Very often on the Internet, in magazines and newspapers, you can find advertisements about studying of English language for a short period of time (2 weeks, a month, a year). Let's find out together with you whether this is real or not.
Method one
If you have the opportunity to go abroad to an English-speaking country, then feel free to go there. There you will be surrounded everywhere English language : every day of transmission in English, reading advertisements and announcements in English, friends will certainly appear with whom you will constantly talk. In this case, after about a year, you will be able to speak and understand everything that is said to you well.
Method two
For those who are not ready to move to an English-speaking country, there is a large selection of courses of English language. You can find these courses on the Internet, and in a simple newspaper or magazine. But do not think that if you regularly pay money for courses of English language, and at the same time do not teach, you will not be able to understand English speech and speak fluently. Yes, after the course you will be able to read and maybe understand speech, but at least in order to be understood, you need constant practice.
Method three
If learning English is not truly inspiring, then you will end up learning any language by stopping for a long time or dropping out altogether. It is important to organize your learning in such a way that it brings pleasure (by the way, this applies not only to learning languages).
1. Reading
Even if you have just started learning the language, immediately try to read some book in English. Let at first it will be a simple book, for example:
Stop reading books in Russian completely, at least until the moment when your English reaches such a level that you can read completely without a dictionary. Be sure to use a dictionary the first time you read, if some words are not clear to you.
2. Movies and cartoons
First, start watching cartoons with subtitles for beginners to learn English or for the little ones. If something is not clear, pause and look in the dictionary. For example,
And only then watch movies and series in the original in English without translation.
3. TV shows and radio shows
Listen to the news in English. Turn on a channel like the BBC and have it hum in the background. Your subconscious mind will gradually absorb English while you go about your business.
4. Communication
Be sure to find an opportunity to communicate with people whose native language is English. If there is no possibility of communication in reality, then the Internet will help with this. Use this opportunity to practice spoken language. If you play online games, be sure to chat with English players. Correspond by e-mail, etc.
How to quickly learn English or is it possible to learn English in a short time?
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Who among us, being abroad on business or on vacation, has not encountered the difficulties of a language barrier? Who has not indulged in thoughts about how wonderful it would be to improve or learn a foreign language from scratch without spending a lot of time on it? Does a person living in a crazy rhythm modern life, the ability to speak any language and master it to the maximum extent in record time, bypassing tutors, courses, trainings, etc.? It may seem unbelievable, but it is possible! That is what we will talk about in this article. In it we present some very effective and effective advice, using which anyone can learn a foreign language without outside help in the shortest possible time.
Tip 1. Realize and accept that you are able to master a foreign language
Many adhere to the position that learning a foreign language must be started at school, because, supposedly, it will become more difficult with age, the brain will work differently, susceptibility will change, etc. And to this is added the opinion that there is some special language gene, the presence or absence of which determines in advance a person's ability to master foreign languages.
Remember that these are prejudices! In reality, things are completely different. Yes, no doubt, someone is more, and someone is less predisposed to learning a foreign language, but, by and large, this does not play any role in the final result. As one said clever man, it doesn't matter if you think you can do something or you can't, you do. Therefore, the main thing is to realize that you are capable of mastering a foreign language. And this is not affected by your age, or education, or school grades, or anything else. Only your desire matters. Make a decision to master a foreign language and purposefully study its basics and subtleties. Your goal should be a stimulus that motivates you to take action.
Of course, there are many paid training programs that can really help you master your chosen language. Yes, they are effective. Yes, they are good. But why spend extra money on something that you can get absolutely free?!
The internet is superb these days and there are truly unique free resources to help you get started in any language you like. The main thing here is to understand what and how it works. The rest is a matter of practice.
Below is a list of just a few useful sites that you can use to learn foreign languages.
One of the reasons for failures in learning a foreign language is the lack of specific goals that a person needs to achieve in the process of learning. To avoid this, you need to think for yourself a specific action plan that will allow you to define clear goals and outline the steps necessary to achieve them. For example, set yourself the goal of learning the alphabet of your chosen language in two days, learning numbers and colors in four days, mastering common phrases in a month that are suitable for use in non-committal casual communication, etc. This approach will significantly speed up the whole process. And directly for planning, you can use the technique and.
An important point When mastering any foreign language is the realization that, in fact, you already own their solid vocabulary. For example, languages belonging to the Romance group, such as Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and others, have a lot of similar words with the words of the English language. Even Asian languages have words derived from English. Many cognates of different languages originated from Latin or Greek, and it is quite difficult not to recognize them. The only difference is in pronunciation. But you can easily get used to it.
To remember as quickly as possible a large number of foreign words it is very good to apply - special techniques that make it easier to remember the necessary information and increase the amount of memory. These techniques are based on the creation of various associations: pictures, visual objects, similar words, people, life situations, poems, stories, etc. The result of the use of mnemonics will be a quick reproduction in the memory of any, even the most difficult to remember word. And the use of mnemonics will become habitual over time, and you yourself will be surprised at how easily and quickly you master a new vocabulary.
Tip 7. Communicate in a foreign language without leaving home
Many people who intend to learn new language, consider it a big problem that they cannot end up in the country where native speakers live. If you dig deeper, then this is the reason for postponing the study of the language until later. And this “later” may never come, respectively, and a person will not learn the language. This should not be a problem for you, because. you can find people who communicate in the language you need, even at home. And being in a country where native speakers live does not at all guarantee that the language will be mastered. The main thing in this matter is activity and desire.
To surround yourself with foreign speech, you can again resort to using the Internet - just search the net for foreign sites that speak only those languages \u200b\u200bthat you are interested in. It can be radio or news resources. Turn them on every day, and you will constantly hear the speech of people speaking the language you are learning. Below is a list of several such resources.
Tunein, Lixty - online radio of all countries of the world
YouTube Trends Abroad- videos from all over the world
Deutsche Welle - German channel
France24CNN - French channel
CNN Espanol - Spanish channel
It is not difficult to apply this method, but it is very useful, because. this will make it possible for you to be in regular contact with a native speaker and hone your skills. Moreover, you can train both in writing, typing messages, and in speaking, communicating using a camera and a microphone.
To find a native speaker, you can use both the search in Skype itself and find someone on social platforms (
Do you know the situation when you realize that very soon you will need English? For example, before a vacation, an interview or a business trip abroad. Therefore, there is no time to repeat it at all.
Usually in such a situation, we take a phrasebook and begin to cram words and phrases from it.
Naturally, this does not help, and when communicating, we get lost very quickly, the language begins to tangle, and in the phrasebook we cannot find the right phrase.
How to be in such a situation?
However, knowing only the words, you will not be able to fully communicate. Therefore, we move on to the 2nd stage.
Stage 2: Learning to use the right sample sentences
The second stage is quite important, because it is grammar that is the skeleton, thanks to which words form sentences, and we can express our thoughts.
What does it take to quickly learn how to use the phrases you need?
Step 1. Select the conversational sample sentences that you will need.
Of course, it all depends on your level of knowledge. There are elementary rules that you should know before you start learning another grammar.
In a short time, you are unlikely to have time to master this grammar from scratch. But if you already have a certain level of knowledge and you need to improve your spoken English, then you can easily do it.
You need to choose those constructions (rules) that will be useful to you.
For example:
May____?
Can you ____?
I want to___.
I want____.
Do you have ___?
You have___?
How much does ___?
How much ___?
Here are some simple grammar topics that are very commonly used in colloquial speech and will be useful to you:
- General questions in English: rules, diagrams, examples
- Special questions in English: construction schemes, examples
- The use of modal verbs may and might in English
Step 2: Dealing with the sentence construction rule
To use a rule in your speech, you need to understand it. After all, just by memorizing a sample sentence, you will not be able to use it.
You need to understand how a sentence is built and in what cases you will use it.
Step 3: Use the Rule to Make a Sentence
To remember a phrase, you need to use it. To do this, we compose sentences by substituting different words into sentence formation schemes. It is best if you use the words that you have learned before.
The more sentences you make, the more confidently you will be able to use this rule in life.
You will find detailed instructions on how to learn grammar correctly.
Understanding English speech by ear consists of knowledge of grammar and knowledge of English words. But, even if you know the rules and words, due to the lack of listening skills, it will be difficult for you to catch speech by ear. This happens because with fast speech you cannot catch individual words and understand them.
If you have problems understanding English speech by ear, then I recommend that you read where I told you how to work with TV shows and podcasts in order to improve your listening skill.
Summary
So, if you need to improve your conversational level of English in a short time, then:
1. Choose words and grammar that will be useful to you.
2. Practice using words and grammar a lot - the more you practice, the easier it will be for you to make such sentences in life.
You must understand that in order to quickly raise the level of spoken English, you need to study every day for at least 2-4 hours (depending on the timing).
For example, we have a program where classes are held for 7 hours every day. Thus, a person is completely immersed in language environment and in 3 days he repeats all the topics necessary for the trip, and most importantly, learns to use them in his speech.
It is very important to use everything you learn at every opportunity, surround yourself with English:
- Try to think in English
- Look for information in English
But the most important thing is to speak a lot of English. After all, only by speaking the language, you can learn how to do it quickly and beautifully.
According to statistics, English is the native language of more than 370 million people today. English, along with Chinese and Spanish, is consistently in the top three in terms of the number of speakers. In whatever country of the world we go, knowledge of spoken English will definitely not be superfluous. For employees of many facilities located in tourist areas, one of the main requirements for employment is at least a minimum knowledge of English. It is for all of the above reasons that the question of how to learn English on your own has been relevant for many years. And what programs and methods for teaching a foreign language have not been invented today. Many courses promise to achieve simply fantastic results in a short time. For beginners, programs are offered that supposedly allow you to speak English in 3 months no worse than Queen Elizabeth.
Of course, there are no miracles in teaching a foreign language, and you are unlikely to learn how to explain to an American how to get to the subway already in the first lesson. There are people who find English a little easier than others. But everyone has to make some effort in learning.
Learn English on your own or with a tutor - it's up to you, of course. Each person is individual. Some people find it difficult to force themselves to study at home. Such people, no matter whether it comes to sports or a foreign language, choose a mentor for themselves. Some of the students simply do not have the time or opportunity to attend English courses. But, thanks to the Internet, today foreign languages have become available to everyone.
I want to learn English language! Goals and motivation
Let's say you decide to learn English on your own. It starts with setting goals and finding motivation. Children in school are often reluctant to learn English words and get nervous when they are forced to memorize grammar, precisely because they do not understand why they need all this at all. But if schoolchildren can still be motivated by exams and grades, then with adults, unless, of course, we are talking about the faculty of linguistics, such a number is unlikely to work. We need to understand why we are learning a language. Then the process will go much faster and easier.
So, as a rule, an adult enrolls in a foreign language course or decides to learn English on his own for the following reasons:
· travels;
work in an international company;
moving to permanent residence in an English-speaking country.
The choice depends on the purpose for which you study a foreign language. teaching aids and duration of training. For those who just go on a trip to an English-speaking country, sometimes it is enough to take a phrasebook with them. If you have time before the trip, you can buy an English tutorial. In reality, few people master such manuals from cover to cover, but it is quite possible to learn the most necessary colloquial phrases in everyday life on your own. Most of us travel in typical situations: going to museums and souvenir shops, buying food in a supermarket, walking the streets, ordering in a restaurant, taking a taxi and buying plane or train tickets. It is on all of the above topics that it is highly desirable to learn vocabulary before traveling abroad.
However, if you consider yourself an avid traveler and intend to travel half the world, then you need to learn English to at least B1 (Intermediate) level. This will help you make more new friends on your trips and broaden your horizons by communicating with foreigners.
In Russia, many decide to learn English on their own in order to find a better paying job or get a job in an international company. Knowledge of a foreign language is always a competitive advantage in the labor market. Moreover, today it is required to know English at the level of Upper-Intermediate, and even Advanced, from most specialists, not to mention top managers. If you intend to learn a foreign language for work, then you cannot do without a systematic approach. Some international companies invite English teachers to their offices so that employees can improve their language skills for free. If the organization does not help you with learning in any way, then you will have to learn English on your own. Of course, in order to reach the level of Upper-Intermediate or Advanced, it will take more than one year of work. Success here will largely depend on the effectiveness of the selected methodological materials.
To move for permanent residence in an English-speaking country, you will have to look for ways to fully immerse yourself in another culture. Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, today this can be done even while in Russia. Books in the original, films and TV programs in English - all this is available to Russian-speaking users. Youtube helps a lot, where there are a lot of interesting channels in English. Try to abandon the usual Russian bloggers in favor of foreign ones. Travel YouTube channels will allow you not only to improve your spoken vocabulary, but also to learn the opinion of the British and Americans about our country. It is absolutely not necessary for a child to start learning English in advance. Having moved to another country for permanent residence, in any case, he will go to school, find himself in an unusual social environment and be able to adapt to the language. But an adult in a new place may not have time to learn English. After all, when you move, you will have to decide a lot household issues: from finding housing and work to placing a child in school and purchasing necessary household items. And without a language, this will be extremely difficult to do.
How to learn English on your own? 4 steps
So, you have decided on your motivation and decided to learn English on your own. What are your next steps? If you have already studied English before (maybe at school or college) and now intend to continue, then first you should take a test in order to determine the level of proficiency. You can do it right on our website:
Perhaps your knowledge is enough to start Intermediate (that is, 3 steps). If you feel that you can barely remember the alphabet, then it is better to start with the first level of Beginner. In this case, it is useful to refer to . It offers 5 levels of learning with video tutorials, accessible grammar explanations, lots of interactive exercises and quizzes to reinforce what you've learned.
If you think that one online course will not be enough for you, or you just prefer to follow your own learning system, then you need to be ready for the following 4 steps, which serve as the answer to the question of how to learn English yourself.
Step 1. Search for manuals and books
In a good way, to start learning English you will need 4 textbooks:
· Universal modern manual for beginners or continuing;
· Grammar textbook;
· A guide to pronunciation;
· Benefits with exercises to increase vocabulary.
Quite a lot, right? Nevertheless, having spent a considerable amount of money on educational literature, it is not a fact that you will soon begin to speak English. First, most of the manuals are designed for group work. In such textbooks, almost half of the tasks involve the construction of dialogues and even entire conversations between students. Secondly, many modern manuals for learning English do not contain a word in Russian: in order to start the exercise itself, you first have to translate the tasks. With self-study, this can create some difficulties. And, finally, it has long been proven that living English speech is usually far from those often too formalized phrases that textbooks offer us.
Remember that it is better not to take manuals written more than 20 years ago. Like any language, English is dynamically changing, undergoing constant change. In old textbooks, you simply will not find many topics that have become relevant only quite recently and have appeared due to the active development of technology.
AT modern world many ardent supporters of progress generally avoid printed publications, preferring e-books to them. For such people, when learning English, online courses will be an excellent alternative to standard textbooks. However, among English learners there are those who are more comfortable working with printed manuals, where you can take your notes. Such students, in addition to textbooks, should also pay attention to the adapted fiction. Books in the original help to enrich vocabulary and broaden your horizons. And learning English from works of literature with a famously twisted plot is much more exciting than from textbooks with dry rules.
Step 2. Choosing a time and place for classes
You can learn English on your own only with total discipline. This is the case where consistency is needed to achieve a good result. First, decide on a place to practice. If you are afraid that household members will interfere with the process, then you can try to study in the office after the end of the working day. Ideally, English should be given 20-30 minutes daily. If this is difficult for you, then you can do at least 2-3 times a week. But in this case, the duration of the lesson should be at least an hour.
Step 3. Communicating with native speakers and English speakers
Any person, studying English, sooner or later faces a psychological barrier. Many who study a foreign language have probably noticed that when it comes to communicating with a native speaker, no matter how savvy we are in vocabulary and grammar, there is a real stupor. The speaker begins to forget the words, to worry and, as a result, cannot build an elementary phrase. You can get rid of this psychological barrier only through communication. Ask those around you who speak the language to speak to you in English as much as possible. It is very useful to make friends among carriers. Daily correspondence in chats and social networks with acquaintances from the USA or the UK will help you expand your vocabulary and adapt to colloquial speech. Those who want to learn how to speak fluently should also try to find an expat from an English-speaking country in Russia. Such a person can be offered a kind of barter. He will help you with English, and you will help him with Russian.
Step 4. Good Habits
If you are puzzled over the question of how to quickly learn English yourself, then you will have to be patient and develop some good habits. In addition to regular classes, you need to learn to practice speaking skills whenever possible. Make it a rule to learn 10-15 new words every day. Some are helped by plates with pictures. When you learn new words, don't forget to practice their pronunciation. It is useful to listen to podcasts in English while traveling by subway or car. Audio recordings can be found, for example, on our website. Most of the podcasts here are accompanied by simultaneous subtitles in Russian and English. You can choose audio based on your own interests and language level.
English-language radio stations also help to get used to English speech. To make the process of learning a foreign language easier, make the language part of your leisure and recreation. Try watching your favorite series and American movies in English. Do you know why in some small countries in Europe people generally have a high level of English? Because Hollywood films and television series are not dubbed, but are shown with subtitles. Constantly hearing the original speech from the screen, people quickly learn English.
How to learn English from movies and TV shows?
Films and series in English help to develop the student's ability to perceive foreign speech by ear. It's no secret that even perfect reading and good knowledge grammars do not guarantee that you will be able to immediately support a conversation started by the British or Americans. It is believed that a person who is not accustomed to English speech absorbs a very tiny percentage of the information communicated orally. Even with an excellent vocabulary, the student picks out only individual words from the flow of speech. Movies and series without translation or with subtitles help to solve this problem.
Series on everyday and everyday topics allow you to feel the live speech of New York, London, Los Angeles. When you start watching such shows, you will immediately understand why many Americans and Britons consider our English to be too bookish.
You will be able to learn English on your own if you frequently watch programs and television shows released in the US or UK. First, it is recommended to watch TV shows with Russian subtitles. After that, you can already switch to English subtitles or completely refuse them. At first, watching programs and films in English will seem difficult. But it is absolutely not necessary to go into the dictionary every time an unfamiliar word is encountered. Learn to guess the meaning of the phrase, focusing on what is happening on the screen.
Still doubting that watching videos in the original language is not difficult? In this case, try to "collect" video puzzles on our website. The essence of this method is simple. First you need to watch any video you like from the catalog (it can be an excerpt from a movie or a music video). For convenience, visual materials are accompanied by subtitles. Further, from the words mixed in a chaotic order, it is necessary to compose the phrases heard in the video in English. Video puzzles in an easy game form help develop the habit of hearing foreign speech and understanding unfamiliar words, focusing on the context.
How can you learn English online?
The Internet today is the main assistant of those who do not know how to quickly learn English. It is recommended to check the pronunciation of each new word using online dictionaries. Youtube will also be useful, where, depending on your interests, you can subscribe to various English-language channels.
To be able to learn English no matter where you are, install learning mobile applications. And do not forget about Skype, where there will always be both teachers giving online foreign language lessons and just interlocutors.
Learn English on your own, or organize personal time
Of course, many of us are concerned about the question of how to learn English without the help of a tutor. Self-study of a foreign language requires self-discipline and conscience. You do not need to look for excuses for your non-performance every time for the teacher. To deceive yourself by coming up with reasons why you failed to learn new words or work out at the right time is completely unprofitable and pointless. Try to create some daily norms for yourself. For example, 10 new words to memorize, 10 pages of an English book, or watching one short episode of an American TV series. At first, you will most likely have to force yourself to comply with these norms. But gradually, daily English lessons will become a habit, and each new achievement will motivate you to take further steps. If you do not approach learning English as boring cramming and theory jungle, but switch to live communication, watching interesting programs, reading books, online tests and word memorization simulators, then English will easily become part of your Everyday life and exciting hobby.
English is required in many areas of life, and you just want to be able to read your favorite books and watch movies in the original. There is an opinion that it will take many years to learn a foreign language, and even then there is no guarantee that you will achieve a result. However, with due desire and perseverance, you can master English in a short time.
How to learn English quickly?
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Building a vocabulary
The study of any language begins with memorizing the letters, and then the simplest words. But it's quite boring to memorize words and phrases from a piece of paper, and it gets boring quickly. Try to make this process more fun - buy a pack of colorful stickers and paste them over all the objects in the apartment. On each piece of paper, write the name of the mirror, chest of drawers or microwave oven in English. Now, moving around the house, every time you will stumble upon unfamiliar words and quickly remember them.
Immersion in the language environment
Banal, but nonetheless effective way- learning English through complete immersion in the language environment. This should be done after you have mastered the minimum set of words and have an idea of how sentences are built. Having mastered this knowledge, go to an English-speaking country, where you will quickly polish your skills.
At first, this way of learning a language can scare you. Do not get lost - go to cafes and shops, try to communicate with passers-by on the streets, and soon you will notice that you understand others better and better
We create a language environment on our own
Not everyone has the opportunity to go to England or the USA for a few weeks. If you want to learn English quickly and easily while staying in your hometown, create the right environment yourself. Take away all the Russian-language press, replacing it with English newspapers and magazines. Delete films and series in Russian, leaving only tapes in their original sound. Change the language in the settings of your phone, tablet and desktop computer to English. Do the same with the settings in in social networks and blogs. Now you have a lot of opportunities to learn the language you are interested in.
If you have difficulty reading books and watching films in the original, review and reread those things that you are already familiar with in the Russian version. It will be much easier for you to navigate and memorize new words