This week I’m in New Zealand, checking out some of the language schools here. They are really quite good and the students certainly improve their English.

But do you really have to travel overseas to get really good at English?

Well, if you asked me 15 years ago I would have said “Yes!”  To learn English well you need to hear it, listen to it, speak it and really live it.  And to get a great accent, it all has to come from native speakers.  15 years ago we had no option. We had to travel overseas to get this experience.

But today everything has changed.  We carry around in our pockets dictionaries that contain every word ever written, we have pronunciations for every phrase we can think of, we have videos of every movie or TV show ever created and we can video chat with people at the other side of the world virtually for free.  If you add in all the great software and computer learning packages around, you really don’t have to leave home if you don’t want.

Of course it’s better to learn overseas if you can. But before you invest all that extra money on the big trip overseas, really get the most out of your time back home using all the technology you can. Set yourself weekly goals, and set aside 50 minute blocks where you’ll just do language work.  Set time for reading, listening and speaking (via skype or social media.)  Plus of course listen to your favorite songs and movies in English whenever you can.

I promise you, the more you learn now, the more you’ll get out of your big trip!

Author’s Bio:  Richard Graham is the CEO of GenkiEnglish.com He is constantly learning new languages, speaks 3 of them fluently and has lectured on language learning throughout the world.  You can find out more at: http://GenkiEnglish.com