Modern ways of learning English

        Государственное образовательное учреждение

Центр образования №1927

Научно-практическая конференция учащихся

«Ломоносовские чтения»

Проектная работа

Ученицы 9 «Б» класса

Тема: «Modern ways of learning English»

                                                                          Автор работы:  Шульгина Галина

                                                               Руководитель проекта: Иванова Н.В.                                                  

Москва

Апрель 2012 год

Table of contents.

1. Introduction.
2. Where do you start?
3. Ways of learning English.

1. Self-study.

1. Teach-yourself  book or textbook.
2. Reading.
3. Focus on words and phrases.
4. Listening CD courses.
5. Music.
6. Practicing Online.
7.  Watching films and TV programs.
8. Talk in English for a day.
9. Language swap.
10. Special programs for PC.

1. Training in groups.
2. Individual training with a teacher.

1. Online courses.

3. Practice abroad.

1. Conclusion.
2. Links.

1.  Introduction.

Nowadays we very often confront with the fact, that the knowledge of English becomes a vital necessity. Did you know that over two billion people in the world now speak this language? And this figure is ever growing. It's the language of international business and politics. It is the primary language used for most computers and for the inner workings of the Internet. The ability to speak and understand English is mandatory in certain fields, professions and occupations. Learning of foreign language requires a sufficient amount of time and effort. That's why great amount of people are trying to take possession of it. But it is not so simple, as it seems to be. Various techniques are required for people with different level of proficiency and ability. But in the modern world human capabilities have increased dramatically. With the appearance of the Internet new ways of learning the language came into sight. And I want to show you how to take advantage of the technology of today to get ahead of the game. And my goal over the past couple of month has been to find the best way to learn English. In my project I will try to identify the main ways of learning English and some innovations that have appeared recently. In my project I want to show that everyone can find the most effective method and the way of learning English.

2. Where do you start?

Before you begin (or go back to) studying English, ask yourself one question. Why do I want to study English? Is it because you want to, or because someone else wants you to? Like every decision in life, studying English must be something you want to do.

If you know why you want to study, setting goals is easy. For example, maybe you want to travel to an English-speaking country. Great. Your goal might be to learn "Survival English". Perhaps you have already known many useful phrases, but you want to improve your listening skills and pronunciation. Whatever your goals are, write them down.

How long do you need to study to achieve your goals? This answer is different for every student. The important thing is to be realistic. Start off slow, but study regularly. Use material that is challenging, but not too difficult. Find out the works for you. After you have studied for a few weeks, adjust your study schedule accordingly.

Learning English requires a lot of motivation. Nobody is going to take your attendance when you aren't in class. If you are sure you are ready to begin studying, make a commitment.

The things we do best in life are the things we enjoy doing. If you aren't having fun learning English, you're not studying the right way! You can be a serious student who has fun at the same time. Make up your own rewards program, which give you incentives to stay on task.

3. Ways of learning English.

Learning English, or any new language, is not as difficult as most people think. There are several ways of learning English. The most popular and effective are:

1. Self-study
2. Training in groups
3. Individual training with a teacher
4. Practice abroad

By far the most important factor is how much time you are immersed in the language. The more time you spend with the language, the faster you will learn. It means spending time enjoyable connected to the language you are learning.

It  means listening, reading, writing, speaking, and studying words and phrases.  

If you do want to learn the language, take control. Choose content of interest, that you want to listen to and read. Seek out the words and phrases that you need to understand your listening and reading. Do not wait for someone else to show you the language, nor to tell you what to do. Discover the language by yourself.

3.1. Self-study.

There are many ways for self-study English. The effectiveness each of them depends on the purpose of language learning and the amount of time devoted to learning.

The main advantages:

1. It's cheap. You can buy the book or download podcast and forget about the additional costs.
2. Free training schedule. You can use books and audiofiles at any appropriate time. It may be once a month, twice a week or three times a day.
3. Easy to use. With teach-yourself book and the other resources you can learn English at home, or alternatively take it everywhere with you.

The main disadvantages:

1. Sloth. Sometimes it can be very difficult to make yourself sit down and start learning the language.
2. There is no feedback. When you learn English on your own, no one will be able to help you with grammar or pronunciation. Only you will be responsible for the quality of your training.
3. Boredom. If you are active and sociable, it may be very difficult for you to learn English alone. It may be bored for you and you couldn't concentrate on learning.

At this point I will point out the most common ways of self-study. .

1. Teach-yourself book or text-book.

There are many teach-yourself books. Their main purpose is to help you to learn English on your own, without help. In other words, you will take a book and learn the language with the help of instructions. And what it will be the instructions are depend on the tutorial's author.

2. Reading.

Reading is the easiest and most affordable way to replenish vocabulary of foreign words and constructions. And that's why you should begin or continue learning English with the help of reading original or adapted books.  Read every day! It’s very important. Read things that you like, things that you can mostly understand, or even partly understand. If you keep reading you will get used to the language.

We learn English faster in a written form by reading newspapers and magazines. Words are not always written how they sound so reading newspapers and magazines is a great way to see them in a written form. Get your news in a foreign language and learn new vocabulary in subjects such as economics, business and politics. If there are words you don’t understand, write them down and look them up in a dictionary later.

Phrase books can be useful for the odd sticky situation or emergency when you need to whip your book out and know how to communicate something. Phrase books are great for learning simple greetings, numbers and knowing simple tourist phrases, but to develop your knowledge further you will need to know how to complete sentences and learn about grammar.

3. Focus on words and phrases.

Build up your vocabulary, you’ll need lots. Start to notice words and how they come together as phrases. Learn these words and phrases through your listening and reading. Read online, using online dictionaries, and make your own vocabulary lists for review. Soon you will run into your new words and phrases elsewhere. Gradually you will be able to use them. Do not worry about how accurately you speak until you have accumulated a plenty of words through listening and reading.

4. Listening CD courses.

Language course CDs is great if you don’t have much time on your hands as you can listen to them on the go. Read what you are listening to. It may be fairytale or your favourite Russian book adapted in English. If you keep listening you will get used to the language. One hour of listening may be more effective than many hours of class time. Make use of all that time spent waiting by becoming fluent in another language.

Listening for advanced EFL students is listening to English radio stations online. It is also an excellent way to pick up new words and learn about a variety of cultural topics.

5. Music.

Everyone loves music because it’s fun and having fun is important when you’re trying to learn a language. Songs are catchy and easy to listen to, so try downloading or buying music in a foreign language. Repetition is the key to learning, so if you listen to the same song over and over again you will eventually know the words.

It’s a great way to learn about the popular or traditional music styles in that country too. If you have a favorite popular song try to find it sung in another language or find the lyrics with the help of the internet and sit there with them whilst you listen to the song.

6. Practicing Online.

One of the easiest ways to learn English is to practice online. While there is a variety of great websites online that will allow you to learn and practice English. Try one of the many online grammar exercise sites available on the internet.  You will find varied exercises and quizzes for most grammar points where you will have useful explanations. One of the best reasons for doing lots of exercises and tests is that they give you a benchmark to compare your future results with.  If you never test yourself, you will never know about your progress. Start now by doing some of exercises and tests, and return in a few days to see what you've learned. Keep doing this and you really will make some progress with English. Also you can find a lot of useful online lessons in the Net.

There are many useful and interesting sites:

1. http://www.english-for-students.com/
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
3. http://www.learn-english-online.org/
4. http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/
5. http://www.babbel.com/learn-english-online 

7. Watching films and TV programs.

Many people learn languages by watching TV programmes or films with the subtitles on. Explore the different language subtitles on the DVD you are watching, or rent a foreign movie and read the subtitles in your own language. It’s a more relaxing and entertaining way to learn a language and you can sit there, chill out, enjoy a good movie and absorb the words and phrases.

It’s also a great way to learn slang and more conversational language. The Swedes and the Norwegians speak such excellent English partly because they only get TV shows and movies in English with no dubbing or subtitles. Watching foreign movies and television programmes will get you used to hearing the spoken language

8. Talk in the language for a day.

The best way of learning English is to surround yourself with it. Find something that you can do every day. Speak English with your friends whenever you can.

Just one day, instead of walking around talking your own language, why not make yourself say everything in a foreign language whether you know how to say it or not. Sometimes it can be embarrassing to speak foreign language out loudly if you’re not really confident about it, so talk to yourself when nobody’s around.

9. Language exchange.

Chatting with others, either native or non-native speakers of English, is a great way to practice your written skills. By joining a chat room you can discuss any special interesting topics or write posts in the forums. Having an email pal is also an effective way to practice English and make friends.

There are many international sites for communication of learners English:

1. http://www.sharedtalk.com/
2. http://www.polyglot-learn-language.com/
3. http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/
4. http://www.penpal.net/
5. http://www.italki.com/
6. http://ru.livemocha.com/

10. Special programs for PC.

Thanks to advancements in technology, the computer is making English language learning easier than ever. English language software programs offer flexible yet structured plans that allow you to spend extra time learning what is most relevant to you while still guiding your study. They also include audio, video and textual elements that help you become familiar with all aspects of English study-reading, writing, speaking and listening. There are a lot of programs such as «Tell Me More English», « Rosetta Stone English», «  Instant Immersion English», « 101 Languages of the World», « WordSmart»  and etc.

1. Training in groups.

This way is also popular. Usually there are from three to twenty pupils in the group. There you will communicate with the other people, do different tasks and practise your spoken English.

The benefits of learning in a classroom are that you meet other people, you are being taught by someone who has been trained to teach you and you can get support if you are having trouble with anything.

The main advantages:

1. Feedback. Your teacher will control your learning and correct your mistakes.
2. It’s fun. If you get a talented teacher and outgoing group, the lessons won't be boring.
3. Cost. It’s not so expensive. This way is one of the most available.

The main disadvantages:

1.  Timetable. You couldn't learn English at any time. Timetable is strict and if you miss the lesson, you will lose your money and new material, which the other students have already passed.
2. It depends on the qualification of your teacher. If the qualification don't comply with necessary level, the learning may be very difficult.

2. Individual training with a teacher.

It is the most effective way of learning English. You can choose the teacher, convenient timetable and etc.

The main advantages:

1. Learning is fast and effective. It's very easy to learn English, when attention of teacher is focused on you.
2. Convenient timetable. You can to arrange with the teacher about comfortable time for the lessons.
3. Feedback. Teacher will give you useful advice and help with difficulties.

The main disadvantages:

1. Cost.  This way is very expensive. The cost depends on your knowledge, teacher's level of proficiency and the other factors. Lessons of native speaker are more expensive.

Traditional individual training with teacher is really effective. But there is a modern version of individual training.

1. Online Courses.

And now, if you can’t find suitable curriculum in your town or you haven't got enough money, you can review online courses. Amount of foreign languages are extensive. There are many free courses, but some courses are paid. The other courses suggest help of teacher by email, instant messengers or Skype. Distance learning is effective, but the problem is that you will choose the teacher in Internet and it can be very easy to make a mistake. But the cost of distance learning is cheaper then classical courses.

3. Practice abroad.

By far the best way to learn the language of a country is immersion. Live in the country where they speak the language you want to learn and perhaps even stay with a host family there. By living in the country you are forced to learn the language because you are interacting every day with people in a language that is not your own. You will see the words on things like road signs and menus and hear them being spoken wherever you go.

Whether it’s talking to people at the checkout in the supermarket, asking for directions, ordering food in a restaurant or chatting to people at a social gathering, you will be speaking the language on a daily basis. Being in a particular country for a long period of time you will be forced to learn the language in order to be able to communicate with people.

 It means that you go to English-speaking country and live there a few months. This way is very efficient. When you are in a language environment and communicate with native speakers, English is learnt very quickly.

The main advantages:

2. Operative learning. This is the most effective way.
3. Communication with people. There are a lot of differences and details in pronunciation and intonation, which you could understand only in real communication.

The main disadvantages:

1. It is the most expensive way. Not everyone can afford such way of learning.
2. Fear. There are not so many people, who are able to leave their own country and go to the other country without confident knowledge of English.

1. Conclusion.

Thus, in this research everyone can conclude that in the present knowledge of English is required. English language is the language of international communication, and many people are faced with this fact daily.  In modern world there are many opportunities for learning English. Ultimately there is no right or wrong way to study language, so think about your personality, the amount of time you’re willing to dedicate to language learning and then work out what is suitable for you. Most of all, remember to have fun and enjoy it!

2. Links.

1. http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/learn-foreign-language/
2. http://english-news.ru/sposoby-izucheniya-anglijskogo-yazyka-ix-plyusy-i-minusy.html
3. http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/09-09/10-ways-to-learn-a-foreign-language-that-arent-all-obvious.html 
4. http://www.learnenglish-a-z.com/easy-ways-to-learn-english.html
5. http://www.englishclub.com/learn-english/learn-english-how.htm
6. http://www.ehow.com/how_7775963_learn-english-through-computer.html
7. http://ezinearticles.com/?4-Easy-Ways-to-Learn-English-Online&id=240959