How to learn English at home on your own? In this article we will analyze step by step how you can develop the main four components of the language, and, finally, what tools, gadgets and physical objects you can use to achieve the goal.
As a preface, we can say that the most effective way to learn to read, speak, listen and write in English is to learn to think in English. To do this, just do not say the translations aloud, do not repeat them to yourself, do not write, and if possible, do not listen. Then you will build the shortest and most pleasant associative bridge between the meaning of concepts and their verbal designation, between an amorphous thought and the construction in which it can be clothed.
Before telling how to learn English at home, as a warning - when choosing material, be aware of the language you want to speak, American English or British, literary, or slang.
Reading
So how to learn English at home? Start with the simplest literature, the simpler the better. The ideal option is a text in which you understand at least 80-90% of words without a translator. Suitable children's stories and adapted publications.
Learn to see in the text 1) objects, phenomena, 2) signs of objects, 3) actions, states, 4) characteristics of actions, states, 5) directions, time intervals connecting words like “and” and “but”, quantity, then there are parts of speech.
Ask questions - "What is happening?" - "Who is going on?" “By what happens?” “How's it going?” - “What is happening?” etc., that is, learn to separate members of sentences and see connections.
Speaking
How to learn English at home if you live in a non -English country? Think in English and just say what you think out loud, and then adjust. It does not matter whether monosyllables or not, especially at first. However, this does not mean that "uh ...", "mmm ...", etc. are permissible. Hack speech parasites right on the vine. Indeed, these are not thoughts, but simply the ability of the vocal apparatus to make some sounds in the background while your brain is busy with other things. Then just make sure that more complete constructions appear, and formulate them in such a way that they convey the corresponding thoughts as reliably as possible. And after they are voiced, eliminate the mistakes. You can chat with someone on Skype. There is a chance that you will be more interested in talking with another person than with yourself. And someone will correct your mistakes in your place, although not a fact. Remember that not all native speakers speak competently.
Listening
It may seem that listening is easier than talking - because you do not need to make any constructions, look for expressions, just focus on keywords. But it is difficult to isolate individual words from phrases if the rumor is not tuned to English speech. Further, if the structure of the sentence is not clear, this will not help. And, finally, analyzing the words and following the construction, you just can not manage to combine all logical units - that is, for example, understand who, but not understand why and where, or understand why and where, but not understand who. Therefore, the more practice, the better, and we must not forget that the rule of 80-90% also applies here. Practice best in English videos with synchronized English subtitles.
Writing (Grammar)
Open the tutorial. The textbook should be decent. This means that it should be concise, understandable, structured by topic, and not by lesson. That is, it looks more like a directory, a root folder divided into groups and subgroups, rather than a messy set of rules. Because how to learn English at home with a classroom textbook? Also, prerequisites - with non-banal examples, and as close as possible to the original English syntax. And practice. Instead of exercises, write independent texts and correct them later. Replenish the stock of used constructions and expressions according to the chosen specialty or style.
You can make correspondence with someone. Here, consider not only that not all carriers speak correctly, but that a few of them correctly write, especially on the Internet.
What you need for independent language learning
It may seem that for all types of activities now one Internet is enough. And so it is. Paper books can be replaced with electronic versions and read them from a computer, readbooker or tablet, the voice of a living person can be replaced by a record available online, find the person you are talking to on one of the social networks, and instead of a notebook write in a Word document. It is not always convenient, productive and useful, but it is. For regular reading, you can sign up (if you have not already written down) in a library where there is literature in English, or find a good language learning site with an archive of books. To understand how to learn English at home from scratch, remember how you learned your native language.
You will need:
- Explanatory English Dictionary, author's choice - Colin Cobuld. The good thing is that it has a good design and a list of words in alphabetical order, which are most often used in the book, even with specific numbers. This allows the most rational replenishment of vocabulary.
- Google translator. The good thing is that you can listen and read the words. Use for translations is not recommended in principle (although as a translator it is not so bad).
- A decent textbook with original grammar written by native speakers (because there are no decent English grammar textbooks in Russian yet), the choice of the author is Colin Cobuld Grammar for students, it is very simple, clear and concise, convenient orientation, each topic occupies exactly a page - only 100 topics. Only grammar on the left, only exercises on the right. An excellent separation, given that the exercises can not be done at all and whoever needs them in the text, just gets in the way. Naturally, for a detailed study it will not be enough, but for the beginning and the middle it is almost perfect. If you think that you should take on something more seriously, first make sure that Colin has said everything for you.
- English-Russian dictionary. Use as little as possible.
- Russian-English dictionary. Use only if absolutely necessary.
- Depending on the preferred method of communication: social network account, mailbox, headphones with a microphone, webcam. To chat with a native speaker or chat on Skype.
Bonus track: how to learn English at home in 5 minutes
First, here are the most general rules:
- A sentence consists of a subject ('Martin') and a predicate ('is clever' or 'drink'). There may be a complement ('coffee'), a circumstance ('now') and a definition ('in the morning').
Clever Martin drinks coffee in the morning.
Martin is clever.
- In general matters, the subject is faced with the 'do' or the first verb of the compound predicate. In specials, a special word is added. Negations add 'not' or 'don't'.
Is Martin clever?
Clever Martin doesn't drink coffee in the morning.
Why is Martin clever?
- There are also 4 tenses, 4 aspects and a passive voice ('to be' + Participle II). Past Indefinite is the verb + 'ed' or II form of the verb, Participle I is the verb + 'ing', Participle II is the verb + 'ed' or III form of the verb.
Secondly, here are the most common words and phrases:
'Yes' / 'No'.
Thirdly, if you don’t understand what it’s about, say: “I can't understand” and “don't kill me”.