How to Improve Your English Quickly and Intensively: Combining Study Abroad and Online Learning

Many working adults and students want to “improve their English efficiently in a short time.” For those preparing for MBA admission, overseas assignments or a career change in particular, producing results in limited time is a major challenge.

However, English ability tends to plateau with self-study alone, and to gain big results from short, intensive study you need to design your learning environment carefully. One effective method is a hybrid learning style that combines “study abroad” and “online learning.”

By placing yourself in a practical environment while studying abroad, and using online learning for advance preparation and continued study after returning home, you can boost your English dramatically even in a short time. This article explains the specific methods and how to build an effective schedule.

Short-term study abroad is a very effective method for those who want to raise their English ability all at once in a short time. Even in a limited period of a few weeks to a few months, it offers the following benefits.

• **Fully immerse yourself in an English environment** By living locally, you have no choice but to use English outside of class too. Meals, shopping, transportation and everything else in daily life become learning opportunities, naturally training your listening ability and response speed.
• **Intensive speaking practice** In programs centered on one-on-one lessons, such as study in Cebu, Philippines, you can strengthen the “speaking ability” that Japanese people find difficult in a short time. Compared with group classes, the time you spend speaking is overwhelmingly longer.
• **Results come easily in a short time** Many schools have curricula built on the premise of “producing results in a short time,” and you can choose an intensive program to suit your purpose, such as TOEFL/IELTS preparation or business English.

By putting yourself in an environment where “you have no choice but to use English,” short-term study abroad makes possible a big leap that domestic study alone cannot provide.

The greatest appeal of online learning is that you can continue it regardless of time and place. Combined with short-term study abroad, it plays a role in further enhancing the learning effect.

• **Ideal for advance preparation** By using online English conversation before studying abroad to get used to basic grammar and everyday conversation, you will understand classes locally more smoothly. Going abroad with your foundation firm is efficient because you can concentrate on output locally.
• **Study while keeping costs down** Studying abroad costs money, but online learning can be continued relatively cheaply. If you use online learning before and after short-term study abroad, you can keep your total study cost down while maintaining the effect.
• **Helps maintain and strengthen English ability after study abroad** If your English environment disappears after you return home, the English ability you worked to build easily declines. If you continue online learning, you can maintain the habit of using English, and also move smoothly on to business English or specialized English.

Online learning serves as a “bridge” that brings out the full effect of study abroad and prevents a decline in English ability after returning home.

Combining short-term study abroad with online learning creates a synergy that neither provides alone. Let us look at the benefits from the following three perspectives.

• **Maximizing learning efficiency** By firming up the basics online beforehand and then concentrating on practical output while studying locally, learning efficiency rises dramatically. A major strength is that you can establish a cycle of “preparation (online) → practice (study abroad) → review (online).”
• **Results come easily even in a short time** Even if your stay abroad is as short as two weeks or one month, advance preparation through online learning and continuation after returning home make visible results easier to achieve in a short time. Making the most of limited time is especially valuable for working adults.
• **Ensures continuity of learning** Study abroad alone has the problem that “after returning home, you have fewer chances to use English,” but combining it with online learning solves that problem. By continuing to use English after returning home, you can further build on the skills you acquired.

To achieve results through short, intensive study, a study plan that is aware of three phases (**before, during and after study abroad**) is effective.

1. Before Study Abroad (1 to 2 months)

• **Use online learning** Get used to conversation with 25 to 50 minutes of online English conversation every day Review junior-high and high-school level grammar and basic vocabulary
• **Clarify your purpose** Decide in advance whether it is raising your TOEFL/IELTS score, strengthening everyday conversation, or business English

Ideally, finish the groundwork for putting “usable English” into practice during study abroad here.

2. During Study Abroad (2 to 8 weeks)

• **Concentrated output in one-on-one lessons** Through 5 to 7 lesson periods a day, thoroughly strengthen speaking and listening
• **Make all of your life English** Try meals, shopping and getting around in English too
• **Set weekly goals** Set concrete targets such as “this week I will speak for 10 minutes in a presentation” or “I will speak up actively in discussions”

The most important learning point during study abroad is to “keep using English without fearing mistakes.”

3. After Study Abroad (from 3 months)

• **Review and develop through online learning** Repeatedly practice the expressions you learned during study abroad Shift to new areas such as business English or specialized English
• **Secure places to practice** Participate in meetings and study groups held in English Continue listening to overseas news and podcasts

If you keep up your studies after returning home, you can “keep building” the ability you gained in short-term study abroad.

To improve your English in a short, intensive period, it is effective to combine “study abroad” and “online learning” well.

• Firm up the basics through online learning before study abroad
• During study abroad, maximize output in an English-immersion environment
• After study abroad, continue and develop further through online learning

By creating this three-part flow, you can boost your English dramatically even in a limited time. For those with concrete goals such as MBA preparation or an overseas assignment in particular, it can be called the best learning method for achieving both efficiency and results.