Christmas\nis coming! In fact, it\u2019s just around the corner, but if you\u2019re like me, you\nprobably still need to buy some gifts, or maybe you\u2019re thinking of buying\nyourself something nice for the holiday season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\nwant to buy a present for someone who is learning English, the good news is\nthat there a many, many gifts to choose from. In fact, there are so many that\nit\u2019s difficult to decide which are worth buying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s\nwhy I\u2019ve prepared this gift guide; all of the things on this list are things\nwhich I have personally used or had experience with, which are good resources\nfor someone who wants to improve their English. None of the suggestions below\nare paid advertisements, and I don\u2019t receive any money if you buy products\nusing the links below, unless you buy a lesson from me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nalways, if you have any questions or suggestions, please send me a message or\nan email or let me know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DICTIONARIES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although online dictionaries (such as Wiktionary<\/a>) are very useful and becoming better all the time, a good monolingual (English-English) dictionary is a valuable resource for a language learner and will help to improve their English much faster than translating everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to choose a dictionary which is written for learners, and is appropriate to the learner\u2019s level of English. The Cambridge Learner\u2019s Dictionary<\/a> (for B1-B2 level) and the Cambridge Advanced Learner\u2019s Dictionary<\/a> (for C1-C2 level) are good choices*. Some Learner\u2019s dictionaries, such as the Oxford Advanced Learner\u2019s Dictionary<\/a>, are also available as phone apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *If you\u2019re searching for these on Polish shopping sites such as Allegro\nor Empik, make sure that it\u2019s the English-English version, not the\nEnglish-Polish\/Polish-English Version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TEXTBOOKS<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reading, listening to, and speaking English are all important for\nimproving your skills, and can also be a lot of fun, but anyone who\u2019s serious\nabout learning English will also need to study some grammar. That\u2019s why it\u2019s\nimportant to find a good grammar textbook, and a book like this can also make a\ngood gift for your favourite English learner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I mentioned earlier<\/a>, my favourite grammar textbook, and one which I often recommend, is English Grammar in Use<\/a> by Raymond Murphy. The book has clear grammar explanations and useful practice exercises, and versions are also available for higher- or lower-level learners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To help with learning vocabulary, my number one choice would be English Vocabulary in Use <\/a>byMichael McCarthy and Felicity O\u2019Dell. As well as featuring vocabulary explanations and exercises for a wide range of useful topics, it also includes advice for learning vocabulary and what to do when you don\u2019t know the meaning of a word. This series also includes books for a range of levels from Elementary to Advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GAMES!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now we come to the fun stuff! Board games are a great way to practice English while also having a great time. Most people know Scrabble<\/a>, a game where players must make words to score points\u2013be careful with your spelling!\u2013but there are many other games which can be both entertaining and helpful depending on your level of English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taboo<\/a> is one of my favourites: players have to make their team-mates guess a word without saying any of the \u201cforbidden\u201c words. It\u2019s great for practicing describing things in English and paraphrasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scattergories<\/a> is another fun game, in which players must think of words to fit into different categories starting with the same letter. It\u2019s a fun way to practice vocabulary and trying to find the right word under pressure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n When buying a board game, just make sure that you find the English\nlanguage version, as games like Taboo have Polish versions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n COOKBOOKS<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you know someone who enjoys cooking, using English-language recipes\nis a good way for them to practice not only vocabulary for different types of\nfood and cooking techniques, but also numbers, weights and measurements.\nChoosing recipes for familiar foods will make it easier to understand and\nabsorb the language being used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With that in mind, I recommend this <\/a>cookbook<\/a>, written by a friend of mine, which includes recipes for traditional Polish dishes, written in English, with lovely pictures, descriptions and explanations of the cooking process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n STREAMING SERVICES<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watching movies and TV shows in English is a good way to practice listening and gain more familiarity with English, and thanks to services like Netflix<\/a> it\u2019s now so easy to do this. Netflix has a wide range of content, including movies and TV shows for all ages, from the USA, England, and other countries. Most programmes also offer the option of using subtitles in case some help is needed with listening. If you\u2019re searching for an easy gift idea, why not buy someone a Netflix subscription? Prices in Poland start from 34z\u0142 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GRADED READERS<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reading is an important habit for improving your\nlanguage, but reading can also be frustrating when the writer uses a lot of\nunknown language and the text is difficult or impossible to understand. One\nsolution to this problem is using graded readers. A graded reader is a book\nwhich has been chosen for a specific level of ability, and often includes other\nfeatures to help language learners to understand and enjoy the book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n