Briefly about myself: my name is Yegor Pak, I teach German, English and Spanish, I speak several more languages at a good level. Teaching experience 6 years, 9 lived and worked abroad. He worked both individually and with groups, families also belong here. Recently returned to Russia, started a channel on YouTube . Now I teach in Russia, both online and personally.
Disclaimer: I support a comprehensive approach to language learning. I believe that you can achieve a fairly good level (B1-B2) in a shorter time than many people think. I myself am a living proof, my experience with people shows the same thing.
I do not advocate magic pills, my methods are based on logic and experience. A banal example: when you train with a trainer in the gym, he writes you a plan of training and nutrition, but you have to deal with weight and prepare food personally. To get a visible result, you need to do it regularly, without missing classes for weeks. From sitting on the couch there will be no progress.
As in the gym, people come with different levels of training. Some have a good memory, others have experience learning languages, someone has already learned to speak with mistakes and wants to fix them - there are many options. The good news is that memory is being trained, mistakes are being corrected, and newcomers do not have to be hard. With this publication, I would like to motivate you and show that this is possible. I note that the publication is talking about colloquial speech without errors and understanding of media by ear.
First, let's talk about motivation: it will be very useful to you
It is important to understand why you are learning a language. Someone wants to leave to work or study, someone has a foreign partner, someone wants career growth. Language proficiency is always an added plus. You can endlessly argue whether this is necessary or not, if all the information you need is available in Russian - this is purely individual. English is the language of the Internet, I think this argument alone is enough. When I search for information online, I always search in 4 languages and the selection of results is quite wide. I will add that of the more than 10 languages that I taught, only one I learned from a strict need. The rest I started to learn because of interest in the cultures of other countries, new opportunities and surroundings. Language allows you to better understand the culture and is a prerequisite for full adaptation in the new conditions.
Now let's talk about what mistakes some people make, and how, in my opinion, it’s not necessary to do
The first thing you should not do is start by reading
I see how people, having decided to study the language, buy a bunch of literature, where most of the information is written in their native language.
This includes any books, both for children and for adults, with and without translation. Why not prioritize reading? English cannot be read as spelled. Even googling the reading rules, you still can’t be 100% sure. Yes, there are languages that are read as they are written, but the emphasis in words and phrases you yourself do not put correctly. It is better to hear and repeat than to read and think out pronunciation from transcription.
First, use audio material where you hear phrases being spoken. Why phrases? In English (and many other languages) the word is separately and in combination with other words pronounced differently.
Some advise reading fairy tales about the little tiger, they say, books for children are simple. To start with a simple one is a great idea, but only the vocabulary from such books will be completely inapplicable in real life.
Once again: I am not against reading, but putting it in priority at first is not worth it.
Second: no need to translate literally
Soviet school left behind exercises like "Translate ..."
This is where all the common mistakes of Russian speakers grow, starting with the lack of articles and the verb “to be”, the beloved “I very like” and ending with trifles like “in details”. Your English will be very Russian if you translate. It seems to many that relying on such a kind of crutch is normal at first, but abandoning it in the future will be difficult.
In my courses, I never give a complete translation of phrases, but only clues about the meaning. In most cases, you can express a thought easier by simply passing in the meaning. It is not necessary to find the exact translation of all words in a sentence. The languages are different, and your main task is to convey meaning. All inexperienced students can be identified by how they build sentences, translating one word after another.
Point three: no need to write words in a column and memorize them in groups
I would never have thought that people are doing this, but after watching a video on the Internet, I was convinced of the opposite.
Yes, this seems logical: I met a new word, wrote out, memorized, and wrote words from the same category to it. In fact, this is ineffective: the word may and will remain in memory, but it will be difficult to use it in context. There may be confusion with word lists, especially with visually similar words.
Many of my students knew all the stationery and fruits, but could not ask basic questions, ask for directions, or ask my interlocutor. Learning words is not necessary in groups. It is important to prioritize: believe me, without knowing the word “stapler” you will survive at first, but the lack of introductory words and connectives will put you in an awkward situation soon enough.
In addition, learning words and phrases that you are not going to apply simply consumes your memory resource. You must admit that it is much more important to know how to ask for a phone charger or a bill in a cafe than to memorize the words “shark”, “whale” and “canary” by heart. Many free applications sin this: a huge amount of unnecessary words that instantly fly out of my head.
The fourth thing you should not do: overload the brain at times, with all cases of using articles and other grammatical nuances
This was done in schools, but I see how people know what Present perfect continuous is, but they have no idea why or how to use it.
Grammar is important, but without understanding the logic of its application, you will be confused. In a conversation, you simply will not have enough time to remember in which case to use this or that time. There is a great chance that you simply break firewood, and eventually learn to speak incorrectly.
Statistically, the most common times in English are the times of the Simple aspect. It’s good that you know all the others, but if by their quantity they only lead you into a stupor and you don’t know which one to choose, then this is more a problem than a reason for joy.
In different languages, focus on the “grammatical skeleton” , analyzing the rules one at a time and practicing them using familiar words. Thus, you will move faster.
If you don’t understand the logic from the very beginning, don’t worry: you can draw parallels later when you look at the grammar again.
I want to note that the spoken and book versions of the language are different. The first one has less complex grammar and more colloquial phrases that are difficult to understand by ear. One way or another you will have to talk, so put off the difficulties and bring the simple to automatism.
Fifth: learn sayings and idioms
Maybe it was so lucky for me, but among my students I saw those who devote time to finding proverbs.
The instagram is full of accounts where people learn stable words and expressions, but at first you don’t have to spend your time on this. Firstly, each expression has a location reference, which is not clear from a minute video in insta. Secondly, if you cannot just express your thoughts, but know the sayings, then this does not improve the situation.
Phraseologisms can be compared with a sharp blade for woodcarving. If you are well versed in all tools, this will add skill and professionalism to your work, and if you are a beginner, you can cut yourself badly and expose yourself in a bad light. Let it be a cherry on the cake, and first start by choosing the right recipe and baking your English cakes. Over time, idioms will be remembered on their own, and in the beginning, focus on the more important.
I see these shortcomings in everyone who has been teaching languages for years. Making such mistakes, people learn their native language more often than a foreign one, snatching phrases and words out of context, not understanding why they cannot speak.
Now I would like to share how I and some polyglots do
To begin with, understand that you can learn a language to a good level in a few months without leaving the country. Online information is sufficient. I never started to learn a language abroad and did not take teachers to help me. For many, a teacher is part of motivation, but, in my opinion, it’s better to find a better reason. Think about traveling abroad, about new opportunities ... after all, language is interesting. This is a puzzle that each of you can collect. I'm talking about a living language, not about books on grammar.
You have a limited resource of memory, time and willpower for a day. Use it wisely and do not bother yourself with unnecessary rules and words, this creates only the illusion of progress and leads to disappointment. I'm not talking about boring homework - the language is much more interesting than endless translations and paraphrases of texts.
Get used to not understand at first. It sounds strange, we are all adults! The brain constantly wants to get to the bottom of the details, translate all the words, write out and mark them with different colors ... But alas, this only eats up the resource about which I spoke above. It’s better to go over the top, but read and listen more, understanding every tenth word, than getting stuck in one paragraph of the text. Over time, the incomprehensible will become less and less, verified! Rely on the context, this is a powerful thing.
Speak simply, then complicate , lengthening phrases. Even when you hear long phrases, do not panic: they can be broken down into simpler ones.
Also note that there will be no pluses to karma for learning words in a column. Why do you need to know all the fruits and vegetables right now? Remember the words as needed, there is no connection. See a word or phrase that is common? Google in what context it is most often used by simply inserting it in quotation marks in a search engine. Write out a few examples, speak them out loud, that's it!
By the way, about the words: do not assign the word one meaning. There can be a great many, abstract yourself and understand that in another context it can mean something completely different. Moreover, it may turn out to be another part of speech. Forgot your word? Replace it! I often don’t know the exact translation of English words and phrases into my native language, but I can find a suitable synonym. The meaning of this is not lost.
Do not translate word by word . First, read the entire phrase and see where a particular word refers, do they form a stable expression or a phrasal verb together? This is much easier to understand by listening to the pronunciation of the phrase, where a person highlights the meaning of individual words. Pay attention to them.
I will say that learning a language without audio is ineffective . In my lessons and courses I give voice to every word and this gives a tangible result. You should always combine text and audio in your head, otherwise your pronunciation will be far from ideal, which means it will be difficult to understand. It's not about pronunciation of words and accent, but about the arrangement of stresses within the phrase. The emphasis should not be shy, it can be modified over time.
About idioms , I think everything is clear. If a person cannot say simple things, then “it's raining cats and dogs” will not save him.
And finally: if you want to speak, speak!
Combine the approach of children and adults. Children listen and repeat a lot, but do not know what exactly. They are well aware of the context of use and fully copy their surroundings. Adults, on the contrary, understand grammar and meaning, but forget about the context and copying of others.
To speak and think in a language, first learn to repeat without errors. Language is a skill that is learned through copying and understanding. In my courses, I always ask students to repeat phrases and expressions aloud in order to get used to speaking. Indeed, the way you speak now is overheard and copied from your surroundings. Do the same when learning a foreign language - copy, understanding the context. Exercising regularly, you will catch yourself thinking that the voice in your head periodically speaks another language, but this is only the beginning!
I hope this post has been helpful to you.
I want to note that English is used as an example only because most people are familiar with it to one degree or another. These principles also apply to other languages.
I can not vouch for any resources for learning languages, except for those that I developed myself. Most of the tutorials and applications I've tried are designed for slow progress, which I never had time for. I believe in an integrated approach, in the fact that you need to learn right away, as the carriers say. Most of the materials for beginners adapted, which greatly complicates the understanding of speech media. Thus, you limit yourself to using only simplified materials, and later you have to overcome another barrier by retraining the language that you have already learned. I see no reason to study in two stages.
I would like to save your time in the comments, so immediately answer to the top 3:
- I don’t have a “language gene”, I’m neither a musician nor a mathematician, I learned my first language at the age of 18 and it was not English;
- I paid maximum attention to typos and punctuation marks, but thank you if you notice any flaws;
- There are exceptions to any rule: if you are doing what is written above and have learned N languages - fine. Everything is possible in this world!
I will be glad if you subscribe to my social. networks, links to them are in my profile. Soon I will launch Challenges, where I will learn languages from scratch for a limited time, it will be interesting! I’ll do a publication about this too.
Thank you for taking the time and reading to the end. Good luck