by Keisha Centa Putri
If you only have 30 days to improve your English, you won’t have enough time to learn everything from scratch. Don’t worry! Because you can focus and be consistent in using strategic learning methods. For those 30 days, you need to develop a clear, strategic, and actionable plan. Let’s talk about it!
Step 1: Make English Part of Your Daily Life
The first crucial and effective step to take if you want to improve your English skills a little faster is to make English part of your daily life rather than a separate learning session. Try using English when writing in your diary or in everyday conversation, and try reading short articles in English. Consistent daily exposure will be far more effective than separate five-hour study sessions only once a week. Keep in mind that consistency will create progress.
Step 2: Daily Practice and Evaluation
The second step is daily practice and evaluation. The evaluation part is important because it prevents you from reinforcing bad habits. Luckily, you can easily do the evaluation part! Try these methods:
- Record yourself when talking about something. Listen back to the recording to check on your pronunciation (You can check pronunciations through online dictionaries!), pace and clarity. See if you can follow your points well as a listener!
- Try having one topic that you write about every week. See if you can expand your vocabularies and how your ideas about that one topic has evolved! You can also check your spelling and grammar throughout this process.
- Pick one long podcast to listen in English. Try listening without captions on your first day, see what you can get from that first listen. Continue to go back to that podcast to listen and see what other parts you have missed or some parts you may have misheard! This can definitely fasten your learning pace and make you get used to listening English. Pick a new video every week for the month!
Step 3: Reduce Your Literal Translation Habit
The third step that is crucial is to reduce your literal translation habit. If you keep translating from Indonesian to English word by word in your head, you may come across awkward and stiff. In the early stages of learning, translation does help you understand the structure, but once you start to progress, try to get used to thinking directly in English by having conversations in real life to train your brain to get used to that method. For a more in-depth explanation of this and how to overcome it, you can read our special article on literal translation titled “Literal Translation: Why It Confuses English Learners More Than It Helps.”
If you consistently follow these three steps for 30 days, you will see more than just small changes. Learning in a short period of time is not about how complex the material is, but how you can understand the basics and foundations, make them part of your life, practice them, and apply them. Ultimately, progress is not determined by the length of time you spend learning, but by the right and consistent way you go about it! Good luck!
Source:
- Engmates Institute. (2025, May 20). Stop translating in your head: #1 Habit killing your fluency. Engmates. https://www.engmates.in/stop-translating-in-your-head-the-1-habit-killing-your-fluency/#intro
- IDP IELTS. (n.d.). Make English part of your everyday life: simple tips to get started. IDP IELTS. https://ielts.idp.com/prepare/article-make-english-part-of-your-everyday-life-simple-tips-to-get-started
- Hallo. (n.d.). How to evaluate your language skills. Hallo. https://www.hallo.ai/how-to-evaluate-your-language-skills/
