Learning English 1. The best English language tutorials. How to work with them? My review and recommendations. Formation of vocabulary

If you have never learned English or you once studied at school, but completely forgot everything, even the alphabet, and now you have decided to start learning English from scratch, then our advice on where to start and how to move may be useful to you. The first and most important thing is to understand how much you need the language, why you need it, and whether you have enough resources to learn the language.

Introductory articles

Motivation

Motivation should be your driving force; without it, you will not be able to practice the language daily for a long time. Without daily practice it is impossible to master this huge layer of knowledge. If there is no obvious motivation, but there is a burning desire to learn the language, then you should think about what knowledge of the language will give you - maybe it’s a new prestigious job or the opportunity to read specialized literature on topics that interest you, or maybe you travel a lot and want to fully communicate with people around the world or correspond with foreign friends.
Your motivation may still be in the subconscious. Try to extract it from there, it will play a decisive role in your successful progress in mastering English language.

Choosing a teaching method

Your next step should be to choose teaching methods or teachers. Now students have access to very good language materials And large number teachers who are ready to study via Skype with students from all over the world. Ideal, of course, to find good teacher- native speaker. But not everyone can afford such opportunities, and some simply want to study independently and for free, at a convenient time, without any stress, according to their own schedule. Then you need to choose a system that you will follow.

Learning English from scratch takes time

Plan time for studying, you need to study every day, at least 15 - 20 minutes, but it’s better to set aside an hour for studying. In our selection of articles “English from scratch” you will find materials for beginners, audio recordings and videos, exercises, a large number of examples, explanations, as well as links to resources that will help you progress faster.

When choosing your study resources, make sure you like the materials. This is important, all polyglots talk about it. Interest plays a role in language acquisition main role. It allows you to achieve more with less effort. Just imagine that you need to learn or translate a text on some boring topic for you, but you will fall asleep after the first phrase! On the contrary, if you come across an interesting book, you will definitely find time to read it. Go ahead, friends, devote your time and attention to the language, and you will raise your English from scratch to fluency. Good luck everyone!

According to statistics, English today is the native language of more than 370 million people. English, along with Chinese and Spanish, is consistently in the top three in terms of the number of speakers. No matter what country in the world we go to, knowledge of spoken English will definitely not be superfluous. For employees of many facilities located in tourist areas, one of the main requirements when hiring is at least a minimum proficiency in 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 kind of programs and methods for teaching a foreign language have not been invented today. Many courses promise to achieve fantastic results in a short time. For beginners, programs are offered that supposedly allow you to speak English as well as Queen Elizabeth in 3 months.

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 metro in the first lesson. There are people for whom English is a little easier than others. But everyone has to make some effort when learning.

Whether you learn English on your own or with a tutor is, of course, up to you. 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 students simply do not have the time or opportunity to attend English courses. But, thanks to the Internet, today foreign languages have become accessible to everyone.

I want to learn English! Goals and motivation

Let's say you decide to learn English on your own. You should start by defining your goals and finding motivation. Children at school are often reluctant to learn English words and are nervous when they are forced to memorize grammar, precisely because they do not understand why they need all this in the first place. 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 trick 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:

· trips;
· work in an international company;
· moving for permanent residence to 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 are simply going on a trip to an English-speaking country, sometimes it is enough to take a phrasebook with them. If you have time before your trip, you can buy an English tutorial. In reality, few people master such manuals from cover to cover, but the most necessary colloquial phrases in everyday life can be learned on your own. Most of us find ourselves in typical situations when traveling: visiting museums and souvenir shops, buying food in a supermarket, walking along the streets, placing an order in a restaurant, traveling in a taxi and purchasing plane or train tickets. It is on all of the above topics that it is highly advisable to learn vocabulary before traveling abroad.

However, if you consider yourself an avid traveler and intend to travel halfway around the world, then you need to learn English at least to the B1 (Intermediate) level. This will help you make more new friends while traveling and expand your horizons by communicating with foreigners.

In Russia, many people decide to learn English on their own in order to find more high paying job or get a job at an international company. Knowledge of a foreign language is always a competitive advantage in the labor market. Moreover, today knowledge of English at the Upper-Intermediate, or even Advanced level is required of most specialists, not to mention senior 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 proficiency free of charge. If the organization does not help you with your studies, then you will have to learn English on your own. Of course, in order to reach the Upper-Intermediate or Advanced level, it will take more than one year of work. Success here will largely depend on the effectiveness of the selected teaching materials.

To move for permanent residence to an English-speaking country, you will have to look for ways to completely 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 television programs in English - all this is available to Russian-speaking users. Youtube helps many people, where there are a lot of interesting channels in English. Try to abandon the usual Russian bloggers in favor of foreign ones. YouTube channels about travel will allow you not only to improve your conversational vocabulary, but also to find out the opinions of the British and Americans about our country. It is absolutely not necessary for a child to start learning English in advance. Having moved for permanent residence to another country, he will in any case go to school, end up in an unusual social environment and will be able to adapt to the language. But an adult in a new place may not have time to learn English. After all, when moving, you will have to solve many everyday issues: from finding housing and work to enrolling your child in school and purchasing necessary household items. And without language it will be extremely difficult to do this.

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 to determine your level of proficiency. You can do this directly on our website:

Perhaps your knowledge is enough to proceed to Intermediate (that is, 3 steps). If you feel that you can barely remember the alphabet, then it is better to start from the first Beginner level. In this case, it is useful to contact. It offers 5 levels of learning with video lessons, accessible grammar explanations, lots of interactive exercises and tests to consolidate your knowledge.

If you think that one online course will not be enough for you or you simply prefer to follow your own learning system, then you need to be prepared 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

To be fair, to start learning English you will need 4 textbooks:

· A universal modern manual for beginners or intermediate students;
· Grammar textbook;
· A guide for pronunciation;
· Guides with exercises to increase vocabulary.

Quite a lot, isn't it? However, having spent a considerable amount of money on educational literature, it’s not a fact that you will soon begin to speak English. First, most manuals are designed for group work. In such textbooks, almost half of the tasks involve constructing dialogues and even entire conversations between students. Secondly, many modern manuals for learning English do not contain a word of Russian: in order to begin the exercise itself, you first have to translate the assignments. This can create some difficulties when learning on your own. And finally, it has long been proven that living English speech is usually far from those often overly 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 and undergoing constant changes. In old textbooks you simply won’t find many topics that have become relevant only recently and appeared thanks to the active development of technology.

IN modern world many ardent supporters of progress avoid printed publications altogether, preferring e-books. For such people, when learning English, online courses will be an excellent alternative to standard textbooks. However, among those learning English, there are those who find it more convenient to work with printed textbooks, where they can take their notes. In addition to textbooks, such students should also pay attention to adapted fiction. Books in the original help enrich your vocabulary and broaden your horizons. And learning English from works of literature with a 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 study. If you are afraid that household members will interfere with the process, then you can try studying in the office after the end of the working day. Ideally, you should devote 20-30 minutes to English every day. If this is difficult for you, then you can exercise at least 2-3 times a week. But in this case, the duration of the lesson should be at least an hour.

Step 3. Communication with native and English-speaking people

Any person learning English sooner or later encounters 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, a real stupor arises. The speaker begins to forget words, worry and, as a result, cannot construct a basic phrase. You can get rid of this psychological barrier only through communication. Ask those around you who speak the language to speak English to you as much as possible. It is very useful to make friends among native speakers. Daily correspondence in chats and social networks with friends from the USA or UK will help expand your vocabulary and adapt to spoken language. Those who want to learn to speak fluently should also try to find an expat in Russia from an English-speaking country. 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 puzzling over the question of how to quickly learn English on your own, 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 people find signs with pictures helpful. When you learn new words, don't forget to practice their pronunciation. It is useful to listen to podcasts in English while traveling in the subway or car. Audio recordings can be found, for example, on our website. Most of the podcasts here are accompanied by synchronous subtitles in Russian and English. You can choose audio based on your own interests and language level.

English-language radio stations can also help you get used to speaking English. To make the process of learning a foreign language easier, make the language part of your leisure time and recreation. Try watching your favorite TV series and American films in English. Do you know why in some small European countries people in general high level English? Because Hollywood films and television series are not dubbed, but shown with subtitles. By constantly hearing original speech on the screen, people quickly master English.

How to learn English from films and TV series?

Films and TV series in English help students develop the ability to perceive foreign speech by ear. It’s no secret that even perfect reading skills and a good knowledge of grammar 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 information communicated orally. Even with an excellent vocabulary, a student picks out only individual words from the flow of speech. Films and TV series without translation or with subtitles help solve this problem.

Series on everyday and everyday topics allow you to feel the live speech of New York, London, Los Angeles. Once you start watching such shows, you will immediately understand why many Americans and Britons consider our English too bookish.

You can learn English on your own if you frequently watch programs and television shows produced in the USA or Great Britain. First, it is recommended to watch TV series with Russian subtitles. Afterwards you can switch to English subtitles or abandon them altogether. At first, watching programs and films in English will seem difficult. But it is not at all necessary to look into the dictionary every time you come across an unfamiliar word. Learn to guess the meaning of a phrase based on what is happening on the screen.

Still doubt that watching videos in the original language is not difficult? In this case, try to “assemble” 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 film or a music video). For convenience, visual materials are accompanied by subtitles. Next, from the words mixed in a chaotic order, you need to make up phrases heard in the video in English. Video puzzles in an easy way 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 for 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 regardless of your location, install educational mobile applications. And don’t forget about Skype, where there will always be teachers giving online lessons foreign language, and just interlocutors.

Learn English yourself, or organize personal time

Of course, many of us are concerned with the question of how to learn English without the help of a tutor. Self-study foreign requires self-discipline and consciousness. You don’t need to look for excuses for your teacher’s inability to perform every time. Deceiving yourself by inventing reasons why you were unable to learn new words or practice right time, completely unprofitable and pointless. Try to create some daily norms for yourself. For example, 10 new words to memorize, 10 pages of a book in English, or watching one short episode of an American TV series. At first, you will most likely have to force yourself to meet these standards. But gradually, daily English classes will become a habit, and each new achievement will motivate you to take further steps. If you don’t approach learning English as a tedious cramming exercise and a jungle of theory, but switch to live communication, watching interesting programs, reading books, online tests and word memorization simulators, then English will easily become part of your life. everyday life and an exciting hobby.

Good day, friends! Of course, learn to speak English by better communicating with native speakers or by going through language course in an English speaking country. But if you do not have such capabilities, then you can learn to communicate fluently in English using an audio course of spoken English for beginners. Today this is a fairly popular way to master a foreign language. Conversation English course for beginners As a rule, such audio lessons include an analysis of the most popular expressions and idiomatic phrases characteristic of oral speech. The conversational English course for beginners examines the most typical communication situations. Audio lectures for beginners will be a great help when you need to know what to say and how to behave in a normal conversation and more.

English lessons for beginners usually contain everyday vocabulary at the most various topics for communication: greeting, apology, time, food, city, shopping and so on. You can’t manage a conversation without knowing the basic numerals, days of the week, and phrases that are used in telephone conversations. It is also very important to know how to behave in an emergency situation. All these topics are covered in conversational English courses.

Learn spoken English quickly and easily with basic level You can use the audio guide “Spoken English Course for Beginners.” This mini-training consists of 18 lessons that will help you gain basic communication skills for beginners. On our website I will post all these audio lectures with brief description and text material for each lesson. Audio English course for beginners In simple lessons for beginners it is clearly and clearly presented speech etiquette English language, including typical speech patterns and colloquial clichés, united by one topic. And the theme " Conversational English course for beginners"covers the bare minimum of vocabulary that will help you when traveling on vacation or on a business trip to an English-speaking country or any other country in the world.

If you learn a mountain of grammatical rules, memorize a lot of vocabulary, but will not be able to correctly arrange lexemes and will not learn to hear fluently English speech, then you will never be able to say that you know the language. Only after learning to communicate fluently in English can we talk about mastering the language at least at a basic level. Therefore, for beginners, first of all, it is necessary to hone your speaking skills and correct pronunciation.

How to work with an audio English course for beginners

To become fluent in English colloquial speech, you need to study the course in detail and master conversation through reading and listening. The course lessons are structured in such a way that you can practice and experiment in all these areas. To make the course as effective as possible, try to work with it according to the following methodology for mastering the English language:

Get ready for class: sit comfortably and relax
Read the text material from the lecture aloud several times
Listen carefully to the vocabulary voiced by the speaker on a specific topic
Play the audio again and repeat short phrases behind the carrier
If necessary, go back to the beginning of the lesson and repeat all steps
After the lesson, apply all the knowledge gained in practice in real life
Study and pay attention to your studies every day for at least 1-2 hours
Consolidate no more than one lecture per day; do not get ahead of yourself and disrupt the logic of the study.
And most importantly, don't hesitate to apply everything you've already learned.

I wish you success in learning spoken English! Read, listen, repeat and have fun!

So, let's go!

List of audio lessons, conversational English course for beginners :

English is not very complex languages , similar to Japanese. Therefore, it can be taught at any time without outside help. Main - the right motivation. In this article we will tell you how to learn English on your own from scratch. AND best helper in this case, this is a self-teacher of the English language.

Self-study algorithm

Where to start learning English? Here are some important points:

First you need choose goals. Why do you need knowledge of English? The fact is that during the learning process you will have to constantly motivate yourself, devoting time to the language every day. Motivation plays a decisive role. Perhaps you need knowledge of the language to travel, study abroad, or communicate with English-speaking friends.
Get ready to work hard. You should not trust methods that are widely advertised and promise to turn a beginner into a professional who speaks fluent English in a month. There are no miracles. Really learn a language in a few months so that you can understand what you read and communicate. According to professionals, to know English like a native speaker, it will take decades.
You need to learn the language from the beginning, that is, with . The letters in the transcription are pronounced differently from how they are written. After memorizing the pronunciation of letters, you can begin to memorizing words.
Planning when learning words is extremely important. Set yourself a goal to learn, for example, five hundred words per month. Priority should be given to those words that are used in everyday life, that is in everyday speech.
Create your own dictionary by writing down the words you just learned. . You need to write by hand, because that’s how it works best motor memory. You can also use cards with Russian words written on one side and their translation on the other.
At the same time as memorizing words, study basics to build phrases. Try to repeat out loud what you learn as much as possible.
More often watch English videos with subtitles. Pause your viewing periodically to memorize the passage.
Listen to radio such as BBC to learn spoken language.
Use audiobooks, having a paper version at hand and on, in order to be able to compare the original and the translation.
Make language learning a priority by devoting it daily at least 30 minutes time for each lesson. By taking breaks and distractions, you can learn a language easily and without stress.

Independent learning of English at home.

Method for beginners

You shouldn’t count on quick results in your training, because Everyone's speed of memorization is different.. Language abilities are purely individual. It is realistic to expect some kind of breakthrough in the level of proficiency after three years from the start of study - this is what practice shows. Words in English at the level of a phrasebook can be studied in a month. These are question-and-answer structures that will come in handy if you go abroad. English for beginners is usually limited to everyday vocabulary and simple phrases.

Important! Visualization is essential in learning English. Be sure to review the topics included in the tutorials.

When studying you can use materials on DVDs, which also contain images with in English words, and translation to them. At the same time, the announcer pronounces the words correctly. Manuals on disks are varied: they contain everything you need for the language in a complex.

Remember that learning English is based on three areas: pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar. And it is important to combine this without compromising your psychological comfort.

A beginner should first learn the simplest grammar (verbs, and sentence construction), learn to read in English, and only then move on to watching films. An advanced student who has mastered grammar should emphasize in speech practice. This is the only way to remove accent from speech.

Immersion in an English-speaking environment has important. To do this, you need to communicate with people who speak English fluently, listen to music with such lyrics. If, for example, you move to the country of the language you are learning, then the learning process is shortened doubled.

Don't be shy about asking those who are professionals. About which technique to choose, which educational materials Better yet, you can ask your foreign language teacher.

The Internet contains a lot of information about good manuals. English teachers create their own websites they post manuals and share their experiences.

You can chat with a native speaker via Skype. There are also thematic chat rooms, which are very easy to find using the Yahoo search engine. In addition, you can correspond by e-mail, write messages on Twitter and Facebook.

Attention! The method of learning English on your own involves learning the language little by little, but every day.

Manuals and tutorials online

Using the online tutorial, you will learn in just a month read, understand content of English films on Youtube, original lyrics. But the most important thing is that you can express your thoughts and understand your interlocutors.

To assess your level of achievement, take the test. It's not difficult as it contains about 20 questions. Tests are designed for different levels: from basic (Elementary) to high (Advanced).

Will help you understand the language better and construct phrases online lessons. Here the grammar is presented step by step, starting with the verb “to be”. This is used in constructing time structures of the past, present and future. Having additionally studied figures of speech, you can already quite speak freely.

It should be noted that online learning is best done in interactive form, that is, through dialogue with a virtual interlocutor. This allows model communication, just like in real life.

Turn learning English into exciting activity gadgets help. This special applications for Android and iPhone platforms. The advantage of apps is that they contain analogues of paper cards with English words. Training takes place in a couple of clicks.

English for children

Children open to everything new, and if the child has shown sincere interest, you need at learn English in a playful way. The easiest way to do this is by viewing tutorials on the Internet by typing “English for children from scratch” into a search engine.

For example, you can show your child a colorful website fairy-english.ru Such sites are created specifically for young students and taking into account their characteristics.

In addition, a lot of videos filmed specifically for children have been posted online. professional teachers. Lessons for beginners are presented in in a simple and clear form.

Attention! Tutorial videos help you learn a language faster and more effectively.

The basic principle in learning language in children is progression. This means we need to move forward. from simple concepts to more complex ones. The child is able to learn those words in English that he already knows in Russian. Reading the dictionary will not give you anything: it is necessary learn words from pictures. A simple example. By doing exercises in the morning, you can learn the names of body parts, and during breakfast, learn the pronunciation of the names of menus and products in English.

How to learn English with your child at home

It is important to imagine the process of learning a language as a game, but motivating that by playing it, the child will receive a prize. Knowledge will give the key to the treasure. And the child will be interested in learning and comprehending new things. Of course, you cannot deceive a child. In the form of a treasure, you can purchase a disk with cartoons in English or a book English fairy tales in the original.

Motivation to learn a language

After a while, the child may become bored with the language and may find new entertainment. It's natural. To stay motivated, you need to do the following:

regularly buy bright and colorful aids (CDs, books, games);
give the child a chance perform at a competition with knowledge of the language, take part in the Olympiad, where certificates and awards are awarded;
enroll in an English speaking club, introduce you to equally enthusiastic children;
learn a language together with a child, who often follows the example of an adult.

Teaching children English in a playful way is much easier and faster.

Online tutorials for children

If the child is really interested, you can use a popular English language tutorial.

Website about a funny tiger cub who speaks English: http://lingualeo.com/ru.

Conclusion

The advantage of the independent approach is that you can choose methods, study for as many hours as your mood allows, choose the level of language to study. If you study English in courses, then the student will always limited in choice, because the teacher decides for him. Take advantage of this opportunity, because now you know how to learn English on your own at home.

Friends! I wrote these English lessons for those who want to learn to speak English. This is a kind of online tutorial for beginners. With its help, you will learn how to put words into sentences and learn about 500 common words and expressions.

Recently, these lessons were published in the form of a textbook called “Conversational English Grammar.” The book was published by AST Publishing House and is available in electronic (pdf) and paper form. I talked more about the tutorial in this video:

The textbook can be purchased here:

The book includes the same 59 lessons that are presented here, but in a slightly expanded form: some lessons have been rewritten (taking into account the book format), many more exercises have been added, including oral tasks for practicing speech structures.

Introduction

Who is this textbook for?

Firstly, for beginners, but not for absolutely zero level. You are expected to:

know ;
you can use words like: go, stop, car, name.

Don't worry about unfamiliar words - in the lessons the words are given with translation.

Secondly, for those who speak English at an intermediate level, but are still struggling when it comes to putting words together into a sentence. You know the words, tenses, etc., but sentence patterns are chaotically piled up in your head? Take this course to clean up your conversational grammar arsenal.

Textbook objectives

The main purpose of the textbook is to help you learn put words into sentences. I myself had the same problem: I knew the words, but I couldn’t put them together into a sentence. And it is impossible to communicate without this, because we speak not in words, but in sentences.

Each lesson (with rare exceptions) is speech pattern plus its variations. There are not many basic “blueprints” of sentences; I chose those that you absolutely must master to communicate in English. In other words, this is a textbook conversational grammar– that part of the grammar that is needed in everyday speech, plus a minimum of vocabulary.

After completing all the lessons, completing all the exercises and assignments, you will learn to construct sentences using the patterns necessary for oral communication.

What will you NOT learn with this tutorial?

1. The textbook is not a tool for preparing for the Unified State Exam or any other exam. Words and colloquial expressions are given in the textbook in a small volume. They are discussed in more detail on this website in the section.

2. It is important to understand that neither this nor any other textbook can replace real people. Theory is important, but without practice you will only have knowledge(I I know, how to tell how I'm doing), but it won't skills(I Can tell me how I'm doing).

How do these lessons differ from the Grammar section?

Section is directory By different topics. For example, if you want to remember/learn something about Present Simple time, you open a directory article. The textbook is well, where the material is given sequentially, from simple to complex, lesson by lesson.

How is the textbook structured?

I proceed from the fact that all sentences can be divided into four large groups - they correspond to the four parts of the textbook.

Part 1. Sentences with the verb to be (to be, to be) at the base, for example: