You can learn a great deal about how to speak the English language by taking an audio English course. Such courses are free online and allow you to study at your own pace and at home. You do need to have an Internet connection as well as the Macromedia Flash Player installed on your computer. If you don't have this player installed, you can download it free through the site you use for learning English online.

The basic courses in English through an audio course start off with simple topics such as making introductions and formal and informal greetings. These topics prepare you for what you should say when you first meet an English speaking person. It will also take you through topics such as how to pronounce names, how to have a conversation about your family, your occupation and your favourite things to do.

In each part of an audio course, you listen to a conversation. You also have the option of reading the script of the passage on the computer screen. This is advisable when you first start so that you can read along with the speaker. Since the speaker s native tongue is English you do get the correct pronunciation of the words. There is a difference in the ways the words are pronounced in Britain and in the US, so you can look for the correct audio course for the country that you intend to visit or work in so that you do learn how to pronounce the words according to the customs of the country, but this is not a necessity.

After you listen to the passage, which you can do as many times as you wish, then the exercises on that passage consist of multiple choice questions designed to tell you how well you understood the passage. These include such questions as where the speakers are when they speak and what responses they give to certain questions. After you finish the exercises, you can receive immediate feedback in the form of a grade.

It is quite common to make mistakes in answering the questions at any time during the audio course and you should accept this as a normal part of learning. Think back to your own school days when you were learning your own language. It is highly unlikely that you got all the answers correct every time and the same thing applies to learning English.

Once you feel comfortable that you understand the concept of each lesson in the audio course, you can move on to the next one. However, there is another way in which you can learn from taking such a course online. You can use it to improve your own pronunciation of English words. You may be able to recognize them when you hear them and understand what they mean, but are you able to read the passage so that you can be understood as well? You should try reading the passages on the screen, record yourself while doing so and then listen to your own speech to compare it with that of the native speaker in the course. This will tell you how well you are progressing in this area.