home Heating calculation First steps in English: where to start? English from scratch: how to start a successful study Learning the American language from scratch.

First steps in English: where to start? English from scratch: how to start a successful study Learning the American language from scratch.

Every year, many Russians increasingly ask themselves: “Where to start learning English?” Our life realities dictate this necessity. A number of factors contribute to this. English-language cultural products are in the foreground everywhere these days: literature, goods, cinema, education, and so on. Moreover, today many of our fellow citizens have very real opportunities to travel abroad for tourism purposes, in search of work or for the sake of a shift. Before such people, the question always arises: where to start learning English? What is the best way to achieve good results in the shortest possible time?

Of course, you can take language 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, from the basics of grammar

First of all, you must master the simplest grammatical rules and the most necessary everyday words. Where to start learning English is the same in all systems. Although it often appears in different forms. First of all, you should be persistent, because this is a fairly long process. It will take at least several months before you begin to understand a native speaker fluently enough and express yourself on any topic. At the first stage of self-study, you just need to get a textbook for beginners.

Among the array of such literature, two volumes of “English Step by Step” by the author and also the textbook “Cambridge English Grammar” are very good. They are quite available in both electronic and printed versions. After a month of hard practice, you will be able to recognize all the numbers in English or the types of tenses. And also many other subtleties such as active or By the way, at the first stage of learning words, use word cards. This is very effective for learning English. An 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 scared, you won't have to read complex texts, looking for the translation of almost every word in the dictionary. There are texts adapted specifically for these purposes. These are, for example, 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 some time, to navigate English-language texts quite well 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. To learn to perceive English by ear, you need to constantly work on it. In the initial stages, you can use, for example, the lessons of the famous American linguist Jay Hogue. The course is called “Effortless English” and is also freely available on the Internet. At the same time, translate the lyrics of your favorite English songs for yourself, watch films with subtitles. Surely, in addition to being useful, this will also be interesting for you.

Today, English is a universal means of communication. With its help, excellent career prospects open up. And we shouldn’t forget about access to a wealth of information material. Thanks to your knowledge of English, you can watch your favorite TV series at the moment they are shown, and not wait until they are translated and adapted to the Russian language.

There are many advantages of knowing a second language, which is usually English, and they can be listed for a very long time. It is difficult to learn Shakespeare's language even in England itself. But everyone can master the basics of simple spoken language.

This does not require teachers and stuffy classrooms. Thanks to modern methods, self-learning English is a fun and interesting activity. And it’s not as complicated as it seems at first glance.

IMPORTANT: There are no people incapable of “languages”. Yes, learning a foreign language may be easier for some, but more difficult for others. The main thing is to learn how to properly motivate yourself and find a training course that is suitable for this.

Of course, if you need English not for watching TV series and reading your favorite blog, but for more serious tasks, then self-study is unlikely to help. You will have to attend special, highly focused courses. But you can get to them, starting with self-study.

Of course, it is much easier to learn any language from scratch, including English, by attending special courses and communicating with a “live” teacher

But such communication has a number of disadvantages:

these types of activities cost money
need to adapt to schedule
If you miss one lesson you can fall far behind

Of course, many of the disadvantages of such training can be minimized by training with the help of Skype. But, if it is not possible to carve out several tens of thousands of rubles from the budget for such an activity, then the only way to learn English is to study it independently.

How to learn English from scratch?

In order to learn JK Rowling's language from scratch, it is best to use a computer program or audio course for beginners. With their help, you can understand the pronunciation of individual letters and words. By the way, an audio course has a lot of advantages in this.
With its help, training can be carried out without interrupting other activities. You can turn it on in the car while driving to work. If you prefer to travel by metro, then download this course to your smartphone and listen to it on the way
Of course, an audio course cannot replace the visual perception of the English language. But there are special online trainings for this. Choose the course you need and start studying

IMPORTANT: From the first day of learning English, you should try to speak it. If this is not done, then you will not be able to speak it even when your vocabulary and knowledge of grammar improves.

In order to learn English from scratch, first learn the alphabet, then move on to simple words - house, ball, girl, etc.

Choose a training where learning new words is presented in the form of cards. A word in English should be written on it and what it means should be drawn. Scientists have long established the power of visual memory of information.

There is no need to try to remember too many words at once. At first, new information will come easily. Then, new words will be remembered easily, but old ones may be forgotten. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to pay more attention to consolidating new material. It is better to learn one new word a day, but reinforce all the old ones, than to learn 10 new words a day, but forget what you have already learned.

Where to start learning English?

Usually people start learning English from the alphabet. There is a reason for this; you can understand how this or that letter sounds. But, it is not at all necessary to remember its correct order. You can remember the pronunciation of letters without the alphabet. Moreover, they do not always sound like in this list of letters from “Hey to Zeta”
When you begin to understand letters, try to read as many English texts as possible. There is no need to understand what is written there. Of course, interesting pictures in the text will make you want to understand what it says
Then you can use online translators. But don't put all the text in them. Translate one word at a time. This will allow you to learn the language even better and remember a few words.

Once you have mastered the English language, get a dictionary

Write down in it (write it down with a pen) all the unfamiliar words and phrases you encounter, and their translation
In parallel with maintaining your dictionary, you need to start paying attention to grammar. English has a very complex tense system. There are irregular verbs and other difficulties in learning this language. All of them require a lot of time. But it will pay off in spades
Don't forget about pronunciation. Even a person who understands well what is written in English text will not always be able to understand what native speakers of this language are talking about. As a rule, they speak faster than teachers and teachers of language schools.
To make it easier to understand English, watch films, TV series and documentaries without translation. This is a great way to learn this interesting language.

IMPORTANT: Try to devote at least 30 minutes to English every day. To do this, it is advisable to choose certain hours. So by this time our brain will be able to “tune in” and the learning process will go easier in a few days.

How to easily learn English: methods of teaching English?

There are quite a few methods for learning this foreign language. The most popular are:

Dmitry Petrov's method. A well-known polyglot in our country invented his own methodology and way of presenting information that fits into 16 lessons. Probably, many who were interested in learning English have seen a series of television programs in which Dmitry taught famous people. Thanks to this technique, you can quickly immerse yourself in the language environment and understand grammar
Method "16". Another technique that allows you to learn the basics of English in just 16 hours. It is based on educational dialogues, after mastering which you will be able to understand the English language
Schechter's method. This system of learning English was developed by the famous Soviet linguist Igor Yurievich Shekhter. Unfortunately, this technique cannot be used for independent learning of a foreign language. Moreover, a linguist teacher who will be allowed to teach using this method must himself undergo special training and pass an exam
Dragunkin method. A popular method of teaching English in our country, developed by the famous philologist Alexander Dragunkin. He built his system on the so-called Russified transcription. In addition, he derived the “51 rules” of English grammar. By learning which you can master this language

The list of methods for learning English can be continued for a long time. The above systems are well suited for independent mastery of this language.

But the best method for learning English is Frank method

Students learning English using this method are given two texts. First comes the adapted excerpt. This is usually a literal translation, often accompanied by lexical and grammatical comments. After reading such a passage, the text in English is presented.

The technique is very good, interesting, but has one significant drawback - it is more suitable for learning to read in English, rather than speaking in it.

How to quickly learn words in English?

There are many methods for memorizing words in a foreign language. The simplest of them is the traditional method. In a notebook you need to write down a few words in English (on the left side of the sheet) and their translation into Russian
It is advisable to always keep the notebook open and in a visible place. Read the words and repeat from. Try to remember and go about your business. Refer to your notebook several times a day. After some time, you can write down a few more words. It is advisable to do this on another sheet. So that you leave it in a visible place and at any moment cast your gaze on the sheet with the words
If you don't want a notebook, you can use the flashcard method. To do this, you need to cut sheets of cardboard into small cards. On the one hand, you need to write the word in English
And on the second, its translation into Russian. Turn the cards over with the English or Russian side facing you and try to translate the words written there. Unfold the card and check the correct answer

The card method is very popular

On the Internet you can find online services where such cards are presented in electronic form. Thanks to the popularity of this method, today it is not difficult to buy ready-made cards. But it’s still better to make them yourself. After all, when we write something down on paper, we write it into our subconscious.

Don't try to remember a lot of words at once. This is not very effective in the long run. Words learned quickly are usually quickly forgotten.

How to learn English verbs?

In principle, the above methods for memorizing English words are suitable for both nouns and verbs. But among this category of English words there are also so-called “irregular verbs”. Like the correct ones, they mean:

Action – to speak (speak), to come (come)
Process – to sleep (sleep)
State – to be (to be), to know (to know), etc.

At school such verbs are taught as follows. Students are given their list, and the teacher asks them to learn as much as possible from it by the next lesson. This list does not have any structure to facilitate the study of such verbs. Therefore, few of us were able to master the English language at school.

Modern methods are very different from those by which foreign languages are taught at school

How to quickly learn irregular verbs in English?

As mentioned above, to learn such verbs you can use the “card method”. But, unlike “simple” words, irregular verbs have three forms. What actually makes them wrong
To make cards with irregular verbs, you need to write down the first form on one side, and the other two on the second side. Moreover, the first form does not need to be provided with a translation. And on the reverse side you not only need to write two forms of the verb with translation, but also provide a hint. For example, “alternating irregular verbs with a vowel in the root from [e]”
The advantage of this method is that it is easy to use. You can go through the cards with your hands, first remembering the main shape, and then turn them over and do the same with other shapes. Such training can be done both at home and at work. Students can take these cards with them to college and repeat the verbs during breaks.

Example card:

To make it easier to memorize irregular verbs, they can be grouped into:

the method of formation of the second and third forms
repeatability or non-repeatability of forms
alternation of root vowels
sound similarity
spelling features

All other verbs should be structured not alphabetically, as in school, but according to the above principles:

How to learn tenses in English

Another pitfall for anyone who wants to learn English is tenses. Having understood their use, you can take a big step forward in learning this language.

In general, there are three tenses in English:

But the difficulty lies in the fact that each time has types. The first type of such tenses is called Simple. That is, there is:

Continuous (continued, long) is the second type of tense.

The third type is called Perfect. Thus there are:

There is also another type of tense that combines all the previous Perfect Continuous tenses. Accordingly, the times can be:

IMPORTANT: In specialized literature on the English language, Simple can be called Indefinite, and Continuous - Progressive. Don't be scared, it's the same thing.

In order to use English tenses in sentences, you need to understand what action is happening? It is regular, happened yesterday, is happening at the moment, etc. Simple tenses denote an action that occurs regularly, but its exact moment is not known. on Sundays – on Sundays (specific time is not known)
If the sentence specifies a specific time (at the moment, from 4 to 6 o’clock, etc.), then Continuous is used - a long time. That is, time that denotes a specific moment or a specific period of time.
If the action is completed, Perfect is used. This time is used when the result of an action is already known or you can know exactly when it will end (but may still be going on)
The Perfect Continuous construction is used least often in English. It is used to denote a process whose action is not completed, but needs to be said about it at the moment. For example, “In May it will be 6 months that I have been studying English.”
To study the tenses of the English language, you can also create tables, as for irregular verbs. Just enter linguistic formulas instead. You can use special literature. Better than several authors at once

Dmitry Petrov’s method “Polyglot 16” talks very well about tenses

How to learn text in English?

If you need to learn a text in English in a short period of time, you can use several techniques for this purpose.
Before learning a text in a foreign language, you need to prepare. Namely, translate it. On the one hand, it is impossible to learn a text in English without knowing what is written there. On the other hand, while we are translating, something will already be recorded in the “subcortex”
When translating a text, you need to re-read it several times. If you do this during the day, then repeat this procedure before going to bed. We will sleep and our brains will work
In the morning, the text needs to be printed and hung in visible places. When preparing food, the text should be in a visible place in the kitchen. We vacuum in the living room, it should also be visible

Text in English is remembered very well if recorded on a voice recorder

Let's go to the store, put headphones in your ears and listen, repeating every word to yourself. In the gym, instead of hard rock, you need to listen to this text again.

If the text is large, then it is better to break it into several small passages and memorize each of them in turn. Don't be afraid, learning text in English is not as difficult as it seems.

How to learn English in your sleep?

At the end of the Soviet era, many “unique” self-education methods poured into our country. One of them was to study foreign languages while sleeping. Before going to bed, a cassette with lessons was put into the player, headphones were put on, and the person fell asleep. They say this method has helped some.

I know everything that sleep is very useful. According to researchers involved in this problem, sleep can improve mental abilities.

And in general, a well-rested person “absorbs” information better

But for some reason he absorbs it after sleep. English words from the player can only ruin your sleep. This means worsening the perception of information the next day.
But, sleep can really help. But, only if you set aside time immediately before studying English
After such a lesson, you can get some sleep, and during this time your brain will “process” the information and put it into “shelves.” This method of learning foreign languages has proven effective and is used by many people.
This technique can be improved if, immediately after sleep, you consolidate what was learned before bedtime.

Learning English: reviews

Kate. To learn a foreign language you need to devote at least 30 minutes a day to it. Every day for half an hour. Even one missed day will have a very negative impact. I definitely devote 30 minutes to English a day. Plus, if you still have time, be sure to take it as a bonus.

Kirill. Now there are a lot of sites on the Internet where material is presented in a playful form. I'm learning English through TV series. I watch TV series in this language with Russian subtitles. I used to read subtitles all the time. And now I’m trying to understand myself.

Video: Polyglot in 16 hours. Lesson 1 from scratch with Petrov for beginners

There are many ways to learn a foreign language from scratch on your own. The first thing you need to do is answer the question - why. Knowing the answer to this question is super important. Speech as a communication tool requires regular use - if knowledge and skills are not used, they are forgotten. Human memory is designed in such a way that it hides unnecessary knowledge as far as possible. Everything that you have learned well will quickly be forgotten - then you will have to start all over again.

Before you start cramming the alphabet, it is important to understand the goal:

communicate with airport employees, store managers, service personnel during tourist trips and understand the interlocutor well (colloquial variety);
conduct business negotiations with partners (business variety);
have the opportunity to read scientific (or fiction) literature (technical and literary versions);
communicate freely with residents of another country (read, write, speak).

Important tip! Motivation is important to achieve success. With the right goal setting, it is easy to acquire the necessary knowledge from scratch on your own and for free.

2 main ways to learn

There are two ways to quickly master someone else's method of linguistic communication.

The first is practiced at school: first they learn words, then they put them into sentences, and from phrases they construct a text. Phrases are constructed according to the laws of Russian grammar - this is a mistake. For this reason, high school graduates know a set of individual nouns and verbs, but it is difficult for them to quickly combine word forms into sentences; they have little experience in free communication.

The second approach teaches that it is better to study a foreign dialect in phrases, and to learn to speak immediately in full-fledged constructions. The fact is that the word in context takes on a new meaning - it is impossible to describe all the nuances with a set of strict rules. Any speech is phraseological: the meaning of an individual sentence is not equal to the sum of the meanings of individual word forms.

Where should a beginner start learning English? This question can hardly be answered unambiguously; some will say from the alphabet, grammar, and others from reading, pronunciation. This article will not provide instructions on how and where exactly you should start learning English; quite a lot has been written on this topic on the Internet.

This article will talk about my own experience of learning English on my own, how I started learning it. The article is written as briefly as possible, which I think is the most important thing in my study.

Sound of letters

At first I listened and memorized the sound of the letters in , it didn’t take much time. Then I simply repeated it from time to time if I forgot a letter. By the way, please note that many people, when reading an English abbreviation, do not pronounce all the letters correctly. Maybe this is not so important, but a native speaker would not like it, it would hurt their ears.

Whether you learn the alphabet or not is up to you, but this is a good way to train your memory and prepare your brain for further language learning

Reading without understanding

Afterwards I began to read the texts, mostly I liked them the most, and also, sometimes. I didn’t know what they said (only sometimes I understood a couple of words), but at that moment I couldn’t even read. I just wanted to learn to read, so I read every day as I wanted, and inserted words I didn’t understand by sound into Google Translator, and listened there. After a maximum of a month (reading for 30 minutes every day), I learned from scratch to read decently, but not to understand.

Important. The main thing is to read out loud, at least in a whisper. And immediately teach yourself to correctly pronounce the sounds of words, combinations of letters (for example, Th, Ing, Ph...)

Dictionary

Then everything went much easier, the main thing was to get through one of the most difficult stages - the fear that I would not be able to read the English text normally at a normal pace. Later, I began to translate and write down in different sources (in a notebook, in a dictionary on a mobile phone, in a computer) words and phrases (!) that I did not know - I replenished my own. To put it mildly, there were a lot of them at first.

Two translators, who are described, provided me with invaluable assistance in this matter.

But very soon there were much fewer unknown words, especially in simple fairy tales and stories. I have already begun to understand what they say, their essence. The main thing here was not to be lazy and repeat the words, otherwise it happened that there was nothing to do, but I didn’t want to read the words or learn them at all.

Grammar

In parallel with the dictionary, I was learning, to be honest, it infuriated me, but I understood and remembered the most basic things (affirmations and denials, ...) during practice - reading. Because I began to notice a long time ago that there are many words that are spelled slightly differently, but the meaning is the same, only the tenses are different (play - play, played - played, playing - game) in combination with different words will, is, are , did, have been, that is, began to understand the structure of the language in a natural way.

But if you want to quickly understand the structure of the English language, you still have to read a little grammar (at least the fundamental part)

Transcription

I didn’t want to learn it until recently; I considered it not so necessary and at the same time difficult (maybe because I couldn’t find good teaching material). But the time to realize that without it it would be too difficult to advance in English had finally come, and I began to comprehend it, gritting my teeth. As I remember now, I simply looked for the transcription of the word and studied it. Details will be unnecessary here.

The article "" provides a clear explanation of the international type of transcription and a simple way to remember it. Be sure to study it if you are just starting to learn English. First of all, I advise you to start mastering transcription, before starting to study other sections of grammar.

Free swimming

After everything I had covered above, all I could do was learn new words from time to time. I understood various texts, could easily correspond in English and knew the structure of the language quite well. But then I missed the audio, the live speech. It was very difficult to talk to a person who spoke English quickly - I did not catch the words. When I realized my mistake, I began to actively watch cartoons and films, listened to various audio books... and trembled, repeating after native speakers.

In general, after about three months of fruitful work on my hearing aid, I began to pick up rapid speech and have decent conversations. Of course, at first I was embarrassed by my accent, but you can’t get rid of it, you can only downplay it.

Now I watch all kinds of videos, films, audio, books, listen to English radio in my spare time - that is, I maintain my English level. Of course, you will always have to look into the dictionary, but this rarely happens anymore. I believe that this path, which is described above, will help you. Oh yes, I probably forgot to say the most interesting thing, this whole journey lasted about 8 months, without lies or exaggeration.

So come on, don't be lazy, just study a little bit. It is not necessary to exercise every day, at least once or twice a week for 30-60 minutes.