Good afternoon, dear readers! I’m fulfilling what I promised a long time ago: I’m sharing methods of learning English based on personal experience.
And I won’t start with theory, no! I'll start with such a concept as staging goals And motivation. These are the very things without which even the most capable student of foreign languages will not be able to wrap their head around even a couple of thousand words, and even if they can, it won’t be for long. I have tested all the presented methods on myself, so do not consider the article unfounded, but useful links after the useful text below, enjoy learning!
Where to start learning English (foreign) language
They tried to teach me English since childhood, starting with relatives and ending with courses “by mail” that were fashionable at that time (Eshko, for example). It would seem that a child learns material better than an adult, so why, after going through the same circle several times, did I still have nothing left in my head except a couple of simple phrases and a few words?
I wouldn’t say that I had absolutely no desire to learn English, on the contrary, I did, but these desires boiled down to something vague like “it would be nice to know English, Lena knows, but what am I, a redhead?” knowledge of a foreign language is fashionable,” or when I became older, “knowledge of English is required when applying for a job.” In fact, these are not goals, thoughts of this kind do not create intentions, and the initial fuse is only enough for a couple of activities, which you will exchange for something more attractive at the first opportunity (TV, favorite toys, walks with friends, etc.).
I’ve tried a lot of different methods and courses, and I can say one thing: if you don’t have a clear motivation/goal for why exactly you are going to learn a language, then even if you spend a lot of money on the best teachers, you won’t learn it. That is, you need to sit down, think and answer yourself clearly why I want to know a foreign language. Have you thought about it? And what thoughts came to mind? If it’s something similar to what’s described just above, then don’t waste your time. If it is something more serious, then we try.
Another question arises: how to understand whether it is serious or not. The answer is simple: think about whether you can do without a foreign language; if so, then the goals set are not serious; if not, you can work. It’s always clearer with examples, let’s talk about personal experience.
I started my trips with virtually no knowledge of English; in the first few days, it was enough to exchange basic phrases with the population to show them the way, find a roof over their head, or buy food. If it was really difficult, she explained herself with gestures. I wouldn’t say that the language barrier hindered me; in any case, I got what I needed without even knowing the language, so there was no strong need for it, but with each trip the desire to learn English grew.
The turning point for me was Myanmar; on the way there I met a fellow travel enthusiast, Andrei from Germany, who spoke “bourgeois” easily. While we were traveling around the country, he easily communicated with foreigners and locals, and I, as a lover of communication, was limited in this and could only be jealous. It was then that I finally decided that I would take studying English seriously. Initially I heard about Pimsleur, my present began with him education.
Methods of learning a foreign language
From everything that I “dug up” and “shoveled”, I concluded that there are 2 valid methods of learning any language. Which one to choose depends on your mindset and perseverance.
1 way. I would call him child method (or NLP method). Let's remember how exactly young children learn language? They do not memorize words and generally have no idea how to construct a sentence, which is something they are strenuously trying to “cram” into the heads of students in various schools.
A small child simply watches his mom and dad, the people around him, and tries to repeat what they do and say. In this case, live communication with a native speaker or an English tutor via Skype is very suitable.
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What if there is no opportunity to communicate with some foreigner? Then watching movies will do. Naturally, the film should not be popular science; cartoons are also not suitable, because there are no real human-type facial expressions and movements.
- it is advisable to choose one that you have already watched in Russian translation,
- good diction of the actors (translated films are not suitable, only the original),
- maximum emotionality of the characters.
When watching a film in a foreign language, we look at the emotions of the actors, and exactly repeat their dialogues along with facial expressions and movements, while it is advisable to turn off the brain altogether, just repeat everything, like children. Such training helps to bring phrases and words straight into the subconscious, and emotions in this case will serve as an anchor for restoring them in memory. After some time you will be able to speak without thinking.
And of course, don’t forget about the regularity of “training”, preferably at least an hour every day. Unfortunately, I have little patience, so this technique did not suit me.
Method 2. The second is not a method, but an integrated approach. That is, this is the use of techniques for different areas of perception, more specifically, it is self-study using a course or lesson that is suitable for you, plus parallel reading of books and watching films. We'll talk about this method in more detail.
Pimsleur courses
To begin with I was very pleased Pimsleur- This polyglot, who developed a system for learning various foreign languages. The course is suitable for learning a language from scratch. Those who already know something will be bored in the first stages, but do not underestimate the basics. I also wanted to skip over the basics as soon as possible, since I knew many of the words. However, I had problems with composing sentences; Pimsleur just teaches words from the basics and composing phrases when communicating.
The course consists of audio tracks - 90 lessons of 30 minutes each, the lessons are composed with a certain amount of pauses designed for proper memorization. Officially, only the first part of 30 lessons was released in Russia, but thanks to enthusiasts, the remaining 60 lessons can be used, even if not of the best quality.
You must study at least 1 time per day, and preferably 2 times (morning and evening), however, listening to 2 lessons in a row is strictly prohibited. Each lesson must be completed as many times as possible until you remember everything (at least twice). And don’t be lazy and skip what you “sort of” know.
After just 30 lessons, you will be able to at least somehow communicate with foreigners, and after the entire course you will feel even more confident. Unfortunately, this will not be enough to communicate fluently in English.
Educational videos
Plus to Pimsleur rate I found a simple series in English on the Internet. At first glance, the video looks like an ordinary youth series (like “Helen and the Guys,” if you remember that one), but in fact it is a training program designed in such a way that many words and phrases can be understood purely subconsciously, since the characters are very emotional and often point to the things they are talking about. The episodes are only 20 minutes long, you can watch them every day, besides, it’s very funny, I recommend it, it’s called ExtraEnglish.
To improve your grammar, I would recommend one more video course, aired on the “Culture” channel under the title "Polyglot. English in 16 hours”. The program is structured like a real lesson: the presenter, as a teacher, on the one hand, and little-known actors in the role of students, on the other.
Various grammar tasks are given right during the “lesson”, and if anything is unclear, it is immediately sorted out. The lessons are 40 minutes long, and since the teacher-leader gives 2-3 days to complete the tasks, they are easy to combine with films like the one described above.
A little about applications for Android systems
I understand that it is very difficult to force myself to do all this, especially if the teacher is “virtual” and cannot give me a “f”. Especially for “lazy people” like me, they created a cool application for smartphones and tablets on Android OS, called exactly the same "Polyglot". Each grammar lesson is based exactly on tasks video lessons, so everything should be clear.
For some reason, I have been asked very often lately where and how I learned English and why I speak so well. Moreover, Americans are asking this question more and more often, which I consider a great achievement. I speak, of course, far from perfectly, but in all everyday and professional situations I can cope with communication quite well. I even studied for a certificate, where all students and teachers except me had English as their native language.
I hope my experience will be useful to someone.
So, what do you need to learn English? A lot of letters :)
School and university English lessons are completely forgotten, I didn’t pass the exams with a C - and did well. At one time, while still at school, my mother tried very hard: she sent me to a language tutor because I was so far behind. I can’t say that school and university somehow greatly influenced my language proficiency, but the tutor managed to hammer into me a table of twenty to thirty English irregular verbs. I still sometimes confuse them, because some of the forms in that textbook, as it turned out, do not correspond to reality.
By the time I graduated from university, I could say “Hello” in English and slowly read a short article from a children’s book with a dictionary (or better yet, with a duplicate translation on the adjacent page). In general, the standard level of English for the average non-translation student.
For the next few years, I didn’t need English other than a very limited technical vocabulary, so I conveniently forgot everything I knew and learned earlier.
Then an epiphany happened.
Two events coincided at once: my husband’s colleague, an American of Swiss origin, came for work and we went somewhere out of town to a corporate event. She chatted cheerfully with her Russian colleagues, who already spoke good English, and I sat on the side and looked at her with all my eyes. Then for half an hour I decided to come up and say “hi, how are you, I’m Nina.” She came up, spoke, mixed up all the letters and words and did not understand the answer. But she was persistent, did not leave the foreign guest’s side and tried to communicate (which, I think, really bothered her). She asked to show her the city the next day, communicating mainly with gestures. This is how my interest in language arose.
The American left, but the interest remained. I tried to warm him up as best I could: I downloaded free Stanford lectures on psychology through iTunes (I was just studying at the psychology department), tried to master some books.
I listened to lectures on my phone every day, on the way to and from work, on the way from and to school, and just at every free moment. I didn’t understand anything except familiar terms that sounded like Russian. The lectures became the usual background noise, and I still didn’t understand anything.
Somehow I didn’t think of online forums and IRC. But I came up with another solution: after hearing how some of my colleagues (hi, Katya!) speak English to clients on the phone, I asked if the boss would mind and wrote a confused letter to our English-speaking (British) colleague asking him to speak to me sometimes by Skype.
The colleague agreed and we started talking for an hour a week. At first he did most of the talking, and I listened and did not understand anything, as was the case with my lectures. Hearing the interrogative intonation, she tried to quickly piece together the meaning of the question from the pieces she understood and tried to somehow answer it. She spoke slowly, poorly and out of place, and did not answer the questions that were actually asked. Thanks to my patient colleague :)
Three months later, a colleague told my boss that I was making progress. The following incident marked the beginning of a new era in my English. One of our British clients had an urgent situation: they needed to order a server from a hosting company with certain settings, and at that time there was no special person who was responsible for communicating with this client and knew what to do. And I knew the configuration of the server that was needed.
And then, at one fine moment, my boss called me and said, “Nina, help me out!” Whether it happened by accident or on purpose, I don’t know. It was necessary to call a live client in Britain, explain to him that everything was fine, clarify the requirements, and then call the hosting provider in America and negotiate with them. I stared at the phone without breathing for about ten minutes, then asked my colleague for an after-hours conversation, and then finally made up my mind and called. Everything turned out to be easier than I thought!
Since then, that client has become “my” client, and over time, others have appeared. It got to the point where I was communicating in English every day, be it through short letters or over the phone.
Movies were also a good help. First with Russian voice acting and English subtitles. Then - vice versa. Then - with English subtitles, and eventually without them at all.
I read my first book in English with great difficulty when I was in the hospital with pneumonia in early 2009. I just decided that I wouldn’t take anything else there, there was no Internet either, and somehow I didn’t have a dictionary. I forced myself to read almost every word out loud, regardless of whether I knew it or not. What I understood from there was about twenty percent at most, mostly that it was bad in the middle, but it ended well. The book was called "Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance".
Then we moved to America. “Yeah,” I thought, “I’m smart now and I know English.” No matter how it is.
Somehow I could only communicate on technical topics, and somehow I only understood the British accent. At first I was terribly afraid of cashiers in supermarkets (they are trying to talk to me!), I asked to repeat everything four times, and then again slowly. Go-vo-ri-te-ya-no-e. But a joke or a polite greeting repeated five times... well, you know it yourself.
The first impulse was to shut up, look at everyone gloomily and stop communicating with those who do not understand the Russian language. Post-move depression, that's all. I don’t know how or why, but I didn’t let myself do it and kept trying. Then I started going to meetups (local “gatherings of interests”). Then she stopped hiding on them. Then I began to timidly answer questions about where I was from.
Accents gradually became more understandable, both our own and those of others. I looked carefully into the mouth of each “native speaker” and tried to absorb how they pronounced the sounds. Very often I needed a “rest” from English, but every time after a break I understood a little more and spoke a little better. The brain needs time to adjust.
More long than short, but my knowledge of the language has reached the point of “I can communicate normally.” I started working at the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and spoke English every day again. Even though my immediate boss was Russian-speaking, the rest of my colleagues did not speak Russian at all. Then I began to do more for the “brotherly” software project and very soon my immediate supervisor became the boss’s boss, a Native American.
Now I rate my English as “native”. Yes, I don’t know some words (this happens rarely), but very often I can either understand their meaning from the context, or by asking an English-speaking colleague for an explanation, I can remember the meaning. As with terms in Russian. Yes, I still have a Russian accent, but my intonation is almost like the locals. My accent gets stronger when I'm nervous, and I sometimes forget some words, but I can always explain what I wanted to say. I can understand what the other person said to me, even if he has an accent, speaks too quickly, or jumps from one thing to another. Sometimes "native" Americans even compliment me.
Well, I’ll end this long post with a brief summary (if anyone is too lazy to read). What helped me personally:
1. Listen to as many recordings in English as possible, preferably in your area of interest.
And it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand anything about them: the subconscious still catches and remembers the structure of sentences, forms of words, and so on. This is how children learn English, and they do it well!
2. Watch films with English dubbing.
It's best with English subtitles to remember both visually and aurally. Sitcoms or television series are best: they are usually aimed at the “average” viewer, and many situations can be understood intuitively. Films that have already been watched in Russian also go well.
3. Try to speak/write/communicate in English.
The Internet is a great thing. You can find people on thematic forums, on Skype, and on special websites. You can enable voice chat in games. The main thing is to overcome the initial fear that “what if they don’t understand” and try again and again.
5. Key words: interest, persistence.
There will be failures. They will not understand you, you will want to cry from your own helplessness and stupidity, you yourself will not understand a word. Especially at first. This is a normal process, as it should be! The main thing is to be persistent, try again, and success will overtake you unnoticed.
Interest will help you stay motivated even through failure. The main thing is to look for books, films, lectures, radio programs and the like - in your area of interest. If you are not interested in reading about types of bearings in Russian, it will be even more difficult in English. If you are deeply touched by the fate of penguins in Australia, read/listen about them in English.
And it doesn’t matter at all if you don’t understand anything now. The main thing is to watch, listen, try! Absorb everything you can reach. The rest will come with time.
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Over the past 15 years, I have learned 8 languages in which I can communicate, read and write fluently. Learning a new language is not easy, but it becomes even more difficult if you do it in the wrong order. When I started with English, I wondered: where to start - with grammar or with a dictionary? how to learn to speak correctly and not be shy when talking? how to learn a language quickly? How not to abandon this matter? It's time to answer these questions.
Step #1: YouTube Video
This may seem strange, but it’s best to start learning from YouTube. There are many channels with useful and free content that will help you not only learn new words, but also learn about cultural features, which is also important.
Here are some good channels:
- Course by Dmitry Petrov “Polyglot”. You can learn more in 40 minutes than in several years of studying English at school.
Jobs School And Movie English- channels that talk about English from films and TV series. Useful for understanding slang expressions.
BBC Learning English- a channel from the BBC where they talk about everything in the world. You can turn it on in the background, it will help not only improve your English, but also learn a lot of new things.
EngVid- one of the best channels with teachers from different countries who will teach you everything possible. In addition, the lessons are very lively and fun.
Rachel's English- one of the best channels dedicated to pronunciation.
Step #2: Tutorials
What I didn’t immediately understand: do not a lot, but often. Of course, everyone wants to go faster, but if you do something in large volumes, it can discourage all the desire, motivation and reward you with fatigue. Focus on the marathon, not the sprint: do 1 page a day - this way you will significantly increase your level.
Speakout, English File, Navigate- These are modern textbooks of comprehensive English, which are compiled by native speakers. They will help in learning grammar, contain interesting texts, dialogues and include listening comprehension.
Step #3: “Speaking” Skill
The only thing you won't be able to work with on your own is the spoken language. Therefore, practice in the form of communication is needed here. The first experience of communicating with native speakers is always difficult. You learn a language and seem to already know everything, but as soon as you meet a foreigner - everything, your head is empty, your tongue won’t turn.
One of the best ways to overcome this- practice speaking with a teacher. I advise you to choose a foreign teacher, because he will speak without an accent. And at an age to have a lot of experience.
Step #4: Grammar
Many people start learning a language with grammar. It is important, but not as important as many people think. It is worth taking up grammar only when you have a good vocabulary base. If you just want to talk to people, then grammar is not needed at all. You will remember many designs over time, watching films, TV series, reading articles.
But if you feel that the grammar should be worked out more carefully, then I can recommend The best textbooks, in my opinion:
- English Grammar in Use. A textbook by teacher Raymond Murphy, who has taught hundreds of students from different countries. The lesson takes only 2 pages: on the left is theory, on the right is practice. and this channel The teacher explains each topic from the textbook.
- Oxford Practice Grammar. A similar and no less famous textbook than the previous one. Unless the theory is explained in more detail here.
- Grammarway. I learned grammar using it, although many teachers consider this textbook to be outdated. Unlike the previous ones, 1 lesson here takes several pages. And the exercises are given after each rule, not a block. I read the rule and confirmed it. I pinned it again at the end of the chapter.
Step #5: Useful services
You can learn a language without various websites and services. But some of them are still useful, spark interest and help you practice a little at any time. For example, you are sitting in line - you opened the website, did a couple of tasks.
The YouGlish website can find any English word among YouTube videos and show the desired part. Helps you understand the pronunciation and use of the word in context.
En.news is current world news turned into free lessons. Every day you choose an interesting news story, a difficulty one, and read the text for it, simultaneously marking new words to memorize.
Memrise is designed specifically for vocabulary replenishment. It uses a spaced repetition method that will prevent you from forgetting a single word you read. This uses simple visualization.
Lang-8 is a service for working on written speech. The scheme is simple: you register, write a text on a certain topic, after which a native speaker makes the necessary corrections.
Little things that will help you learn a language faster
- Translate the system on your computer and phone into the language you are learning. It's difficult at first, but you'll get used to it quickly.
- Get into the habit of mentally asking yourself: how would this be in English? For example, make pizza and pronounce the name of each ingredient in English.
- Watch or read in English something you already know well (a film, TV series or book). I kept rewatching The Avengers because the words are simple.
- Subscribe to your favorite English-speaking actors, bloggers, singers and read what they write and talk about.
- Start with a list of the most common words. These words will be useful in 80% of situations.
- Consume content in its original language, watch movies and news, read magazines, articles and newspapers. You can also listen to podcasts in English.
English, as far as I know, is one of the easiest languages to learn. If you asked this question, if you really want to learn English, then you will succeed, the main thing is patience and daily replenishment of your vocabulary. Grammar is an integral part of the English language. It is not difficult to study it. You can learn grammar from scratch using Golitsynsky. Everything is explained there quite simply and clearly. Rules for consolidating the exercise. There are answers on the Internet where you can test yourself. I would also like to recommend a program such as “Memrise”; as you study, there are videos with native speakers, with the help of which you will master the correct pronunciation, which is quite important. "Duolingo" is also a very good program where you can expand your vocabulary for a certain group of words. To better master the English language, you need to immerse yourself in the English environment, I think you've already heard this 300 times. Read everything you can find in English. Titles after a film, advertisements, posters, writing on walls... Your brain will gradually get used to this language and it will be easier for you. To immerse yourself in the environment of the most beautiful English language, you need to read books and watch films in English. If you can translate books as you read them on Google and write down unfamiliar words in a dictionary, then with films everything is a little more complicated. English speech is difficult to understand by ear. Yes, here it is worth distinguishing between English: British and American. I think for listening comprehension, watch American TV series first. They are the dumbest, they have the simplest and easiest to understand dialogues. If you want to master noble British English, then studying grammar, irregular verbs, idioms, etc. is the main thing! fill up your vocabulary, you can start watching Sherlock, it has the purest British English. I only recommend watching it with subtitles, because Benedict’s speech, even for a true connoisseur, is difficult to hear. Watch TV series without Russian subtitles, because you won’t learn English that way. Try to think about their speech and intonation, gradually you will begin to understand the meaning. When reading subtitles, you will not catch the construction of sentences, construction, pronunciation, and you will not pay attention to their speech at all. I speak from experience. Take a series, for example, “How I Met Your Mother” or “Sex and the City”, it’s your choice. Watch half the series with English subtitles, half without. At first you will not understand much, but then you will think in this language. Seriously. Books. Books in English are definitely a must read. Even from scratch. Take Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The simplest book. You must memorize the construction of sentences so that later, when writing or speaking, you can instinctively construct sentences correctly. It's like when you read a lot of Russian classics, you become more literate. It's the same with English. Books generally work wonders. I forgot to mention another useful program. "EWE" is a very useful thing. Here you choose a movie/series/cartoon, learn all the words necessary to watch it in the original and you will be happy. Then look, you understand English without difficulty and feel proud of your efforts. Verb tenses. The English don't use all tenses; they need at most 3. But you need to know them. You never know, they might come in handy. They will definitely come in handy in English classics. She is very complex. But if you master it, you will be incredibly proud of yourself. And self-education and self-improvement are very important things. Music. One of the most enjoyable ways to learn English. Just listen to your favorite bands every day. All. Get used to speaking English. You can start learning English by watching cartoons. For example, "Peppa Pig", there is basic English. "Gravity Falls" is more complicated, but very interesting and funny. I watched 2 seasons 30 times. Read articles on the Internet in English. Twitter posts. A very useful thing has appeared on Instagram that translates foreign speech. It works like this. 1. Subscribe to a person from England/America you are interested in. 2. Read the entry under the photo. 3. Translate it. Sami. 4. Click on the “show translation” button and check yourself. I think you know this. English is a very easy language. Nowadays it is especially easy to learn. There are so many manuals, courses, useful things on the Internet. There are groups for learning foreign languages on social networks. They work, tested on myself. It’s up to you whether you scroll through the post dedicated to English or read it and become a little smarter. Personally, how I learned English: Golitsynsky (green reference book), applications on the phone, TV series. Applications are a very useful thing. You're on the subway, open the app, learn a couple of new words. Practice it. Speak out loud in English. Write stories or letters using words you know. That's the whole secret.
