Books, podcasts and an app: our tips for practising your English all summer long

Three weeks without a word of English is enough for some of your newly acquired vocabulary to start fading. Not because it was poorly learnt, but because it hasn’t been used. The good news is that it doesn’t take much to reverse this: a few regular minutes count for more than one long, intensive session.

Here’s how to keep occupied over the summer without it feeling like a chore: books, podcasts, and a few simple habits to help you improve without even thinking about it.

Reading, without it feeling like homework

The right English novel isn’t the one that teaches you the most words — it’s the one you actually want to finish. A few suggestions, from the most accessible to the most challenging:

• The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum. Dorothy and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado to the land of Oz, where they follow a yellow brick road in search of a wizard who can take them home. The prose is simple and well-paced, originally written for young English-speaking readers — the ideal starting point for getting back into reading without losing heart.
• Animal Farm, George Orwell. On an English farm, the animals drive out their farmer and attempt to run things themselves, before a group of pigs gradually seizes power. A short political fable, written in deliberately plain English, readable in a few evenings.
• The Lost World, Arthur Conan Doyle. Professor Challenger returns from the Amazon claiming to have discovered an isolated plateau where prehistoric creatures have survived, and sets off again with an expedition to prove it. A fast-paced adventure novel, driven by dialogue and action rather than complex description.
• The Giver, Lois Lowry. Jonas grows up in a community where pain, colour and free will have been removed in the name of harmony, until he is entrusted with the memory of everything others have forgotten. A classic of English-language young adult literature, with short, direct sentences, widely used in English language learning.
• Short stories in English, a short story collection. The short format means you can finish an entire story in one sitting, without having to remember a complex plot from one day to the next. Ideal for sampling different writing styles and finding one that makes you want to read on.
• The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Nick Carraway moves in next door to Jay Gatsby, a mysterious self-made millionaire who throws lavish parties in hopes of winning back a lost love. The most celebrated portrait of 1920s America, written in polished but accessible English.
• A Line to Kill, Anthony Horowitz. The author, cast as a character in his own novel, investigates a murder alongside detective Hawthorne at a literary festival on a small Channel Island. A contemporary crime story, driven by sharp dialogue and everyday English.
• The Midnight Library, Matt Haig. Caught between life and death, Nora Seed discovers an infinite library where each book lets her try out a different life — the one she would have had if she’d made different choices. A contemporary novel in fluid, modern English, with a story that keeps you turning the pages.
• The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood. In a totalitarian society that has abolished women’s rights, Offred narrates her life from the inside, reduced to a single function. Denser prose and more demanding content — suited to upper-intermediate to advanced level.

For more advanced readers: 1984, George Orwell. Winston Smith works for a regime that rewrites history and monitors the very thoughts of its citizens, and begins to have secret doubts. More demanding political and philosophical vocabulary — this is the novel that gave its name to a whole set of terms (Big Brother, Newspeak) still in use today.

Listening, in English, without starting from scratch

An English podcast is English you can listen to on a commute, a run, or while doing something repetitive — no dedicated slot needed in your diary. A few recommendations across a range of styles:

• Diary of a CEO, hosted by British entrepreneur Steven Bartlett. Long, in-depth interviews with guests from the worlds of business, health and psychology, in a conversational rather than structured interview format. Good listening practice for spontaneous, natural English, with time to get used to a single voice per episode.
• Business Wars, produced by Wondery. Each series tells the story of the rivalry between two giants in the same industry (Nike vs Adidas, Netflix vs Blockbuster, for example) in a narrative format. Closer to an audio documentary, with business vocabulary always placed in context by the story.
• High Low with EmRata, hosted by model and actress Emily Ratajkowski. A weekly conversation on culture and society, in a spontaneous, conversational register — closer to spoken everyday English than to written English.
• Anything Goes, hosted by Emma Chamberlain. A solo format in which she reflects on her week and current thoughts in a very casual tone. Lots of informal expressions and spoken-word phrases — useful for getting used to English as it’s really spoken among friends.
• On Purpose with Jay Shetty, hosted by Jay Shetty. Structured interviews centred on personal development and the search for meaning, with guests from a wide range of backgrounds. Clear, measured English — easier to follow than free-form conversation formats.
• Unexplainable, produced by Vox. Each episode starts with a scientific mystery or an unanswered question, and explores how far current knowledge can take us. Clear, well-structured explanatory English, with two new episodes every week.
• How to Be a Better Human, produced by TED. Short, practical episodes, each focused on a small behavioural change in everyday life, with an expert guest on the topic. Designed to be clear and accessible, in the spirit of TED talks.

Making progress without pressure: four simple habits

• Choose a book you actually want to keep reading, rather than one you’ve picked ‘to learn English’.
• Don’t look up every word you don’t know. If you understand around 80% of the text, keep reading.
• Set yourself a realistic objective — for example, 10 to 15 minutes a day or a chapter each evening.
• If you have an e-reader, turn on the built-in dictionary so you can look up a word with a single tap, without breaking your flow.

Practise to improve: the 7Speaking app

Because we always learn on our own, but never without others. A novel, a podcast, a few minutes of practice — think of them as companions along the way, there to make sure that going back in September doesn’t mean starting from scratch.