Teaching English from scratch and at no cost. English for beginners: program for Beginner and Elementary levels Articles in English

There is so much information about English that it is easy to get confused!

Dear readers! I know from my own experience how difficult English is for beginners. And the point is not a lack of textbooks or information, but rather an excess of them, information noise that is impossible to understand.

In this article, I have collected and systematized materials from the site that will be useful for beginners, those who are learning English from scratch. In these articles, I share my opinion on where to start learning a language, what online resources and books are best to use, where to find good video lessons, how to choose courses and where to find an online tutor.

Where to start learning English?

If you decide to learn English “from scratch,” then you need to go from simple to complex, from the most necessary to the rarer. First of all, try to lay the foundation for future knowledge and skills and learn the basics of the language. The most basic knowledge includes:

Having laid the foundation, you need to practice a lot and in a variety of ways in all types of speech activities: reading, listening, writing and speaking in English.

Actually, that's all. You've just taken a short course in language learning! The rest is details and particulars.

You can find the necessary materials both on this site (links above) and in textbooks and online training courses for beginners. I recommend that at the initial stage you study using a textbook for independent study (self-instruction manual). In my opinion, the most convenient way to learn the basics of a language is from a textbook, using interactive materials, such as vocabulary cards, as auxiliary materials.

You can also use mine as a tutorial.

What websites are there for English language beginners?

The main advantage of the textbook is that the material is presented in a methodically correct order, in convenient portions. You don’t have the feeling that you are wandering in the dark; the textbook literally leads you by the hand, giving extremely specific instructions. But in addition to textbooks, you can also study using educational programs - they contain a lot of audiovisual materials, and the learning process is built in a game form. The following sites are suitable for beginners:

“Teacher Method” – a step-by-step course for children and adults

“Teacher Method” is an interactive course for different levels, starting from almost zero. It includes courses of three difficulty levels for adults and children, as well as a separate children's course for the little ones.

In the course for beginners, learning begins with the alphabet, all explanations are made in the form of short videos in Russian with explanations from teachers, and tasks are given in the form of interactive exercises. The material is chewed down to the smallest detail. The service is paid, but is available free of charge in a limited form.

Lingvaleo is a service for self-learning English using:

The lesson plan is created automatically and looks like a list of “Today's tasks”, but it is not necessary to follow it. The site has a lot of audio, video and text materials of different levels of complexity - from simple to original materials of foreign TV, so it is suitable not only for lesson-based language learning, but also for practice in reading and listening. Most of the features are free, but for an additional fee you can purchase interactive courses (for example, grammar or English for children) and unlock some word learning modes.

Duolingo

A free interactive course, in which, like in the “Teacher Method”, you need to go from lesson to lesson. But there are almost no explanations here; training is built on a different principle. You need to complete tasks, studying the practical side of grammar and applying the vocabulary learned at the beginning of the lesson in practice: constructing and translating phrases. It is not advisable to take this course as a basis for learning English, but it is suitable as an auxiliary educational game.

English for beginners: free video lessons

Useful Internet resources are not limited to just educational sites. Fortunately, there are now a lot of useful, interesting and free video lessons. Lessons are available in both Russian and English.

For beginners, it is better to start with lessons in Russian. For example:

I believe that it is better for beginners to study with Russian-speaking teachers, and here’s why:

• He better understands the peculiarities of teaching specifically Russian-speaking students.
• At the initial stage, it is better to explain tasks and rules in Russian.
• It will be too difficult for you to understand a teacher who does not speak Russian.

The principles of language learning are very simple and have been known for a long time.

1. Set specific and achievable goals

It is much more convenient to move towards a goal when it is marked than when it is an unclear fog over the horizon. Why did you decide to learn the language in the first place? To get a job as a chief engineer at New Development Engineering? To move in with your aunt in Sydney? Your goals will largely determine how you go about achieving them. For example, if you want to study at a foreign university, you will need to be able to write correctly, which is not so important for a trip to the USA under the Work and Travel program.

It is advisable to set short-term goals in addition to long-term goals. For example, complete lessons 1 – 6 in two weeks, learn 100 words in a week, read the first chapter of Harry Potter in a month, etc. No need to set unrealistic goals. It's better to take small steps, but without stopping.

2. Try to exercise regularly, preferably every day!

Ideally, you need to practice every day for 1-2 hours. In practice, not everyone will be able to do this, but if you really want to, you can set aside at least half an hour a day. The main thing is not to deceive yourself by coming up with excuses about lack of time and crazy busyness. It's okay if you watch half an hour less TV or get things done half an hour earlier.

Even if you are a businessman/supermodel/pizza delivery guy, finding at least 15 minutes a day in your crazy schedule is exactly 15 minutes better than 0 minutes. And don’t forget that you can listen to audio lessons while you’re dying of boredom in traffic.

There is no need to organize crazy marathons once a month either. It is better to exercise for 30 minutes 7 times a week than 210 minutes once a week. What's the point of running a 3-4 hour marathon a day if everything is forgotten within a week?

3. Practice makes perfect

You don't need any great intelligence or talent to learn a language. You just need to practice regularly - that’s all. Pay attention to all aspects of the language: vocabulary, grammar, practice in reading, listening, speaking and writing - and everything will be ok. Don't get hung up on theory and try to practice more.

Language is a means of communication, transmission and perception of information, knowledge, and expression of emotions. They need to be used. Learning a language but not using it is like learning swimming from books without diving into the water. Read and listen more, don’t hesitate to communicate!

We present to you the first article in the “English Grammar for Beginners” series. In this series of materials, we decided to present all the rules briefly and in simple words, so that beginners “from scratch” or those who do not remember the basics of English well can independently figure out the grammar, understand it and apply it in practice.

Plural in English

In English, as in Russian, all words are divided into countable and uncountable. This is important to understand when forming the plural of a word. Countable nouns denote those objects that can be counted, for example: table (table), book (book), apple (apple). Uncountable nouns are abstract concepts, liquids, products, etc., that is, things that cannot be counted. For example: knowledge, water, meat, flour. These words have no plural or singular.

Countable nouns can be used in singular or plural. A singular noun denotes one thing; this is the form of the word that is indicated in the dictionary: apple - apple. A plural noun denotes several objects: apples - apples.

How to form the plural of nouns:

Usually the plural of nouns is formed by adding the ending -s to the word: book – books (book – books). However, there are several spelling features:

• If the word ends in -o, -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, then add the ending -es: hero – heroes (hero – heroes), bus – buses (bus – buses).

  Exceptions: photo - photos (photo - photographs), video - videos (video recording - video recordings), radio - radios (radio - several radios), rhino - rhinos (rhino - rhinoceroses), piano - pianos (piano - several pianos), hippo - hippos (hippopotamus - hippopotamuses).

• If the word ends in -f, -fe, then change the ending to -ves: knife – knives, leaf – leaves, wife – wives.

  Exceptions: roof - roofs (roof - roofs), giraffe - giraffes (giraffe - giraffes), cliff - cliffs (cliff - cliffs).

• If a word ends in -y, preceded by a consonant, then we change -y to -ies: body – bodies (body – bodies).
• If the word ends in -y, preceded by a vowel, then add the ending -s: boy – boys (boy – boys).

In English there is also exception words, which form the plural irregularly. You just need to learn such words by heart; fortunately, there are not very many of them.

Try our quiz to see how well you have understood the material.

English Plural Noun Test

Articles in English

There are two types of articles in English: definite and indefinite. They are not translated into Russian. In the vast majority of cases, one of these articles must be placed before a singular noun.

The indefinite article a/an is used only with countable nouns in the singular: a girl (girl), a pen (handle). If a word begins with a consonant sound, we write the article a (a girl), and if the word begins with a vowel sound, we write the article an (an apple).

The indefinite article a/an is used in the following cases:

• We name any indefinite object, and we have only one, which is why we use the article a, which comes from the word one (one):

  It is a book. - This is a book.

• We mention the subject for the first time in speech:

  I see a shop. - I see (some, one of many) store.

• We talk about a person’s profession or indicate his belonging to a certain group:

  He is a teacher. - He's a teacher.
  She is a student. - She's a student.

We use the definite article the when we are talking about a specific object that is familiar to us. This article can appear before a singular or plural noun.

The definite article the is used in the following cases:

• We have already mentioned the subject earlier in our speech:

  I see a shop. The shop is big. - I see a store. (This) store is big.

  It is believed that the definite article comes from the word that (that), therefore it is intended to indicate some specific object familiar to the interlocutors.

• We are talking about an object that in this context is one of a kind and cannot be confused with something else:

  Honey, I'm washing the car. - Honey, I'm washing the car. (the family has one car, so we are talking about a specific item)
  Look at the girl in the red dress - Look at the girl in the red dress. (we point to a specific girl in a specific dress)

• We are talking about a one-of-a-kind object, there is no other like it: the sun, the moon, the world, the President of France, etc.:

  The earth is our home. - The earth is our home.

Verb to be

There is always a verb in an English sentence. And if in Russian we can say “I am a doctor,” “Mary is beautiful,” “We are in the hospital,” then in English this is unacceptable: in all these cases, the verb to be must appear after the subject. Therefore, you can remember a simple rule: if there are no ordinary verbs in a sentence, then the verb to be is needed.

The verb to be has three forms:

• Am is added to the pronoun I when we talk about ourselves:

  I am beautiful. - I'm handsome.

• Is is placed after the pronouns he, she, it:

  She is beautiful. - She's beautiful.

• Are is used after you, we, they:

  You are beautiful. - You are handsome.

The verb to be in English is most often used in the following cases:

• We inform you that by whom is a person (name, profession, etc.):

  I am a doctor. - I'm a doctor.

• We inform you that what a person or thing has a quality:

  Mary is beautiful. - Mary is beautiful.

• We inform you that Where there is a person or object:

  We are at the hospital. - We're in the hospital.

Sentences with the verb to be in the present tense are constructed as follows:

We think you are now ready to take the test and test your knowledge.

Test for the use of the verb to be

Present Continuous Tense - present continuous tense

Present Continuous Tense most often shows that an action is happening at the moment.

Every English sentence has a subject and a predicate. In the Present Continuous, the predicate consists of the auxiliary verb to be in the required form (am, is, are) and the main verb without the particle to, to which we add the ending -ing (playing, reading).

She is playing tennis now. - She is now plays to tennis.
I am reading a novel at the moment. - I'm currently I'm reading novel.

The verb to be in this tense is an auxiliary verb, that is, it is a word that comes before the main verb (playing, reading) and helps to form tense. You will find auxiliary verbs in other tenses; these types of verbs include to be (am, is, are), do/does, have/has, will.

Please note the following tense words Present Continuous: now (now), at the moment (at the moment), today (today), tonight (tonight), these days (these days), currently (these days), at present (currently), still (still).

Affirmative sentences in the Present Continuous are formed as follows:

Usually in this tense you just need to add the ending -ing to the main verb: walk – walking (walk), look – looking (look). But some verbs change like this:

• If the verb ends in -e, we remove the -e and add -ing: write – writing, dance – dancing.

  Exception: see – seeing (to see).

• If the verb ends in -ie, we change -ie to -y and add -ing: lie – lying (lie), die – dying (die).
• If the verb ends with a stressed syllable with a short vowel that comes between two consonants, the final consonant is doubled by adding -ing: begin – beginning, swim – swimming.

In negative sentences in the Present Continuous, you just need to insert the particle not between to be and the main verb.

She isn't cooking at the moment. - At the moment she doesn't cook.
You are not listening to me now. - You don't listen me now.

In interrogative sentences in the Present Continuous, you need to put the verb to be in the first place, and after it put the subject and the main verb.

Is she cooking at the moment? - She cooks at the moment?
Are you listening to me now? - You me now are you listening?

Now we suggest you take a test on the use of Present Continuous tense.

Test for the use of Present Continuous

We have presented you with the first 5 basic topics of the English language. Now your task is to thoroughly understand them and work through them as productively as possible with the help of exercises. In order not to burden you with a large amount of grammar at once, we will release the next article in this series in a few weeks. Subscribe to our newsletter, then you will definitely not miss important information. We wish you success in learning English!

Of course, a person who is just starting to learn a foreign language needs to learn the alphabet well and become familiar with its phonetic features. Learning English is no exception.

English alphabet

English uses Latin characters. Most letters have no alternatives in the Russian alphabet, but some of them are very similar. This is often one of the first difficulties in learning a language. But this is a matter of practice.

Letters

The English alphabet is made up of 26 letters, of which 6 represent vowels and 20 represent consonants. This number of letters is significantly less than the alphabet of the Russian language, where there are 33 of them. As already mentioned, there are letters similar in spelling to Russian.

For example: the letter Tt, where the capital letter is similar to the Russian one, but the spelling of the small letter is very different. It’s also worth saying about what it’s called, not [te], but .

As for the letter Aa, which is exactly like the Russian Aa [a], its name is different and it means different sounds. A number of letters in the English alphabet have no analogues in Russian.
Let's consider a comparison of the letters of the English alphabet with the Russian ones, their transcription and pronunciation

Sounds

A characteristic feature of the English language is that the number of sounds exceeds the number of letters.

So, 6 letters convey 20 vowel sounds. This is because each letter has one or more short sounds and one long sound, or diphthong.

For example:

the letter Oo represents such sounds:

• diphthong [əu] – go
• short [ɒ] – not
• long [ɔ:] – door.

As for consonant sounds, there are 24 of them. In addition to the fact that there are letters that represent consonants, some combinations of these letters also convey other sounds.

For example:

• letters Tt – sound [t]
• Hh - sound [h]

and together TH they convey two sounds: voiceless [ϴ] and voiced [ð].

How to learn the alphabet

Learning the English alphabet needs to be approached individually. For some it is convenient to read or rewrite several times, but for others it is necessary to sing. It is in the form of songs that learning most often occurs. A cheerful and melodic rhythm will help you learn the order of all the letters of the alphabet. The video lesson presents the order of working on the alphabet: a song that the teacher first performs, after which he invites them to perform it together, and as a reinforcement, the students perform it first.

And to better master the consonants and vowels of the English alphabet , You can divide them into two groups and practice their pronunciation separately. Another very important point is to try to repeat as accurately as possible the pronunciation of the name of each letter after the teacher, since even letters that are similar to Russian are called differently. You need to try to abstract from your native language and more accurately inherit the sound-letter patterns of English.

Learning the alphabet is the start for further work on the language. And a lot will depend on how this start happens.

1. What version of the English language are we studying?
2. English alphabet. English letters b, c, d, f,l, m, n, p, s, t, v, o. The concept of transcription.
3. Reading abbreviations.
4. Practicing the names of capital letters.
5. Practicing the names of small letters.
6. Reading the letter O in the simplest words.

1. Sometimes the question is asked: which version of English is worth learning - British or American? I think that for beginners this question is somewhat far-fetched and not at all relevant. Suitable for the initial stages of language learning universal English, which incorporates the features of different options. This option - and not American or British - is precisely the “language of international communication”. It is this option that we will study. It is naturally easier to understand and neutral in color. It is sometimes called the international language of business.

The English language that we will study, and which is studied in most language schools around the world, is also called “the language of textbooks” by native speakers themselves. This is basic standard English, common to all varieties of English. It has less flavor, color - what distinguishes native speakers from non-native speakers. But to comprehend more complex details of a language specific to a particular country means approaching perfection, moving to another level - “English as a native language” - a task that is difficult to achieve for most. On the other hand, at the moment we do not put it before ourselves. English in the modern world is just a means of communication. And not always with the British and Americans, but with people of different nationalities.

So, you and I are studying universal English - a language that is a means of communication for people all over the world. But, of course, we will get acquainted with the details specific to American and British English. This will begin to happen around the 60th lesson.

2. Let's start with the alphabet and English sounds. Anyone who knows the letters and transcription well and does not really want to repeat them can go straight to lesson 4, where we will begin to learn the rules of reading.

If you are well acquainted with the basic rules of reading letters and syllables, you will confidently read and translate words such as man, game, my, have, his, be, like, help, then you can go straight to lesson 9.

By clicking on the icon, you will hear the sound of new words or phrases. We turn on the speakers, check how the sound works, and adjust the volume. If there is no sound or any other problems with sound occur, you need to update the flash player. If you have problems with sound and video on tablets and smartphones, use the free Puffin browser.

In the English alphabet 26 letters They are named differently than in the classical Latin or German alphabets. You need to know the names of the letters in the alphabet, not only in order (ABC-CD-...), but also randomly. A few reasons why you should know letter names:

b) imagine such a life situation. You are in any official institution. The employee sitting opposite asks you to clarify the spelling of your last name and spell it. You must be able to do this.

c) if you don’t know the spelling of a word and ask a foreigner you know for clarification, he will spell out the word for you.

So a good knowledge of the names of letters in the English alphabet is a dire necessity. Do not treat this task as something frivolous - there are “pitfalls” here.

In the first lesson we will learn the names of the 12 letters of the English alphabet.

The pronunciation of English letters will first be given in two versions - Russian letters and transcription. Transcription is the international audio alphabet used in dictionaries, the characters of which you will need to be very good at reading (but not writing). Reading the transcription is not difficult, and you will remember it without difficulty.

Now you can choose any of the reading methods for yourself - Russian letters or transcription. Only a little later, when you are already confident in reading transcription signs, over the course of several lessons, gradually, we will move on to conveying the sound of words only by transcription.

Notes:

1. The sounds and pronunciation of English words will be given in [square brackets].
2. A colon marks a long vowel. = [ee]
3. - neutral vowel like Russian [e] or [o] in the word ""g O fishing."
Listen to him in the word [to O st] = or in the word [esh "y e] = ["u].
4. The accent mark (") is placed before the stressed syllable.

One important tip. Don't try to immediately delve into all the smallest details. Memorize as much as you naturally remember. Don't bother yourself with the intricacies of transcription.

3. The abbreviations read as follows.
(Say them out loud. This is very important. A lot depends on this little thing - saying it out loud.)

4. Let's do a task that will help us better remember the names of the letters. Try reading the abbreviations in the first column. In the second column, the transcription will tell you whether you pronounced the letters correctly. The third column contains hints in Russian letters. When you hover your cursor over the space between the square brackets, they appear.

5. Now you can practice reading small letters.

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

Motivation

Motivation should be your driving force; without it, you will not be able to practice the language daily for a long time. Without daily practice it is impossible to master this huge layer of knowledge. If there is no obvious motivation, but there is a burning desire to learn the language, then you should think about what knowledge of the language will give you - maybe it’s 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 correspond with foreign friends.
Your motivation may still be in the subconscious. Try to extract it from there, it will play a decisive role in your successful progress in mastering the English language.

Choosing a teaching method

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 study via Skype with students from all over the world. Ideal, of course, is to find a good teacher who is a native speaker. But not everyone can afford such opportunities, and some simply want to study independently and for free, at a convenient time, without any stress, according to their own schedule. Then you need to choose a system that you will follow.

Learning English from scratch takes time

Plan time for studying, you need to study every day, at least 15 - 20 minutes, but it’s better to set aside an hour for studying. In our selection of articles “English from scratch” you will find materials for beginners, audio recordings and videos, exercises, a large number of examples, explanations, as well as links to resources that will help you progress faster.

When choosing your study resources, make sure 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, devote your time and attention to the language, and you will raise your English from scratch to fluency. Good luck everyone!