Free online service learning English by listening
Forming Web Services / / December 19, 2019
My attempts to learn English started in a distant school, where I learned the ability to somehow read the dictionary and the jitters at the word "listening". Understand the language by ear then it seemed a daunting task, but "speaking" limited memorized phrases a la «Moscow is the capital of Russia». Student dreams of foreign travel led me to English classes. For the academic year I finally managed to overcome the language barrier, still remember the vivid sensation of new degrees of freedom: I can talk! Let primitive, but can the same! However, as stated in a joke: "I do not know the meaning of foreign phrasebooks: Well, you ask something, and after you answer!" In general, series and films I kept playing with Russian subtitles. A couple of years ago, "the problem of the dialogue" has returned to me, long-awaited trip turned out to be inferior without deep and live communication with the world, speaking mostly in English. I started acting. Having carefully studied the issue and try out a number of advanced courses, I have identified two key issues stand in my way all these years: bad technique and low motivation.
In this article I want to talk about the on-line service LearnAtHome.ruWhich ultimately helped me to cope with both tasks.
technique
Frankly, for many years I was convinced that I have no talent for languages. Now, having many years of personal experience, I confidently declare that the problem is most teaching methods.
For what, for the most part, people want to learn a foreign language? "I want to communicate with foreigners, watch movies in the original, fuller feel to your favorite music." That is, first of all, we want it to "hear". Now let us remember what the overwhelming majority of imprisoned courses and self-help, not to mention the school curriculum? On testing of the written grammar, reading and memorizing individual words. Listening and speaking are usually sidelined. Therefore, if the purpose of the training - learn to "hear and speak" method should be based, primarily, on the lessons of listening, pronunciation and spoken grammar. In my opinion, the creators LearnatHome.ru service implemented this requirement well. We briefly describe the essence of their methods:
- All exercises include video with voice acting in English. Most of them are excerpts from popular movies, Serials, video clips, copyright comics, and real interview with stars.
»
- During the exercise videootryvok played with pauses after each spoken sentence. My task - to try to print to hear suggestions in a text string, and you can arbitrarily often repeat the passage, trying to hear as much as possible. During the erroneous input characters immediately highlighted in red and a tone sounds, and you can always use the "hint" button to display the current incomprehensible words.
- After the completion of the passage displays a listing with description encountered grammatical structures, as well as the full text of the exercise with the underlined "wrong" words.
- After completing the exercise, you can pass additional activity on "speaking" for the same movie, checking from phrase to phrase your pronunciation with the original language.
What kind pros I have identified for themselves in this approach. At first, the main emphasis is on hearing workout: Analyzing again and again incomprehensible sentence, the brain remembers the audio link between words and whole phrases. Secondly, when I try to print a proposal at the hearing, I automatically connect all previously accumulated skills. First I catch the general meaning of the phrase, and then select the correct grammatical structure and, finally, remember how some words are written correctly. With this method, even complex phrases, heard many times, literally "stick". Thirdly, the brain remembers the whole phrases and semantic clichés once in the context of their possible use.
By the way, if you go to the end of the lesson, you will be in for a surprise. The most exciting phrase to be grammatically parsed teachers learnathome.ru and you can always go back to them and repeat.
I have never understood the meaning of memorizing individual words and phrases. Even if each memorized phrases attached a list of possible options for its use quickly remember as much information oh how difficult it is, let alone find the right turn in a particular situation and even more so. I remember working in letters to foreign colleagues, I was able to use a set of valid greetings, but when trying to informal communication with acquaintances Europeans could not remember anything except «Hello! How are you? ». After speaking to the ability to correctly distinguish the nuances of speech cliché - a paramount skill. Views excerpts from films and series very quickly rearranges the brain is on the spoken rather than literary speech.
Motivation
In addition to the inability to languages, I also imputed chronic laziness itself: force yourself to sit down at the next session or just listen to Podcasts became increasingly difficult. Now I think the problem was the absence of significant progress. To achieve tangible results needed more than one month. No progress - there motivation. It's like losing weight: if a week later the scales a little bit did not go down, for we stamp rolls "jam" a sense of disappointment. LearnatHome.ru creators have devoted considerable attention to this important factor:
- Progress chart. Each user has its own rating, which is recalculated after each activity on the site in relation to all other users. I can observe the changes to the predilection of my rating to a simple graph, and data is output only for the last 4 weeks, that does not give back to relax and mark time on one exercise.
- Setting goals. For extra motivation, you can set a goal for the next month, for example, be at least 30-minute exercise. And remove the target can not - otherwise what is the purpose of it. The system will mark the milestone deliverables, as well as to report on the achievement of the set thresholds. Like anything magical, but the brain gets the feeling of every month another case made by adding a coin in the piggy bank of my self-esteem.
- Recommendation system. This feature was for me one of the most useful, because all my life I suffer from the problem of choice. The questions "Where to start?" And "How to continue?" At once puzzled me in the contemplation of the abundance of the proposed training videos, especially when "everything is delicious"!. So, you can start with anything! After passing 4-5 exercises, the system automatically determines the level of "student" and starts make recommendations for each of the following classes, tracking results, and gradually moving higher and higher. So you can just deal with that is focused on organizational issues.
- Interesting content. Personally, I exercise "sucked" from the first class I in one sitting beat 7 videos! Presumably, the content recognizable, especially when caught snippets of your favorite movies or TV series. It is also not without significance, and the element of surprise - you never know what will be the next recommendation. The exercise-based, except for commercials and videos, there is articulated comics.
- Espresso method "By first letter." The system leaves no room even for such a favorite "excuse" to himself as "I am very tired today" or "15 minutes still did not have time." In each lesson, you can turn on the "Enter the first letter": in this case, in a text string enough the right to enter only the first letter of each word in a sentence, the full word when it is added automatically. Gradually, during such "English pyatiminutok" I learned from the first listen have time to bring the entire phrase by clicking on individual letters is almost in sync with the voice acting.
Instead of a conclusion bring their personal statistics: a month of regular exercise (1-2 exercises per day), I was able to watch your favorite movie "Forrest Gump" in the original. And you know, it was worth it!
Service is developing dynamically, if you want to keep abreast of the latest developments, subscribe to the tape facebook.com/learnathome or join the group vk.com/learnathome. Here you will find announcements of new lessons
LearnatHome.ru
If you like this service or have friends for whom reading in English is overdue, please click on the button below: