Few residents of the United States speak academic English in all situations every day. Most of us regularly speak an informal variety: We speak in sentence fragments, we use slang, and we use regional forms. However, we should use academic English when we want to reach broader audiences—particularly in college or business settings.

As you aim to improve your performance in academic English, you might need to broaden your range of strategies. You might try a number of reading or listening activities, for example, or make an effort to practice with more grammar exercises. You may decide to consult a dictionary or a thesaurus more regularly or to keep a vocabulary notebook. Such strategies provide practice that can help you gain familiarity with academic English.