Learning English has become more popular than ever. At the same time, this task is not easy. Many spend whole years on what other students take a maximum of a few months. Why, then, for one does the task of mastering English prove feasible and quite achievable, while for the other this process is associated with some difficulties? And what method of studying this language, which is really necessary in our time, is most effective?
Define Goals
One of the best ways to learn English is to decide on those goals, why his knowledge will be required in life. After all, not knowing the final point of his studies, the student moves almost nowhere. Many students learn English on a par with other subjects. However, for them, boring classes in textbooks do not add any motivation. This is not to say that exercises from the school course are a definite "evil." Despite the fact that a large number of different methods of studying English are currently being promoted, the grammar-translation method used in schools cannot be called ineffective. Indeed, with its use the best translators of the Soviet era were trained.
Examples of the correct setting of tasks
However, with regard to motivation, in this respect it can be stated unequivocally: just a school curriculum is not the best way to learn English. After all, the student does not understand in what circumstances all these grammatical difficulties will come in handy. If he has a goal, then the exercise turns from a boring routine into an instrument to achieve it. A few more examples that will allow you to approach the study of English more specifically:
- If a person is an employee of a company in which a foreign language is used for written communication with partners, the best way to learn English is to systematically work on an essay. Training writing skills will be the tool with which you can get a promotion, and therefore receive a large salary. With such motivation, learning a language will be much easier.
- If you plan to use English while traveling, the best way would be to master special courses, to train the basic skills of reading street signs. It is also good to take a conversational course, to overcome the language barrier.
- In the event that a foreign language is required for meetings or conferences at work, the best way to learn English is to work on an understanding of spoken language, as well as to train speaking skills.
Environment creation
You don’t need to pack things and leave for London. Everyone can "surround" themselves with a foreign language - for this you only need desire. It is believed that creating a language environment is one of the best ways to learn English. Consider several possible options for how to do this.
When you need to find some information on the Web, do it not in your native language, but in English. Of course, out of habit, each user plugs into the search engine queries in their native language. Switching to English may seem tedious, but such practice will help to quickly improve your reading skills. To facilitate the task, you can install a special online translator on your PC.
Watch news and movies in English. At first, students may not even understand half of what is said on the screen. However, the human brain has the ability to learn to recognize unfamiliar speech over time. To do this, he must be given such an opportunity. Even if you watch videos in English for 10 minutes a day, after a year you can only be surprised at how much the understanding of foreign speech has improved.
Regular activities
No matter how invented the new-fangled methods by which you can learn a foreign language, the best way to learn English is regular classes. Perhaps this is the most difficult part in the process of learning a foreign language. After all, when a person goes to work, he knows that he needs to reckon with the established daily routine. Otherwise, claims from management will follow. He may be deprived of bonuses, and sometimes even salaries and positions. If you skip, systematically violate discipline, and do not fulfill your duties, you can seriously get into it.
And when a person sets himself the goal of learning a foreign language, then there is no “Cerberus” that would stand above his soul and force him to study. It’s always easy to regret yourself. And therefore, on the difficult path of enlightenment of the student, the thought seductive at first glance observes: “Today I am too tired to study. I’ll better sit on the social network or watch TV. And tomorrow I’ll work out twice as much. ” The result of such self-pity is known: the process of learning a foreign language is delayed. During breaks, what has been mastered before is forgotten. You have to re-engage in the work, repeat the material you have learned and only after that start a new one.
Is it possible to master foreign in a short time?
There are no quick ways to learn English in this regard. The speed of language acquisition always depends on the student himself, on the amount of time and effort that he is ready to invest in this matter. Therefore, do not believe the false advertising, which promises to master English in two weeks or so. In the study of foreign languages ​​there is the concept of "magic thousand." It is believed that it takes 1000 hours to successfully master a new language. Everyone can calculate how many years he will need to learn English, given the number of hours spent on classes per week.
Ways to make classes regular
What can be done to make learning English systematic, and therefore effective?
Here are some guidelines:
- If there is a feeling that you cannot master English independently, it is better to hire a teacher. Despite the fact that this is a very expensive way, the time spent between trying to get started is more expensive. In addition, the mere fact of paying for classes can serve as a good motivator. If you want to postpone classes because of the temptation, the idea that money has been paid for this process will not let you just relax. In addition, learning a language with a teacher is also often considered one of the best ways to learn English. After all, the tutor has ready-made knowledge and the necessary experience of their transfer. So, you don’t have to puzzle over the features of grammar or vocabulary - the language will be mastered as quickly and naturally as possible.
- In the event that you can’t get yourself to do it for an hour or thirty minutes every day, you can try to "persuade" yourself to exercise at least a quarter of an hour. This is quite a bit. One way or another, it will be better than doing nothing at all. Or maybe after this time there will be a desire to work out more.
- Another way to systematically learn a foreign language is to create a special atmosphere. To do this, you need to surround yourself with those objects that will motivate you to continue classes. For example, if English is necessary for traveling, it may be photographs of those countries in which I would like to visit. You can also purchase books from your favorite English writers. This will make you engage in order to quickly master a foreign language and start reading their works in the original.
- You can also make yourself a special calendar, which will mark those days on which classes were full. Two or three days pass will make you think about willpower.
We study foreign on our own
For many students, it’s quite possible to start learning a foreign language. After all, the logic of the English language is quite accessible to the Russian layman. It is not recommended to start learning in-house complex languages ​​such as Arabic or Chinese. But as for English, here for adults, most likely, there will not be any special difficulties. The best way to learn English on your own is to pick up a good manual. In this case, it will be especially important to have additional materials - audio and video recordings. This will initially train the perception of foreign speech.
The need for exercise
The training manual should also have a sufficient number of exercises. If there are few of them, it is hardly possible to fully master the material. After all, one of the main ways to learn English is to do the exercises. In the process of mastering the language, the grammar can be metaphorically compared with a fishing line on which beads are strung - other knowledge. Without understanding the basic rules of the language, moving forward will be difficult. And after performing a large number of exercises on the topic, the material will become part of active knowledge. Also in the manual should be the keys to the exercises. This will allow you to track the use of erroneous designs in time.