I started learning English when I was three years old. More precisely, my mother began to teach me the language at that age. Therefore, in my school years, I was very surprised at how difficult it was for my peers to learn foreign languages. Since I spoke English quite fluently, why couldn’t they reach that level?
And it’s not that they began to teach me English at a very early age. And not that children quickly remember new things. And how exactly my mother approached my training. Since my mother’s technique turned out to be quite effective, I decided in this article to share with you a few tricks that will help you learn the language faster.
I will make a reservation right away, my mother is an experienced teacher with great experience. Therefore, in teaching people, she is a pro. So, you can safely trust the advice that you will find below.
1. You should enjoy learning.
It is absolutely not necessary to puff over boring textbooks. Moreover, they are not as effective as they might seem.
We all have access to the internet, where you can find tons of different ways to learn a language. Take advantage of this blessing. With the help of Langly developments, you can easily improve your English.
2. Textbooks
Forget about textbooks written by our compatriots. The first reason you should do this is because they are often boring. Second, they are not as effective as, for example, British textbooks.
If domestic English books are not accompanied by any additional materials, then British textbooks are a whole set that consists of the textbook itself, a workbook and a book for the teacher, which contains keys (answers) to tasks and small instructions.
And British textbooks are very interesting. Most often, the set also includes discs with entertainment elements: cartoons, clips, songs, or anything else that will help in learning.
I remember my first tutorial was Welcome. And damn it, how I loved him! I literally forced my mom to study with me because I missed my “friends” who were inside this textbook. I still remember with a smile the friendly Genie and the song about sausages. Now remember your attempts to force yourself to memorize the text from Plakhotnik’s textbook.
3. Ways
As I said above, there are quite a few ways to learn a language. And I would like to dwell on them in more detail:
Cinema
Do you like “Friends” or “House”? Download them in the original. And download subtitles for the series. Watch a couple of seasons with subtitles, and then switch to English.
Yes, you will have to watch the series with Google translator at hand, but it’s worth it, believe me. Firstly, you will learn pronunciation at a subconscious level, and secondly, you will memorize much more new words this way. Why does it work? Because you are interested in the process itself, and new words are not taken out of context, which develops the ability to build connections between words and phrases.
Side effect: you will most likely not be able to watch films with translation anymore.
Music
My dad taught me music since childhood. But the problem for me was that I didn’t understand what the songs were about. And when I already knew English at a sufficient level to be able to translate the words written on a piece of paper, I took up my favorite songs.
How happy I was when I finally began to understand what Metallica, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden were singing about (well, some moments were not clear to me due to age). And if you are a true music lover, then this method is definitely for you. Translate texts of your favorite groups. And then listening to the translated songs will help you consolidate the learned words.
Side effect: many songs can make you dislike the lyrics
Games
To begin with, today there are a lot of games aimed at teaching English. And many of them are so interesting that even an adult cannot be dragged away from them by the ears.
Well, if you do not find an educational game that you like, there are many other computer games at your disposal. Many of them, especially online games, often do not support the language or the translation in them is inadequate (remember GTA). And even if there is a translation in the game, do not choose it. If you play a game where everything is in English, then you will have to find ways to understand what is being said.
I will say this, those of my classmates who played computer games knew English much better than those who did not like games.
Communication
Those who say that it is difficult to find a way to practice English, apparently do not know about the Internet. This article contains a wealth of useful language learning resources. The list also includes those resources where you can communicate with native speakers of different languages and learn while communicating.
Books
Reading books in the original is not a task for beginners. But you should not wait until the crayfish whistles on the mountain to start reading a book. Nobody tells you that your first book in English should be something from Hemingway. Start with simpler things, even fairy tales and children’s stories. Do not disdain children’s literature in English. After all, in a new language for you, you, to some extent, are a child.
Youtube
There are many channels on YouTube aimed at teaching people English. And there are enough English-language video bloggers. So upgrade your YouTube subscriptions by adding a couple of channels in English.
4. Courses
At this point, I do not want to advise you courses, just talk about the pros and cons. I attended an English language school for almost a year. And the only benefit for me was the opportunity to communicate with foreigners. Well, they also had to go through the lessons on the computer on their own, and in each lesson there was one series of a series specially filmed for teaching. And to be honest, I went to school just for this show. Because it was so addictive that I could get stuck in school for a few hours. Yes, the visit was free.
The advantages of the courses are that it will be difficult for you to be lazy and skip training, because you pay money in advance. And, let’s just say, you will need to pay enough to put pressure on the toad for missed lessons. Today there are many schools that are designed for free attendance. Therefore, a person with any employment will be able to find time to learn the language. And, of course, the school has professionals who will help you in difficult times.
The cons are obvious. The first and most significant is that you have to pay really a lot of money for a school. One semester will cost you about $300 if the rates haven’t changed since I attended the language school. The second minus is some kind of duty, and not everyone may like it. Well, if you are overloaded with work and family responsibilities, then you will not always have time for school.
So, the courses are good for those people who by no means can start learning the language, or for those who already have certain knowledge, but want to polish it. One way or another, to go to the courses or not is your choice.
5. Remember words
There are a couple of interesting ways to remember new words. Can you think of more ways? Write your ideas in the comments.
The first
On the way to work, from work, anywhere, look around and notice every object, translating it in your mind into English. For example, you are on the subway. Look at people, “Yeah, one has a bag in his hands, that man in a black coat has a hat on his head. Oh, what dirty boots this teenager has.” And so on. You get the idea, I hope. If you don’t know how to translate a word into English, either google the translation right away, or write it out for yourself and look for the translation a little later.
Second
Play associations with yourself in English. I think the association game is familiar to all of you – think of any word, then find an association to it. You are also looking for an association to this association. And so on until you get tired.
At this point, I don’t think I have much more to advise you. Remember that learning foreign languages is quite easy, you just need to find the right approach to learning.
