5 Apps to MAKE NEW FRIENDS and PRACTICE Your English

As language learners, we often ask ourselves questions like,

What more can I do?

Because it often feels like there's always something else you need to do.

Pay for another course, pay a new tutor, buy

a subscription to something, buy new textbooks.

It always feels like there's more we have to give more time we have to spend.

And it always feels like it's such a chore.

And something that I've personally found to be true when it comes

to this aspect of connecting or finding speaking partners

or even making friends in the language that you're learning is that social

media can be one of the best tools to achieve this.

So today I'm going to show you how you can use these five social apps

to not only advance your English, but also advance your social life.

So if you're ready to make English a fun, natural part of your life,

be sure to smash that like

and subscribe button so you never miss out on any of our new lessons.

So the first benefit we're going to look at today

is that Twitter can help you stay updated, informed and connected to the world.

What I mean by this is that whether you're interested in politics, news,

celebrities, or even just knowing what's happening in your local community,

Twitter can help with that.

In fact, here in South Africa, we are currently experiencing

power outages on quite a regular basis.

So I personally mainly use my Twitter account

for following our local government

so that I'm able to stay updated on when those power outages will occur

or in fact, to stay up to date on anything happening in my community.

So in case you didn't know this, when you include a hashtag in your tweet,

it becomes linked to all other tweets that include that hashtag.

So one hashtag I like to follow is #Ctinfo,

which is the hashtag of my local community.

So this Twitter hashtag allows me to stay updated

and connected with members of my community.

And you can do the same depending on your interests.

So whether you're writing your own tweets or responding

to what someone else has said, be sure to include

a hashtag as this will add context to what you're saying.

And also allows other people who have similar interests abuses you

to find your tweet easily and also to follow you.

The next benefit of using Twitter is that it can help

you build your confidence and even your sense of humor.

From standup comics to celebrity meltdowns and gossip to funny pictures and videos.

Twitter has something for everyone sense of humor,

and it might just keep you busy for hours.

But what I've seen over and over again in my years on Twitter is how people

actually become funnier themselves if they're willing to risk it.

Twitter can help develop your sense of humor.

So one way to do this is to create a fictional account.

Now, obviously, the intention for this wouldn't be to create any trouble.

It would be to express your humorous thoughts or your ideas

without being shy or feeling self-conscious about what you're saying.

Several people I know who have done this have mentioned how easy it is for them

to actually express themselves in English and to actually share

their thoughts and opinions without feeling self-conscious.

And this also allows them to easily connect with other people,

to comment and reply

without thinking about, you know, what will people say when they read this?

What will people think of me?

So the fourth benefit of using Twitter is that it really helps

you learn new vocabulary.

Since you're only limited to 280 characters on Twitter,

it is a great way to practice using more concise,

abbreviated ways of communicating and expressing your thoughts and ideas.

This is also a great opportunity to learn the vocabulary

and expressions that people are currently using online

All right, so now

we're going to look at apps that are perfect for speaking practice.

And the best recommendation that I have for you, without a doubt,

is the RealLife English app, which allows you

to practice with speaking partners from around the world.

A similar but different option is to try using language exchange apps like Tandem,

which I've personally used to learn Portuguese,

and I'm happy to say that I made tons of friends from around the world

and even recently got to meet one of them, and I stay in touch with them

quite regularly.

So I know that it is definitely more than just

speaking practice learning for the sake of learning.

You really can make strong connections

through using these apps to practice your English.

So one of the main benefits of these apps is making friends and socializing.

So in addition to speaking to them in a language that you want to learn,

you will also have the opportunity to not only broaden your social circle,

but also broaden your understanding of the world.

I remember when I was in Brazil recently and every opportunity

that I had to use Portuguese, I would freeze.

I wouldn't know what to say, even though I had the vocabulary

on the tip of my tongue and I wasn't able to speak.

However, speaking apps and language changes is such a huge help

when it comes to this because when everyone has to speaking the language

other than their mother tongue, you sort of lose that charm.

It becomes a lot easier to feel comfortable and to really be at ease

with making mistakes and just simply speaking and communicating.

One of the absolute best things about a real English app

is that you have access to real life conversations with our podcasts,

where we talk about how to best learn English movies, culture, and so much more.

Plus, you have access to new transcripts

and flashcards every single week.

You never again have to feel like a lost and insecure English learner.

So don't waste any time.

Download it right now by clicking up here or down in the description below,

or simply search for real life in your favorite app store

the next

social app we're going to be looking at is Discord.

And while there are tons of apps out there

for video voice and text messaging, Discord

is currently one of the most popular ones you'll find.

So in my case, I use this code for learning French.

I have been studying French

for just a very short while, and I'm part of a discord group

where we share information about the course and what we've learned.

So I'm pretty new to this course.

I am going to share four ways you can use this code to improve your English.

So thanks to the many different ways you can use this code,

as I mentioned, you know, voice video

you can even watch movies or videos together with a group of people,

and you can have a larger group of people than other social media platforms.

Like WhatsApp.

So you can really connect with

large groups like a class or a group of people who have

similar interests, whether it's gaming, cooking, knitting.

You can connect with that larger group and share information, share ideas.

And like I said, even watch a movie together.

Well, you can start your own server or your own community of English learners

or your own community of soccer fans or anything you're interested in.

If you want to create your own server.

You can click on this option right here

at Server, Create My Own,

and you can use one of the templates over here.

Maybe you just want to have a community or a server of friends.

So let's say we want to create a community of friends

for me and my friends or for a club or community.

So let's say I want to create a private one.

At the moment it's only me in there.

And now I would need to invite my friends and personalize my server with an icon.

So this could also be a public one.

So you could have a server where you're inviting other people,

other language learners like yourself to join and practice with you.

And basically you could practice using this code

to improve your English together.

So the next benefit is that if you don't have

any idea where to start, you don't want to create your own server.

You don't want to be left alone in a group like me.

Then I suggest you explore public servers.

So if you click over here

you can find tons of servers about different topics to make it easier.

You could, of course, just

use the Discover

section over here to find what it is that you're looking for.

Gaming, music, education, science and tech entertainment or student hubs.

So you can find public servers that focus on a variety of different topics,

such as anime, cryptocurrency, self-improvement,

or even just making friends and hanging out.

Before you continue watching, why not pause the video

and let us know down in the comments?

Have you used any of the social apps mentioned in today's lesson,

and have you made any new friends or speaking partners?

Share your experience with us.

We'd love to hear from you.

Or you on Facebook.

I am, and I dare to say, but it is not my favorite app.

I guess the days of mindlessly scrolling for hours,

checking on friends and trying to connect with old acquaintances is over

Having said this, the one thing

I do want to recommend to you today is closed Facebook groups.

I absolutely love them and I think you will too.

So the first benefit of Facebook groups that I'd like to talk about today

is that you become part of a community.

And what I mean by this is that you're basically surrounded by like minded people

who share the same or similar goals as you do.

Of course, if your goal is to learn English,

then you might want to join a group where you'll find

other learners or teachers who share information or tips.

And these group members become sort of like a support group.

So here are a couple of groups that I've joined.

This is a group where people share positive things about South Africa.

And here's a group where people talk about scams

that they've experienced, that they've encountered, that they've heard

about that's currently taking place around the country.

And it's really amazing because you'll find that

when you're part of these closed groups, it's really like a support group.

You really have a community of people who share that same interest

and who share that passion or love for whatever kind of group you're joining.

The second benefit is that you have a new forum

You may think that you've read everything there is to know about a particular topic

and still feel like you're not advancing or getting any better at it.

You might have questions well, Facebook groups are a great place

to ask questions, seek advice and get recommendations.

You'd be pretty surprised at how willing people are to help

if you actually take that leap and ask a question.

One of the Facebook groups that I follow is for English learners and I often

see people posting about their goals and whether or not they've achieved them.

And it's incredible because whether or not you succeed or fail,

you have a group of people who are there for you.

So, of course, the best benefit for using these types of Facebook groups

is that it improves your language learning tremendously

You're communicating in English all the time.

You're learning new things, you're sharing ideas, you're asking questions.

So not only are you improving

your English skills, but you're connecting with others.

You're probably making tons of friends and you're learning so much

the next

social app we're going to be looking at is LinkedIn.

And you might already know that it's emailing for jobseekers

and career development, but we're going to focus on right now

is how perfect it is when it comes to networking

which means like finding the right people, finding amazing people around the world

related to your industry or unrelated to your industry.

And this is perfect

for sort of building those connections or building those bridges.

And these could be people who add value either to your personal life

or your professional life.

So basically, when you like something, someone's sharing

and you know, I've seen her posts many times

and I really like what she's about, I think she's inspiring.

My other connections, this is one of my connections, usually shares her posts.

And I'm thinking, Wow.

Arianna Huffington is so inspiring.

I should also be following her.

Now, before I click follow, I just want to make a very important point

about LinkedIn.

Now, most people on LinkedIn tend to play it quite safe

when it comes to adding or following strangers.

So what they tend to do is they tend to only connect with people

who are in their industry or people that they have already met in some capacity.

Well, sites like Twitter open the advocate for you to add strangers on LinkedIn.

It's a little different.

LinkedIn uses a little bit more hesitant of doing this.

And I think this has some pros and cons I would say, in my opinion.

Go ahead, follow.

What's the worst that can happen?

That person would probably appreciate the follow

So basically loosening up on the definition of connection

or friendship can have some serious benefits for you, especially on LinkedIn.

Because while it's easy to lose a business

card, a connection on LinkedIn will always be there.

And, you know, sometime in the future, you might be thinking

about changing your career or you might be needing some advice.

And you'll always have a connection.

You always have that person that you can message.

And although it's not guaranteed that they will respond,

it's much better than not having that connection at all.

Right.

So another great

benefit of LinkedIn is that it helps you to establish yourself professionally.

So by connecting with the right people and sharing insightful articles,

you can show your connections or you can show others

that you are knowledgeable and active within your profession.

So something else you can do to draw attention to your profile

and to really add to your professional side is to check out

the available courses that LinkedIn has to offer.

So these courses are related to what you've stated on your profile.

So this is your skill set, your work experience,

and also things that might help you advance in your career.

And now my favorite benefit of LinkedIn, which is that it's so easy to find

informative and helpful posts.

While other social media focus on people's personal lives

LinkedIn is all about professional, so LinkedIn offers

motivational and educational articles as well as business

news on various professional topics.

And the best part is that you can learn a ton with some brief daily scrolling.

So that's it for today's lesson.

But if you would like to learn essential vocabulary and expressions

to use around the office, why not check out this lesson next

and since I meet my team online, this meeting.

Room is used for filming.

I use it for filming my learn English TV and English lessons.

But for.

Most people it is common to use the space

to get together with a small team and basically.

Use the facilities here, such as the desk,

the whiteboard and the markers over there.

Brainstorm form ideas, or to just have a chat

about different topics or issues that they are currently facing.