English for beginners from scratch is an independently application. English for beginners is a lesson plan for the entire course. Why learn English

“Each new language expands the consciousness of man and his world. It’s like one more eye and one more ear, ”says Daniel Stein, the hero of the book of Lyudmila Ulitskaya. Would you like to expand your picture of the world and find a common language with more than a billion people? For those who answered in the affirmative, we will tell you where to start learning English. We hope that our leadership will help beginners to take the first steps and show the right way for those who continue to learn the language.

To start, we suggest you watch a recording of a two-hour webinar with Victoria Kodak (teacher and methodologist of our online school), in which she answers the question in the most detail on how to start studying English correctly:

1. Introduction: When and how best to start learning English

Some adults believe that only children can start learning English from scratch. Someone thinks that an adult is ashamed to start with the basics and learn elementary rules and words, someone believes that only children can successfully learn foreign languages, because they have a great memory and learning ability. Both the first and second opinions are mistaken. There is nothing shameful in that you begin to learn a language as an adult, on the contrary: the craving for knowledge always inspires respect. According to the statistics of our school, people begin to learn a language from the first stage at 20, 50, and even 80 (!) Years. Moreover, they do not just start, but successfully learn and achieve high levels of English. So no matter how old you are, your desire to learn and your readiness to improve your knowledge is important.

Many people ask: "What is the best way to start learning English?". First, you should choose a convenient way of learning: in a group, individually with a teacher or independently. You can read about the pros and cons of each of them in the article "".

The best option for those who are going to learn the language from scratch is classes with a teacher. You need a mentor who will explain how the language “works” and help lay a solid foundation for your knowledge. The teacher is your interlocutor who:

help you start speaking English;
explains grammar in simple words;
will teach you to read texts in English;
it will also help you develop your listening comprehension skills.

For some reason, you don’t have the desire or ability to engage with a teacher? Then study our walkthrough About independent study of English for beginners.

To begin with, we want to give you some tips on how to better organize your classes so that your efforts are not wasted. We recommend:

Engage at least 2-3 times a week for 1 hour. Ideally, you need to study English every day for at least 20-30 minutes. However, if you want to have a weekend, do it every other day, but in double volume - 40-60 minutes.
Work on speech skills. Write short texts, read simple articles and news, listen to podcasts for beginners and try to find an interlocutor to train your speaking skills.
Put the acquired knowledge into practice immediately. Use spoken and written words and grammar. Simple cramming will not give the desired effect: knowledge will fly out of your head if you do not use it. Have learned a dozen words - make a short story using all these words, speak it out loud. Studied the time Past Simple - write a short text in which all the proposals will be in this time.
Do not "spray". The main mistake of beginners is an attempt to take as many materials as possible and work with them all at the same time. As a result, the study turns out unsystematic, you get confused in the abundance of information and do not see progress.
Repeat. Do not forget to repeat the material. Even if it seems to you that you know the words on the topic “Weather” by heart, return to them in a month and check yourself: do you all remember whether there were any difficulties. A repetition of the past is never superfluous. In our blog, we already wrote about. Get familiar with the techniques and try to put them into practice.

3. Guide: How to start learning English from scratch on your own

Since English is terra incognita for you so far, we have tried to select only the most necessary materials for you. The result was a rather lengthy list from which you will learn how to start learning English and how to do it right. Immediately, the work ahead is not easy, but interesting. Let's get started.

1. Learn the rules of reading English

The theater begins with a hanger, and English begins with reading rules. This is the basic part of knowledge, thanks to which you can learn to read English and pronounce sounds and words correctly. We recommend that you use a simple table from the Internet and learn the rules by heart, as well as get acquainted with the transcription of the English language. This can be done, for example, on the website Translate.ru.

2. Clarify how words are spoken

Even if you know the rules of reading by heart, when learning new words, check how they are pronounced correctly. Artful English words do not want to be read the way they are written. And some of them even refuse to obey any rules of reading. Therefore, we recommend clarifying the pronunciation of each new word in an online dictionary, for example, Lingvo.ru or on a special site Howjsay.com. Listen a few times to how the word sounds and try to pronounce it the same way. At the same time practice the correct pronunciation.

3. Start building vocabulary

Take advantage of visual dictionaries, for example, use the website Studyfun.ru. Vivid pictures voiced by native speakers and translation into Russian will facilitate the process of learning and memorizing new vocabulary.

What words to start learning English? We recommend that beginners focus on a list of words on Englishspeak.com. Start with simple words of a general theme, remember which words you use most often in your speech in Russian. In addition, we advise you to devote more time to studying English verbs. It is the verb that makes speech dynamic and natural.

4. Learn grammar

If you imagine speech in the form of a beautiful necklace, then grammar is the thread on which you place the beads-words, in order to get a beautiful decoration. Violation of the "rules of the game" of English grammar is punished by a misunderstanding of the interlocutor. And to learn these rules is not so difficult, it is enough to study with a good textbook. We recommend taking the first book from a series of Grammarway manuals translated into Russian. We wrote about this book in detail in our review. In addition, we recommend that you read our article "", from it you will learn what books you will need at the initial stage of learning English.

Do you find the textbooks boring? It does not matter, pay attention to our series of articles "". In it, we set out the rules in simple words, give many examples and tests to test knowledge. In addition, our teachers have compiled for you a simple and high-quality online self-study grammar of English. We also advise you to read the article "", in it you will find 8 good reasons to take up benefits, and also find out when you can do without textbooks in language learning.

5. Listen to your level podcasts

As soon as you begin to take the first steps, you immediately need to accustom yourself to the sound of foreign speech. Start with simple podcasts lasting from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. You can find simple audio recordings with translation into Russian on the Teachpro.ru website. And to get the most out of listening, check out our "" article.

After you build up your English vocabulary, it's time to start watching the news. Recommended resource Newsinlevels.com. News texts for the first level are simple. Each news has an audio recording, so be sure to listen to how new words sound for you, try to repeat them after the announcer.

7. Read simple texts

During reading, you activate visual memory: new words and phrases will be easy to remember. And if you want to not only read, but also learn new words, improve pronunciation, listen to texts voiced by native speakers, and then read them. You can find simple short texts in textbooks of your level, for example, New English File Elementary, or on the Internet on this site.

8. Install useful applications

How to start learning English from scratch on your own, if you have a smartphone or tablet on hand? Applications for learning English are mini-tutorials that will always be in your pocket. The well-known Lingualeo app is ideal for learning new words: thanks to the interval repetition technique, new vocabulary will not disappear from your memory in a month. And to study the structure, the principle of "work" of the language, we recommend installing Duolingo. This application will allow you to learn grammar and learn how to build sentences in English, in addition to learning new words, and also help you to develop a good pronunciation. Also check out our and select from there the programs most interesting to you.

9. Get involved online

If you ask Google where to start learning English on your own, a caring search engine will immediately throw you a couple of hundred sites with various lessons, online exercises, articles about learning the language. An inexperienced student is immediately tempted to make himself 83 bookmarks of "well-needed sites on which I will be engaged every day." We want to warn you against this: you will quickly get confused in the abundance of bookmarks, and you need to deal with it systematically without jumping from one topic to another. Bookmark 2-3 really good resources on which you will be engaged. This is more than enough. We recommend doing online exercises on Correctenglish.ru. Also check out our "" article, where you will find even more useful resources. And after you learn the basics of English, check out the article "", where you can download a file with a list of useful materials and sites for learning the language.

4. To summarize

A rather big list turned out, and we tried to collect for you only the most necessary components for a successful study of the English language. Nevertheless, we were not able to use the most important skill - speaking. It is almost impossible to train alone with oneself. The most you can do is try to find a friend who is learning English. However, a friend with a higher level of knowledge is unlikely to want to deal with a beginner, and a beginner like you cannot be an assistant. Moreover, when you are engaged with a layman, there is a risk of "catching" his mistakes.

Self-study of the language has another fat minus - lack of control: You will not notice your mistakes and correct them. Therefore, we recommend that you think about classes with the teacher at least at the beginning of your journey. The teacher will give you the necessary impetus, help you choose the right direction of movement - exactly what a beginner needs.

Now you know how to learn English on your own from scratch. We admit that the road ahead is not easy, but if you have already set a goal and are ready to work, positive results will not be long in coming. We wish you patience and perseverance towards your goal!

And for those who want to quickly achieve their goals, we offer with a teacher in our school.

Every year, many Russians increasingly ask themselves: “Where to start learning English?” Our realities in life dictate this need. A number of factors contribute to this. Today, English-language cultural products are in the foreground everywhere: literature, goods, cinema, education and so on. Moreover, today many of our fellow citizens have absolutely real opportunities to travel abroad for tourist purposes, in search of work or for the sake of a change. Such people must ask themselves a question: where to start learning English? How to achieve good results in the shortest possible time?

Of course, you can go to linguistic courses. There you will be given all the necessary instructions and will guide you throughout the entire learning process. If for some reason this is not for you and you are wondering where to start learning English on your own, then you will probably find some useful tips in this article. So, let's get started.

Of course, with the basics of grammar

First of all, you must master the simplest grammar rules and the most necessary everyday words. Where to start learning English should be the same in all systems. Although it often appears in different forms. First of all, you should stock up on perseverance, because this is a rather lengthy process. At least a few months will pass before you begin to understand the native speaker quite fluently and speak on any topic. At the first stage of self-study, you just need to get a primer.

Among the array of such literature, two volumes of “English Step by Step” by Authorship and the Cambridge English Grammar textbook are very solid. They are quite accessible both in electronic and in printed form. After a month of hard work, you can already learn all the numbers in English or the types of times. As well as many other subtleties like active or By the way, at the first stage of learning words, use word cards. For learning English, this is very effective. Old but effective way.

Be sure to use books to learn English

After the first weeks of learning the basics of the language, be sure to start reading. No, don’t be afraid, you don’t have to read complex texts, looking for a translation of almost every word in the dictionary. There are specially adapted texts for these purposes. Such, for example, are books by Ilya Frank. Here, each English-language paragraph is accompanied by a further Russian-language paragraph with a separate translation and analysis. This will help you after a while to navigate quite well in English texts without the help of a translator.

And of course, you can’t limit yourself to reading

Remember that learning any language should be not only visual, but also auditory. In order to learn to hear English speech by ear, you need to constantly work on it. In the initial stages, you can take, for example, the lessons of the famous American linguist Jay Hoag. The course is called Effortless English and is also freely available on the Internet. In parallel, translate for yourself the texts of your favorite English-language songs, watch movies with subtitles. Surely, this, in addition to benefit, will also be interesting for you.

Surely many people remember how English was studied a decade earlier - from cumbersome textbooks, huge A4-sized textbooks with a century-old tutor or a group on the other side of the city. A similar picture is familiar to many, but certainly not modern students - now language learning is becoming more interesting and interactive.
There are many resources available to help make learning a language convenient and quick. According to the experience of many students, one can absolutely conclude: it is not difficult to learn a foreign language for yourself in a couple of months from scratch, and thanks to the increasing spread of special sites and applications, it’s also free. And this is not about a simple set of tables and texts - whether they are on paper or on a monitor - it's boring - but about interactive resources where you can not only learn the rules, but also read adapted articles, talk to native speakers and test yourself on mistakes.

Probably, you should first ask the question "Is it difficult to learn the language yourself?" The answer is not at all. Perhaps in some respects it is even easier. For example, many trainers and students unanimously affirm: the one who learns a foreign language with pleasure, that is, exploring something familiar or extremely interesting, achieves the best results. And, as experience shows, this is true. All school and university programs consist mainly of abstract Julie and John dialogues or tedious historical texts. Yes, this is substantial, yes, the texts are full of new vocabulary, yes, the programs are specially designed by knowledgeable people. But who can say with certainty that after such lessons he learned the language perfectly? Alas, 70% of the information flies out of my head the very next day, and the lessons themselves are hardly remembered with pleasure.
Another thing is to revise your favorite series, learn the text of your favorite song or read an interesting article. In fact, this is not learning, but leisure, although it brings much more fruit, and doing it is much more pleasant, and therefore will not turn back from learning the language. Linking thus a foreign language with an interesting occupation, the pleasant merges with the useful. And after a month it suddenly turns out that you are able to read the article on the English-language Wikipedia and without a hitch a couple of phrases with a foreigner.

Rating of free sites for learning English

№	Level	Languages \u200b\u200bto learn
-	From scratch	English, German, French +4
74	Elementary	English, French, German +37
1,639	from scratch	English and German
3,191	from scratch
4,595	middle	English
5,759	from scratch	English
13,467	from scratch	English, German, French +9
32,785	from scratch	English
76,948	from scratch	English, German, French +8
138,642	from scratch	English, German, French +2
190,319	from scratch	English

Polyglot - English from scratch in 16 hours

The most optimal resource for learning a foreign language from scratch. The Polyglot project was launched by the Culture channel in collaboration with Dmitry Petrov, a well-known psycholinguist and translator who speaks 30 languages. On this channel, the user in just 16 interesting video lessons will switch from complete lack of knowledge of the language to a good conversational level of English. Of course, the course does not guarantee to fully educate the audience on all the subtleties, but it perfectly helps to overcome the psychological barrier, after which further language learning will be faster and more effective. All lessons are accompanied by subtitles and tips.
Web site:

BBC Learn - Online Courses for Beginners and Professionals

The ubiquitous online course Bbc great help for both beginners and language-oriented users. Starting with the Russian version of the site, you can gradually advance to the Intermediate level, and by changing the site interface to English, you can find even more advanced lessons. The main advantage of the courses will be able to appreciate only advanced speakers - each course and each video are recorded by the BBC themselves, and accordingly are interesting and informative as the main site, but unlike ordinary articles, you can always turn to help for unfamiliar words or forgotten rules.
Web site:

Duolingo - a foreign language from scratch

A very pleasant site with which you can learn English or German online, soon the developers promise to launch programs in Spanish and Swedish. You can either start the course from scratch or take a proficiency test to begin more difficult lessons. The educational process is aimed at improving the perception of oral and written speech. Training is pretty monotonous - you need to either record the heard text without errors, or choose the right word, or translate the sentence. The site is fully interactive and in an instant gives the correct answer, finds an error or corrects the text. In case of an error, you can look at the language rule related to the current lesson and figure it out yourself. The site is free, but to access advanced features (enhanced training, text verification) you need to score points, mastering skills, translating texts and inviting friends to the application.
Web site:

Livemocha - an educational project based on the crowdsourcing model

A multilingual project, which is one of the most popular around the world. The site will be useful for both absolute beginners and those who know the language well, but work, for example, on the melody of speech or understand the use of difficult past tenses. As on Duolingo, on Livemocha the point system works: the user “buys” the course for the points that he initially has, and then he gets the same points back after completing each task. You can also score points, helping others learn the language - many foreigners study Russian, and a native speaker will need to check elementary tasks. This does not take much time, but allows you to continue to learn English for free on one of the most convenient and informative sites.
Web site:

British Council - English lessons from the British Consulate

The official website of the British Consulate offers not only visa information, but also excellent online English courses. In fact, it is not an interactive course, but a set of different materials for learning English, but unlike other standardized courses, here you can find a lot of game applications for grammar, videos and podcasts about the UK, recommendations for preparing for the IELTS exam and useful applications for a smartphone. You can also immediately see tips on the rules of the language, but they are presented in text mode in English, which, of course, is not suitable for absolute beginners, but will do a good job for those who already speak English at an intermediate level.
Web site:

Lingua Leo - the largest interactive portal in Russia

Of all the presented, LinguaLeo is the most functional and informative of the Russian-language sites. The main plus of learning English on it is a huge selection of training in a very different way: pronunciation, listening, crosswords, word translation and vice versa. An extension function for the browser is very convenient, which, with a click of the mouse, shows the translation of an unfamiliar word, and with a second click adds it to the training dictionary. This, by the way, is indispensable for those who often work with foreign texts, because the LinguaLeo dictionary translates slang and phrasal verbs, often even gives more translation options than Goole Translate and its analogues. There are several courses here - business English, preparation for TOEFL and IELTS, but for the most part they are paid, as well as the advanced features of the site, including video lectures and some training (although definitely worth it).
Web site:

Busuu is one of 12 languages \u200b\u200bfrom scratch to spoken online

Another interactive site with which you can successfully master the language from the level of the avid "Hello!" to spoken business English. Moreover, this is the only interactive site for learning French and Spanish, but for learning more than one language, as well as for access to some lessons, you will have to buy a premium account. By site type Livemocha, here the user can leave his tasks for verification to other users. In fact, Busuu It will hardly be useful to advanced users, but successfully starting to learn the language and bringing it to the level where you can switch to the original sources will help perfectly.
Web site:

Puzzle English - English through the game

Puzzle English very similar in concept to Lingualeo, although the content is quite different. The main part of the content is films and series with English and Russian subtitles, as well as explanations for them and training. A vivid example of just the case when language learning is fully combined with leisure - who can complain that they are reviewing the good old “Friends” for the third week, while their English skills are growing steadily? On the other hand, in order to use the site without restrictions, you will have to, like in other cases, buy an inexpensive subscription, but the money spent will hardly fly away.
Web site:

Lingust.ru - online English: theory and practice

A good portal for learning several languages. An undoubted advantage of it is the fact that absolutely all content on it is free and you do not need to buy a subscription. On the other hand, classes on it are much more reminiscent of school lessons than a game. But still, the material covers English from the basics to a good conversational level and is perfect for anyone who wants to learn the language quickly and for free. Alas, the site does not have a mobile application or interactive programs, but the user can always chat with other students, since the VKontakte comment widget is connected to each lesson, which makes it not just a forum, but a means of constant contact and language practice.
Web site:

Polyglot Club - communication in a foreign language with native speakers

In fact, this site is more like a social network than an interactive online course. But there are two very important advantages: firstly, there are a lot of foreigners registered here who will be happy to talk with you about everything in the world, even in correspondence, at least in video chat, and you can either practice the language or just make friends. Secondly, you can leave texts for verification, thereby receiving feedback from native speakers. This will be appreciated by those who understand English well, but are not confident in their writing skills, because usually online platforms do not involve checking long texts, but here it happens very quickly and is often carried out by several people. In a word, for language practice Polyglot club fit like nothing better.
Web site:

Learn at Home - an online portal for learning English

Online portal Learn at Home generally similar to Puzzle English - There are also quite a lot of entertaining content, clips and films, and also in the free version not all are available. Nevertheless, the user can learn quite a few key phrases from comics and clips, practice constructing sentences and chat with other students. Nevertheless, the main part of the functions can hardly be estimated in the free version, so for serious study you still have to fork out a little.
Web site:

Self-study of the English language is a rather laborious, but budget way to master a language, which has its pros and cons. In this case, the main source of information is your choice - it can be the Internet, educational games, an English language tutorial, a phrasebook, books (adapted either in the original), songs. There are many online services for beginners and continuing.

Perhaps, but this type of training has its own characteristics that must be taken into account. Mastering the language includes 4 components: reading, writing, oral speech (speaking) and listening perception (listening).

Reading

Reading - one of the types of speech activity, a complex process of decoding characters, aimed at understanding the text. One of the forms of linguistic communication of people using printed and manuscripts. Also, reading can be considered as a wonderful tool for mastering the language, because it is in the texts that there are many unfamiliar words and words already familiar to us. Some words are ambiguous, their meaning is easier to remember in context. All this allows not only to increase the vocabulary, but also to repeat the grammatical constructions acquired earlier. To ensure that work on the text does not turn into an impossible task, it is very important to choose the text in accordance with your language level.

Letter

Letter - This is one of the types of speech activity, a symbolic fixation of speech with the help of special characters (letters, hieroglyphs, drawings). Mastering a written speech is gradual. For practice in writing, you can use the following forms of work:

Text rewriting;
Training dictations;
Writing letters, essays.

Reading and writing are interconnected types of speech activity. A letter is a kind of encoding of information using characters, and reading is a decoding of these characters.

Oral speech

To master oral speech, you must have the skills of sounding expressions, the skills of using lexical units and grammar skills for the correct execution of sentences. In other words, in order to say something, you need to know the words required by the given situation, be able to pronounce them correctly and construct the sentence in accordance with the rules of the language. In addition to words, there are speech turns, stable expressions that are often used in oral speech. Therefore, for mastering oral speech, it is necessary not only to remember a certain number of individual words and expressions, but also to bring their use to automatism.

Listening perception (listening)

Listening - This is the process of listening to and understanding oral expressions. The mechanism of this process includes:

Perception of the flow of sounds and recognition in it of words, sentences of paragraphs, etc.
Understanding the meanings of words, sentences, paragraphs. If you already have a certain speech experience, then this process is enhanced by predicting the content of what was said.

To understand English by ear, you need to listen as often as possible! You can communicate with other people in English (preferably with foreigners), speak on the phone, listen to music, watch videos, TV shows.

Learning a foreign language not only develops memory and thinking, but also increases the level of IQ.

Where to start independent language learning?

With independent study of a foreign language, your success will directly depend on the correctness of the chosen approach to learning.
It is necessary to adhere to the correct sequence of studying the material - from simple to complex. It is recommended to study topics in the following sequence:

English alphabet (sounds and letters of the alphabet).
Transcription.
Reading rules.
Vocabulary on topics (accumulation of vocabulary).
Grammar.

Each of these components is important, so you can not miss anything, because all these points are closely interrelated. Remember that without the correct pronunciation you will be difficult to understand. Even having learned the entire dictionary, you won’t speak, because sentences are built according to certain rules, and to build them correctly you need at least basic knowledge of grammar, because speech is not just a bunch of words.

With self-study, it is very important to check the correctness of your pronunciation. This can be done using online dictionaries. Click on the mouthpiece to hear how the word is pronounced. For example, you can use the sites Lingvo.ru or Howjsay.com. If you are working on text, then use the Google translator to listen to all the text.

In the study of vocabulary (replenishment of vocabulary) should also adhere to a certain order. Start learning vocabulary with simpler and more common words and phrases on a specific topic. To do this, you can use the Englishspeak.com service (100 lessons with vocabulary by topic and the ability to listen to it), Studyfun.ru service (vocabulary by topic and the ability to listen to it), a phrasebook (be careful - transliteration (English words in Russian letters) does not reveal features English pronunciation!), tutorials (their advantage is that one lesson presents exercises in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary for the lesson, reading texts, colloquial phrases on topics). News lovers can use the Newsinlevels.com news portal, where the presentation of information depends on your level of English. It is important that each news is accompanied by an audio recording.

Knowledge of grammar is no less important than vocabulary. With a great desire, any rule can be learned, but in order to work on the rule does not seem unbearably complicated, your task is not to learn (memorize) the rule, but to understand it. If this rule is related to the use of tenses, passive voice, conditional sentences, etc., understand the rule in the “native” language. For example, change the same sentence so that it matches the temporary forms of the English language, but make a sentence in Russian (you can make changes). Then in English:

In summer, we love to sunbathe on the beach (in general we love - it’s a real simple time).
Now we are sunbathing on the beach - (a real long time).
“You look like boiled cancer!” “I wish I was at the beach all day!” (similar to cancer now, because it was on the beach - a simple perfect time).
We sunbathe on the beach from three o’clock (we sunbathed for 3 hours and still continue - a real accomplishment for a long time).
When we were little, we loved to sunbathe on the beach (past simple time).
Yesterday we sunbathed all day (past long time).
When he came to us, we were already on the beach (two actions in the past, one of which occurred earlier - the past perfect time).
We sunbathed on the beach all day until he came! (the action lasted until a certain point in the past).
Let's go to the beach tomorrow! (future simple time).
And tomorrow at the same time we will be sunbathing! (action in the future, which will take some time - the future is a long time).
In a week I will definitely complete the essay on summer! (the composition will be written at a certain point in the future - the future perfect time).
I will play volleyball on the beach until my parents pass after me! (an action that will last in the future until a certain point is the future perfect for a long time).

A good start does not always guarantee a good end, so the organization of independent studies must be approached responsibly. Remember that you need this first of all, and all control over the course of the enterprise and its results rests with you!

Exercise regularly.
Depending on the results you want to achieve and the time frame for achieving them, set the required duration of classes for yourself (for example, at least an hour and at least 3 times a week).
The speed of work is different for everyone, so you set the ideal learning rhythm for yourself (for example, 30 minutes a day).
Choose tasks of your level to avoid disappointment in yourself and your abilities. If you already have some knowledge, you can rewrite short texts, translate texts or articles, find yourself an interlocutor (on the Internet or in real life) to practice speaking skills (or written, for example, a pen friend).
All acquired knowledge should be immediately put into practice, while all words and grammatical constructions should be used in oral and written speech.
Learning a foreign language is for the most part cramped by many, but without it in any way (for example, learning vocabulary)! But even in cramming you can find logic - for example, some words are international, so remembering them by the similarity of sound in their native language will facilitate the process of remembering them.
Repetitio est mater studiorum (Repetition is the mother of learning). Be sure to take the time to repeat the material you've covered until it is deposited in your head ... forever. You will not be able to achieve the desired result in saving time on repetition. After all, repetition is one of the main conditions for memorizing and assimilating material. Repetition affects precisely long-term memory, helping to assimilate information over the long term. The correct repetition of the studied material improves its preservation and facilitates its subsequent reproduction.

What can hinder independent language learning?

« False motivation, or lack of proper motivation. Ask yourself, “Why am I learning a language?” If the answer is for yourself, it is fashionable to get a job, then you are unlikely to achieve significant results. Why? Because for himself he may (and most likely) not be needed, and learning a language is a laborious process; it's fashionable - fashion is changing, and so are languages. To get a job, an employer needs a qualified worker now, and not necessarily in your person, when you learn a language.

Formulate a specific goal, preferably practical, even if a trip abroad does not shine in the near future. For example: learning a language develops my intellectual abilities, through the means of learning a language I develop my personal and communicative qualities, I can expand access to the information I need, because in English it is more; I want to watch movies and TV shows in English, I want to communicate with foreigners, etc.

Typical beginner mistakes are:

Kato Lomb (February 8, 1909 - June 9, 2003) - A well-known Hungarian translator, writer, who worked as a simultaneous translator in the 1950s.

She spoke, read and wrote fluently in Hungarian, Russian, English, French, German. I could speak and understand Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Polish. I read with a dictionary in Bulgarian, Danish, Romanian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Latin, Polish. By education - a physicist and chemist, but already in her youth she was interested in languages \u200b\u200bthat she studied independently.

Kato Lomb outlined her methodology for studying foreign languages \u200b\u200bin a book "How do I learn languages".

Kato Lomb summarized his approach to learning languages \u200b\u200bin 10 commandments:

1. Learn your language daily. At least 10 minutes, even if there is absolutely no time. Especially good to do in the morning.
2. If the desire to practice weakens too quickly, do not “force”, but do not drop out of school. Come up with some other form: put the book down and listen to the radio, leave the textbook exercises and look through the dictionary, etc.
3. Never bison, do not memorize anything in isolation from context.
4. Write out of turn and memorize all the "ready-made phrases" that can be used in the maximum number of cases.
5. Try to mentally translate everything that is possible: a flashed billboard, an inscription on a poster, fragments of randomly heard conversations. This is a good exercise to keep language thinking in a constant tone.
6. Only what is absolutely right is worth learning firmly. Do not reread your own uncorrected exercises: when you read it repeatedly, the text is remembered involuntarily with all possible errors. If you study alone, then learn only the right ones.
7. Record phrases, idiomatic expressions and remember in the first person, unit For example: "I am only pulling your leg" (I only tease you).
8. A foreign language is a fortress that must be stormed from all sides at the same time: reading newspapers, listening to the radio, watching non-dubbed films, attending lectures in a foreign language, working through a textbook, correspondence, meetings and conversations with friends - native speakers.
9. Do not be afraid to speak, do not be afraid of possible mistakes, but ask that they be corrected. And most importantly, do not be upset and do not be offended if you really begin to correct.
10. Be firmly convinced that by all means you will achieve the goal, that you have an unbending will and extraordinary ability to languages. And if you have already lost faith in the existence of such - (and rightly so!) - then think that you are just smart enough to master such a little thing as a foreign language. And if the material still resists and the mood falls, then scold textbooks - and rightly, because there are no perfect textbooks! - dictionaries - and this is true because comprehensive dictionaries do not exist - at worst, the language itself, because all languages \u200b\u200bare difficult, and harder than all is your native language. And the thing goes.

I understand that learning English is not so easy.

Many spend years, and still do not reach the desired level. A few units are fluent in English, although the benefits of this are obvious to everyone.

Fortunately, using the right techniques can significantly speed up the learning process! I will share with you a list of 30 life hacking tips I used to learn English. They are guaranteed to improve your language in the shortest possible time.

What's the secret?

The main thing in learning a language is regular practice and maximum “immersion” in the language. Think for yourself: after all, young children learn to communicate in their native language without dictionaries and lessons. In the same way, for effective training you need to literally surround yourself with the language.

But for starters ...

Get rid of prejudice

You can learn English only in childhood? In fact, numerous studies show that adults learn the language even easier than children!
Do you have a bad memory? If you are just starting to learn a language, I have good news for you: you need to learn only 25 of the most frequently used words in order to understand 25% of the entire written text! To understand half, it takes about 100 words. Can you remember a hundred words?
Do you have no time? Firstly, in the study of English, it is not the duration that matters, but the frequency of classes. Secondly, this is usually just an excuse: can't you cut half an hour a day to reach your goal?

Practice English without even noticing it

On all my devices, I changed the interface language to English

Change the interface language of the mobile phone, computer and other devices to English. So you learn some new words and phrases and get used to interacting with English text.
Stick on all items in the house stickers with their names. You will be surprised how many objects in your apartment whose names you do not know. Glue the names on the door of the rooms, household appliances, furniture, cabinets, and even cereal boxes.
Read and memorize the words of your favorite songs and sing along to them! The Genius website has not only words, but also explanations of the meaning of individual phrases of almost all popular songs.

Expand your English vocabulary

Google Images is a Great Way to Remember New Words and Expressions

When you are looking for a translation of an unfamiliar word, not only look in the dictionary, but also hammer it into the Google Image Search. Very often, images will give you a much greater idea of \u200b\u200bthe meaning of a word than a text description. Of course, this method works best for nouns that describe specific subjects.
For all new words, try to find out their sound. Just type the words in the Google translator and click on the “Listen” icon at the bottom of the text box. Usually it is enough to hear the pronunciation of a word once to remember it.
Install applications on your smartphone that will teach you a few words every day. Try easyten, Duolingo or the more versatile Anki.
If you already understand enough of the English text, use the English-English dictionary instead of the English-Russian.

By the way, our blog is simple.

Watch recordings of English-language TV shows on YouTube. They are short and funny. Try conan O’Brien show or Stephen Colbert.
Search YouTube for recordings of speeches from interesting conferences. Speakers usually speak distinctly, but with a lively language. Shameless plug: take a look my performance at the 500 Startups demo 😇
Video tutorials can also be interesting. The main thing is to find boring! I like English Lessons with Alex.
About films and TV shows in English has been written many times, but not in vain! Watch depending on the level with Russian or English subtitles, or without them at all. Have you watched Silicon Valley?

Read english

Vogue in the original is beautiful

If your level is still low, read books for young children. They are short and written in simple language.
Read English comics, better popular - about Batman, Superman, etc. They are also short, and the pictures help to understand what is happening.
Did you know that there is Wikipedia in plain English? Articles in it are written with simplified grammar and a set of words. Read about subjects of interest to you, or start with selected articles.
Read interesting foreign magazines or articles from their sites. My choices are The New Yorker and Vogue 😊
For books, start with the ones you've already read in Russian. By the way, translations of books from Russian into English are usually written in simpler English than the original English-language books.

Listen to English

BBC News is a great example of a standard English accent

Be sure to listen to the speakers, even if you are just starting to learn the language. Here it is important not only to understand everything, but to get used to its sound and rhythm. Do not worry, gradually you will begin to understand what is being spoken.
Watch or listen to news feeds, preferably the BBC and CNN. News broadcasters speak with a standard accent (British by the BBC and American by CNN).
Include English speech (same news) as background. Unknowingly, you will get used to it and catch frequently occurring turns.

Speak English

Sometimes I have to speak English in front of huge halls

To get started, find an interlocutor with whom you can often engage! We need a constant practice of communication.
Take advantage of language exchange: practice English while teaching your native language in exchange. The best platform for this is the italki site.
Look for speaking clubs in your city. But remember: to make sense of them, you need to take the initiative and not only listen to others, but also speak more yourself!
The most effective option is lessons with a professional teacher and native speaker. It should have a good accent, because you will unconsciously adopt it. In order not to waste time, choose (in addition, they are usually cheaper).
When there is a chance, just start talking! And no “sorry for my english”. The interlocutor will appreciate your desire and will gladly forgive you mistakes without unnecessary requests. Apologies will only add embarrassment, first of all to yourself.

Immerse yourself in an English-speaking environment

I studied English where they speak it - in Miami and London

When planning your vacation abroad, think about an English-speaking country - England, USA, Malta, Canada or Australia.
Live abroad with other people. Instead of a hotel, rent a room on Airbnb or Homestay.
Well, I will not tire of repeating that nothing will give you such progress as language courses in the country where they speak it! Head to. You can go there with any language level and at any age.

Many do not even think about the opportunity to learn a language abroad, but in vain! - It is effective, very interesting, and far from as expensive as is commonly believed.

Your turn

I tried to collect in this article all the tricks and tricks with which I improved my English.

What secrets help you learn a language? Share in the comments!

P.S.

I almost forgot!