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How to learn English from scratch on your own?
Basic rules and features of self-study of English for adults.
In addition, knowledge of English opens up such cool opportunities as watching English films and TV shows in the original without distorting the subtle British humor and true American jokes.
Knowledge of the language is important for a representative of every profession, because cutting-edge scientific works, as a rule, are published in English. Modern developments and discoveries are recorded in the language of international communication - English, which is used as an official language in more than 70 countries of the world. Important political negotiations are also often conducted in this language, so you need not only to know it superficially, but to speak at least at the B1 Intermediate .
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| Characteristic | Training with a teacher | Self-study |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Depends on the frequency of your lessons. When the teacher is busy, you can study 1 time per week, which slows down the result. | Daily English lessons will speed up the result. |
| Methodology | An experienced teacher can create an effective methodology based on your level, goal and abilities. | Self-compilation of a methodology may take more time, because it is necessary to study the information. However, there are many articles on the Internet that will help you. |
| Price | Prices for a lesson depend on the education of a person, on whether he is a carrier. Skype English lessons are cheaper than regular English lessons. As a rule, prices start at $5. Face-to-face lessons with a professional cost from $10. | With unsupervised learning, you can spend the money you save on textbooks, paid movie subscriptions, or additional reading. |
| Quality | Lessons with a teacher can be better in terms of explaining grammar rules and pronunciation. | For high-quality self-study, efforts will have to be made, for example, to find explanations for certain rules. This is offset by the purchase of a textbook in which the rules contain understandable transcripts. Pronunciation can be put using original films, series and songs. |
| Practice | The tutor can be an interlocutor when it comes to the need to practice speaking | Without a teacher, you can train both written and oral speech on special communication sites. It is possible to communicate with native speakers for free. |
| Results control | The teacher, as a rule, is more experienced in monitoring and evaluating learning outcomes | When studying on your own, you need to set aside time to assess your knowledge using online verification tests. Buying a book complete with a Testbook will help you conduct self-control. |
| Planning | The tutor draws up a long-term plan for topics, dates, sources. | If you train yourself to keep a record of what you have already learned, how much you have spent on it, what you want to learn, you will be able to create a comprehensive plan with clear deadlines and tasks over time. |
Is it possible to learn English on your own from scratch?
Learning a foreign language is not easy, but it is possible.
The success of independent study depends on a high level of self-discipline and motivation. As a rule, if a person knows what the acquired knowledge of the language will bring him, then he will try harder. We advise you to learn the language when you understand the goal exactly - then any obstacle will be overcome with ease. In addition, the goal helps to determine the direction, of which there are a lot in English. There is tourist, business, legal, technical English, as well as a language for passing international exams, getting education abroad, scientific activities, communicating with foreigners, and so on.
Let's compare a lesson with a teacher and self-study in order to understand what to be prepared for.
How to start learning English from scratch?
We believe that learning a language as an adult is even easier than as a child. An adult has several undeniable advantages - this is perseverance, patience and motivation. If you know why you need to learn English, if you have the desire to do it, you will certainly succeed.
To begin with, it is worth determining your level of English by passing a special free test. This will help to clearly understand at what stage you are now and how much time it may take to learn. Before you start learning, it is important to choose teaching methodology There are such effective methods:
Translation method
Texts of varying complexity are used as educational material. In the process of their translation into Russian, a stock of vocabulary is formed. Grammar is studied according to the occurrence of grammatical constructions in the text. This technique is suitable for diligent people who need a vocabulary, expressions and clichΓ©s for a specific subject area.
In this way, you can study texts on business or jurisprudence. After some time, the base of professional vocabulary will be formed, stable expressions, including grammatical ones, will be deposited in the memory.
You can improve this method with the help of special sites for communication in English , where you can pull up colloquial speech, intonation, and accent for free. In addition, on some resources you can ask questions about learning the language. Therefore, the alternation of oral communication, translation of texts, maintaining a dictionary will help to increase the level of language proficiency.
We recommend exercising from 40 minutes a day 3 times a week. In this case, the result will be noticeable after 2 months.
A small life hack: you can print texts and write a transcription on top of words that are especially difficult to pronounce. Some of the texts are translated online - in this case, the audio playback option is important for words that you cannot pronounce.
A selection of resources with texts of varying complexity:
- rong-chang.com - listen to the announcer and try to pronounce it the way he does. Texts of initial level.
- english-online.at - modern texts that will be interesting to read. Level A2.
- eastoftheweb.com - literary texts from modern English-speaking authors. Level of knowledge - A2 - B1.
- breakingnewsenglish.com - old and new news from the English media. Level of knowledge: from beginner to advanced.
- dreamreader.net - simple, live articles that you can listen to. Suitable even for beginners.
- web2.uvcs.uvic.ca - texts linked with comprehension exercises. Level - A2 - B1.
- infosquares.com - read the text, translate and complete tasks on it. Medium difficulty.
You can also pay attention to the newspapers - reading the news will help to form a vocabulary of current and living expressions:
- theguardian.com - choose the most interesting news, read, translate, mark unfamiliar words. The British newspaper will not only significantly improve reading skills, but will also allow you to keep abreast of world events.
- washingtonpost.com - news about the American elections, vaccination against coronavirus, US relations with Russia - you will find all this in this American newspaper. For beginners, the language can be difficult, but the interest in the news will be a great motivation.
- positive.news - short, light in the informational sense, articles devoted only to pleasant and useful news.
- telegraph.co.uk - articles about economics, culture, sports, science, as well as a section with videos where you can practice listening.
- independent.co.uk is an exciting newspaper that publishes all the world's news in the form of articles and short videos.
- thetimes.co.uk - news for the last 24 hours, as well as for the past week, texts for "research" in the "Explore" section will help not only to better understand English, but also the mentality of the British.
conversational method
If grammar is not as important as the ability to speak fluently and quickly, you should pay attention to the conversational method. This type of training involves constant intensive practice of oral speech with native speakers.
Ideally, you can find a native tutor and study English via Skype - this is the best option for obtaining the necessary knowledge and teaching correct speech.
If this is not possible, then it is worth trying classes on special communication sites, where amateur enthusiasts teach English to everyone. From a large number, you can choose a resource that is right for you. It is worth choosing a site where there is the possibility of a chat or video call - so you can get to know the teacher you like and transfer communication to Skype or Zoom.
In addition, you can watch films and series in English in the original, stop the video and repeat after the hero. So you can build a vocabulary of modern vocabulary and be able to better understand your favorite movie.
You can also find a friend or acquaintance who, like you, is learning a language and communicate using voice messages.
Pimsleur Method
It was invented by Paul Pimsler. It aims to develop conversational skills through repeated repetition of phrases and sentences. This method involves mastering a certain number of words at each level, all together they form the vocabulary of the English language.
Thus, the student, having mastered the vocabulary, can express himself quite tolerably in English. When teaching according to this method, listening is mainly used, since the founder believed that understanding foreign speech by ear and speaking are one of the most important skills.
Another weighty argument in favor of this method is that the pronunciation of students is polished throughout the entire training. You need to learn English with the help English audio course from Dr. Paul Pimsleur.
Audiolingual method
Based on listening and repeating English words and expressions. Unlike the Pimsleur method, what is interesting to the student can be used as teaching materials.
Top resources that both captivate and teach are:
- learnenglish.britishcouncil.org - Real British speech in 10 minute videos from the British Council. A special feature is that you can download the text related to the entry for additional study.
- teacherluke.co.uk - podcasts from standup comedian Luke Thompson, many of which are complete with difficult words found in the text or grammatical constructions.
- learningenglish.voanews.com - Podcasts broken down by levels and topics, complete with words from speech.
- businessenglishpod.com - entries for those who want to learn business English. However, they can be useful to everyone - the general rules for negotiating, correspondence, business planning are interesting and relevant for many.
- hau.gr - the coolest selection of audio recordings on a variety of topics with the ability to download the text from the recording in pdf.
- bbc.co.uk - podcasts for intermediate level and above. Their advantage is that they show American culture as it is.
- podcastawards.com - the best podcats that have received awards in different categories: from comedy style to children and family.
- player.fm - a huge selection of different audio on a large number of topics.
In addition to podcasts, you can watch YouTube videos with subtitles, as well as listen to songs in English.
Complex method
As a rule, tutors use this method. It is based on determining the level of the student, the selection of educational literature and consecutive classes. There are many different books for beginners that include all kinds of activities: writing and speaking, grammar exercises, as well as listening and video material that comes in the form of CDs or DVDs.
If you start learning a language on your own with the help of special books, then your knowledge will be more complex. In addition, the main textbook often comes with Teacher's book, which contains answers to all tasks, as well as an explanation of grammar rules and Student's book, which contains additional exercises and testing tests.
Popular books include:
- English for Everyone: Level 1: Beginner, Course Book: A Complete Self-Study Program.
- Cutting Edge 3e - Elementary | Student Book w/ Active Book.
- Practice Makes Perfect Basic English, Second Edition: (Beginner) 53 lessons +125 Exercises + 40 Audio Pronunciation Exercises.
- English Made Easy Volume One: A New ESL Approach: Learning English Through Pictures.
- Clear Grammar 1, 2nd Edition.
- Evans, Dooley: Grammarway 2. Book with Answers. Elementary.
- Essential Grammar in Use: A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for Elementary Learners of English: With Answers.
Real Life Elementary series requires special attention - an entertaining textbook written in a lively and modern language. The series is available in the following variations:
- Real Life Elementary Workbook + CD - Workbook with exercises and CD with recordings.
- Real Life Elementary Student Book - textbook with exercises.
- Real Life Elementary Testbook + CD - notebook with tests and CD.
- Real Life Elementary Teacher's Book - a notebook with answers and explanations.
- Real Life Elementary Class Audio CD - audio exercises from the book.
- Real Life Elementary Active Teach is an interactive course.
You can choose a textbook, workbook and answer book for classes - this is quite enough to learn English at a basic level.
Learning a language with only one method is not a very correct approach. It is worth training all skills evenly.
How to learn English online from scratch?
There are several options for online learning:
- Online courses.
- Skype tutor
- Selfeducation.
In distance self-learning, you can follow these recommendations:
- Find common phrases and words that are used by 100% of English people on englishspeak.com and keep a dictionary.
- Learn words with the visual method at quizlet.com or memrise.com.
- Learn to understand English by ear and repeat after the speaker.
- Watch cartoons and write down unfamiliar vocabulary.
- Practice understanding texts and try to retell them.
- Make time for grammar.
- Take a self-test after a few learned grammar rules.
- Set aside time each week for testing.
- Analyze each error after passing special tests.
- Check your pronunciation with that of the native speaker.
- Download free adapted books and read as often as possible.
- Look out for free courses that can help you learn.
If you have decided to learn a language at home using web resources, then we recommend that you pay attention to the following tips:
- Expand and actively use vocabulary.
- Rewrite texts - so the correct spelling of words will be deposited in your memory.
- Use the learned words in correspondence and essays.
- Reinforce each learned rule as thoroughly as possible - it is better to devote three weeks to one time and understand it than to study three times superficially.
- Refer to different sources - many rules are interpreted in different ways, and only after reading a few explanations can you fully understand them.
- Do not rush to jump to the next level, even if it seems to you that the texts for A1 are too simple. As soon as you pass at least 5 different screening tests, you will be able to proceed to level A2.
How to learn spoken English from 0?
Conversational speech is easier to learn, because grammatical constructions, as a rule, are simply memorized or memorized, however, on the other hand, it can be difficult to overcome the language barrier
In order to speak as quickly as possible, you need to immerse yourself in the language environment to the maximum:
- Listen to songs, print lyrics and compare them with the original.
- Install as many speech apps as possible and listen to it as soon as you have a free minute.
- Practice with exercises that require listening comprehension of English.
- Replace regular news with English news.
- Listen to English radio.
- Chat with native speakers.
- Read aloud as often as possible and retell what you read.
- Call up video calls or communicate by voice with those acquaintances who know the language or are learning it, just like you.
- Watch movies, pause and try to repeat from memory.
- Try to voice all everyday actions in English: I take a cup and one cookie. Now I am going to the room. I want to read "Crime and Punishment". At first it will be unusual, but in this way you will learn to think in a different language - over time it will become a good habit.
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Teach English! It is the best way to earn money.
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How to start learning English from scratch?
The success of independent learning depends entirely on the effort made. So, if you are ready to start and are definitely confident in your abilities, then you must adhere to these rules.
Alternating simple and complex
Learning grammar is not easy in any language, but without it it is impossible to correctly use verbs in oral speech, ask questions and express your point of view. Therefore, if you decide to study daily, then devote 3 times a week to grammar. Do exercises and assignments, take tests, start with these basic topics:
- Pronouns in English.
- Plural.
- use of the articles the, an, a.
- Conjugation of the verb to be.
- Verbs to do, to have, to have got.
- Present Simple and Present Continuous Tenses.
- Conversational topics "My day", "My appearance", "My family", "What I love".
Read the material and rules in Russian to better understand them. Take language proficiency tests from time to time
As a simple and easy material, you can choose cartoons, songs or adapted literature. Use all the possibilities of sites where information is selected as diverse as possible.
You can choose reading comics as an entertaining learning. We have compiled a list of sites where you can find modern and classic comics:
- comicsgeek.ru - the latest releases of 2020 will help you better understand American speech.
- comicastle.org - read the most popular comics by users.
- readcomiconline.to - collections of various comics: from humor to horror.
- omgbeaupeep.com - comics about X-Men, Doctor Strange and even Donald McDuck.
- deadpoolneverdie.ru - the incomparable Deadpool will dispel the boredom of monotonous exercises.
Combination of methods
If you just watch TV shows in English without translation, then you will have to wait for the desired effect for years. To be effective, all of the above methods must be used. Even a completely free study using downloaded textbooks, videos, podcasts will give good results with a responsible and systematic approach.
In order to make learning English more interesting, we recommend searching social networks or instant messengers like Telegram for thematic groups. In them you can not only meet like-minded people, but also learn new platforms for learning, approaches and techniques.
Interesting Telegram channels for learning English for free:
- Bart Simpson method.
- English in words.
- English language.
Choice of accent
If you need to learn business English for work, then we recommend that you build your training based on this: look for texts and videos on business and economics, read business news in newspapers and websites, and keep a dictionary of words that may be useful to you in your professional activities.
Even general English will be more interesting to study if you choose a few topics you especially like.
In addition, you can take a special test that will help identify problem areas. For example, in the Study Guide Grammar in Use textbooks, you can take a test and determine what is the most difficult for you.
You can also take a comprehensive test and determine your knowledge or come to a free trial lesson for any English language course and find out your level and problems with the help of a teacher.
You can memorize professional terms by translating the vacancies that you would like to receive posted in English. This will greatly help not only to determine the areas that need to be strengthened, but also will not let you get confused during the interview.
Reading, reading and reading again
Vocabulary is mainly formed from those words that we read, wrote down, repeated and remembered. Therefore, it is so important to read as much as possible: aloud, to yourself, with subtitles.
We have given a list of sites where books of different levels are located in this article .
A good option is to read bilingual books: parallel translation will help keep the association with the word, as well as immediately translate complex phrases and constructions. These books can be found on the following websites:
- homeenglish.ru - here you can read Russian and English versions of books by many authors, including Stephen King, Jane Austen and Adam Douglas.
- eng-books.narod.ru is a wonderful resource that contains the works of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Chronicles of Narnia, Fight Club and many others.
- fenglish.ru is a site for parallel reading of the most popular books, including Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince.
Formation of a lexical dictionary
Learning 10 new words every day is a necessary minimum in order to develop your knowledge. It is important that the vocabulary is relevant, for this it is necessary to study modern stories, write out complex words and expressions, memorize them and carry out self-control after a while. It is necessary not only to learn words, but also to use them in the future, for example, when writing an essay, letter or correspondence.
Non-standard techniques
Remember that all methods are good if you like them and bring even minimal results. For example, you can follow English celebrities on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, read posts, comments, try to chat.
You can search for a profile of an English-speaking specialist from your industry and learn professional vocabulary from his reviews and news. There are many beautiful profiles of English-speaking IT specialists, teachers, marketers, SMM managers, brand managers, writers on Instagram
Lesson plan
An important feature of successful independent learning is planning. A notebook, glider or drawing paper with goals written or drawn schematically will be an assistant and will allow you not to get confused. From the beginning, it may seem to you that there is too much information and it cannot be ordered, but this is only at first glance.
Be sure to mark what you have learned and what you plan to learn in the next lesson. This approach is useful for identifying weak points, for working through especially important material, and for avoiding duplication of exercises.
How to start learning English on your own?
We have compiled a small table that can help you get started and learn the basics. In the future, you will be able to supplement it yourself.
| Kind of activity | Anchoring |
|---|---|
| The study of transcription and pronunciation of letters. | Reading simple bilingual texts, listening to audio recordings and parallel reading. |
| Pronunciation of words. | Recording and remembering the pronunciation of all unfamiliar words that occur in a text or video. |
| Maintaining a dictionary. | Each lesson, replenish the dictionary with new words, we advise you to learn words by topic / topic. This makes them easier to remember and use. |
| The simplest grammar rules. | It is important to complete exercises on all grammatical topics in order to consolidate the knowledge gained. |
| Select materials for the month of study | It can be books, films, songs, textbooks that interest you. |
| Download apps to study. | By learning words and grammar using mobile applications, you will always be in business. |
| Write down all questions and thoughts, even the most ridiculous ones, in a special notebook or notebook. | It is important that you do not have any gaps from the very beginning. The recorded question will remind you to find out incomprehensible information on occasion. |
How can an adult learn English from scratch?
In general, there is not much difference in who starts learning a language from scratch - a child or an adult. It is important to adhere to the basic rules, then the results will not be long in coming. Everything is important in learning: grammar, vocabulary, speaking and understanding the language by ear, so everything needs to be given attention and time.
The basic principle of success is to have a plan that you follow. It is very important to create the most thoughtful training scheme that would include all the necessary rules, divide the study into topics, include control and periodicals.
An important success factor is a high-quality textbook, good literature, access to films in the original.
Check out these tutorials for beginners:
Comprehensive textbooks
- Navigate A2 Elementary book+workbook - Jake Hughes and Katie Wood.
- New Total English Elementary Class Audio CDs - Diane Hall, Mark Foley.
- Global Elementary - Kate Pickering, Lindsay Clandfield.
- Open Mind Elementary Workbook with Key and CD Pack - Joanne Taylore-Knowles, Mickey Rogers, Steve Tylore-Knowles, Ingrid Wisniewsk.
- Face2face 2nd edition Elementary workbook - Chris Redston, Gillie Cunningham.
Grammar
- Macmillan Primary Grammar - Stuart Cochrane.
- Essential Grammar in Use - Raymond Murphy.
Pronunciation
- New Headway Pronunciation Course - Sarah Cunningham, Peter Moor.
- English Pronunciation in Use - Jonathan Marks.
- three or tree? - Ann Baker.
Vocabulary
- English Vocabulary in Use - Michael McCarthy, Felicity O'Dell.
- Oxford Word Skills - Ruth Gairns, Stuart Redman.
- English for Everyone: English Vocabulary Builder - DK (Dorling Kindersley).
The most difficult thing can be shyness, but don't let that put you off your chosen path - remember what you will get when you start to speak English fluently.
Set up your social network interface in English, try to use the language as much as possible in your work, for example, when reading and translating articles from your field of activity, use work programs with English by default - this way you will start to adapt faster.
How to learn English quickly?
To quickly learn a foreign language, you need the intensity of classes and high-quality study of the material. If you want to be able to speak or write confidently as quickly as possible, you should spend at least an hour every day studying. For quick home learning, we recommend using the following resources:
- Video on YouTube - watch, take notes, write down the rules and words you hear.
- Read different literature every day for 40 minutes, marking all new phrases in the dictionary.
- Learn the rules of English in Russian.
- Find the comprehensive textbook that's right for you.
- Take vocabulary tests every week.
- Explore the news by levels.
- Write online dictations several times a week.
- Train your audio perception.
- Listen to English speech and do the exercises.
- Use every free minute to study.
- Follow world events every time at a different level.
- Do your grammar exercises diligently.
- Read and translate topics in English.
Remember that effort put in = speed of success. If you already know the language at an elementary level, then with the right approach, learning it to level B1 will not be a big problem.
If you practice regularly and responsibly, keep track of which type of activity is more effective for you, strengthen your weaknesses, test different resources, comprehensively develop all the necessary skills, then soon you will speak English and be able to teach it to others even without a pedagogical education..
How to learn English at home?
There are many cool things that will make learning more fun. Let's get to know them.
- Grammarly browser will correct any of your document or text in English.
- A quality translator, available even for Windows, will translate any unfamiliar text with just one click.
- Bookmark the language learning section of America's most famous newspaper to be the first to hear the latest news and learn real English.
- Read magazines for men and women in English instead of Russian-language magazines.
- Download this app to learn on the road and in line at the store.
- Follow the NASA Instagram profile and hang out on social networks for good.
- Get motivated by learning that an English teacher in China can earn $2,500 a month.
Free English Learning Resources
As a rule, at first a person is lost in the variety of information and does not know what to undertake. We advise you to familiarize yourself with each resource that you find, because only after working with a particular site, we understand whether it suits us or not.
Choose those sites that are clear to you and work on which does not require additional effort:
- Songs for those who love music and learn English.
- quality dictionary for unfamiliar words.
- Practicing spoken language with tongue twisters.
- Improve your vocabulary.
- Read a lot of good modern literature.
- Don't forget to validate the results.
- Watch a video about language learning.
- Learn to communicate in real situations with video guides.
- Make time for video lessons on grammar.
- Update the learned vocabulary.
- Write dictations several times a week.
- Take free lessons.
- Use tutorial for learning.
- Listen to oral lessons from native speakers.
- Choose interesting topics and practice.
- Go to interactive sites and learn there.
- Russian-language resources can also be useful.
Enrol now
Get your TEFL TESOL certification
Teach English! It is the best way to earn money.
Travel, work online, get a job abroad, or be
an EFL and ESL teacher in your country.
Get it nowTravel, work online, get a job abroad, or be
an EFL and ESL teacher in your country.
Free resources include celebrity social media profiles, English talk shows, some online courses, podcasts, movie synopses, BBC ads - nothing limits your imagination. You can use whatever you want as long as it helps you on your path to becoming fluent in English!
We wish you success and fast results!