Easy learning English. The best methods for learning English

If you decide to learn English on your own at home, you will certainly refer not only to textbooks, but also to learning sites, language social networks, programs, applications for mobile devices. In this review, I will talk about the most, in my opinion, interesting and useful learning sites and programs in English.

The article consists of two parts. In the first I will talk about the benefits of learning programs in learning English, the second is the actual overview. I remind you that the site has a whole dedicated to reviews of useful online services for learning in English. This section gives detailed reviews and this review is a summary.

What is the use of educational sites and programs?

Educational websites and programs good helpers in language learning, especially if you study at home, on your own. They help not only to study the theory, to consolidate knowledge in exercises, but also to practice in speech activity. In other words, they can be used to work on all elements of the language formula.

Language Formula

To speak English, that is, to understand text and speech, to be able to express yourself in writing and orally, you need not so much:

Fairly large vocabulary
Knowledge of grammar, the ability to apply it in speech,
Practice in four types of speech activity: reading, listening (listening), speaking and writing.

Lexicon

Words can be learned separately, for example with the help of flashcards, or in the process of reading/listening. For purposeful memorization of words, there are specialized resources (both multilingual):

Reading

If you want to study English, but absolutely do not want to read anything in English, I have bad news for you: reading is an invaluable source of knowledge. Reading is the best way to enrich vocabulary.

For reading, it is not necessary to look for educational programs, you can just read books in the original or English-language sites. But there are resources designed specifically for reading in order to learn the language.

Letter

In most cases, the ability to write well and competently in English is not a priority for language learners. As a rule, first of all, they strive to understand and speak. But writing practice is very useful for replenishing vocabulary, improving grammar, increasing the general level of literacy, and the correct use of the English language.

Correspondence helps a lot. It is not a text chat, but correspondence in long, thoughtful letters. Chat is essentially oral-written speech, that is, actually written, but oral in content and construction.

Speaking practice

"Do you speak english?" we ask, wanting to know if the interlocutor speaks English. We don't ask "Do you read English?" or “Do you understand English?”, the measure of language proficiency is primarily the ability to communicate orally. Without speaking practice You can't learn to talk, just like you can't learn to ride a bike without pedaling. No matter how much you read or listen, conversational skills are developed only speaking practice. Provided, of course, if you have “what” to say, that is, there is enough vocabulary and you can put words into sentences.

On italki you can find both teachers and those who simply want to practice.

Here are two interesting sites where you can practice speaking.

Gospeaky.com - as mentioned above, social network Gospeaky is designed for writing and organizing practice. All functionality is free. Find a native speaker and talk! The only problem is that native speakers can be very difficult to find - they are in great demand.
— search service for online tutors. One of the largest language sites in the world, here you can find native speakers of not only English, but many others. For a very modest price, you can find a tutor who will not only speak English with you, but will also purposefully work on your conversational skills and teach you how to speak. The method is more effective than practice with a random interlocutor, but, of course, paid. Italki also has a section where you can find people who just want to chat and practice for free.

Attention! Especially for readers of the site, the italki language service offers the “Second lesson as a gift!” promotion. Read the details in.

Conclusion

IN recent years ten to twenty self-study of English has become more accessible and easier than ever in history. We have absolutely all the conditions: textbooks, dictionaries, online dictionaries, a huge amount of audio materials, films, books in English, educational programs for children and adults. We can video call for free with people living in other countries. There are more opportunities for language learning than you can use.

It remains only to practice regularly and conscientiously - and success will not keep you waiting!

Having firmly decided to study English on your own, you will definitely face the problem of choosing an effective method, of which there are a great many. Which method you choose is up to you.

What to focus on when choosing?

First, your level of language proficiency
Secondly, on personal financial and temporary opportunities
Thirdly, based on your own intuitive desire

Dragunkin method

Dragunkin's Methodology Alexander Dragunkin explains the basics of English intelligibly and intelligibly. great for quick learning and memorization. The grammar is simplified as much as possible, the rules are facilitated. There are courses for both beginners and advanced.

Dragunkin has a completely different approach to learning, his own terminology, his own laws, his own vocabulary. He even redid the grammatical rules, systematized the exceptions, and solved the problems of using articles and irregular verbs. Dragunkin singled out new classes and groups of words, combining them according to common features; revealed the relationship between them. The presentation of the material follows a chain, from simple to complex, one follows from the other in a strict logical sequence.

Teaching English is based on the native language. Due to all these factors, the training time is reduced several times, and the perception of educational material is noticeably facilitated. The technique is aimed at quickly achieving results. The purpose of the program is not to teach, but to teach.

Pimsleur technique

The Pimsleur Method American Spoken English will help you master the Pimsleur English for Russian Speakers audio course. See article. Also, the Pimsler technique helps to learn how to read correctly. Our site has all the audio lessons of conversational American, as well as lessons on reading.

The Pimsler Method is the only form of foreign language learning that includes a unique, patented memory training method. The course consists of thematic dialogues with detailed explanations and translation. Phrases are voiced by a native speaker.

The students listen to the recording and repeat the phrases after the speaker. Then the next speech turnover is voiced and its meaning is explained. The student repeats it again many times, then he needs to repeat the previous phrases, at the same time, inserting words from the new expression into it. New words are introduced, and old expressions are proposed to be repeated after a certain, constantly increasing, time interval.

A very interesting, and most importantly working, system of 30 audio lessons for half an hour. The course was created specifically for Russian speakers who want to know the speech of US residents. No textbooks, just listen and repeat. And soon you will be able to easily carry on a conversation with a real American.

Schechter method

This is a completely new emotional and semantic approach, stating that the development of a foreign language should be similar to the study of native speech. This method refers to direct gaming interactive methods of active learning. Politicians, cosmonauts, famous people studied using this method. Even Western private linguistic schools have paid attention to Schechter's method.

His methodology is based on a student-centered approach, where it is important to pay attention not to what to do with English, but what to do with a person in order to facilitate the learning process. A positive atmosphere, goodwill, learning without fatigue and stress are the main and mandatory components of each lesson.

The purpose of each individual lesson and training as a whole is to encourage the student to express his opinion in his own words, and not to reproduce memorized patterns and phrases from textbooks. Therefore, lectures are organized in the form of active participation of a person in the changing events of business and city life.

Also great importance has speech correction and grammar, which students study in the higher cycles of the course. This technology is also used to memorize new material without memorization and rote repetition.

The BERLITZ Method of Learning English Another popular method is the BERLITZ method, which has been used by polyglots for over 200 years. It is based on the study of a foreign language abroad. Over 400 language schools BERLITZ is present all over the world. You can choose between group lessons and individual lessons. Read the article How to study English abroad.

This method requires a strict adherence to the basic principles:

First you need to learn to speak, and then master the skills of reading and writing
Grammar and vocabulary should be studied in the course of natural entertaining conversation, in a conversational context
Only native speakers should teach the language
The student must take an active part in the learning process.
Native speech is not used at all, excluded from teaching
The concept of translation is also excluded

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone Method of Learning English One of the best is also recognized as the Rosetta Stone method - a convenient program for those who are going to emigrate. Learning a language from scratch. The user follows the same path as when learning their native language: words and images, pronunciation, grammar and syntax. The level of difficulty increases gradually.

The flash method allows you to learn English the same way you learned your native language from infancy - without rules. Mastering English occurs through repeated repetition, immersion in the language environment, the formation of associations. This program teaches you to automatically perceive and reproduce the most common conversational constructions.

The course completely lacks translation, instead of it there is an associative series. Vocabulary, syntax and grammar are acquired during the simulation of various life situations. The main focus is on visual memory. As an addition, I advise you to read a lot on your own

The non-transfer method means:

No rules and translation
Words are given immediately in context
Memorization is achieved through numerous repetitions

An excellent program for those who want to learn the basics of the language on their own, without going too deep into details. Pictures make the technique interesting, and the study is stress-free.

Lex!

Program Lex! - a well-known way of enriching the vocabulary. Sitting at the computer, the user memorizes words, phrases, speech turns that periodically appear on the screen. It supports the ability to delete and add vocabulary, edit it, change learning intensity levels and time parameters. The features of human memory, attention and perception are taken into account.

The user can set and separately configure various translation modes: direct, reverse, written translation, their random alternation. The student independently determines the number of correct translations, which is an indicator that the word has been learned. Lex! – is accompanied by a detailed guide that will allow you to quickly find answers to all your questions.

Muller method

Stanislav Müller's technique lies in the harmonious interaction of conscious and subconscious thinking. To improve learning and memory, the latest developments of Russian and Western science are used - superlearning and holographic memory:

Overlearning - helps to master any skills several times faster. At the same time, fatigue is much less and maintains a high level of performance.
Holographic memory - helps to systematize life experience, increases memory capabilities, allows you to restore the ability to master the language

During the passage, exercises are performed to improve the imagination, which contributes to the memorization of lexical material. The course solves the problems of understanding spoken language, free reading, writing and speaking.

Frank method

I advise the method of Ilya Frank, which is based on learning English through reading special texts. With constant reading in this way throughout the year, one can learn to speak fluently, thanks to the special arrangement of the original text and translation. At the same time, the memorization of words and phrases does not occur due to cramming, but due to their constant repetition in the text.

All the same non-transferable method. In the books of Ilya Frank, the text is not divided into several passages - an adapted passage with a literal translation and lexical and grammatical commentary, then the same text, but without prompts. You are just reading a book, and at the same time learning a language.

The manager wrote up the sales slip (the manager filled out the form with the price). The crook looked at the slip and said, "This is a little more than I intended to spend." Can you show me something less expensive? (Could you show me something less expensive).”
The manager agreed and wrote up the sales slip. The crook looked at the slip and said, “This is a little more than I intended to spend. Can you show me something less expensive?”

The meaning of the unadapted text is that the reader, albeit for a short time, "floats without a board." After reading an unadapted paragraph, you can move on to the next adapted one. No need to go back and repeat. Just read the following text.

Gunnemark technique

You can try Eric Gunnemark's technique. The Swedish polyglot recommends that you start learning a language by mastering the active minimum of words and grammar rules. Why did he create a list of "speech stamps", which, in his opinion, must be memorized by yourself. Gunnemark called these collections "Minilex", "Miniphraz" and "Minigram". All material is illustrated and voiced by native speakers. The course is recommended for beginners. The Gunnemark Method These "mini-collections" should not be neglected, because they provide a guideline on what to focus on from the very beginning. Mastering the "mini-repertoire" will give the beginner self-confidence. The lists included in this collection are built in such a way that the student masters the most necessary independently. After all, when you have well-learned material and basic knowledge behind you, you inevitably begin to feel much more confident in any situation.

For Gunnemark, all training is subject to the following principles:

Particular attention - "central words", that is, those words that most often "fly off the tongue"
You need to learn not individual words, but whole expressions. You don't have to learn everything. For each typical situation, remember 1-2 expressions, but “by heart”
It is better to learn one word perfectly than several words, but badly. Synonyms are not needed. Learn the main word
Learned expressions try to use as often as possible
As soon as possible, you need to learn the basics of good correct pronunciation
Master necessary minimum grammar
The most useful thing is reading

The linguist considers labor, time, teachers and material to be external factors of successful study. That is, how quickly you will advance in learning depends directly on your ability to organize your work and time, on the chosen methodology and teacher.

As you can see, there are many ways and they are all different. Which one is better is up to you. But having studied their basic principles, one can come to the conclusion that the main thing is communication and reading. Which I join.

Do you know any other interesting techniques? Tell us about them in the comments. I wish you success and sustainable results!

For everyone who is tired of monotonous cramming and incomprehensible grammar tasks, the AIN portal has collected sites for learning English. All of them are free, targeted at different users and built in different formats. We hope you find something for yourself.

Duolingo is one of the most popular services for learning foreign languages from scratch. The project is supported financially by Google Capital, Ashton Kutcher and other good investors. The program is built in the form of a "tree of achievements": in order to move to a new level, you must first score a certain number of points that are given for correct answers. There are apps for iOS and Android.

2. LearnEnglish - materials for learning English are collected here in different formats: lessons, games, chatting, etc. The site is available in English.

3. Situational English - offers to learn English through situations. The site contains about 150 articles, which, depending on the context, offer ready-made expressions and reactions. The materials are available in Russian.

4. Real-english.com - site with lessons, articles and videos. Also available in Russian.

5. Eslpod.com - Users are encouraged to work with podcasts, all available on iTunes for free. It is also possible to work with printouts of podcasts and dictionaries.

6. Learn American English online - all material is divided into levels and highlighted in a certain color for convenience. And teacher Paul explains grammar in video format.

7. Learnathome is a Russian service, convenient in that a lesson plan is formed for the student every day, which can be completed in 30 minutes. Before starting, the user is advised to take a quick test that will determine the level of knowledge of the language. If the test is skipped, the service will install the program for the elementary level.

8. Edu-station - a Russian-language site where you can not only watch video lectures, work with notes and books, but also with an interactive dictionary. There is paid content.

9. Ororo.tv is a service for learning English while watching movies and popular TV shows. The video player has a built-in translator, in which you need to select the Russian language.

10. Film-english - a language learning site with the help of short films was created by English teacher Kieran Donahue - the winner of a number of prestigious educational awards in the UK.

11. TuneintoEnglish - the site offers to learn English through music. Here you can write down lyrics from dictation, sing karaoke, find exercises for the lyrics and guess which song it is about from the diagrams.

12. FreeRice - English vocabulary trainer with grammar exercises and tests. The service is supported by the United Nations World Food Program, so the lessons are built like a game - for every correct answer you get some rice to feed the hungry.

13. Memrise - the site is available in English. During the training, the user is offered to choose a meme for better memorization of the word or create their own associative image. Then you need to perform exercises to choose the correct answer and the perception of the word by ear. The service is also available for iOS and Android.

14. Myspelling is a useful site for those who want to improve their spelling in English. The user is prompted to listen to the word, then write it.

15. ManyThings - the site is aimed at those who are preparing for tests or exams in English. There are sections for practicing pronunciation (American, English), idioms, slang and more.

16. ExamEnglish is suitable for those preparing for the international English exam (IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, etc.).

17. Babeleo - here you can read books in the original with professional translation before your eyes. The books are available for review free of charge, however, in order to gain access to full versions you need to subscribe.

18. Begin-English - English for beginners. A large selection of various educational materials collected by students and graduate students of Moscow State University during volunteer ambushes.

19.List-English - a selection and classification of materials for learning English: online dictionaries, schools, forums, translators, tutors, tests, school textbooks, video courses, games, YouTube channels, podcasts and much more. New users are encouraged to download a 10-step plan that will make learning easier for them.

20. Englishtips.org - All English textbooks are collected here and available to download or read online.

Learning English at home is getting easier every year. How could we have imagined ten or fifteen years ago that it would be possible to learn English via the Internet without leaving home?

Learning English at home - pros and cons

Of course, self-study of English, as well as any other, has undoubted advantages in the form of low costs:

No need to pay a teacher
No need to spend money on the road (rarely does anyone agree to teach right at your home)
No need to buy the course itself

But like any other thing, studying at home has its drawbacks :

At home, there are many possible distractions
Difficulty motivating yourself to exercise regularly
Difficulty self-assessing your current level of preparation

Many people give up self-education without achieving the desired result. And often for a reason disappointment in one's own skills. It seems to them that after two or three months of classes they will make significant progress and become almost fluent in a foreign language.

What you need to have for classes

But learning English at home requires a certain working atmosphere at home.

To help you get maximum benefit from your self-study, we decided to provide you with a few important tips on how to create a good working environment for self-study. Create, so to speak, a working environment.

Well, first of all, in order to master the English language and communicate freely in it, you must: patience, perseverance, time, slight cash, and honest self-assessment in their skill level.

text dictionary
desirable
grammar book
desirable grammar in tables
texts in English with and without translations ( or )
, with English subtitles disabled
in English, preferably with a text version of the book.

Everything that is listed above, we try to pick up on our website. Here you can listen and watch it on the site for free. You can also download it to your computer. Also, we note, it is completely free and without any registration or hidden payment.

All difficulties basically, this is exactly what applies to patience, perseverance and the organization of one's own time. Learning English at home is very difficult if you do not understand the features.

And at the same time - it's easy, if you understand some important points and properly organized.

Not just many people talk about it, but almost everyone. And this is really important.

If there is no motivation, then very soon you will get tired of it. Of course, not everyone goes abroad or gets a job in a foreign company. Nevertheless, motivation can always be found, if necessary, to come up with.

It's good if you have a hobby. Then try to find people abroad for the same hobby, on any forums or sites. The desire to communicate on a topic that is interesting to you and them and at the same time not look like a complete sucker is a good motivation to learn a foreign language.

Or find in your city where people who learn English on their own meet. To search for such places, there are also special resources such as www.meetup.com. By the way, not all meetings there take place in some city or place. There are online meetings. There is a wide choice, including by interests.

At these meetings, there are often native speakers, which will make your communication with them even more beneficial for you in terms of mastering the real spoken language.

Preparing for such meetings will make you more motivated to study on your own.

Make sure you're comfortable, but not so much that you can't concentrate on your studies. If reading a book on the couch makes you nod off, then you are more likely to fall asleep over your laptop.

So get off the couch. The perfect place there will be a chair or armchair in front of a computer or laptop. If you are working with a tablet, you should also not sit comfortably in a chair, put the tablet on a stand on the table and do not hold it in your hands.

The main convenience in studying is that you have everything you need at your fingertips. So that you are not distracted by a long search for the material you need.

Remember that there are no results in anything if you do not do it regularly and diversified. In order to master foreign language, is not enough if you only learn grammar or new words.

Your classes should be versatile. And it is desirable to prescribe your own schedule for at least the next two to three months. And then you can adjust it and make it for a longer period.

But most importantly, if you want to learn English at home, then language classes should be daily. It's like in sports. If you want to achieve results, train every day.

And so that classes are not monotonous for you, divide your daily exercises into different aspects of language learning.

Mastering grammar and replenishing vocabulary is, of course, important. But it shouldn't dominate.

How to learn a language on your own

Don't just memorize vocabulary words by no means!!! Even if you have a great desire to learn English at home, the cramming procedure will quickly tire you out.
The surest way to learn new words for you is to teach them with interest and pleasure. To do this, translate the titles of your favorite songs, books, objects, and words that interest you. Only the translation of words that interest you will remain in your memory for a long time.
With regard to grammar, you also need to understand that grammar is easier to digest if the pages of the tutorial contain material in tables or infographics. When you teach be sure to say all the examples out loud. Just cramming examples will not give a good result.
The important thing in learning a language is understand what is spoken in English. Read books in the original and watch movies without translation. To begin with, choose those books and films that you have already read and seen before, and it is better if the films are subtitled in English. When reading and watching movies, do not try to translate what you are listening to. You just need to understand what is being said. When meeting with unfamiliar words, try to understand by meaning and intuitively - what this word or language construct can mean.

And more important

Remember! Learning a language from books develops only reading skills. You still won't be able to speak if you only read. Always try to say what comes to mind. Try to tell yourself short stories from what happened yesterday or today. Or whatever else you want to do. This is very useful when you need to have a real dialogue with someone.
It is also useful to hang in the apartment pieces of paper with the word written on it mother tongue and translation. Passing by, you will involuntarily turn your eyes to the inscriptions on the leaves, and the translation of the word will be mechanically registered in your memory.
It will also help to replenish vocabulary reading books in english with parallel translation.
If you have satellite TV or internet, then watch English and American TV channels. If possible, do not turn off the channels while you are at home. Let the English language always be heard. You need to get used to the language.

Summing up

Considering the variety of learning methods, make a weekly plan in which you will learn the language in a different way every day. Yesterday you watched a movie, today you read and listen to a book, tomorrow you speak various stories, and so on.

And constantly listen, listen and listen to English wherever possible.

Be persistent, learning English at home is hard work, but with the right approach it becomes not so difficult. You will feel that things are moving, you will feel success. And it will give you further motivation.