How to improve your knowledge of English without teachers and courses. I can’t get over the “Intermediate” threshold. What to do?

How to raise your level of English above average? The main reasons for the lack of progress in language learning at the Intermediate level.

Manager of the foreign language school IQ Consultancy

To understand how to overcome the Intermediate level and improve your level of English to Upper Intermediate, it is important to honestly ask yourself: “Am I regularly attending classes?”, “Am I completing homework in full?" “Do I use alternative resources to replenish vocabulary? Often, having felt a little confidence in language proficiency, which comes at the time of studying at Intermediate, we allow ourselves to relax a little, but at the moment, on the contrary, we should make every effort - after all, we need to know how to raise the level of English to Upper-Intermediate.

Each level in learning English language presupposes mastery of a certain set of words, expressions and grammatical structures. At the Intermediate level, these should be phrasal verbs, idiomatic expressions, proverbs, subjunctive mood, passive voice.

When studying a foreign language in an artificially created environment - in the classroom, and not in a natural environment, without living in an English-speaking country, a person must strive with full responsibility to use all the material covered in his speech, even if sometimes making a fair effort on himself.

It is important not only to independently evaluate your skills, but also to seek an expert opinion at a foreign language school - take a live test or . Also, for training, you must carefully choose a specialist teacher who successfully works with Intermediate levels and above.

I want to talk about how to build a system for self-learning English (or any other) language, using modern and not so modern technologies. A system where all elements are connected and support each other.

But before deciding how to study, let's discuss the reasons why language learning is endlessly put off.

Reason 1. Lack of resources

Many people believe that the teacher or courses are an integral part of learning. But this is precisely what requires time and money, which are always in short supply. As a result, English is transferred to better times that will never come. In my opinion, the number of opportunities for initial language learning is now so great that you can start right today, without leaving home.

Hundreds of applications, sites for learning languages, electronic translators, films, lectures and videos in English - this is a huge arsenal that is completely accessible to you. You will need a teacher later, when moving to more complex levels.

Reason 2. Lack of purpose

Another reason for postponing study until later is the lack of a learning goal and a way to maintain the achieved level. Many people believe that if you learn a language without the prospect of constant use, then it is useless.

I think that there is a very simple way to maintain the achieved level of English for as long as you like - reading. If you constantly read, you only lose your speaking skills, but at the same time you understand the structure of the language better and increase your vocabulary. An active reader regains speaking skills very quickly.

Reading English has never been as easy as it is now, and this is the first component of the plan that I want to talk about.

Reading from Kindle (or LinguaLeo plugin)

With this magical machine for 4,000 rubles with delivery to Russia in two weeks, you can immediately read entry-level books and articles (articles can be sent to Kindle from a computer). Any word can be translated simply by tapping on it, provided you have purchased the correct Kindle Paperwhite model with a touch screen. When you buy, choose the version with advertising - Amazon's is very cool and will delight you on winter evenings. The Russian-language dictionary is installed on Kindle as easily as loading any book. I use the NBARS dictionary, which I found in a couple of minutes on the Internet. You just need to specify it in the device settings as the default dictionary.

Kindle is not the only solution; many other e-readers have similar functionality.

If you don't want to buy a Kindle, you can easily get by with even more simple means. The LinguaLeo service provides its users with a useful plugin for the Chrome browser, which translates words in English texts by double clicking on them. To read any articles on the Internet, a regular computer will be enough for you.

Collecting new words

All words and even entire phrases that were new to you in the book can be marked in Kindle. After finishing the book, you will have a ready-made dictionary to study. The first books provide a huge flow of unfamiliar words, but with each subsequent book their number decreases and comes to 70-80 per publication. The LinguaLeo plugin also carefully saves all the words that you translated, although it does it itself and without much analysis.

By the way, I cannot call the LinguaLeo service itself and other similar systems effective. The learning mechanics they offer are too playful and don't provide much of a challenge. I don't believe in easy learning.

Spaced word learning

What to do with the identified words? Learn! But just without writing them down in a notebook. There are many spaced learning systems where you load your words into and run them around in circles. Over time, the system itself removes everything that you have learned and leaves what you do not yet know. The most popular system is Anki.

I use Quizlet. This system does not yet have intervalism, but it has excellent interfaces and a good speech synthesizer.

It is important to upload words manually, providing them with comments and notes. If you're just starting out, each system will offer ready-made kits most popular words. Words can and should be sorted into folders. You can write down not only words, but also phrases. All systems are equipped with applications, you can use them while traveling on the subway, in line at the dentist, and so on, without taking time away from your regular day.

It is very important not only to remember the words mentally, but also to pronounce them at least in a whisper. You will also need headphones, because these applications pronounce each word, which allows you to fine-tune your pronunciation using a sample.

You can explore a complete list of word learning systems.

The effectiveness of these tools is enormous - you can learn hundreds of words without much effort.

Grammar

After you have gained vocabulary, you need to start somehow combining words with each other. And here I will disappoint you. Nothing new has been invented to study grammar - you will have to study the rules and do exercises using a regular textbook. But there is good news: tutorials have changed - they are perfectly composed, easy to use, will not let you get bored, and contain exercises and answers to them. I can recommend this series:

In the textbook, I usually mark important and interesting places with a marker, and I mark information that is completely new to me with bright stickers to make it easier to find these places and repeat. My tutorial usually looks like this:

Speech perception

Given the abundance of content in any language in the world, even with subtitles, it’s even somehow inconvenient to talk about speech recognition training. If you are no longer a beginner, then very powerful upgrades are provided not by individual films and lectures, but by long courses on Coursera, SkillShare and similar training systems.

Don’t think that you can learn a language only by watching films and TV series in English. More precisely, it is possible, but for people with a penchant for languages. If you have not yet learned English and are interested in this review, then I very much doubt that you are one of them. Most likely, you will need the entire arsenal offered.

Written language

If you need to improve your written English skills, you can use the Lang-8 service. By uploading your text, you quickly get it thoroughly verified by native speakers. In exchange, you will have to check the texts of those studying Russian, however, few people study it - in two months of using this site, I was never able to check anything.

Numerous Russian students managed to check rare texts in Russian much earlier than me.

Conversation skills

But here I can’t offer you anything. You can travel and try to talk at least about tourist topics, you can attend language courses in English-speaking countries, find accomplices for conversations on Skype. But it is obvious that conversation is the only thing you cannot do on your own, alone. Everything else is up to you.

To improve our speech, we study with a native speaker, the charismatic Canadian Dustin, and talk a lot with each other. But we came to the teacher not with an empty head, but after doing everything that I described above. This allowed us and our teacher not to waste time on the elementary level and memorizing words, but to immediately begin complex issues that interested us.

In general, don't delay. Learning a language is too long a process to wait for the right moment.

According to Winston Churchill, a pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty. Often, difficulties in learning English arise at approximately the Intermediate - Upper-Intermediate level, and not all people see these difficulties as an opportunity to improve their knowledge of English. Therefore, we decided to tell you how to get started and teach English to intermediate students, as well as how to improve the level of English to the level you need.

Why should you continue to learn English?

By “continuing” we mean people who are “stuck” at the and level. In the article "" we outlined good reasons to complete your studies to the secondary level. It would seem that this level of knowledge is a pretty good achievement, so why continue to learn the language?

The better you know English, the more opportunities you have to use it in all areas of life:

1. Upon employment. While workers with an average level of English can still be found, higher levels are already a rarity. A potential employer will definitely notice a resume that indicates the Upper-Intermediate or level, and even more so if this is confirmed by an international certificate. And it’s not just that you may need knowledge of English in your work. Achieving a high level is proof that you know how to finish what you start, and this is a valuable character trait for an employee in any field.
2. For reading professional literature. An average level, as a rule, is still not enough to read specific literature using terminology. Climb one step higher, and you will be the first to use the “chips” of foreign companies.
3. To expand your social circle. You will be able to make new acquaintances with people from different parts of the world, communicate with interesting interlocutors from other countries on forums, language exchange sites, and blogs. At the same time, on language exchange sites, native English speakers prefer to communicate with English learners who have a fairly high level of knowledge, then communication is easier and more interesting.
4. To broaden your horizons. The main source of knowledge for a modern person is the Internet, where there is 9 times more varied information in English than in Russian. Knowledge of English at a high level makes it possible to study more information on a topic that interests you, and get ideas from foreign forums and websites.
5. To watch the video. If at an average level it may be difficult for you to watch videos of any topic, then at higher levels you are practically unlimited and can watch films and TV series of any genre in the original.
6. For family. At high levels of knowledge, you already know how to learn English and how it “works”, how to interest your children, relatives or friends in learning it.

We named several common reasons to “survive” intermediate level and continue learning English. We also advise you to read our article “”, we think you too will be able to find your own motivation. However, no matter how motivated you are, sooner or later, at an intermediate level, almost all English learners experience a plateau effect, that is, “marking time.” Let's take a closer look at what the essence of this phenomenon is and how to deal with it.

“Standing in one place” is an almost inevitable part of the improvement process. Whether you're learning English, trying to lose weight, or learning to knit, you'll experience a plateau effect. And it can be difficult to overcome it, not even physically, but psychologically. We want to receive everything at once, but only a few are ready to systematically work towards achieving the goal.

Why does the turning point occur exactly in the middle of learning English? When you start learning a foreign language, you quickly achieve positive results: A month ago you didn’t know anything, but today you can already say a few simple phrases about yourself in the language you’re learning. Such simple but clearly visible achievements will inspire any person; it seems that English is very easy and in just a couple of years you will know the language at the level of the average American.

However, such rapid developments occur only up to the average level of English proficiency. And from the Intermediate level, the English language begins to resist. Every day you learn new words and every day you are surprised to find that, despite all your efforts, you constantly come across unfamiliar vocabulary. And if you (God forbid!) look into the Oxford dictionary and realize that out of 500,000 words you know “only” 2000-3000, then the suspicion will begin to creep into your thoughts that in two years you will not become any kind of American. As for grammar, even here at the intermediate level “surprises” may await you in the form of complex cases of using this or that tense and the “great and terrible” passive voice, which you have probably heard about scary stories at previous levels of education.

In addition, English learners are frustrated by the fact that at the first stages they completed each course in 5-7 months, and from the Intermediate level, each level can take from 7 to 12 months. That’s why people ask questions: “Why did it take so long? Am I finally “stuck” in the middle? How to improve your English level?

The fact is that before Intermediate you learned the “inches” of English necessary for survival. From the Intermediate level, you take on the “roots”: you go deeper into each topic, study more complex nuances, synonyms of words, slang, phrasal verbs, etc. And there are quite a lot of similar subtleties in any language, which is why it turns out that you need to spend more time to improve your English level.

Fortunately, the plateau effect is a common problem that anyone can solve. And the first step you should take is to understand that plateaus are completely normal. Every person encounters it sooner or later, so it’s not about your abilities, but about the peculiarities of the process of learning a foreign language. Just take it for granted and continue learning English to overcome the plateau faster.

Below we will outline the techniques that will help you “move forward” your English and improve your level of knowledge. All techniques are selected in such a way that you can get rid of the most common difficulties associated with learning English at the Intermediate and Upper-Intermediate levels.

Thinking will not overcome fear but action will.

Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will.

1. Continue studying with the teacher

“I don’t know what to grab first” is one of the main reasons why a student finds it difficult to overcome the plateau effect. At the intermediate level, many paths are open to you: you can listen to podcasts, read books, watch movies, etc. Therefore, many English learners from this level quit classes with a teacher and start studying on their own. However, choosing the right path to learning English yourself is difficult, because this is the first time you have found yourself at such a fork in the road. Therefore, in order to quickly improve your English level, we advise you to continue studying with your teacher, who has experienced the effect of the plateau effect on himself and his students and knows how to cope with it. In addition, lessons with a teacher discipline you: you will be less tempted to skip class or put something off “for later.”

2. Try lessons with a native speaker

Speaking is a skill that continuing students need to work hard on. And at the middle stage in an effective way This skill will be developed through classes with a native English speaker. He will teach you to communicate naturally, to use idioms, phrasal verbs, slang in your speech - those “highlights” of the language that distinguish the speech of a person with a high level of English proficiency from a person at an average level of knowledge. This is how you can move to the next level of foreign language proficiency. If you wish, you can combine lessons with a native speaker and lessons with a Russian-speaking teacher, this will also be effective.

3. Don't slow down

It would seem that upon reaching an intermediate level, the pace of learning can be slowed down: you seem to know quite a lot, and all that remains is to improve your knowledge. In fact, this is not so: the material at the middle and high levels of training is more complex and voluminous than at the previous levels. That is why we recommend not slowing down, or even better, speeding it up. Moreover, it is best to increase the intensity through independent study, and if you study in a group or with a teacher, you can also increase the duration of classes. During lessons with a teacher, devote maximum time to speaking practice so that you can be taught to speak competently and fluently.

4. Find people to talk to in English

This is the most difficult and at the same time the most important task, because we learn English primarily in order to speak it. Use every opportunity to communicate in the language you are learning: go to English language discussion clubs, attend group lessons and talk with classmates, find yourself a friend on a language exchange site, etc. You can find a conversation partner yourself, using the resources from the article “”. And, of course, our people are always ready to help you “talk.”

5. Prepare for the exam

Most the right way To find out whether you have reached the next level of English, take an international exam, in which case you will receive an independent assessment of your knowledge. For example, if your knowledge is at the Intermediate level, set yourself a goal to pass the FCE. In this case, during preparation you will solve various tasks corresponding to the next level - Upper-Intermediate, and you will be able to see what you should know at this new level. And after you are awarded a certificate of successful completion of the exam, there will be no trace of the plateau left.

6. Learn English grammar for intermediate students

It would seem that at the Intermediate level you have already become familiar with all tenses of English, but there are important grammatical structures that are required to move to the next level of knowledge. We'll point out resources you can rely on to help you learn advanced English grammar.

Sources of knowledge:

• Without good textbook It will be difficult to study grammar, because everything in the book is systematized. We recommend that those continuing the “blue Murphy” textbook “English Grammar in Use” at the Intermediate level (it is also suitable for Upper-Intermediate). You can also take Oxford Practice Grammar at Intermediate level. These books present the theory briefly and clearly and provide many practical exercises.
• To get acquainted with the theory and practice it with practical exercises, take a look at our blog, where English grammar for intermediate level is presented, select the “Intermediate” tab.
• As you learn grammar test yourself to see how the plateau effect is gradually replaced by the effect of rising to the next level of knowledge. In the article "" you will find resources for checking your achievements

7. Keep learning new words

Your vocabulary is already quite large, but the more you expand it, the faster you can improve your English level.

What words should beginners learn:

• Vocabulary from special textbooks. Textbooks for learning English vocabulary - best helpers for those who continue. Their value is that they give you thematic selections of words presented in texts, dialogues and practical exercises. Such manuals teach you not just new words, but the rules for using them. We recommend the following textbooks for those continuing: “English Vocabulary in Use” at the Pre-Intermediate - Intermediate or Upper-Intermediate - Advanced level, “Oxford Word Skills” at the Intermediate or Advanced level, and the “4000 Essential English Words” series of manuals. These books have answers to all tasks, so you can even study from them on your own.
• Unfamiliar words from texts. Books or articles in English are a valuable source of new vocabulary. Write down unfamiliar words that are often found in the text or play an important role in understanding the meaning of what you read, and learn them. At the same time, give preference to modern literature, books and articles on the Internet in English adapted to your level of knowledge.
• Synonyms and antonyms of words you already know. The words good and bad are good to use at beginner levels. At the middle stage, you need to expand your vocabulary with synonyms and antonyms of similar words. Fortunately, you don’t even have to look for them yourself; you can always find this information in electronic dictionaries. For example, enter the word good into the search bar on merriam-webster.com, and under the heading “Related to GOOD” you will see a fairly extensive list of synonyms and antonyms for it.
• Phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are just as widely used and just as difficult to learn as idioms. We recommend studying such vocabulary using a special textbook “Phrasal Verbs in Use”, and also take note of the application “The Phrasal Verbs Machine” (Android, iOS).
• Collocations. Collocations - stable phrases. They need to be taught to make it easier for you to correctly select words for each other and make sentences. In addition, phrases are easier to remember than individual words. It is best to learn such phrases using the textbook “English Collocations in Use Intermediate”. In addition, you can use the special dictionary “Oxford Dictionary Collocations”.
• Idioms. This vocabulary will embellish your speech, make it more natural and expressive. Native speakers use idioms everywhere, even in formal speech. We recommend using a special textbook “English Idioms in Use Intermediate”, it presents various practical exercises, helping to remember stable expressions and rules for their use. Learning proverbs and idioms is not always easy, so we have written several useful articles: “”, “”. In addition, you can install applications for learning idioms “English Idioms and Phrases” (Android) and “English Idioms Illustrated” (iOS) on your gadget.
• Slang. Slang words and expressions will be found in almost all books, films and TV series. Therefore, it is important to take time to memorize such vocabulary to improve your English proficiency. The meaning of slang expressions can be found in the specialized dictionary Urban Dictionary.
• Lists of words from learning blogs. Pay attention to the articles in the “ ” series on the Macmillan online dictionary website. Each of these small notes provides examples of sentences with useful vocabulary on a specific topic.
• Words on special electronic resources. Special sites for learning words for intermediate students will help you learn new vocabulary using various tests. We recommend using esl.fis.edu or englishteststore.net, they are aimed at people with an average level of English.

It is important for those continuing to develop perception skills English speech by ear. Moreover, if earlier you needed to understand at least something of what was said on a simple recording, now you need to complicate your task - try to understand 70-80% of what you heard. Also, listen to more complex audio recordings and watch videos of people speaking with different accents, and then try to explain the idea of ​​​​the video in your own words, at the same time practicing your speaking.

• Podcasts- an excellent “trainer” for English language learners. In addition, it is also a portable exercise machine: you can save files to your smartphone or tablet and exercise whenever it is convenient for you. We recommend where you will find many free educational materials. Also pay attention to the resource ted.com, where you will find fascinating video lectures on any topic that interests you.
• Watching movies and TV series- the most pleasant and exciting technique that helps improve your listening comprehension of English speech. You can just watch them in free time for your own pleasure, but it is better to use the techniques from the article “”.
• Online dictations will help you develop both listening and spelling skills. We suggest you visit, where you will find short tasks of different difficulty levels. Such training will not take much time and will be beneficial.

9. Read in English

Reading texts in English is a great opportunity to see how the grammar and vocabulary being studied “works” in practice, and to learn new words, and it’s also just a fun activity.

• Adapted books convenient because you won’t need to consult the dictionary often. The text contains no more than 3-10 unfamiliar words per page, and at the end of each publication there is a dictionary. Adapted literature can be found on the website english-e-books.net and english-easy-ebooks.com.
• Literature in the original is a good challenge for an average level of knowledge. Reading the book may be difficult at first, but you will learn many new words and enjoy reading the work as the author created it. You can find many books in English on the website e-reading.club.
• Modern articles on the Internet are a convenient alternative for those who do not have the time or desire to read a long work. Small articles on various topics can be found on. And you can read more serious and complex material in the online newspapers “The Guardian”, “The Washington Post”, “The Daily Telegraph”.

10. Write in English

When you write something in English, you learn to formulate your thoughts in the target language, you can use the words you just learned and consolidate them in your memory. If you later need to say a similar phrase in a conversation, it will be easier for you to formulate it, so writing skills also need to be improved for those who want to cross the plateau and improve their level of English.

How to improve your writing skill:

• Translation exercises will teach you how to correctly construct sentences in English. And this is useful for both written and oral speech. Read our article “”, from it you will learn why and how to perform such exercises. And read about the 2 best manuals with translation exercises.
• Online dictations. We have already written about them in the previous paragraph, so we can say that this is a universal exercise that will kill two birds with one stone.
• Essay. By writing essays on different topics, you will achieve two goals: learn to express your thoughts in English and learn new words. Replenishing your vocabulary occurs if you do not limit yourself to using vocabulary you already know, but look for new words in the dictionary and use them in your essay. Thus, you immediately use the new word in context, and when writing you also use mechanical memory, which also makes memorization easier. However, one should take into account the fact that such work makes sense when it is checked by a person who knows English well. So for maximum benefit, try to find a teacher or someone else to proofread your essays.
• Groups on social networks. On Facebook and Vkontakte you can count hundreds of groups for learning English. In such public pages, correspondence in English is welcome: you can comment on posts you like or communicate in one of the open topics. Take a look at our English learning groups

Learning English for many of our readers may not be as simple a task as it might seem at first glance. Like, what is there: buy self-instructions, an audio course - and learn. As a last resort, you can enroll in a local language school or take advantage of audio lessons and various interactive or foreign language learning platforms.

5 Ways to Improve Your Spoken English Proficiency

Work on your pronunciation: Good pronunciation will help you achieve mutual understanding when speaking with those for whom English is their native language. There are three different levels of pronunciation, and most English learners use all three levels in one way or another. In order to use all three and improve your pronunciation, we recommend you various lessons and audio courses.

Listen to as many programs as possible and: Most beginners prefer to read a lot, but listen little to broadcasts and “live” English speech. Start with listening first, and then move on to constant reading and writing. Spend more time listening various options pronunciation, accents and style of English speech. In addition, it will be a good help to practice reading aloud, speaking monologues and dialogues in person out loud and repeating what is spoken out loud after the teacher or an audio recording.

Read aloud often and a lot. There are, however, a couple of difficulties with this:

Not everyone can easily formulate thoughts in English words

Not everyone can pronounce it the first time

Reading aloud will help solve the second problem by building skills. To improve your pronunciation, read large texts out loud several times. The words that cause you the most difficulty should be repeated a couple of times separately: the first time - slowly, the second time - at an accelerated pace, so that it sounds as natural as possible.

Learn entire phrases, not individual words. When you have learned a new word, then learn a whole phrase or sentence with it. Repeat this phrase or sentence up to 10 times in a row to make it sound as natural as possible and your pronunciation to be as effortless as possible.

Oral lessons and audio courses, as well as various thematic educational courses in English, will help you improve your speaking skills.

5 Ways to Improve Your Oral English Communication Skills

In communication your openness and naturalness of communication are often more important than following all the rules of grammar. Sometimes it is better to say “not like the book,” but at the same time convey the correct thought to your interlocutor, than to suffer for a long time, looking for words and formulating a complex grammatical structure.

When talking to your interlocutor, speak slowly. Speaking too quickly with an accent and mistakes will not make you “look like” someone who has known English since childhood. Slow pronunciation and unhurried speech have their own “advantages”:

You have time to think about what exactly you are going to say.

Your speech will be clearer and more understandable to the interlocutor.

Over time and with active communication with “native speakers”, your English will improve, your speech will become smoother and faster.

Practice thinking in English. Translate “thoughts in your head” from your native language into English, practice pronouncing and formulating sentences and phrases to yourself, thinking about events and what is happening in English, and not just in Russian.

If you forget a word, try replacing it with other words or a description of the “forgotten” concept. Often, beginners in learning English “stumble” in oral communication with other interlocutors, forgetting a word or definition. Don't get lost: use synonyms, antonyms, descriptive concepts, analogies.

And most importantly - don't be nervous! Conversation is not an exam; no one here requires you to have high grades or a thorough command of English. Be patient, be positive in your attitude towards your interlocutor, don’t get nervous for no reason and just learn new things: for this purpose, English as one of the key languages ​​of international communication is perfect.

Most often, we start learning a language when we already need it. Therefore, many people want to learn it in a short time. For example, you:

• are planning to change jobs and have an interview soon;
• in a couple of weeks you are leaving for the USA on vacation;
• In a month you have an exhibition abroad, where you need to represent your company;
• want to go in the summer under the Work and Travel program

In these conditions, you want to reduce training time as much as possible.

How long will it take for me to level up?

Your progress depends on several factors: methodology, regularity of classes, your desire to learn, etc.

In this article I have collected 5 tips that will help you improve your level of English in a short time.

Important : if you really want to master English quickly, then these tips must be followed!

So let's begin.

Tip #1: Set a goal and start moving towards it

Your desire to learn English is the driver of your learning. If you don't have the motivation to study, it will drag on for a long time.

Important: No teacher can force you to learn a language if you don’t want to do it yourself or don’t know why you need to learn it.

Therefore, the first thing you need to do when learning English is to set yourself a goal for which you need the language.

For example:

• You are studying at the university and want to go on exchange to study in Italy for a year. For this you need a level - Intermediate and higher.
• You want to work in the tourism industry, travel abroad on business trips and communicate with foreigners. For this you need a level - Upper-intermediate and higher.
• You travel a lot and want to make new friends and learn more about the culture of countries. For such purposes, you need a level - Pre-intermediate and higher.

However, simply presenting your goal is not enough. You need to take action to achieve it in a short time.

This requires motivation. Imagine in detail all the benefits of learning English.

How would your life be different if you could speak English right now? Where would you be? Who did you talk to? What did you read? Where would you go?

Start learning English right now, don't put it off until Monday, next month or year.

After all, I’m sure that if you got together last year and started studying, you would now speak English easily.

Your progress directly depends on the regularity of your classes.

For example, if you study twice a week, then due to the large gaps between classes, you will forget the material you have covered. Therefore, you will have to spend a lot of time repeating the material.

If you want to compress your English learning time as much as possible, you need to study every day. At the same time, to immerse yourself in the language environment, study for at least 2 hours a day.

You can alternate classes as follows.

1. On Monday you go through:

• New word list
• Learn a few grammar rules

You practice all this orally, making up sentences and speaking them.

2. The next day you practice all the material covered in writing, composing sentences and writing them down.

In this way, you train your writing skill and consolidate the material you have covered.

This is exactly what our students do, practicing all the material orally in class and reinforcing it with written homework.

Tip #3: Talk most of the time during class

Learning any language consists of 2 parts:

• Theoretical (study of words and rules)
• Practical (using learned words and rules in your speech)

If you study only theory, you will not be able to use your knowledge in life. That is, you will not be able to speak freely.

Without practical practice, the rules you learn get confused in your head and forgotten. And we very quickly forget what we don’t use.

How much time should you devote to “talking”?

For this, everyone piece of theory you need to practice in speaking.

For example:

If you are studying the Present Simple tense, then you must verbally compose sentences in this tense and pronounce them.

Pronounce each sentence, working with it 4 steps:

1. Grammatical correctness

2. Correct pronunciation

3. Intonation

4. Fluency

Only when you speak sentences correctly, beautifully and quickly, move on to the next workout.

I told you in detail about how to properly train spoken English.

What should I do if I study on my own?

In this case, you need to do speaking exercises, but with yourself. You should pronounce sentences as if you are communicating with someone.

Of course, in this case there will be a big disadvantage: you will not listen to the foreign speech of another person. That is, your listening skills (understanding speech by ear) will not develop.

Everyone who teaches foreign languages, there is a problem: forgetting words. Many people cram 100 words a day, but this is of no use.

To remember a word, you need to use it and make sentences with it. I told you how to do it correctly in this article.

To make it easier for you to learn words, combine them into small word lists. To do this, combine the necessary words by topic.

For example, take 20 words on the topic "family".

Don't study everything!

To save time, learn only lists of words that you will actually use. For example, if you are not involved in business, you do not need to learn business vocabulary.

It’s better to choose topics that will really be useful to you: daily duties, restaurant, store, etc.

Reinforce learned words short stories. For example, to review the family word list, talk about your family members.

You can combine topics. For example, by combining the lists of words “appearance and character” and “family”, you will get a detailed story about your family members.

This way you will gradually “build up” your vocabulary.

Don't wait until you learn English perfectly. Start using English in your life right now.

Replace the actions you did in Russian with English. This way you can use your English and improve it at the same time.

Right now, think about where you can use English and start doing it.

Here are some tips for you:

• Write to-do lists in English
• Start reading foreign blogs in English
• Look for information in a search engine in English
• Listen to podcasts in English.

Tip: Download iTunes to your computer. In it you will find a huge number of podcasts on various topics: business, family, goals, development, etc.

How long does it take to improve your English level?

To improve your level of English, you need:

1. Set a goal and move towards it

2. Study English every day, at least 2 hours

3. Focus 80% of classes on practice

4. Learn only the lists of words you need to expand your vocabulary

5. Use your English in life

Based on the experience of our students, by doing this, you can improve your English level in 1.5 - 3 months.