How to "learn" English in one year alone or an article for those who did not work out with English
With the problem of the necessity of learning the English faced almost every: one long and hard to learn it at school (sometimes, by the way, successfully), who is looking for a suitable course, someone is using online resources and learning services. The question is why over the years of learning English at school, few have achieved results, and then those whose parents took care of having a good tutor and the opportunity to go to an English camp?
At school, an average of 2–3 ac is spent on learning English from the 1st grade (sometimes from the 2nd grade). hours a week, sometimes as much as 5-6. But the result is still no. You have to look for an alternative. I see a problem in the limited curricula that are tied to one set of textbooks that the methodologist has selected and in motivation.
In my humble opinion, based on the experience of working as a tutor for about 8 years, there is no such textbook that will teach you English. Only a teacher (a good teacher) will be able to bring to you all the delights of the curriculum, competently and meticulously composed by a team of Cambridge and Oxford specialists. When I studied in a class so the 7th my tutor (the former school teacher) was delighted with the textbook on which we were taught in school (Opportunities). She said that if you “suck this textbook to the bone,” then you can safely speak English and no longer learn. At the moment, after many years, I wonder, what did she not teach me to “suck” this textbook to the bone to know everything?
I have no answer to this question. There are textbooks, there are programs, but there are no results. Now, working with students from different schools who study in different programs, I see that there are no bad textbooks, there are bad school methodologists, there are unscrupulous teachers, there is laziness, there are heads unsuitable for these excellent textbooks.
At any courses you go to, you will be offered to study in the course of textbooks (excellent textbooks, professional, beautiful, interesting). The problem is that any of this wonderful textbook needs teacher comments. The training course, as a rule, consists of a textbook, workbook, sometimes a grammatical collection of tasks, disks (both audio and video), from tests and a book for a teacher. Such textbooks are divided into levels, approximately from 1 to 6. Everything is fine, the only problem is that you don’t have enough time to take this incomparable course.
The second problem is motivation. English is now a compulsory school subject, as well as a discipline at the university. I constantly ask myself the question, why? The only logical answer for me is to make it. Alas, you won't get far to the “to be”, you won't spend your brain. As soon as the brain realizes that this is not necessary, then it finds 1001 reasons to do nothing (and the memory is bad, and it is explained poorly, and did not find "its" teacher, etc.). It's like in sports. Everyone has physical education in school, but everyone will not be athletes, 100% will not be slim either. That's when everything is burning in you and without English you will not leave Mother Russia for a job or a position 10-20 thousand higher than you have with the same responsibilities, but with knowledge of English passes by you, this is where your brain is ready, memory improves, vision becomes sharper, hearing is better, etc. Without external (sometimes internal) motivation, you will give up trying to learn anything after (±) 3 months. I like the example of motivation that I observe among top managers, company executives (those who rammed their way themselves, built their careers with their own merits, of course, but not others) - this is shame. They are ashamed not to know and not be able to. Their results are usually quick and successful. But about the motivation is better to talk separately ...
So now in the case, is it possible to learn a language quickly? How fast? For 2 weeks you can?
I answer, the language can be taught all my life, with all its charms, flaws, features and (sometimes) nonsense. For 2 weeks you can understand the language. And to master it, so that later it was not a shame and a pity for the time spent, it is possible for a year of purposeful work.
Language is a system. It consists of only a few parts of speech, a set of grammatical rules for them, and, most importantly, of a huge number of words.
I mean, English is a medium sized iceberg. The head is a grammar, and all that is hidden is a dictionary. To “learn” English, in my understanding, is to master both. Bypassing the iceberg on the surface - nothing to do. As for what is hidden - it can take years, sometimes decades, to learn words, but still you will definitely find a new word even when it seems that you have learned everything (the language grows and changes).
Therefore, I have a system that allows you to bypass everything that is on the surface (and “dive” so much into the dictionary, how much breath you have) for a relatively small amount of time.
You need to understand when you take up the language that there is a system that determines the levels of proficiency in the language: A1, A2, B2, B2, C1, C2. Cambridge exams are built on this system, and accordingly most of the curriculum (ie courses). Google to help you find out what you can know at each level (the request should be like this: Common European competences in foreign language proficiency).
The question is, is it possible to complete all levels in 1 year? The answer is no. But you can go from A1 to B1 for the year, I will not say that it is easy, but possible. And the B1 level is the level that will be enough to work with English (and continue to teach and improve it).
Each level implies a specific set of grammatical structures and vocabulary that you need to master. Let me tell you a secret, vocabulary necessary for these levels is publicly available, it’s enough to google Vocabulary for ... and the level you need (I prefer to use dictionary dictionaries for exams: KET is for zeros (from zero to A2 is a very good result) , PET (B1) - for those who knew something, but forgot everything).
Suppose we found and learned the entire dictionary for level B1, for example, what next? There is a secret, the grammar necessary for each level is also known. If you type “grammar for b1” in the search, you will soon find a list of grammar topics that you need to know at this level (and even tests for each topic, and an explanation (but in English)).
Initially, for the A1-A2 level, the grammar is simple, then it is “built up”. You need a list of grammatical topics for the level that you lit up with the idea of mastering. When you know what you need to learn, learning is much easier. It’s as if at the beginning of the course at the university you were given a list of exam questions, and then you read lectures (why they don’t do this or do it extremely rarely, it's a mystery to me).
So, you have a list of necessary words, a list of grammatical topics that you need to master. What stops you? Laziness. As a rule, it is laziness. Explanation of grammar can be found on the Internet, not for me to write about it. But is it not enough? Of course not enough. As soon as you have loaded into my head everything that I have described to you here, then it is necessary to urgently look for interlocutors and practice. I have a mantra, which I repeat to all my newly arrived students: to speak English, you need to speak.
Practice may be different. Everything rests again inyour laziness individual characteristics. How to start talking if you have learned everything? Many will say: "I here now all
I know this, but I cannot overcome the language barrier. ” Honestly tell you, I do not believe in the language barrier. If you are a modest person and in principle it’s hard for you to talk to people, then you need to work on yourself. It is necessary to speak the language, it is better daily, it is possible a little bit to master it. Therefore, those who are always in favor of "talking" will be easier.
What would I suggest starting with? If you have no one to talk to, or are you shy, speak with a dictaphone! No, I have not lost my mind. This is a great way to understand your difficulties. On the Internet a huge number of questions (find, for example: questions for conversations). Turn on the recorder, ask a question, answer the question. It is better to make your answers long (so interesting). There is another option: read! But you need to read out loud. It is better if you record yourself and then listen to it. If you understand what you are saying on the voice recorder recordings, they will understand you, if you do not understand yourself, no one will understand you. From the books in the initial stages I like the English Club series. Books are all levels, there are audio versions, books are adapted, each book has a glossary and tasks, that is, everyone is good.
Well, let's say you are already tired of talking to the recorder. Then look for interlocutors: speaking clubs are now dark, at every turn. Go there and talk.
“I will speak and I will speak incorrectly, how then will I find out if I speak correctly and how I will improve my English,” you will say? Our people are open, always happy to correct, correct, explain ... Do not agree? Well, in this case, it is best to speak with experts in this matter, namely with teachers. Now there are a lot of sites where you can find carriers (yes, or just foreigners with good English), it’s worth it in different ways: you can find it cheap, you can find it for a few thousand. Why better carriers? Is it easy for you to force yourself with a Russian teacher not to use Russian? If yes, then please, but don’t spend money to talk to a teacher of English in Russian.
I'm talking about the fact that mastering English in a year is easy. What should be done? It is necessary to master the vocabulary, to master the grammar and, all just, to speak and listen to the interlocutor. Is it difficult? I am writing about the fastest and most understandable way, which does not require much expenditure, except time. If you decide to learn the language (and most importantly, you have the motivation), then make a plan for yourself every day and work on your English. And, meanwhile, I will continue to write how IT-specialists to master English quickly, simply and painlessly.
PS: I am an English teacher, who has the time to share his experience and knowledge with the masses, for free, simply because I like to do what I do. I had a free course for those who wish to offline, basically, it so happened, consisting of programmers. Understanding the relevance of English in the IT environment, I can not deny myself the pleasure to enlighten, help, prompt those who really need it.
At school, an average of 2–3 ac is spent on learning English from the 1st grade (sometimes from the 2nd grade). hours a week, sometimes as much as 5-6. But the result is still no. You have to look for an alternative. I see a problem in the limited curricula that are tied to one set of textbooks that the methodologist has selected and in motivation.
In my humble opinion, based on the experience of working as a tutor for about 8 years, there is no such textbook that will teach you English. Only a teacher (a good teacher) will be able to bring to you all the delights of the curriculum, competently and meticulously composed by a team of Cambridge and Oxford specialists. When I studied in a class so the 7th my tutor (the former school teacher) was delighted with the textbook on which we were taught in school (Opportunities). She said that if you “suck this textbook to the bone,” then you can safely speak English and no longer learn. At the moment, after many years, I wonder, what did she not teach me to “suck” this textbook to the bone to know everything?
I have no answer to this question. There are textbooks, there are programs, but there are no results. Now, working with students from different schools who study in different programs, I see that there are no bad textbooks, there are bad school methodologists, there are unscrupulous teachers, there is laziness, there are heads unsuitable for these excellent textbooks.
At any courses you go to, you will be offered to study in the course of textbooks (excellent textbooks, professional, beautiful, interesting). The problem is that any of this wonderful textbook needs teacher comments. The training course, as a rule, consists of a textbook, workbook, sometimes a grammatical collection of tasks, disks (both audio and video), from tests and a book for a teacher. Such textbooks are divided into levels, approximately from 1 to 6. Everything is fine, the only problem is that you don’t have enough time to take this incomparable course.
The second problem is motivation. English is now a compulsory school subject, as well as a discipline at the university. I constantly ask myself the question, why? The only logical answer for me is to make it. Alas, you won't get far to the “to be”, you won't spend your brain. As soon as the brain realizes that this is not necessary, then it finds 1001 reasons to do nothing (and the memory is bad, and it is explained poorly, and did not find "its" teacher, etc.). It's like in sports. Everyone has physical education in school, but everyone will not be athletes, 100% will not be slim either. That's when everything is burning in you and without English you will not leave Mother Russia for a job or a position 10-20 thousand higher than you have with the same responsibilities, but with knowledge of English passes by you, this is where your brain is ready, memory improves, vision becomes sharper, hearing is better, etc. Without external (sometimes internal) motivation, you will give up trying to learn anything after (±) 3 months. I like the example of motivation that I observe among top managers, company executives (those who rammed their way themselves, built their careers with their own merits, of course, but not others) - this is shame. They are ashamed not to know and not be able to. Their results are usually quick and successful. But about the motivation is better to talk separately ...
So now in the case, is it possible to learn a language quickly? How fast? For 2 weeks you can?
I answer, the language can be taught all my life, with all its charms, flaws, features and (sometimes) nonsense. For 2 weeks you can understand the language. And to master it, so that later it was not a shame and a pity for the time spent, it is possible for a year of purposeful work.
Language is a system. It consists of only a few parts of speech, a set of grammatical rules for them, and, most importantly, of a huge number of words.
I mean, English is a medium sized iceberg. The head is a grammar, and all that is hidden is a dictionary. To “learn” English, in my understanding, is to master both. Bypassing the iceberg on the surface - nothing to do. As for what is hidden - it can take years, sometimes decades, to learn words, but still you will definitely find a new word even when it seems that you have learned everything (the language grows and changes).
Therefore, I have a system that allows you to bypass everything that is on the surface (and “dive” so much into the dictionary, how much breath you have) for a relatively small amount of time.
You need to understand when you take up the language that there is a system that determines the levels of proficiency in the language: A1, A2, B2, B2, C1, C2. Cambridge exams are built on this system, and accordingly most of the curriculum (ie courses). Google to help you find out what you can know at each level (the request should be like this: Common European competences in foreign language proficiency).
The question is, is it possible to complete all levels in 1 year? The answer is no. But you can go from A1 to B1 for the year, I will not say that it is easy, but possible. And the B1 level is the level that will be enough to work with English (and continue to teach and improve it).
Each level implies a specific set of grammatical structures and vocabulary that you need to master. Let me tell you a secret, vocabulary necessary for these levels is publicly available, it’s enough to google Vocabulary for ... and the level you need (I prefer to use dictionary dictionaries for exams: KET is for zeros (from zero to A2 is a very good result) , PET (B1) - for those who knew something, but forgot everything).
Suppose we found and learned the entire dictionary for level B1, for example, what next? There is a secret, the grammar necessary for each level is also known. If you type “grammar for b1” in the search, you will soon find a list of grammar topics that you need to know at this level (and even tests for each topic, and an explanation (but in English)).
Initially, for the A1-A2 level, the grammar is simple, then it is “built up”. You need a list of grammatical topics for the level that you lit up with the idea of mastering. When you know what you need to learn, learning is much easier. It’s as if at the beginning of the course at the university you were given a list of exam questions, and then you read lectures (why they don’t do this or do it extremely rarely, it's a mystery to me).
So, you have a list of necessary words, a list of grammatical topics that you need to master. What stops you? Laziness. As a rule, it is laziness. Explanation of grammar can be found on the Internet, not for me to write about it. But is it not enough? Of course not enough. As soon as you have loaded into my head everything that I have described to you here, then it is necessary to urgently look for interlocutors and practice. I have a mantra, which I repeat to all my newly arrived students: to speak English, you need to speak.
Practice may be different. Everything rests again in
I know this, but I cannot overcome the language barrier. ” Honestly tell you, I do not believe in the language barrier. If you are a modest person and in principle it’s hard for you to talk to people, then you need to work on yourself. It is necessary to speak the language, it is better daily, it is possible a little bit to master it. Therefore, those who are always in favor of "talking" will be easier.
What would I suggest starting with? If you have no one to talk to, or are you shy, speak with a dictaphone! No, I have not lost my mind. This is a great way to understand your difficulties. On the Internet a huge number of questions (find, for example: questions for conversations). Turn on the recorder, ask a question, answer the question. It is better to make your answers long (so interesting). There is another option: read! But you need to read out loud. It is better if you record yourself and then listen to it. If you understand what you are saying on the voice recorder recordings, they will understand you, if you do not understand yourself, no one will understand you. From the books in the initial stages I like the English Club series. Books are all levels, there are audio versions, books are adapted, each book has a glossary and tasks, that is, everyone is good.
Well, let's say you are already tired of talking to the recorder. Then look for interlocutors: speaking clubs are now dark, at every turn. Go there and talk.
“I will speak and I will speak incorrectly, how then will I find out if I speak correctly and how I will improve my English,” you will say? Our people are open, always happy to correct, correct, explain ... Do not agree? Well, in this case, it is best to speak with experts in this matter, namely with teachers. Now there are a lot of sites where you can find carriers (yes, or just foreigners with good English), it’s worth it in different ways: you can find it cheap, you can find it for a few thousand. Why better carriers? Is it easy for you to force yourself with a Russian teacher not to use Russian? If yes, then please, but don’t spend money to talk to a teacher of English in Russian.
I'm talking about the fact that mastering English in a year is easy. What should be done? It is necessary to master the vocabulary, to master the grammar and, all just, to speak and listen to the interlocutor. Is it difficult? I am writing about the fastest and most understandable way, which does not require much expenditure, except time. If you decide to learn the language (and most importantly, you have the motivation), then make a plan for yourself every day and work on your English. And, meanwhile, I will continue to write how IT-specialists to master English quickly, simply and painlessly.
PS: I am an English teacher, who has the time to share his experience and knowledge with the masses, for free, simply because I like to do what I do. I had a free course for those who wish to offline, basically, it so happened, consisting of programmers. Understanding the relevance of English in the IT environment, I can not deny myself the pleasure to enlighten, help, prompt those who really need it.