Ways to learn English. What are the ways of teaching English

For everyone who wants to master the language of international communication, the question arises: what is the best way to learn English. Study it on your own, enroll in courses or hire a personal teacher? Right choice will help you save money and time. Let's try to figure out where it is better to learn English.

To get started, we offer you an author's scheme that will help you determine what type of training is right for you. However, all such tests and schemes give an approximate result. To make a final decision, read our article, it will reveal to you the whole ins and outs of each way of learning English.

If you have landed on this page, you are probably also interested in where to study English. The abundance of ways and methods of teaching today is both impressive and stupefying. The pages of printed publications are full of headlines luring you to a variety of English courses with native speakers or eminent teachers. On the Internet, even the glamorous sites and forums of fishing enthusiasts are occupied by bright banners inviting us to "Learn English in 99 days." We are no longer talking about aggressive spam sending email dozens of promotional emails. In such conditions, potential students find it difficult to make a choice in favor of any option. We will tell you briefly about the advantages and disadvantages of these teaching methods. Well, let's be clear, shall we?

English courses

Until recently, perhaps the most popular way to learn English. Everything is simple and clear: a group gathers, and the teacher teaches students.

English courses have their advantages:

Group lessons have their own limitations. Shy people find it difficult to express their thoughts in English in front of an audience. More daring and talkative classmates may interfere with your communication with the teacher, you will have to wait in line to speak. In addition, people with different levels language proficiency. Yes, yes, the same Pre-Intermediate is different for each person: someone's grammar is lame, someone has a very modest lexicon. You depend on how your classmates learn, so in a weak group, the learning period may increase.

Generally, group lessons are non-refundable for missed classes. You only pay for the time and place of the lesson. Learning cannot be "suspended": if you had to miss part of the classes, then the group goes ahead, and you will have to catch up on the missed material on your own or in individual lessons with your teacher. Sometimes groups provide an opportunity to make up a missed class with other students, but this is very rare.

Regular courses will not prepare you for an interview or job in an international financial company.

Independent study of English

We have all the conditions for self-study. You can learn english online: watch videos, listen to audio lessons, read news. It's fun, useful, and completely free. If you are going to learn a language from scratch without the help of a teacher, be sure to use our step by step guide"". And we also wrote a detailed article about how, in it we talked about the advantages and disadvantages of this way of learning a language, as well as how to overcome difficulties in self-study.
Self-study of English has its advantages:

You have the opportunity to customize the lessons completely for yourself. You can practice at any convenient time in any convenient way. The larks will enjoy the lessons at 6 am, and the owls - night gatherings with a cup of coffee. Visuals will like to read adapted literature, watch exciting videos. Audials can listen to songs in English, download free audio lessons.
You independently choose the pace, intensity of classes, determine which topics to focus on. If you know how to set goals and follow them, learning will be successful.
The magic word is FREE. Self-learning will save significant amounts without compromising your knowledge.

Seems like the perfect way to learn! But not so simple: we are lazy and can not always force ourselves to study English. Computer games, TV shows, talking with friends, and other “well, very important things” interfere with learning. Not every one of us can motivate ourselves and work productively without a mentor on a regular basis. Someone needs the notorious competitive spirit that can be felt in a group, someone needs a competent teacher who will find gaps in knowledge and direct the learning process in the right direction.

English lessons with a personal teacher

Lessons with a personal teacher - one of the most effective ways studying of English language. Here it is Benefits:

You will be given 100% attention. An individual program and the pace of learning are the undoubted advantages of personal lessons.
The mentor will relieve you of gaps in knowledge. You may have a good understanding of grammar in general, but sometimes you get confused with conditional sentences. The teacher “drives” you exactly along these gaps.
Variety of tasks. You will not be doing the same type of grammar-translation exercises from Soviet textbooks. Authors of modern teaching materials develop tasks so as to train all 4 basic speech skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing. Moreover, they do this on the basis of actual grammar and the necessary vocabulary.
Classes with a teacher are more intense than in a group. And so your efforts quickly pay off. As already noted, the courses, as a rule, focus on the weakest students in the group, this delays the learning process. With a teacher, you will study at a pace that is convenient for you.
An experienced and talented teacher will be able to find an approach to everyone, even to the most shy silent person.
The teacher will never make you feel guilty. Making a mistake or failing homework, you will not feel like a guilty schoolboy (and most importantly, no one will know about it!).

Personal lessons with an English teacher is the dream of every language learner. But this dream is not always feasible. Such pleasure is not the cheapest, and it is not always easy to find a good teacher in your city. Sometimes it takes longer to find a qualified teacher than it does to take classes! You can meet a teacher who works according to an outdated methodology, uses a narrow set of teaching aids, completely forgets about audio and video materials, podcasts. It is clear that you will soon decide whether to deal with this person or not. But you will have to spend time again looking for a new mentor, and no one will return the time spent.

One of the types of personal lessons is.

Why you should learn English via Skype:

Qualified teachers. You can not be afraid that you will be given teachers without experience or specialized education. Any online English language school values its reputation, because it is so easy to lose it. With the advent of various “reviewers” (sites with reviews), it has become dangerous to provide a low-quality service: you can completely lose your customers.
Need to urgently prepare for an interview in English? In an online school, you will quickly find the right teacher who specializes in business English or interview preparation.
Individual approach. The teacher selects the appropriate pace of learning for each student, based on his needs.
Practice when and where it suits you. You agree on a suitable schedule with the teacher in advance. Your classes will not be interrupted if you go on a trip or a business trip. The computer and the Internet are everywhere, nothing prevents learning. With a modem, you can practice in the country, in the countryside, even on the beach!

However, this method of learning English also has minuses. Communication problems can interfere with your activities. Unfortunately, providers are not always responsible for their work. Yes, and technology can fail at the most inopportune moment. However, it is encouraging that if problems arise during the lesson in some schools, it is possible to finalize the time of the lesson later, when the connection is established.

So, we learned about the advantages and disadvantages of each teaching method. What is the most effective way to learn English? Rapid progress and solid knowledge give individual lessons with a teacher, this method is considered the most effective. Courses are in second place in terms of effectiveness. The most time-consuming and slow process - independent study English. The best decision- combine all three methods: start learning a language with a teacher, improve your knowledge in the courses and do not forget to devote time to independent work. We wish you success!

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Learning English will become much easier and more interesting if you find out all the ways to learn it and choose the one that you like. Of course, the best way to learn English is if you take maximum efficiency as a criterion.

English teaching methods

But this method has many BUTs, among which are the high cost, obtaining a visa, fees, flights, and so on. Therefore, let's talk about the opportunities for learning the language that are available to us on the spot. I will try to describe as much as possible the most optimal ways of mastering English.

I will list the most popular of them:

Work with a professional tutor. The advantages of this method include: control by the teacher, pronunciation, the ability to immediately clarify incomprehensible points, qualified testing and evaluation. By cons: the services of a tutor will cost a tidy sum, and you will have to study according to a strict schedule
Self-study from books and tutorials. Pros: low cost, clarity, illustrations, variety of tasks, practical exercises with examples. Cons: self-discipline is required and it is difficult to choose a really good tutorial from the many book aids available today
Specialized group English courses. Pros: group work, communication with the teacher, studying grammar, exercises according to the rules. Cons: the teacher cannot pay due attention to each student, little attention is paid to the practice of communication, classes on a schedule
Video and audio courses. The advantages of this method include: interesting lessons, visibility, live examples, the ability to hear everything that is described on the screen, training listening comprehension, a free training schedule. Cons: lack of control will require iron willpower and self-discipline
Sites dedicated to learning English. For example, the site "Learn English from scratch" :). Pros: many various techniques, maximum theory and practice, interesting lessons for beginners, advice from famous polyglots, the opportunity feedback. Cons: self-control, strict adherence to the rules of learning English

way to learn english

As you can see, there is no better way. Each of them has its strengths and weak sides. You must choose the one that you think is the best for you. And one more thing: you should not focus on one method, you can successfully combine them. For example, working with a tutor and a video course, a tutorial and a website.

Based on my own experience, I will advise you this way:

Read notes, articles, newspapers, books that are interesting to you. Write down all incomprehensible or hard-to-remember words, find out the translation and pronunciation, then write down each word on a separate card and put it in a matchbox, which you need to carry with you all the time. In your free time, take out the boxes and learn or repeat the words. After studying one group of words, change cards
Grammar. Take any grammar book, the thinner the better. I took the standard TOEFL. You should not particularly bother with grammar, only the basic rules - what are the letters called, how to read letter combinations, how to create plural. Although if there is interest and time ...
If possible, listen to American and British news TV channels or radio: Voice of America, EuroNews, BBC, CNN, as well as watch popular series, talk shows, such as Friends or Lost
Read aloud. Reading aloud trains the pronunciation of words and improves listening comprehension. It is also important to learn poems by heart.
Do's and Don'ts: You don't have to take group courses if you've already completed the entry level. They will be useful only for complete dummies or those who need targeted preparation courses for the Unified State Examination and other exams. You should not buy magic courses that promise to teach you English with the help of magic frame 25, they will not only not help, but can also harm

ways to learn english

And finally, I advise you to listen, in addition to mine smart thoughts, a couple more qualified opinions, concerning better ways to learn English. Well, if you trust my "expert" opinion, then study my site. Here you will find all the answers to your questions about language learning.

The question "How to learn English, and what is the best way to do it?" relevant to many people. However, for the majority, due to a lack of understanding of how to organize the process, this task is often put on the back burner.

In addition, people are different types, with their thought processes understanding of the world and processes of perception.

Let's see what ways of learning English exist and what type of people can use it effectively:

1. Self-study:

This method is suitable for thinkers and those who like to understand literature and hone this or that skill for hours. Experienced in studying foreign languages also fit into this category.

How to do it:

Choose a good textbook for yourself, in which everything is written in an accessible way and with which you can check the exercises. Choose textbooks better than British editions - Oxford, Cambridge Press. Here are some textbook titles: “New Cutting Edge” by Peter Moor and Sarah Cunningham, “Total English” by Mark Foley and Diane Hall, “Face2Face” by Chris Redston and Gillie Cunningham or “Language to Go”

All these textbooks contain a book for the student, a workbook in which you can perform many exercises and tests, checking yourself with the keys, and audio recordings with lesson dialogues, which are extremely important for the formation of correct pronunciation.

Find yourself friends who speak the language. These can be either native speakers who can be found on the language exchange sites www.italki.com, www.livemocha.com or www.livemocha.com, or just acquaintances of interest in vkontakte (english.vkontakte.ru) or other sites social networks. You can also arrange small games in the process of correspondence, which will help expand your vocabulary. For example, offer to play cities in English: You name a word, your friend names another with the letter that ended your word. (horse - electricity). In some cases, the task can be complicated: to limit the scope of words. (Animals: bear - reptile)

Start reading books ranging from short stories to originals by English and American authors, depending on your level of proficiency. It is better to choose books according to your interests, so that reading is not hard labor, but brings joy. Reading familiar books and stories will be effective.

In order to make sense of reading, you need to write out unfamiliar words and expressions in a notebook, carefully looking for a translation that is suitable in meaning in dictionaries. You can use both paper dictionaries and Internet dictionaries, for example, www.multitran.ru. It is better to divide the reading into parts, having determined for yourself the doses for each day or two. Words written out from one part are best grouped and written down on cards that you can take with you when traveling to public transport or long distance travel.

Listen to songs in English. It doesn't matter what level you are now, songs are melody and rhythm, and if you sing along with the artist after translating the lyrics, your English intonation and listening comprehension in general improve day by day.

Watch films in the original language, becoming more and more imbued with culture and language. Watching American films for beginners is of course undesirable, since the language is not yet fully formed, but watching small videos is the key to success. Well suited, for example, sites such as: lcfclubs.com - a lot of interactive colorful cartoon stories and presentations, a fairy tale about the woodcutter's children - Hansel and Gretel,

a fairy tale about twin brothers, etc.

2. Learning English in groups:

This method is the most popular and certainly suitable for those who cannot live without communication for a minute. If you find it difficult to spend hours reading a book and talking with friends online, which is most limited to correspondence, then group classes are the perfect solution.

How to do it:

Find all language centers in your city on the Internet.

Analyze the prices and services that are offered

Chat and ask people for feedback

Make a decision and pay for the lessons.

3. Learning English individually with a tutor:

This method is also popular and effective for those who want to know the language in depth. If you are going to enter a university, you need to emigrate, or you use the language every day at work, then you simply need an individual teacher.

How to do it:

Find a tutor through special portals where teachers offer their services.

Find an online teacher, both Russian and a native speaker, who will teach you via Skype (www.skype-language.com).

In all three of the last cases, your teacher will always select an individual program for you and build a schedule that is convenient for you and personal qualities educational process. You don't have to fight the underdogs in the group, or feel like you're underperforming.

Learn a language with pleasure, and always remember that the first point independent work- the key to rapid progress, even when studying with a tutor and in groups.

All the best to you in learning English!