, many people (myself included) say "I was, you was, he was, we was, they was", paying little regard to whether they should use "was" or "were".English has also benefited from the influence of Indian speakers of English with the many news words that they have given us. There's an interesting article on the BBC about "Hinglish".