Ways to learn English. How to learn English better

Lesson prepared for you by: Sklyarova Olga

What is the best way to learn English (and any foreign language)? First, let's remember how we learned our native language in childhood. First we do it daily and continuously listened to- who is a year, who is two, and who is three years; then we slowly pronounce something from what they heard - first sounds, then short words and phrases; the next stage - we studied read by letters and syllables, and only then did they move on to letter.

Yes, in in general terms, looks like a natural process of learning any language, which, as you noticed, consists of four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. These four skills make up the ability to communicate in any language.

adult age

How does the learning process usually go? foreign language in adulthood? We're trying to figure it out grammar a new language - many of us remember intricate grammatical terms like “Present Continuous / Long” from school; we train the correct pronunciation, trying to put the tongue in the right position and unusually stretching the lips; cramming lists of words. And what are the results? We know a lot of words, how to pronounce this or that word correctly, how many grammatical tenses are in the language, but we cannot use all this wealth in a communication situation. Let's see why...

Root or fruit?

You want fruits, not roots

If we imagine the language being studied as a tree, then grammar, phonetics and vocabulary will be its roots - without which, of course, no tree can grow, while listening, speaking and writing, reading are branches or fruits of this tree. That is, the existence of one without the other is impossible. But, because language learning in a childish way almost always bears fruit (we all know how to speak mother tongue), then obviously the emphasis in learning the language should be done precisely on it. And grammar, phonetics and vocabulary will be studied just as naturally, as needed in the process of solving communicative problems.

Practice

1 lesson = 4 parts of 15 minutes

Many modern textbooks are built in accordance with the communicative methodology, so you can safely choose any of them and study on your own. To make the classes as effective as possible, I offer a few practical tips:

1. Break your lesson into four parts, about 15 minutes for each skill. Then you can, for example, listen to an audio recording for 15 minutes in the morning, do a written task for 15 minutes during the day, read for 15 minutes in the evening, and before going to bed talk with a foreign friend or friend who is also studying this language (via Skype, for example).
2. ALWAYS practice in a calm mood and with a positive attitude!

Good luck! You will succeed 🙂

Learning a new language is a difficult task, but quite doable. Learning any language can be broken down into four parts: reading, writing, listening and speaking. If you want to explore English language faster, start with the first step below.

Steps

Part 1

Read, read, read. One of the easiest steps you can take to learn English faster is to read as much as possible. Read constantly. This will increase your vocabulary, help you learn grammar and get to know slang.

• Read comics. If you don't want to read children's books, read comics. You can buy many comics in English at bookstores or online or read them for free online (these are usually called webcomics).
• Read books that you are familiar with. You can also read a book that you have read before. If you are already aware of what is happening in the book, it will be easier for you to guess and understand the meanings of words.
• Read newspapers. Reading newspapers is a good way to learn the basics of a language because they usually have very good grammar and are easy to understand. you can find online versions many newspapers with good English, such as New York Times or The Guardian.

1. Watch movies. Watching movies will also help you improve your English. This allows you to hear how a particular word sounds and also helps you learn new words. You can start watching movies with subtitles, but without subtitles, you will learn more. If you have a basic vocabulary, try not to use subtitles, but focus on listening to words you already know and guess the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context.

   Play MMO games. MMO games are games that you play with other people over the internet. You can play with people from English-speaking countries, which will give you the opportunity to talk with them and learn the language from them. Try playing Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, or The Elder Scrolls Online.

   Find a pen pal online. Penfriends learn your language when you write letters to them and they reply. You write half of the letter in your own language so your friend can practice it and half in English so you can practice your English. You can talk about whatever you want! There are many websites that can help you find a pen pal.

   Get some friends. You can just befriend a person from an English speaking country and chat with them via email or skype to practice your English. You can find friends by joining a community of interest, or through language learning communities like Fluentify.

   Sing songs. Singing songs one more good way improve my English. This will help you get familiar with the sounds of the English language (rhymes will help with pronunciation). Learning songs will also help improve your vocabulary. Find a song you like, learn it and find out what the words mean.

Part 2

Sign up for courses. English courses will help you learn the most important words and grammar and help you make sure you're doing everything right. There are two main ways to take English courses:

• Get busy on the internet. You can take courses online. Some of them cost money and some are free. Courses that cost money can be better than free ones, but that's not always the case! Good examples of online programs are Livemocha and Duolingo.
• Engage in educational institution. You can take a course at a local university or language school. They cost money, but the help of a teacher will be very helpful and will help you learn English faster than if you were trying to learn it on your own.

1. Keep a diary. This will force you to practice writing and build up your vocabulary. It will also force you to practice building new sentences instead of just repeating phrases you already know. You can record everything that happened during the day. You can also keep a small journal where you write down new words as you hear or see them.

   Travel to an English speaking country. Visiting a country where everyone speaks English will help you learn it much faster. Find a part-time job or enroll in a training course in an English-speaking country. You can also make short trips, but immersion in the language environment for at least 3 months will have the best result.

   Engage in self-education. Of course, you can study English on your own. To quickly learn English on your own, you need to make this activity the most important thing for you. Dedicate your all free time learn English and use your English as often as possible.

   Take advantage of online resources. There are many online resources to help English learners. They range from flashcard-type programs with words to applications for mobile phone. Try ANKI (flashcards), Memrise (flashcards and more), or Forvo (pronunciation guide).

   Immerse yourself in the language environment. Language immersion is one of the best ways to learn a language. This means that you must study English every day for at least 3 hours a day. One hour a week is not enough. It is best to spend at least 6 hours a day to listen, write and speak English.

In general, to learn any foreign language, you should start by setting aside time for lessons. Every day, at least half an hour - an hour is better. Ideally, an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening.

I understand that not everyone is so rich for a while, but without this the language will not work, at least kill yourself. That is why many do not succeed in the language, although they say that they have been learning for years, but still nothing.

Three hours in a row on Sunday does not at all replace 6 times half an hour in weekdays. I’ll tell you more, learning a language once a week is completely useless. Just wasting time.

You can say that you learned to drive a car, let's say twice a week, and learned in a few months! But you forget that driving a car is, first and foremost, muscle skills. And secondly, then you ride almost every day and polish your skills.

Yes, if you live in the USA or England, or any other English-speaking country, you can sit down for textbooks less often. For example, the same three times a week, and give the rest of the time to practice.

But I am tormented by vague doubts that you are sitting at a computer in Voronezh and reading these lines from the screen. And if so - then do it DAILY! "Hunchbacked! I said - Hunchbacked - is everything clear?

How to rationally allocate this time? - How many people, so many methods. It would be nice to study with a teacher at least once a week. And the rest of the time to pore over textbooks. This is almost ideal for someone who does not live in the country of the language being studied.

A teacher is needed in order to correct mistakes, correct, correct your speech and pronunciation. Best of all, if he was either a foreigner, or for some time, at least two years, he lived in the country of the language being studied.

If there is no teacher, take any textbook and gnaw it from cover to cover. I will not name the authors, choose for yourself - they were divorced like uncut dogs.

In general, try to take a serious, solid textbook. Choose for yourself, just for yourself, so that you like the manner of presentation, and especially so that there are tasks with keys.

Of course, you need a paper dictionary of the language, and two-sided. Take any, you can even a small eight-thousander. You can carry it with you and occasionally look in. Just so you can stay in touch with the language.

Sometimes they say that it's better to take a huge one right away, but I don't think that's true. If you come across some rare word, then come home and look on the Internet. And for constant wear, good and pocket.

Also, as I mentioned in a previous article, . This gives a lot in terms of understanding live speech. And in general in the "music" of the language.

I will also say that you need a textbook primarily for grammar, without it, REMEMBER, nowhere! Until you figure out how sentences are built, your speech will be very incomprehensible, just a bunch of words. Everything needs a system.

Well, words, of course, should be taught. With this, I generally started the very first article on this site. Take the first 1,000 words in the frequency dictionary and hammer it out until you've got it all.

You can take the first thousand here:. At the same time, the second thousand, this is for the future:. Why do I give them?