So what to do:

1. Complete one of the tutorials that give basic knowledge from the very beginning

In my case it was “Textbook in English» K. E. Eckersley. Take textbooks by English or American authors, and under no circumstances Russian.

What will it give:

• You will know all the basic grammar rules;
• Get a basic vocabulary;
• You will be able to read texts in English with a dictionary.

2. Read books in English

It is important to take non-adapted books, and those that actually deliver to you. For me it was and is Stephen King's books. Among the advantages are fascinating plots, simple syntax, lively conversations and an abundance of slang. I recommend starting with light modern reading, you can even take collections of short stories. Classic English literature (Dickens, Bronte sisters) - a more hardcore version due to complex syntax and outdated vocabulary, so you need to move on to it at a later stage.

I like to combine books and audiobooks. The point is that you are reading a book and listening to it at the same time. Works visual memory, and besides this, you remember how words are pronounced. Thus, I read all seven volumes of Harry Potter narrated by Stephen Fry.

Read 10 pages a day, again, daily, gradually increasing the number of pages. Now my minimum is 100 pages a day. The result is 47 books in English read in 2015.

• Write down all unfamiliar words;
• For each word, come up with a sentence - illustration

(for example, you came across the phrase slumber party - come up with a sentence like I used to have slumber parties with my girl friends when I was younger; we used to discuss males, v/atch porn and have orgies; the more emotional the composed illustrative sentences, the greater the likelihood that you will remember new words);

• Repeat new words in public transport and while pushing.

Dictionaries:

3. Watch movies and TV series in English

This also needs to be done daily - a film or a series per day (if you choose a series).

There are three viewing stages:

• First, watch films with Russian subtitles;
• Whenever you see fit, start watching with English subtitles;
• When you feel that you are able to understand the speech, watch without subtitles.

I recommend watching both American and British films. This way you will learn to understand speech spoken with different accents. Personally, at first it was easier for me to understand American English. Gradually I got used to British (the so-called Received Pronunciation; in fact, there are many “British” accents).

Again, choose to view items that are delivered to you. Personally, I prefer American films of different genres, mainly horror, and British TV series (Doctor Who, Black Mirror, Sherlock, Psychoville, Monty Python's Flying Circus and others).

4. Watch and listen to programs

Instead of Russian television, watch British television. You don’t even have to look, it just said something. BBC One or BBC News speaks to me at lunch and breakfast.

• http://filmon.com/tv/live (select UK Live TV and go ahead).

Bonuses:

• Website with educational videos: http://ted.com;
• Video lessons on the website http://engvid.com (suitable for those who already perceive speech by ear). My favorite teacher is Adam (his channel is http://youtube.com/user/EnglishTeacherAdam).

5. Read the news

• http://huffingtonpost.com/weird-news/ (fun on Huffington Post)
• http://news.com.au (light Australian news)
• http://metro.co.uk/ (British site just about life and British scientists)

6. Practice your pronunciation

I recommend the British course Get Rid of Your Accent by Linda James & Olga Smith (can be found on rutracker.org). Take one lesson a day.

7. Write

Here you can be as sophisticated as you like:

• You can try to find someone to talk to on the website interpals.com. If you succeed, you will practice with native English speakers and maybe even talk to them on Skype;
• Keep a diary in English and record all your everyday activities, from brushing your teeth to sexual adventures;
• Make shopping lists in English.

Thus, if you want to learn English, you need:

• Dedicate time to English every day for at least three hours, and even better - fill your day with English to the maximum;
• Absorb it with all your senses - eyes, ears and whatever else you have there;
• Don't be a lazy ass.

How long it will take you to learn to understand speech, read and write fluently depends on your abilities. I studied for several years, but regularly - only for last year, and in these 12 months I have really made progress. But, of course, there is still room for improvement.

When you become bored, it means you need to change something.

Good afternoon friends. I write periodically because there are a lot of interesting and important things to do. Nevertheless, I do not abandon the blog and continue to fill it with new texts.

When I was at school in primary school, first language, with whom I met was all in order, already tired of English today. =)

Although I consider this language to be universal and find my own part and reflection in it, I cannot help but admit that studying is not limited to it. English will remain for the next 20 -30 years international language, if there is no alternative. The alternative is coming in the form of an army of well-trained, savvy and hardworking Chinese.

And the alternative is not linguistic, and this post is not aboutI just want to outline the development trend and why I think so.

1) The population is growing rapidly and the Chinese are penetrating even the most remote corners of our planet. Previously, they could not afford it on the scale that they do now. Consequently, it has long been beneficial for Russia to work with the Chinese, and the development of the main flows comes straight from the “Middle Earth”.

2) Someday it must end on the European side, this cannot go on forever. Unfortunately, Asia is also following this path, but the traditions there are too strong for the original culture to turn into a complete Consumer Society.

3) I’m not saying that Chinese will be the world language, since learning English for the Chinese still remains a promising and prestigious direction. A girl who lived and studied in Taiwan for three years recently told me about this.

So, let's talk about language learning again. It’s always difficult for us at school; at school we learn languages ​​in classical ways, which ultimately provide an excellent base (for those who have studied well and conscientiously, of course). But they hardly give practice and understanding.

In general, you have to spend and spend a lot on the language... .

1) The material you go through must be processed and absorbed. There is absolutely no point in learning a language by doing occasional exercises to suit your taste. You need to reach a level that Nikolai Yagodkin (a famous Russian mathematician and linguist) defines as the “Good Intermediate” level, that is, level B2 or Intermediate level in any language. A language at this level is very difficult to forget. In principle, I agree with this.

2) It is constantly necessary to maintain it at the proper level.

a) B

b)B

c) In viewing,, .

In general, a language can be learned through video information or reading and through hearing. Read/Watch/Hear/Talk- here is the main system. Moreover, all these 4 skills should be separated by time. That is, for example, you pay half an hour of reading, half an hour of speaking with your foreign friend on Skype. Half an hour for watching an episode of a TV series or scenes. Mine left much to be desired, because suddenly I realized that I was not very connected spiritually with him. At a certain point you don’t understand why you are doing this. Absent, which is becoming less and less every day, and there are more and more passes, interests open up for something else. Some people say that you have to be constant. Of course you have to be consistent when you are learning a language, otherwise don't start learning it. Despite this, a basic level can be obtained.

I have already become so accustomed and confident in my assumption that a language is, first of all, a different culture of a people and an understanding of it from within. See why people learn English? Because it is truly UNIVERSAL. The culture is originally English, clear, direct, well, definitely not like Russian, crazy, free, independent. Halos of the spread of English, who bring a lot of authenticity to English with their accent and personal values, mentality and worldview. I know people who like Indian English and Chinese English. Very interesting.

Review of programs for self-study.

We know that language is necessary whenever possible , And. I would like to present to you what is in Lately I studied it myself.

1) No comments. You won’t learn the language, but you can do it in the form of an entertaining program with a bunch of different faces and characters. By the way, it is at this stage that you can understand. Or just wait. As a rule, for me such programs are primarily about getting to know the culture. What I really like is that Petrov highlights and structures the language. It shows how each language lives and breathes and that it is not just a collection.

2) Method Nikolai Zamyatkin . Oooh, how much controversy he caused. In general, there is a system of matrices where they read dialogue to you on an audio file, and you repeat it several times in your head and repeat it. Of course you have a text that you will look at first. Have you ever sung Indian matntras? Repeat everything 150 times, and maybe 25 frames will be delayed. The method works, but is painfully annoying for some and takes a long time. Well, imagine that the song is scrolled 10 times in the player. Remember? I think yes. Especially after reading the text first. There are generally polar opinions about Zamyatkin’s method. From screamingly cool to hatefully crying. The author himself promises you results after numerous hours of work.

3) Everyone's favorite Pimsleur. As popular as Dmitry Petrov, but it seemed to me not so useful. The thing is, passive listening doesn't work, let's face it. Pimsleur is a great guy, of course, but the dialogues are still a little drawn out. And phrases indiscriminately, of course. goodbyes. You can speak a language, but of course you can’t learn it.

4) A. J. Hoge. A very interesting fair-haired, spiritual guy with an even presentation of the material. He has his own and his own programs. Hoge encourages us not to learn grammar, but to memorize phrases Well, that's quite good. A pleasant learning method. But still, brothers, grammar is the framework and foundation! Children do not learn grammar and refuse to learn and apply it, because they are two different things. You cannot enter the mind of a child and start learning a language like him. Adults need logic and to some extent it is easier for them.

I had a student, a beautiful girl Natasha, but we didn’t go through grammar with her, since she set the condition that she needed it. But her approach to studying was very clear, and not smeared across the wall. Because she memorized the constructions completely and used the substitution method. But to say that she does this unconsciously, like a child, is to say it incorrectly.

5) Method Michel Thomas. A very logical, structured approach to language learning.

Most people really like him. It is not boring and at the same time clear and simple. That is, the language acquires a certain structure. You begin to feel the language, how it works. Michael Thomas has already died, may he rest in heaven, but the method is actively promoted and is still successful.

A couple of good sites for developing the ability to perceive and understand the English language.

For audio-visual perception skills. Well, as always, this is the most interesting method.

Ello.org. Yes, it feels like the site is 20 years old. Yes, that's true and they haven't changed the design since then. But what a collection of audio files this is with all the transcripts and texts. You'll be tired of taking it apart. For every level of taste. Clear, not difficult, accessible.

www.esl-lab.com Love this resource. A bit complicated for a beginner, but very practical and results-producing.

After closing my beloved Notabenoida for the general public, I now use the site

In any case, you can open subtitles for a series or movie in Worde and work through them. Subtitles by the way different languages. Yes, very inconvenient and ugly with all sorts of icons, but still.

ororo.tv. Yes, you have to pay for it. But I’ll tell you a secret: You can watch one episode a day absolutely free. =)

For: Of course. the program is like this. If you love live communication and perceptions, invent and write words and translations on separate cards, associating. Works very well! The notorious Nikolai Yagodkin again writes and speaks about this.

I think it's worth devoting some time to Writing and. This will be useful to everyone.

Have a great day

Long-promised post :) Let's start with November 2009. At this time I came to Goa for 6 months to live and work. For 6 years at school and 5 years at the university I studied German (or rather, tried to do it), as a result, in my English vocabulary there were only a few words: ok, good, bad, fuck off and one day one of my friends, before sending me to a meeting with a virtual friend who now lives in the USA, taught me the word satisfaction:) That's it English dictionary was ending...

Before flying to Goa, on the recommendation of friends, I bought a pocket phrasebook, put an English tutorial in my suitcase, downloaded audio and other books on the English language, and learned a phrase for annoying Indians at the airport: I don"t understand English! The word don"t I I successfully forgot already in Mumbai, so when Indians pestered me with something (who knows what now?), I proudly answered: I understand English! Then it was a mystery to me why they continued to talk to me, but I chalked it up to their cultural characteristics :)
Once upon a time, back in Minsk, I acquired (yes, I had such unusual acquisitions) a self-instruction book on the English language. I don’t even remember the authors, but it was the most ordinary self-instruction manual in a hard cover with exercises inside. It was from him that I began to study English. I must admit honestly: I tried to do this every day, but sometimes I just fell asleep over a book and gave up on it. Nevertheless, I acquired a certain base in the form of pronouns, the most common verbs and sentence construction.

Tip 1
You need a foundation that will help you understand how English works in general. By the way, English, compared to Russian, is structured very simply - I can tell you this responsibly as a Philologist higher education! :)

In addition, thanks to torrent files, I downloaded audio-English using Dr. Pimsleur’s method. I want to tell you that I was able to listen to him to the end only a few weeks ago - the doctor’s audio lessons seemed too complicated to me then... However, I just switched to Dragunkin and his Reader - everything was much simpler! Now I continue to listen to audio English every day, and I do this while cleaning the house and caring for animals (my daily routine), I spend 30 minutes on it every day and am very proud of myself! :)

Tip 2
Choose an audio course that suits you - there are now a great many of them on the Internet - and listen if possible every day (or at least 5 times a week). To make it easier to devote time to this activity, think: by doing what (around the house, at work, or...) mechanically, can you keep your ears occupied with English?

The most important advantage of learning English in Goa was that almost everyone here spoke English, so I tried to use every opportunity to talk: I went to the store on my own, having previously memorized how to say “flour-eggs-vinegar, etc.” in English. "; spoke to foreigners on the topics “Ha-var-yu” and “Du-yu-like-Goa”; I answered on Facebook and Vkontakte to all Indians who wanted friendship and corresponded with them in English.

Tip 3
Take advantage of every opportunity to speak English: whether it's a live or virtual conversation! And get that language barrier nonsense out of your head! Just talk! Because many foreigners really like new interlocutors and they will do everything in their power to understand your story about corruption in Russia, food in Belarus and life in the Soviet Union. And if you forgot this or that word, tell your interlocutor about it, describe the forgotten word - and he will remind you of it! And then he will also say that your English is excellent! :) And don't despair when meeting Scots, Irish or other people who like to speak unclear English! I remember once a friend from England came to our friends, from a conversation with him I only understood geographical name(and that’s not all!), I was very upset about this, complained to Brian, to which he said that he himself, as a native speaker, understood only 70% of what Nigel (a friend from England) was talking about :)

Then I decided that it was time for me to read in English (otherwise!) So I went to our large supermarket and bought children's fairy tales in English. Honestly, I only read a couple then... But I just recently finished reading my first book in English, 150 pages long! I'm very proud of this! As I realized later, the problem with my NOT reading was this: I really didn’t like the slow process of looking up a word in a paper dictionary! As a result, Brian downloaded it from the Nokia website for free onto his new phone English-Russian dictionary, which really inspired me to read books in English! Now I have started reading my second, already “adult” book in English!

Tip 4
Read books in English! Start with children's ones and then move on to more complex ones - adults! :) In addition, I recently found this thing on the Internet: you download a book-program, open the book and read it from the laptop screen, and if a word is not clear, you point your mouse at it, and its translation immediately pops up! Brilliantly simple! :)

The famous Murphy didn’t work for me then, at the beginning of my English career. Therefore, in Moscow, my friend gave me the second part of the Happy English textbook; I discovered the first in Minsk in a second-hand bookstore. So I started learning Happy English with my notebook. The first part of the textbook went to someone in Kathmandu (I left it there due to the end of the study), the second part will go to someone in Goa (Dasha, I better new textbook I’ll buy it, because I scribbled all of yours out with a pencil!) - so welcome! I'm exchanging it for a fiction book of Russian classical literature in Russian! :)

Tip 5
Choose your favorite textbook (not a self-instruction manual, but a textbook!) and go through it from beginning to end, despite the fact that it will seem to you that you are already familiar with this grammatical topic. Just be consistent! :)

Then I decided that it was time to watch films in English! :) I started with English films with subtitles. It is much easier to read the subtitles and understand the film than to try to understand the English, Scottish, Irish or American accent of each actor :) In addition, friends, I must tell you that if you do not understand this or that phrase in the film, you will certainly guess from the plot , what they meant: to execute or pardon :) I also highly recommend watching all kinds of programs. Personally, I’m stuck on culinary and tourism. Especially in the first ones, the presenters try to pronounce the words separately and they do not speak so quickly, because this is important for the recipe!

Tip 6
Watch movies, TV series and programs in English. Start watching them with subtitles, then switch to pure English view! I don’t know about you, but many satellite TV channels have options for setting subtitles when watching a particular channel.

The most difficult thing for me was learning words. That is, I already had a certain supply, thanks to their frequent use in communication, textbooks, books, films, but I would like to operate not only with “everyday” words. I tried several ways to learn words: at first I stupidly learned them, covering the Russian translation with a piece of paper; then I decided that I needed to learn words “by doing something in parallel,” so in Stolin I took a bath and studied new words from a piece of paper. Now I have chosen the following two methods, which I really like: I downloaded the audio for learning new words - I listen to it while doing my chores around the house + I installed the BX Language acquisition program, devoting 30 minutes a day to it at breakfast, which I am very pleased with!

Tip 7
Learn new words in your favorite ways, but never stop there!

So, now I"m thinking sometimes on English...
In Russian "live" last time I spoke on 06/12/2011... Not counting conversations with my mother on the phone :) And I continue to learn English on my own, using the tips listed above :)

I wish you patience, perseverance and desire! After this, knowledge of English will come! :) If you have any questions, welcome!