English is the beginning of learning. How to learn English on your own. Personal experience. most used words

Hello dear readers!

How are you progressing in learning English? What methods and systems have you tried? Have you already chosen what is right for you?

Currently, there are a lot of different offers on the educational services market. And, of course, for beginners to learn a language, it is very difficult to navigate and make the right choice so that learning is effective and yields results.

This article provides an overview of the best tutorials and my recommendations for improving the learning process.

About teaching methods

It is believed that self-teaching English will help you quickly and without the help of a leader, mentor to master the basic course... In addition, it is a less expensive way of learning a language, which is important. Therefore, quite a lot of people choose this method. Is all of the above really true? Let's figure it out.

All self-study guides of the English language can be conditionally divided into several types:

traditional,
to master spoken English,
for an intensive course,
copyright,
self-teaching art books,
manuals from native speakers,
online tutorials.

A good tutorial must be included with the app audio material!

Standard training

You can start learning from scratch using traditional methods, in which the presentation of the material goes from simple to complex. Here you will receive information about the phonetic system, correct pronunciation, intonation, basic grammar rules, and find useful tests and exercises.

One of the most popular in this category is "The best self-instruction manual of the English language" A. Petrova, I. Orlova.

Here one of the reviews on the popular website litres.ru, which reflects the whole essence and content of the textbook: “I liked this book right away ... the text, simple and understandable drawings, a clear structure of the presentation of the material ... Everything is clearly laid out on the shelves: we start from the beginning and end at a much advanced level!”

Download the book on Liters

Speech development

For mastering spoken English, the following textbooks are suitable.

TG Trofimenko "Conversational English" ... Without learning grammar, you can learn to build the necessary phrases on your own. The technique presented here will help you memorize the necessary words and phrases, as well as master the pronunciation. This tutorial is suitable for children too.

Download the book on Liters

N. Brel, N. Poslavskaya. "Conversational English course in convenient formulas and dialogues" ... This textbook is recommended for advanced students who find it difficult to speak. It is designed to overcome the language barrier.

Download the book on Liters

M. Goldenkov. “Hot Dog Too. Conversational English " ... A valuable guide from which you will learn about the features of the modern language and slang, common idioms, business correspondence.

Short terms

Intensive methods are mainly designed to train narrow specialists in any field. Here, acquaintance with new material goes in parallel with the consolidation of the topics covered.

Book by S. Matveev "English for Beginners" interesting in that the author presents the material in an extraordinary way, taking into account the psychological characteristics of mastering a foreign language, makes various types of memory work. In this book you will find excellent reviews. “A good book that helps you learn the language from the very beginning. Complicated topics are clearly and easily explained, English words are easily given”. By the way, I have about the books of this author.

Download the book on Liters

To gain knowledge about business correspondence, negotiations and telephone conversations, I advise you to use the manual S.A. Sheveleva "Business English in 20 minutes a day" .

Download the book on Liters

Author's methods

I would like to note the edition Dmitry Petrov, a famous linguist and polyglot. "English language. 16 lessons " Is an initial language course that allows you to quickly start speaking English. You will learn the basic algorithms of the language, learn to apply them in practice, and turn everything into a skill.

Download the book on Liters

Native speaker

The tutorial can be highlighted here K.E. Eckersley "Self-Study of the English Language" ... It is suitable for students of universities and colleges. Excellent presentation, lots of regional material, and a cool selection of examples and exercises will make learning easy.

Download the book on Liters

Online tutorials

Lingualeo ... This service can rightfully deserve the title of a tutorial. So boldly register and use it - it's free. And besides that - interesting, easy, effective! I wrote about this service on the blog pages - for example, here.

If you want step by step work, then feel free to purchase a paid course « English from scratch». After it, you can switch to grammar by purchasing a course « Grammar for beginners» ... Also take the course « About yourself and loved ones in English». I write all this for those who do not know where to start the process here. I think you will succeed!

Another interesting and gaining popularity online self-study guide is Lim-English ... This simulator is aimed at the simultaneous development of listening, reading, writing and speaking. Study from 30 minutes a day and your English level will increase significantly! I tried it and I really liked it - now you are sure you will enjoy the result!

Nowadays, almost all books have electronic versions. Of course, they can be downloaded for free, but the world does not stand still. Everything changes, revised and improved editions come out. Therefore, in my opinion, it would be more correct to buy a textbook. You will receive quality material for a small fee and appreciate the work of the author. If you are not a beginner, choose audiobooks, they will improve your comprehension of foreign speech and pronunciation.

So to the conclusions

Yes, tutorials can be used, especially those that come with audio reinforcement are worth paying attention to. But be prepared for the fact that in the learning process you will have a huge number of questions... And you will not be able to find answers to all of them on your own. And the search will take too much of your time. Is it worth losing such a colossal amount of time? After all, time, as you know, also costs money.

In my opinion, for productive and effective study, as well as the earliest possible achievement of the result, work on the self-instruction manual should be combined . He will be able to monitor your learning once a week or two and purposefully lead you to a new level. By the way, in I did comparative overview of several online English schools - be sure to check out - who knows, you might want to slightly change your course of learning English from a self-study guide to a real teacher!

In any case, success to you!

P.S. Feel free to take a moment to look at the comments on this post and ask a question of interest, write about your personal experience, or simply supplement the information with your own best practices. This can be useful for you and for other visitors!

The issue of learning English worries many. School gives few people the level of knowledge when you can speak English fluently with strangers. The situation is even worse for those who did not study English at school, which means that they do not even have basic knowledge at all. Therefore, we have prepared for you a three-step guide to becoming fluent in English. It will be useful not only for those who want to learn English from scratch, but also for those who want to improve their knowledge - just skip the steps that you have already gone through before.

Stage 1: Basics (Basic). How to start learning English

At this stage, you need to understand the basics of the language, be able to read and write, speak simple sentences, and be able to construct sentences correctly. To do this, you need to take 6 steps:

1. Learn the alphabet. The English alphabet is easy to learn, since it was created on the basis of the Latin alphabet and consists of only 26 letters.

2. Understand the basics of building English sentences and, especially, word order in a sentence and inversion. Pay special attention to negative and interrogative sentences. It will also be good to know the principles of constructing negative questions.

3. Learn the main tenses of the English language that are used most often. Namely:

Present Simple
Past simple
Present continuous
Future simple
Past Continuous
Present perfect

This stage is the most difficult, it is here that most of the problems arise, since the students do not fully understand the principles of the language functioning, its grammar, there are huge problems with pronunciation. After you have studied the alphabet, familiarized yourself with the principles of constructing sentences and at least revised the tenses used, it is recommended to go to English courses. You can learn grammar on your own, but in the courses you will get conversational practice, and group work can be more interesting than on your own.

Stage 2: Intermediate

Entering this stage, you already have basic knowledge, you just need to expand it. Namely:

4. To increase the level of communication and understanding, expand your vocabulary, it is advisable to watch movies or TV shows in English, read books in English, study from English into Russian.

5. Also a good application to all of the above is free or paid conversation clubs, where communication is conducted only in English. There are such clubs in every major city in Russia.

Stage 3: Professional (Advanced)

When you feel like you have reached this stage of English proficiency, the best option is to travel abroad to one of the English-speaking countries for a while. If this scenario is not possible in the near future, then you need to look for free options. Steps 3, 4 and 5 from the previous stage will be relevant and will be.

Future Continuous in the Past
Future perfect in the past
Future Perfect Continuous in the Past

Although they are rarely used in everyday life, knowing them will help you better understand the language.

A good option for practicing English would be to work in a company with English-speaking clients. Then you will not only be able to improve your English proficiency, but also get paid for it это In addition, such companies (mostly foreign) often pay for courses to improve their English proficiency for their employees.

You can prove your high level of English proficiency by obtaining one of the following certificates:

TOEFL
IELTS
SAT
GRE
GMAT
TOEIC

The first two are the most popular. They are valid in 125 and 150 countries respectively. To get any of them, you need to pass a special exam, preparation for which will take a month or two and will be paid. These two certificates are valid for 2 years, after which you will have to take the exam again. However, it is these two certifications that can qualify you to work for an international company.

We hope that our tips have helped you decide how to learn English from scratch. Don't put off learning a language until tomorrow - it's better to take the first step today!

1. Study with interest

Any teacher will confirm: abstract language learning is more difficult than mastering a language for a specific purpose. Therefore, at first, learn things that will be useful to you in your work. Another option is to read resources in a foreign language related to yours.

2. Memorize only the words you need

There are more than a million words in English, but in everyday speech, at best, several thousand are used. Therefore, even a modest vocabulary will be enough for you to talk with a foreigner, read Internet publications, watch news and TV series.

3. Put up stickers at home

This is an effective way to improve your vocabulary. Look around the room and see which items you don't know the names of. Translate the title of each subject into English, French, German - whatever language you want to learn. And place these stickers around the room. New words will gradually be deposited in memory, and this does not require any additional effort.

4. Repeat

Spaced repetition technique allows you to better memorize new words and concepts. To do this, run the studied material at regular intervals: first, repeat the learned words often, then return to them after a few days, and after a month, reinforce the material again.

5. Use new technologies

6. Set realistic goals

Be careful with the load and do not overdo it. Especially at the beginning, so as not to lose interest. Teachers advise starting small: first, learn 50 new words, try to apply them in life, and only then tackle the grammar rules.

You will need

- teaching aids in English;
- workbook;
- fountain pen;
- DVD player;
- MP3 player;
- video materials in English;
- audiobooks in English.

Instructions

Determine what you need English for. In the process of self-study, you will have to constantly motivate yourself by taking the time to study and putting in the effort, so it is important to find a good reason that will become your universal motivator. Depending on your situation, the goal may be a tourist trip, abroad, work in a prestigious foreign company.

Tune in to serious painstaking work. The so-called modern technologies of language acquisition offered everywhere, which are supposedly capable of making you speak fluently in a month, instill unnecessary illusions. Learning a language can take several months of focused independent work, and it can take several years to master the language perfectly.

Start learning English with the alphabet and pronunciation. Without knowing this or that letter, it will be difficult to use the dictionary, read the abbreviation and even just dictate your name over the phone.

Having mastered the alphabet, move on to memorizing words. Be sure to limit yourself to a specific time frame. For example, set yourself the minimum goal for a month to learn five hundred new words. It will amount to only 15-20 lexical units per day. Stick to your plan. It is important not just to memorize any words, but to try first to translate into English the speech set that you are used to using daily. This saves you the hassle of learning words that you might never need.

For a quick repetition of the passed material, get yourself a separate notebook-dictionary. Write in a notebook the words you have mastered and the expressions you like. It is important to take handwritten notes as this engages motor memory and promotes better assimilation of new material. Another valuable tool for self-study of the English language can be separate cards, on one side of which the word in Russian is written, and on the back - its English equivalent.

Along with building up your vocabulary, start mastering the basics of English grammar. This will allow you to correctly build phrases from the learned words. Try to say as much of the memorized material out loud as possible.

To develop your skills in understanding foreign speech, watch films and videos in English on DVD, without translation. It is advisable to have a notebook and a pen with you. Turn off subtitles and try to listen to individual words and phrases. After pausing the player, do not be too lazy to consult the dictionary to find the meaning of the new word you heard. Periodic listening to English-language radio stations, primarily news channels, will be a good help.

Use your MP3 player to listen to books in English in your spare time. It will also allow you to understand the structure of speech and feel its melody. It is convenient to have at hand a text version of the book for parallel reading. The skill of listening and reading at the same time will be especially valuable at the initial stage of language acquisition.

Make learning English a priority, without the fear of sacrificing little daily chores. When planning time for classes, strive to study for 20-30 minutes, then switch to other activities, and then pay attention to the language again. Taking breaks from work will make learning more effective.

In this material we will try to give you the basics of the English language from the very beginning. If you are still quite a beginner, but at least know the alphabet, then after spending some time on this article, you can learn your first words and start making sentences.

We have prepared for you English exercises specifically for beginners from scratch, as well as video grammar lessons and many useful links to other important articles on our site that will help you learn. Although many study methods are known today, independent work plays an important role in skill training. Therefore, read the article carefully and learn new topics with us.

English from scratch: where to start?

Everyone knows that every language, both native and foreign, consists of words, and words - of letters and sounds. Therefore, if we want to take the first steps in independent language learning and learn English from scratch on our own, we will have to start with its smallest elements - letters and sounds.

English alphabet

The English alphabet consists of 26 letters. Some of them resemble Russian letters and are easy to remember (for example, Mm, Kk, Oo and others), and some (for example, Hh, Gg, Qq and others) are not at all like them.

You can read more about the English alphabet .

Now is the time to complete a simple online alphabet practice exercise. A letter will be shown in the upper field, and you need to select its correct pronunciation. This is an effective exercise to repeat letters and remember them for sure.

[hey / ei]

[bi / bi:]

[si / si:]

[di / di:]

[and / i:]

[eff / ef]

[ji / dʒi:]

[h / eitʃ]

[ay / ai]

[jay / dʒei]

[kei / kei]

[e / el]

[uh / em]

[en / en]

[oh / ou]

[pi / pi:]

[kyu / kju:]

[ap / a: r]

[es / es]

[ti / ti:]

[yu / ju:]

[vi / vi:]

[double-u / `dʌbl]

[ex / eks]

[wai / wai]

[zi / zi:]

Letters and sounds

When studying English letters, you have to take into account that vowels are read differently in different environments. For example, the letter A can be read as:

- plate
[æ] - cat
- car
- hare
[ɔ] - what

In addition, some consonants can convey different sounds in words. For example, the letter C can be read as:

[s] - cinema
[k] - cry

English letters can be combined into letter combinations, the reading rules of which at the initial stage also need to be memorized. For example,

sh - [ʃ]
tch -
ea -, [e]

Usually, transcription is required at this stage, which conveys sound. Using it, you can learn the correct pronunciation of letters, and in the future, words. But for learners of English for beginners, we made the task easier, and now all letters and sounds can be perceived by ear, listening to material about English phonetics.

Reading rules, types of syllables and letter combinations can be found .

English dictionary for beginners

An effective way to learn words for beginners from scratch is thematic. That is, nouns, adjectives, verbs need to be combined into one topic and taught in context. You can memorize words one at a time, make groups of them, combine them into phrases, make up short sentences. This is one of the most effective ways to learn English quickly and easily. For example, let's take five basic conversational topics and select groups of suitable words for them:

1. Family - family:

Mother [ˈmʌðə] - mother
Father [ˈfɑːðə] - dad
Sister [ˈsɪstə] - sister
Brother [ˈbrʌðə] - brother
Son - son
Daughter [ˈdɔːtə] - daughter
Small - small
Big - big
Love - to love

2. Greetings

Hello - hello
Good - good
Morning [ˈmɔːnɪŋ] - morning
Evening [ˈiːvnɪŋ] - evening
Afternoon [ɑːftəˈnuːn] - day
Night - night
Meet - meet, get acquainted
See - to see
How - how
Fine - excellent

3. Appearance

Eye - eye
Nose - nose
Mouth - mouth
Hair - hair
Face - face
Long - long
Short [ʃɔːt] - short, low
Tall - high
Thin [θɪn] - thin
Round - round
Man - man, man
Woman [ˈwʊmən] - woman
Boy - boy
Girl - girl

4. About me

Name - name
Year - year
Old [əʊld] - old
Live - live
Study [ˈstʌdɪ] - study
Work - to work
Like - to like
Hobby [ˈhɒbɪ] - hobby

5. Seasons and weather

Spring - spring
Summer [ˈsʌmə] - summer
Winter [ˈwɪntə] - winter
Autumn [ˈɔːtəm] - autumn
Sun - sun
Rain - rain
Snow - snow
Shine [ʃaɪn] - to shine
Sky - sky

Assignment: Learn words from the list, and then complete the online exercise in which you need to translate words from Russian into English by choosing from the proposed options.

Mother

Father

Sister

Brother

Daughter

Evening

Night

Mouth

Short

Spring

Summer

Winter

Autumn

In each topic, we have mentioned the minimum number of words required for beginners. Gradually, you need to replenish the topics with new words. The same word can appear in several topics. In addition, you can group words by parts of speech: pronouns, numerals, verbs, prepositions. It is important to remember that it is easier to learn and remember words in context. You can learn 100 more words by reference, broken down just like this.

On our site, you can use to replenish your vocabulary. Words in them are grouped by level and by topic:

English numerals

Numbers in English are one of the very first words that are memorized in the classroom.

1-one
2- two
3- three [θriː]
4-four
5- five
6-six
7- seven
8-eight
9-nine
10-ten

The first ten, which you must know, provides the basis for any subsequent numerals - numbers in the second ten (for example, 16 - sixteen), tens (for example, 70 - seventy) and ordinal numbers (for example, tenth - tenth).

100- hundred [ˈhʌndrəd]
1000-thousand [ˈθaʊzənd]
1000000-million [ˈmɪljən]

Numbers are memorized as separate words and participate in the formation of compound numbers. For example,

2341 - two thousand three hundred forty-one

You can learn more about numbers and numbers in English

Now go through the exercise on this topic:

thousand
three
hundred
forty

thousand
hundred
forty

hundred
sixty
seven

Times of the English language.

Even the most extensive vocabulary cannot provide full-fledged communication in English. English grammar is an important part of learning. In order to master the English language from scratch on your own, you need to understand the system of the times of the English language. Despite the seeming cumbersomeness and multi-layered nature, this system, upon detailed examination, is quite logical and understandable. A set of grammatical rules will help you correctly build sentences and express yourself in a foreign language. There are nine basic tenses in English - three types of present, three past and three future... These tenses are divided into three groups - the simple tenses group, the long tenses group, and the completed tenses group. Each group has similar characteristics that distinguish them from each other. All these nine times can be put into a table like this:

Even when you look at such a simplified tablet, you can see common features and patterns between groups and times. Simple group times indicate regular, routine activities. The times of a continuous (Continuous) group are actions that occur at a certain moment. The times of the completed (Perfect) group are actions that have completed by a certain moment.

In addition to these main tenses, there are several more that combine the signs of different groups. But if you are good with these nine, the additional tenses will no longer be difficult, and you can easily integrate them into your spoken language.

The verb to be - the basis of the English language for beginners

But before you deal with the forms of verbs and groups of tenses, you can learn how to make short sentences with the verb to be (to be). Using this verb, you can call yourself:

I am Lima. - I am Lima.

And tell about your occupation:

I am a student. - I am a student.

with him you can describe the appearance and character:

He is tall. - He is tall.

We are kind. - We are kind.

subjects:

The boxes are green. - The boxes are green.

and the weather:

It was rainy. - It was raining.

To be needed to name the age:

He is 25. - He is twenty-five (years old).

That is, with the help of one single verb, you can make up many sentences of the main conversational topics.

An important point to remember: an English sentence must have a complete stem - subject and predicate... Even if in the Russian version one of them is missing. If you compare the English sentence and the Russian translation in the examples above, it is easy to see. That is why people who are just starting to comprehend the basics of English often make sentences with the verb to be in the present tense with a mistake - they simply forget about it, because it is not in the Russian version.

The verb to be in the present tense has three whole forms - is, am and are... The choice of the form depends on the pronoun or noun to which it refers.

Pronouns of the English language.

Pronouns in English vary by person and by number. If you bring the main pronouns into a table, you get the following picture:

Singular			Plural
Eminent case (who what?)	Object.case	Will attract.	Eminent case (who what?)	Object.case (who? what? to whom? what? etc.)	Will attract.
	me (mnot)	my (my)	we (we)	us (us)	our (our)
you (you)	you (you)	your (your)	You (you)	you (you)	your (your)
he (he) she (she) it (he, she, it)	him (to him) her (her) it (him, her)	his her (her) its (him, her)	They (they)	them (im)	their (them)

This table will be useful not only for students or teachers, but also for any foreign language learner. Of course, this list of English pronouns is not complete, but at the initial stage, you should first focus on them.

English articles

There are official words in English that are not in Russian. These are articles. The article defines a noun and is of two types - definite (the) and indefinite (a / an)... The names of the articles themselves contain their meaning. To be fluent in English, you need to learn how to use this grammatical category.

The indefinite article a denotes a singular countable noun that is first mentioned in speech. About him nothing is known and this is one of a number of the same items. A has a variation - before nouns beginning with a vowel, it has the form an.

If the speakers from the context understand what the subject is talking about or in the previous sentences this noun has already been mentioned, then the article the is placed before it. The use of the definite article is not limited to singular countable nouns. It can appear in front of both uncountable and plural nouns.

There are many nuances in the use of articles that are learned gradually.

A few conversational phrases for beginners from scratch

With a minimal active conversational vocabulary, and knowing a few basic rules of English grammar, you can form colloquial phrases for some common situations. We advise you to stock up on such common expressions as, for example,

1. Introduction:

Hello! - Hello!
How are you? - How are you?
I'm fine. - Perfectly.
Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.

2. About myself:

I am Lima. - I'm Lima.
I am sixteen. - I am sixteen years old.
I am from America. - I'm from America.
I live in New York. - I live in New York.
I am a student. - I am a student.

3. About family:

My family is not big. - My family is not big.
I have a mother, a father and a brother. - I have a mom, dad and a brother.
My mother is a housewife. - My mother a housewife.
My father is a manager. - My dad is a manager.
My brother's name is Tom. - My brother's name is Tom.
He is twelve years old. - He's twelve.
about
family

family

mother
father
sisters

father

father
sales
promoter

mother

housewife

Continue with Lim English!

Having started learning English from scratch with the alphabet and reading rules, we learned to read simple words. Then we began to accumulate vocabulary - we learned words by topic, added numbers and pronouns to them. The rules for using the tenses of the English language and articles helped us to compose colloquial phrases and sentences, as well as learn how to read texts. Next, we recommend learning English for beginners from scratch on your own using. Each lesson you will replenish your vocabulary, grammar rules are practiced with exercises, and video English lessons for beginners are attached to the rules.

Learning English from scratch on your own on our website is an easy and affordable way to gain the necessary knowledge and learn to understand a foreign language.