Nowadays, ignorance of the English language turns into a flaw that can poison life. Fortunately, fixing it is not so difficult.
Why is English necessary?
Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky wrote that until 1917, bilingualism was the norm for an educated Russian. Alas, the social cataclysms of the twentieth century led to the fact that by the beginning of the third millennium only a few could boast of knowledge of foreign languages. Fortunately, the realization of the deep perversity of this practice has nevertheless come, and at the moment, the percentage of people who speak at least English is steadily growing. This is largely due to positive changes in the education system - if before English was quoted at the level of labor and physical education, now it is one of the main subjects in the school curriculum.
All this means that in the near future a huge number of specialists will enter the market who will not only be young and ambitious, but will also be fluent in Shakespeare's language. Naturally, this will make their resumes particularly attractive to employers. Experts say that in the near future it will be impossible, in principle, to get an adequate place without knowledge of English. Perhaps that is why sacramental questions “How to learn English in a month?” Are increasingly driven into Internet search engines. and "How to learn English at home?".
If you are still at odds with English, it is time to fill this gap. Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities these days.
How to do it?
If you are a schoolboy or student, then everything is simple - you just need to collect your will into a fist and prepare more diligently for classes. If you missed too much and do not understand what the teacher is talking about with such interest, contact him for
individual consultation. Schools and universities are still full of enthusiasts who will be happy to answer your questions during inopportune times, and even for free.
If the times of your youth have already passed, it is worth considering the option with courses. There are a lot of options - for any pocket and any level of training. Somewhere they learn English from scratch, somewhere they purposefully prepare for exams to receive
a certificate or work visa, somewhere they give priority to specialized vocabulary - for example, English courses for IT specialists are gaining popularity.
How to combine this with work?
As a rule, firms offer a variety of training formats - you can work individually (this will cost more), you can in large groups. The second option will be cheaper, in addition, in the group it will be easier to develop speaking skills. On the other hand, if there are more than 5-6 people in the group, you will rarely speak, and it is still more likely that there will be an explicit outsider in the group, because of which the teacher will have to spend more time explaining trivial things.
Most companies are ready to adapt to your schedule - there are weekend groups, there are groups of “larks”, and there are “evening parties”.
Can I learn English at home?
Despite the large number of offers, not all go to courses. Someone lacks motivation for this, someone is frightened off by the price, someone is very embarrassed to make their ignorance of English public.
If you belong to any of these categories, do not despair. Of course, you can learn English yourself. Of course, this option has disadvantages, but there are many advantages. Firstly, you will solve the problem with English completely
for free, secondly, you can engage in the most flexible schedule.
There are many examples of how people went from zero to B1 in just a few months - the only question is perseverance, desire and willingness to regularly devote the necessary time to learning the language.
Where to start an independent study of English?
So, you realized that you can’t live like that anymore, and you firmly decided to learn English. How to learn English from scratch?
The first important step is to understand that "on your own" does not mean "alone." The main thing in learning a new language is consistency. There is always a risk to spend
time for unnecessary things, so at least at the very beginning it is advisable to get the advice of a person you trust - a professional teacher or just a friend who knows the language very well. It’s even better if there are several such people. They will prompt literature, sites and what words to learn in English.
After collecting recommendations, you can begin to develop a clear plan. There is nothing more useless in the world than taking on a global project without a clear idea of the ways of its implementation. Learning English is just such a global project. Practice shows that people who have such blurry goals as "Learn English in a Month ... or More" rarely succeed. Much more often the goals are achieved by those who initially divide a large task into several smaller tasks and methodically solve them, smoothly moving from easy to more complex ones.
For example, for the first month you can set yourself the task "Learn 800 words and deal with the structure of the verb."
How to learn English from scratch?
It is very important to immediately choose for yourself some basic way of learning a language. The options here are, by and large, limited to a textbook or the Internet.
In both cases, it is critical to find the source of information that is most suitable for you. There are hundreds of textbooks in bookstores, millions of sites on the Internet, but for some reason not everyone still speaks English. This means that not all of these textbooks and sites are suitable for solving such a difficult task. Meanwhile, there are really high-quality manuals, but finding them is not always easy - that is why we recommended starting the study of the language with a consultation. There are many ways to learn English, and a person who professionally teaches a language will probably be able to say exactly which one will be most suitable for you.
Having decided on the leading method and scheduling, start work. At the same time, always remember that a foreign language is akin to a beloved girl who does not forgive betrayal. Once you relax and give up working on the language for one to two days, the chances of overall success will drop. Work should be systematic and focused. You can only achieve the goal if you regularly devote 1-2 hours to the language.
Where to find the time?
Immediately anticipate the traditional exclamation "Where is the time to take ?!" Believe me, you have it - just think about how much you spend every day on aimless surfing on the Internet, browsing social networks or talking with colleagues. All this can be replaced with additional exercises in English.
On the way to work and back, it is also not at all sad to look out the window - you can have fun looking at the textbook! Or on the phone screen - if this option is closer to you, then you should take a closer look at the impressive market of applications for language learners. There are many options - from simple programs in the spirit of "We give you the word, you give us the translation", to full-fledged educational platforms "How to learn English in a month."
By the way, most of these programs are absolutely free.
Once again about the benefits of reading
Few people boast a love of monotonous work. As a rule, we all act much more productively, regularly changing the type of activity. This fully applies to the study of a foreign language. Yes, you should have some kind of basic way of working in your pocket, but it just needs to be combined with others - perhaps more enjoyable. "Constant change of activity" - this is the best answer to the question "How easy is it to learn English independently and for free."
A great way to test your achievements in practice and at the same time seriously replenish your vocabulary is to read in a foreign language. Here again, the bookstore and the Internet can come to the rescue. In the bookstore, you can purchase books in English, and very often you can find specially adapted books for people who are just starting to learn a language, or who speak it at an intermediate level.
Many stores also sell English-language newspapers and magazines. Of course, when choosing publications, you need to build on your own interests - for example, a football fan will be really interested in trying to read an English-language article on his favorite topic, and the likelihood that he will get bored and put the newspaper down will drop significantly.
The Internet is an even more bottomless storehouse of materials. There are a large number of sites that offer you adapted texts for reading - of different sizes and based on the most different level of training. In addition, there are billions of English-language portals on the Internet, including about your favorite music group, favorite actor and favorite sports team. The hint, we believe, is clear!
It is important that such reading will enrich you not only lexically, but also intellectually.
Learning spoken English on your own
You can become an expert in English grammar, but what will it do if no native speaker understands you? English has quite sophisticated phonetics, for which there are methods and techniques.
Firstly, you should love foreign music. Listening to songs in English is a great way to learn pronunciation. Many people who are fluent in English admit that they learned it specifically from the songs of their favorite groups, and not at school.
A more complex, but more reliable way is to watch films in English. At the same time, forget about Russian subtitles - our brain is set up to search for the easiest ways, so from some point you just start reading subtitles, not paying attention to what the actors say there. But English subtitles can be used, especially at first - not all actors have the Moscow Art Theater articulation, and it will be difficult to deal with the subtleties of pronunciation. Text insurance does not hurt. In addition, do not forget that many films are shot in the United States, and American English is a topic for another discussion.
How much can you learn English?
How to learn English in a month? It's impossible. In order to proudly call yourself an English-speaking person, you need to spend years, and then do not forget about practice - without training, language skills very quickly disappear.
However, you can well learn to read, write and maintain a simple conversation in a few weeks. The main thing is a systematic approach and self-discipline. And, of course, a great desire.
Successful work on a new language begins with motivation.