How to effectively learn English on your own
Need to study
Let's start with the fact that studying any foreign language, as well as other areas of knowledge, has a positive effect on the abilities of our “processor”, not only giving knowledge itself, but also improving the ability to master new material.
It is true for everyone that English makes it possible to meaningfully listen to foreign music, watch foreign films, TV series, search for necessary information in English, travel to English-speaking countries, and, as a result, make new acquaintances among foreigners. For IT specialists, English greatly simplifies life, I will tell you how, from the position of a programmer. It will allow you to read documentation in the original language, quickly find answers to your questions in English, communicate with the giant English-speaking IT community, thanks to which you will be able to communicate with foreign specialists, participate in more open-source projects, look for work abroad, and also participate in international activities in the form of various training courses from top companies, forums, conferences and the like. Therefore, a good knowledge of English will be a good help for any specialist, especially in the field of IT. I am sure that according to the recommendations that I have made, you can achieve a good level with a reasonable amount of effort, and what level depends on the amount of effort you put in.
Main material
As the main material and where to start, I, like many, consider the best video lessons from the famous author of foreign language courses, Alexander Bebris. At the age of 20 he received the international Cambridge C1 certificate and at the age of 21 the international certificate from the University of Cambridge to teach English around the world CELTA. At the same age – a diploma with honors, at the age of 25 – a candidate of sciences. I would like to express my deep gratitude and deep bow to Alexander for his gigantic contribution to raising the level of English in the Russian-speaking community. For a huge number of people, like me, it has become the main reference model for learning foreign languages. It has a number of channels in various foreign languages. Now we’ll talk about his main channel – “English by playlists” It has a large number of different courses on spoken English, improving vocabulary, grammar, various simulators, as well as complete language learning courses from 0 to a high level with a large number of words, grammar, theoretical lessons, practical, intermediate tests, and so on. the final results for the sections of the language. And he distributes all this material free of charge.
In his courses, Alexander gives a lot of advice on how to structure the language learning process in his courses and what additional methods will be useful to use. Therefore, my personal recommendations will overlap with the author.
If you have a beginner level of English, then in my opinion the best option would be to study the course “English to the point of automaticity (0 ‑Advanced)” Even if your level is slightly higher than a beginner's, you can find quizzes for the course and determine which section is best for you to start with. It contains more than a thousand video lessons, all on average 20 minutes long. And believe me, the further you move along the course, the more iterations you will need in order to master this or that material.
Movement along the course
Let's start with the fact that it will be most effective to keep notes of all lessons in the course; this will allow you to better understand the essence of what is happening, and as a result, better assimilate the material. Depending on the format you choose for taking notes, a notebook with a pen or a word processor on a computer, you will improve either your writing or your typing speed in English, which is a nice addition to working at a computer.
Also, as you progress through the course, your vocabulary will increase, and to do this more comfortably, it is better to get either paper cards from any paper that can be folded in half, cut along the fold, and repeat the operation until you achieve card size that is convenient for you, or download an application that is convenient for you with the necessary functionality on your phone.
It is equally important to repeat the material already covered in order to better understand and remember it, you can at least listen, and in your head give answers to questions ahead of the author. It is better to master the main material in a specially allotted time and in a comfortable environment, and listening to what has been covered and studying with cards can be done at any moment. For example, at one time I did this on the way to college on public transport, or during long trips, when I had free time and had the strength to do it.
Grammar
As another basic source of grammar, I highly recommend the most popular book “Essential Grammar in Use with Answers”. Raymond Murphy. This is a grammar book with theory and a lot of problems. It can be studied in parallel with a course of video lessons, since it is for beginners. In the future, you can move on to books for higher levels by the same author.
Your first English-language resource
As you progress through the main course, depending on the availability of free time, the speed of assimilation of the material and personal preferences, at a certain point you can begin to add classes to the main course on the English-language channel of Alexander Bebris “EnglishProfessionally” I recommend starting with the playlist “English Speaking Practice” In this playlist you can improve your listening, speaking and, as a result, vocabulary. Due to the fact that you are already studying Alexander’s course on his main channel, you will already be familiar with his voice, the phrases he uses, and his vocabulary and grammar. In the first stages, this is especially important, since the benefit of listening to speech that is completely incomprehensible to you will be minimal. Therefore, we are slowly adding classes on this channel to our program.
Interviews and various works in English
In any learning, there should be more fun, so I am sure that most of you have stars, movies, TV series or songs that interest you. Contacting them in the original is doubly pleasant, so let’s move on to a resource where you’ll most likely be able to find it.
Ivan Matyukhin, author of the channel “This is English“, is replete with analyzes of various interviews with popular personalities, TV series, songs and even games that will help improve your listening, vocabulary and grammar in accessible language. I also express my deep gratitude and low bow to him for his gigantic contribution to raising the level of the English language of the Russian-speaking community.
Speaking about his channel, I can’t help but mention the tools he uses. You shouldn’t look at Google or Yandex Translate all the way. If you want to know how a new word is translated and what it means in different contexts, use the “Reverso Context” translator, which will show you this. If you want to know the American and British pronunciation of a word, form, or phrase with it, use the “WooordHunt” dictionary.
If you do not find the material you are interested in on this channel or on similar ones, you can independently find the necessary content with English voice acting and subtitles, and relying on how Ivan Matyukhin does it, repeat the same steps. It will be more difficult than watching a finished video with analysis, but due to the fact that you have chosen the content you love, it is likely that you will be more enthusiastic about working with it.
Singing in English
It may seem funny to some, but if you sing the songs of your favorite artists, you will significantly improve your speaking and pronunciation. Ideally, this should be a performer with clearer diction, and not comrades who, in order to understand at least one word, need to immediately look at the lyrics of the song. It would be better to do the following:
Choose a performer with good diction
Translate the lyrics
At the initial stage, you sing along, memorizing the lyrics along the way
Perform the song in sync with the author (having learned the text by heart)
Perform the song yourself either a cappella or with a found backing track
Communication with native speakers
When you have already made significant progress in your learning and feel the strength to try to communicate with someone in English, you can start doing this with your friends who also study English to make sure that in the future you will be able to conduct a dialogue with a native speaker. Next, you should switch to native speakers. With their help, you can greatly improve all aspects of your language proficiency. Since you will not only try out all the previously acquired knowledge and skills, but you can also receive constructive criticism from people who have spoken the language you are studying all their lives. There are different places where you can do this, for example:
Free HelloTalk app. It was created for language exchange between community members. For example, you are learning English, and another participant wants to learn Russian, and you help each other learn your native languages.
Paid services. If you want to spend money on communicating with a native speaker, there are services that select a teacher for your level, which will be determined during the testing process. This will be the most effective method, but it requires financial investment.
Chat roulette, etc. chats. You can find any free service where foreigners communicate and try to find a suitable interlocutor
Games. If they interest you, then you can also go to a foreign server in your favorite cooperative online game, and find yourself an English-speaking friend, and also improve your English with him.
Environment
Being in an environment plays an important role in learning any language. Since most people who study English do not move anywhere, we will try to make sure that there is as much English in our daily lives as possible. Let's look at options on how to achieve this.
Media content. I think most of us still listen to songs in English, watch TV series, films and the like, and perhaps decided to work with this material as I described above. When you have the time and desire to listen to music, watch a series, movie, stream, and so on, turn on exactly what you were looking at before.
Device translation. You can translate all or most of the devices you use into English. Phones, tablets, computers, car multimedia devices, and even a robot vacuum cleaner if it’s very smart.
Many people probably keep various diaries, task managers, or simply write down some plans on sticky notes on the table; use English to maintain them.
Perhaps you have other options for adding English to your environment. At first it may be neither convenient nor familiar, but over time you will do it as naturally as you do in Russian now.
To summarize
I am sure that every person, after spending a reasonable amount of effort, will be able to improve to a good level of English. This material should be enough for this. Once you have mastered it, you will be able to move on independently. I hope that the approaches that I have identified over the years of trial and error will be able to help as many people as possible, and you will find yourself a good assistant in your work and in everyday life.
Thank you very much for your attention!
