ENGLISH IN THE SUMMER-3

Good morning.

Today we continue our look at ideas for keeping your English alive in the summer.

This year we didn't receive as many suggestions as last year (I think a lot of people are already on holiday, or just tired of me), so following are some suggestions from our readers from this year and last year:

1) Read a little English every day, both silently and aloud to improve pronunciation. Graded novels created especially for different English levels are an excellent option. Anna S. suggested reading newspapers or magazines in English instead of the Spanish press.

2) Making video and cinema in English a part of your leisure activities during the holiday months can keep your comprehension abilities keen and help you to improve your vocabulary. Mónica G. explains what she does: on Saturday I bought the first series of 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Six feet under' in DVD. As I like watching them, I will do it in English firstly, with English subtitles, and then again without them. I think it will be enjoyful!

3) Jordi suggests playing computer games. As he said, it's a way to practice English comprehension in a relaxing environment.

4) Anna M. suggests translating songs from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English. As she explains, it's a good way to forget how horrible the summer songs are by concentrating on their linguistic translation.

5) And of course if you like grammar, you may want to dust off that old grammar book and consider revising a bit each day, or every other day.

There are thousands of other possibilities, but I think you get the idea. There is nothing "magic" about these ideas, but they work. The trick is to create a plan and follow it.

If you have any questions about today's Daily Vitamin, please post your comments by clicking on the "Add a Comment" button in the Daily Vitamin section on our website (www.ziggurat.es).

I hope you have a good day.