Self-instruction manual for learning English. First steps in English: where to start? Expected results from self-study

For everyone who is tired of monotonous cramming and incomprehensible grammar tasks, the AIN portal has collected sites for study in English. All of them are free, targeted at different users and built in different formats. We hope you find something for yourself.

Free websites can help you learn English. Photo: Depositphotos

Duolingo is one of the most popular learning services. foreign languages from scratch. The project is supported financially by Google Capital, Ashton Kutcher and other good investors. The program is built in the form of a "tree of achievements": in order to go to new level, you must first score a certain number of points that are given for the correct answers. There are apps for iOS and Android.

2. LearnEnglish - materials for learning English are collected here in different formats: lessons, games, chatting, etc. The site is available in English.

3. Situational English - offers to learn English through situations. The site contains about 150 articles, which, depending on the context, offer ready-made expressions and reactions. The materials are available in Russian.

4. Real-english.com - site with lessons, articles and videos. Also available in Russian.

5. Eslpod.com - Users are encouraged to work with podcasts, all available on iTunes for free. It is also possible to work with printouts of podcasts and dictionaries.

6. Learn American English online - all material is divided into levels and highlighted certain color for comfort. And teacher Paul explains grammar in video format.

7.Learnathome- Russian service, convenient in that a lesson plan is formed for the student every day, which can be completed in 30 minutes. Before starting, the user is advised to go through quick test, which will determine the level of knowledge of the language. If the test is skipped, the service will install the program for the elementary level.

8. Edu-station - a Russian-language site where you can not only watch video lectures, work with notes and books, but also with an interactive dictionary. There is paid content.

9. Ororo.tv is a service for learning English while watching movies and popular TV shows. The video player has a built-in translator, in which you need to select the Russian language.

10. Film-english - a language learning site with the help of short films was created by English teacher Kieran Donahue - the winner of a number of prestigious educational awards in the UK.

11. TuneintoEnglish - the site offers to learn English through music. Here you can record lyrics from dictation, sing karaoke, find exercises for lyrics and guess what song is about in question, according to the diagrams.

12. FreeRice - English vocabulary trainer with grammar exercises and tests. The service is supported by the World Food Program of the United Nations, so the lessons are built in the form of a game - for each correct answer you get some rice to feed the hungry.

13. Memrise - the site is available in English. During the training, the user is prompted to select a meme for better memory words or create your own associative image. Then you need to perform exercises to choose the correct answer and the perception of the word by ear. The service is also available for iOS and Android.

14. Myspelling is a useful site for those who want to improve their spelling in English. The user is prompted to listen to the word, then write it.

15. ManyThings - the site is aimed at those who are preparing for tests or exams in English. There are sections for practicing pronunciation (American, English), idioms, slang and more.

16. ExamEnglish suitable for those what is being prepared for international exam in English (IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, etc.).

17. Babeleo - here you can read books in the original with professional translation before your eyes. The books are available for review free of charge, however, in order to gain access to full versions you need to subscribe.

18. Begin-English - English for beginners. Large selection of various teaching materials, which were collected by students and graduate students of Moscow State University on volunteer ambushes.

19.List-English - a selection and classification of materials for learning English: online dictionaries, schools, forums, translators, tutors, tests, school textbooks, video courses, games, YouTube channels, podcasts and much more. New users are encouraged to download a 10-step plan that will make learning easier for them.

20. Englishtips.org - All English textbooks are collected here and available to download or read online.

Having decided to study English and coming to the bookstore, you will see a lot of incomprehensibly different textbooks. Often the difference is really small, but three main types of benefits can be distinguished:

– Traditional tutorials- an ordinary book with lessons, assignments, exercises. Something like a school textbook. For example, . Well suited for self-study.

– Glossy textbooks-courses- Sets of brightly illustrated, magazine-like textbooks with a CD supplement and a hefty price tag. For example, the Headway series. Books are divided into levels, so you won't get off with one book. Often used in courses.

Is a textbook really necessary?

Now there are excellent interactive step-by-step courses, like “speaking” dictionaries, video tutorials and a lot of amazing things, but I think that textbooks have not become less relevant because of this.

Imagine that somewhere there are people who have devoted their entire lives to learning English, teaching, studying methodology. One day they got together and decided to pass on their knowledge to those who need it. They chose the most important, built it from simple to complex, provided explanations and exercises, built the course so that the student did not dangle from side to side, did not go in circles, but went to the goal in the shortest possible way. Figuratively speaking, the authors have drawn a map for you, along which you will go the way in the most optimal way.

It would be strange to refuse such a useful map and go on a trip at random, at random.

What is a textbook for?

Language learning is not so much the acquisition of knowledge as the formation of skills. You can't just learn a textbook and begin to communicate easily in English. Knowledge (words and grammar) needs to be multiplied by practice (reading, listening, writing, speaking), only then you will not just be know grammar schemes and words, but also gain skills: you can really enjoy English language.

So, the textbook is good for acquiring knowledge and consolidating it through exercises. On the initial stage it is very important. The practice of reading and writing is given the most basic, designed to consolidate grammar and vocabulary, and in listening and oral speech the textbook, of course, is not the best assistant. Even books with audio supplements provide only basic listening skills. All these textbook audio lessons are child's play compared to what you hear in real life.

The best textbook deals with grammar. Grammar is generally the fastest part of a language to learn. After passing the textbook, you will study it in such a volume that is enough for a good command of the language.

"The best English language tutorial" by A. Petrova, I. Orlova

Let's take for example one of these books - "The best English language tutorial" by A. Petrova, I. Orlova. This is one of
the most authoritative self-teaching books, a book with a rich history, its first edition was published back in the 1970s, since then it has been frequently reprinted, the content has been updated to meet the requirements of the time and changes in the language (there are no dialogues about the pioneer Vasya and grammar of Shakespeare's time) .

What will you learn from the textbook

First of all, any textbook is a grammar course. It's like the axis of the earth. It cannot be seen or felt, but revolves around it the whole world. Spins, whether he knows of her existence or not.

The self-instruction manual in English is undeniably beautiful in that, after passing it, you will learn English grammar almost to the extent required. Grammar, of course, does not have a "full scope" like a language - it is constantly changing and cannot be learned until the last paragraph, such a paragraph does not exist. But in the textbook there is the last paragraph. After going through the grammar in the textbook, you will learn it to the extent that is enough for life, unless you are preparing for a Doctor of English Philology.

How is the textbook structured?

The book is divided into three parts.

Express English course- the main part, in which grammatical and word-formation material is given in 25 lessons. The material is presented from simple to complex. The first three lessons are mainly devoted to phonetics and reading rules, then in each lesson some grammar, some vocabulary and word formation are given. At the end of the section English-Russian dictionary to the lessons.
Exercises and text materials- in textbooks, exercises are usually given after the lesson, but here they are placed in a separate block, texts are also given containing the grammar and vocabulary covered in the lesson. This section includes:

Reading exercises- as a rule, read aloud a few words.
Text- it is matched to the topic of the lesson, including the passed grammatical difficulties.
New words- a list of words from the text.
Word analysis- some words are analyzed in detail, it helps to remember them better.
Exercises- exercises to consolidate the material.
Test- knowledge check. At the end of the tutorial there is a section with the correct answers (keys).

Section “Spoken English”- it includes various everyday topics and exercises. The phrasebook deals with topics such as “Greetings”, “How to get there”, “Family”, etc.

Also at the end there is an appendix with keys to control work, tables, quotes, jokes, proverbs.

How to do self-study?

In the introduction, the authors recommend practicing daily, at least for 15-20 minutes: “Remember, however, that you cannot make up for these fifteen-minute sessions seven times a week with classes of 2-3 hours once a week, on a day off. This will be much less effective, since from lesson to lesson you will forget some of the material covered and spend much more time in total. ”

Express course - pros and cons

The book has a feature that for some will be an advantage, for others a disadvantage: book is short. The 25 lessons themselves take up only 230 pages in large print.

Whether this is good or not is up to you. If you want a clear, concise and short training course- this textbook will help to comprehend the basics of the language, and not superficially. Further success will be in your hands. Without practice in reading, listening, speaking and writing, no theory will blossom or turn green.

If you want to go through the basics more thoroughly, other books will suit you, they are not fundamentally different, the difference is that the material is presented in more detail, and there are more exercises. For example:

Bonk's classic English step by step textbook (with audio supplement). Book in two volumes. There is simply nowhere to go in more detail, but it will also take more time.
The one-volume, but also quite detailed "Complete Course of the English Language" by M. G. Rubtsova. It doesn’t differ much from Petrova’s tutorial, except that the material is given in more detail, the exercises go right after the lesson, and the language is a little more academic, in my opinion.
“English Tutorial. From elementary level to passing tests. + MP3” by N. B. Karavanova (with audio application) – in this book grammar part, the exercises are given in no more detail than in “The the best tutorial”, however, phonetics is much more detailed in it - as many as 20 lessons are allotted to it.

My opinion is this. The faster you master basic grammar and vocabulary, the faster you can read, listen, speak, in a word - use the English language, so I am a supporter of understanding the basics (basic vocabulary, grammar, initial speech skills) as quickly and intensively as possible. Stretching the study for six months, you risk killing interest in the language.

Conclusion

Tutorials give good knowledge grammar, fixed with the help of exercises, basic vocabulary on various everyday topics, reading and writing skills. They will not teach you to speak, to understand by ear too.

However, there would be basic knowledge, and to develop skills is a matter of technology. The self-instruction book is well suited as a guide for a thorough, not superficial study of the language, which can be supplemented with listening, writing and speaking practice - the benefit of the resources is sufficient for this.

If you have never learned English, or once learned at school, but completely forgot everything, even the alphabet, and now you have decided to start learning English from scratch, then our tips on where to start and how to move can be useful to you. The first and most important thing is to understand how much you need the language, what you need it for, whether you have enough to learn the language.

Motivation

Motivation should become your engine, without it you will not be able to study the language for a long time every day. Without daily practice, it is impossible to master this huge layer of knowledge. If there is no obvious motivation, but there is an ardent desire to learn a language, then you should think about what knowledge of the language will give you - maybe this is a new prestigious job or the opportunity to read special literature on topics that interest you, or maybe you travel a lot and want to fully communicate with people around the world or chat with friends abroad.
Your motivation may still be in the subconscious. Try to get her out of there, she will play decisive role in your successful progress in mastering the English language.

The choice of teaching methods

Your next step should be to choose teaching methods or teachers. Now students have access to very good language materials and a large number of teachers who are ready to Skype with students from all over the world. It is ideal, of course, to find a good teacher - a native speaker. But not everyone can afford such opportunities, but someone just wants to learn on their own and for free, in convenient time, without any stress, on your own schedule. Then you need to choose a system that you will follow.

English from scratch takes time

Schedule time for training, you need to practice daily, at least 15 - 20 minutes, and it is better to set aside an hour for classes. Our collection of English for Beginners articles includes beginners, audios and videos, exercises, lots of examples, explanations, and links to resources to help you progress faster.

When choosing resources for your study, make sure that you like the materials. This is important, all polyglots talk about it. Interest plays a major role in language acquisition. It allows you to achieve more with less effort. Just imagine that you need to learn or translate a text on some boring topic for you, but you will fall asleep after the first phrase! On the contrary, if you come across an interesting book, you will definitely find time to read it. Go ahead, friends, give the language your time and attention, and you will raise your English from zero to freehold. Good luck to all!

Today, there are several ways to learn English: in courses, in a group, with the help of English language tutorials, individually with a tutor, or directly in a language environment. Let's take a closer look at some of them.

Learning English: Online vs. offline

Language classes

By choosing this option, you will definitely improve your communication skills, while communicating in a group you will be able to improve your skills. teamwork applying the learned material in dialogues with the participants. It will suit people shameless, open to new acquaintances. However, when preparing for an interview or working in an IT company, this option is not suitable.

Individually with a teacher

For people with more specific goals. The student is given all the time in the lesson, and a good teacher finds an approach to anyone, even the most shy quiet. Of course, quickly find suitable teacher may not come out immediately. Also, the latter may use outdated teaching methods or Soviet-era textbooks. As a result, you run the risk of ending up cramming the material without actually putting it into practice. Plus, this type of training is not at all cheap and takes a lot of time - you need to get to a tutor (or a tutor to you). Not everyone will agree to this, getting stuck and nervous in traffic jams.

Learn English via Skype

Today more and more more people choose this option. First of all, I would like to emphasize the quality of education. After all, in online school of the English language, all teachers have specialized education and extensive experience, constantly improve their skills and use only new ones. study guides. Such teachers will select for you the right pace of language learning, convenient time and place. You can practice on vacation, abroad, on the street, at the entrance, etc. You will definitely be able to set aside an hour for classes and study productively. More information about learning English via Skype at EnglishDom.

Independent study of English

This method is suitable for those who have good self-discipline, willpower and great motivation, as sooner or later everyone starts to be lazy. But, when you belong to yourself, you yourself can either speed up or slow down, depending on the circumstances. You yourself choose what to do the main bias and what type of English tutorial to choose. In our time, their great multitude: video channels, books, specialized websites, adapted art books, audio lessons, etc. In addition, this method does not require an investment of money, you can save money and acquire new knowledge absolutely free of charge via the Internet, however, you will have to make a significant amount of effort in choosing the appropriate textbook and drawing up a plan for your classes. Also, when learning English from self-study books, you understand that no one will check your mistakes and help you correct them. For example, it happens that by making an insignificant blot, the student gets used to using it in speech, and it becomes much more difficult to relearn how to use a phrase or word correctly.

English tutorials

One of the best options is Basic course in English. K.E. Eckersley. The main emphasis in this textbook is on oral and written language. Thanks to this book, you will be able to get systematized knowledge, since each new topic is given along with a repetition of the previous material. The book also comes with a CD where you can listen to live speech and learn how to pronounce words correctly. The tutorial has a lot of interesting and funny stories, examples + everything is described in great detail. Unfortunately, the entire textbook is in black and white, so the illustrations can be a little boring. If you are a visual or just a lover of bright pictures and this is critical for you, then do not rush. The textbook is definitely suitable for those who do not like grammar, since there is not much of it here, and for those who study English for everyday communication.

"English language. Intensive course» from Chernenko D.V.- relevant if you love grammar (or feel the need to tighten it up) and want to understand all the intricacies of using tenses. Here, all the grammar is analyzed in detail and clearly, the book also has a lot of useful exercises, and at the end - the answers, and you can check yourself, or, in extreme cases, if the task suddenly turned out to be too difficult, peep the answer. But still, it is better to take such an English tutorial for beginners with one more additional one, because studying grammar alone will obviously not be able to help you speak fluently.

For beginners to comprehend the nuances of the language and those who want to use English words in speech, suitable "English Tutorial: modern technique intensive training» author Kulish V. G. Here, the transcription is transmitted in Russian letters, so even beginners will feel comfortable. There are only three parts to the tutorial. In the first you will get acquainted with English words and their pronunciation, in the second - with grammar, and in the third you will find dialogues and situations on various topics. There are plenty of exercises in the textbook, to which there are also answers, and all words that are required to be memorized are marked with a special sign. A small drawback of the textbook is the construction itself, because each type of task is presented separately, and not in a complex, which, in turn, is exacerbated by the lack of sound.

Educational video channels for self-study of English

Spending time on the Internet, as you know, can and should be useful. The resource of various Youtube videos in this matter is simply irreplaceable. It is interesting to listen to a person who really understands what he is talking about. This will help you in learning and will certainly expand your knowledge of English. It is recommended to immediately get a notebook and write down important information for yourself. Below is a list of useful channels to explore:

Anglo Link The main feature of the channel is that it is completely systematized by levels of knowledge and is perfect as an English language tutorial for both beginners and advanced. Short videos will help you improve vocabulary and easier to hear speech.

BBC Learning English On this channel you can watch a video where ordinary passers-by in London are asked various questions and they are happy to answer them. Excellent practice of listening to pleasant British speech. The site is filled with various entertaining videos + there is a special series for English learners on the channel.

EnglishDom Our channel is constantly updated with content, there are lessons and webinars from both Russian-speaking teachers and native speakers, and situational videos will help you comprehend the intricacies of the English language.

EngVid . Learn English with Ronnie The channel from Ronnie contains a lot of videos about the intricacies of grammar. All information is presented with humor in an easy and accessible way.

JenniferESL An excellent channel that gives you the opportunity to systematize your English lessons and develop language skills. Educator Jennifer reveals secrets correct pronunciation, improving the quality colloquial speech, grammar work.

Private English Portal Teacher Steve has extensive experience in the field of education. Watching his videos, one believes that English lessons can be really simple and understandable for everyone. This, in fact, is the main advantage of the channel, which is suitable for users of any age and level of English proficiency.

PodEnglish The authors of this channel use five-minute thematic videos that include three stages: watch (watch), learn (teach), try (try), which is why any phrase, word or idiom is remembered. It contains a variety of topics, ranging from simple ones like the weather or greeting people to more complex ones like discussing finances or politics.

Real English The videos on this channel provide an opportunity to find out how speech sounds in Everyday life and what phrases native speakers use most often. You can also check how you learned the material - on the video page there is a link to a site where you can practice and consolidate what you have learned after doing a couple of exercises.

Speak English with Misterduncan One of the very first channels that can be used as an English tutorial. Briton Misterduncan pleases his subscribers with videos about colloquial speech and British slang, about daily phrases and everyday life of just an Englishman.

Interactive English courses for self-study

After watching a variety of videos, you will probably want to diversify your activities a little. This is where interactive courses come in handy.

- by simply registering personal account you will be waiting for a cheerful robot assistant Robi, who will tell you where to start, and will also motivate you and help you monitor your progress. In the vocabulary section, you can play a word memorization game, listen to audio recordings and practice spelling. The Phrasebook section will offer you to get acquainted with the most common voiced phrases.

In addition to all the described English language tutorials, you can also visit conversation clubs in your city or, comfortably sitting at home, visit a conversation club from EnglishDom, where you choose a teacher (native speaker or Russian-speaking) and a topic (general English, basic mistakes, idioms and phrasal verbs etc.). All conversation club classes are held in an entertaining atmosphere with immersion in the language environment.

Learning English on your own by video

Ted is a site with short videos where experts, native speakers, talk about science, technology, psychology, economics and other topics. Small lectures are available for viewing with subtitles in several languages, including Russian or English.

Screen Rant- a great YouTube channel where the creators post unique videos: bloopers of popular TV series and films, jokes and facts about different films. Each video comes with good subtitles, so you can easily understand what is being said in the video.

Englishdom. Practicum- here you can see fascinating video on the various themes, everyone will be able to choose a video to their liking and according to the level of knowledge, and there is also the opportunity to perform several exercises after watching, look through a selection of interesting expressions from the video with translation into Russian.

Learn on your own or hire a pro?

Of course, it is almost impossible to choose only one self-instruction manual of the English language. It would be wise to diversify your activities by choosing several options and effectively combine them. Almost all English language tutorials are available at any time of the day and anywhere, so improve your English in the way that is convenient for you and own knowledge. We hope that this collection of tutorials will help you improve your knowledge of the English language on your own. We also invite you to individual English lessons via Skype - training begins with a free introductory lesson. Learn and be happy with yourself

Big and friendly family EnglishDom

Decided to learn English language? Surely you did right choice, after all English language - main language international communication.

Chances are you've already encountered main problem at learning English - great amount textbooks, courses on the market, most of which are a waste of time and money. And if we add to this selfeducation and complete absence basic knowledge language, then all this confuses a person, and he loses his desire to learn English. BUT wish - master key for successful learning of any foreign language.

So what does the site offer you for a successful learning English from scratch?

First of all, especially for entry level as online lessons a wonderful self-instruction manual by K. B. Vasilyev was designed " Easy English". Classes on this tutorial are also perfect for children, because the texts are presented from popular English children's fairy tales, such as "Alice in Wonderland", "Winnie the Pooh and all all all", etc. Additionally, typos, some inaccuracies, and added audio for the whole course for free. And doing the exercises is not at all difficult, because for this there are special forms for entering text, as well as keys with answers. To view the answer, hover your mouse over the key: . You can peep back only after you complete the exercise! If you have any questions, you can ask them under the lesson in the form of a comment.

Please note that you do not need to rush and jump to the next lesson immediately after completing the current one. Proceed to the next lesson when you are sure that you have mastered the material of the current lesson. fully.

Further parallel with the study of the audio course above, you can also study the possibly simpler Assimil audio course. The page with audio courses also has more courses high level, as well as interesting tutorial how to work with audio.

How do you learn so much and still get confused with verb tenses? Dont be upset, verb tenses in english- this is the most difficult part of it. After all, there are not 3 of them, as in Russian, but as many as 12! Especially for a simpler understanding and assimilation of times, was created next section on the effective lessons of S. P. Dugin for beginners.

Verb tenses can also be studied in the English grammar section. Grammar lessons were originally intended for intermediate students, but translations have been added to them, and now they can be studied by slightly less advanced students. AT this section very many lessons, it will help you find answers to many questions, so don't skip it. Proceed to study it only when you are ready. And in the lessons for beginners, there will periodically be links to specific grammar lessons from this section.

Have you already studied all this? Well you give! Congratulations! What to do next? And then you will have even more independent study. Unfortunately, from an intermediate level it is difficult to build any path for learning, build it yourself according to your interests. A lot of practice is needed. Listen to a lot of audio, video materials. Try to talk more. Not with whom? Talk to yourself! Read, write. The site also has videos. Perhaps there will be more later.

Please note that on the mobile version of the site, the right menu falls down to the very bottom screen, and the top menu opens at the touch of a button ≡ top right.

What kind of English do we study? British or American?

Correct answer: both.

On the one hand, British refers to the rules of pronunciation set many years ago. Almost no one speaks it now, but everyone who studies English, or sets the pronunciation, strives for it, incl. American actors (for example, Will Smith). Also in all textbooks standard grammar and spelling of words. It turns out that almost everyone learns British English. In American grammar and spelling is a little, quite a bit different from British, so look for any American English textbooks. very, very stupid.

On the other hand, British English also includes a special intonation that almost no one teaches, and it’s hard to get used to it. These intonation lessons also do not teach. It turns out that no matter how hard we try to pronounce, we will still get more American English than British. In addition to intonation, our speech apparatus just more like an American. The video of the 1st lesson presents pure British English. The audio of the next lessons will be more like American English. Otherwise, English is standard, no need to come up with ridiculous reasons why I should or should not learn these lessons. Just teach! Responsible for quality! (Website author)

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