If you have wondered about this question, you probably already know that there are many methodological and practical approaches to learning English. But before we go any further, let's ask ourselves this question:
There is a widespread view that the most important aspect of learning a second language is motivation. If a learner has strong motivation, success will be almost guaranteed, regardless of the approach or method chosen. We can at least partially agree with that, as we believe strong motivation will mean more personal time will be allocated to learning and proper diligence will be applied.
But let's explore the meaning of "motivation" in more detail. We may discover the definition of motivation as "the driving force by which humans achieve their goals" on Wikipedia. Evidently, if one’s goal is to feel more comfortable on infrequent trips to English-speaking countries (vacations, tourism), the “force” will be much less than for one whose goal is to obtain an education, a career, or start an international business.
However interested a learner may be in the end result, the costs of its achievement should also be considered (let's call it "resistance" to the "force"). For example, when one has made up his mind to spend one hour of his personal time learning a language daily and additionally to pay for an English tutor over a period of one year, he probably hopes to achieve an advanced level of language proficiency in return.
It is common for those studying English to feel frustrated by the speed of gaining language knowledge. But it is worse if low achievement is seen in test results. This may launch a cascade of doubts, decrease self-confidence, or even cause self-accusation. These feelings can have a negative effect on what we call motivation; in some cases, a learner may simply give up and discontinue learning.
In other words, motivation is, yes, important, but it needs to be rewarded in the form of regular achievements seen from a test or self-assessments of the learner’s language skills, and the higher the results, the better.
At the other end of the scale, we have different approaches and methods of learning a language, and if we look at what their proponents say, we will see numerous arguments on why a particular method is better than others. We can only agree with their shared understanding that various approaches have varying levels of efficacy and, thus, will respond to learner motivation in various ways. And so, we come to the conclusion that the choice of language learning method, along with motivation, is a significant factor in gaining language proficiency.
Before we go on (in search of the best method), let's answer the next question:
There are hundreds of formal tests available for the assessment of language proficiency. The common feature of the standardized tests is their structure, which emphasizes four fundamental skills (just as an example, you can also read another article on this subject):
We would rather add to this list knowledge of grammar, which is necessary for the latter two skills (writing and speaking), and vocabulary knowledge, which is needed for all the abilities listed above. Of course, the ideal case would be if we found a single method or approach for developing all the skills appropriately.
To start, let's put aside all approaches to learning related to obtaining a degree in linguistics (as well as any degree or diploma as a translator or interpreter) that require years of attendance at lectures and passing examinations or any other full-time university program. In this article, we are talking about more or less autonomous or personalized ways to acquire a second language.
Hire a language tutor or enroll in a group course. It is probably the first option that comes to a learner’s mind. Currently, there are multiple different platforms offering this kind of training. They are typically organized online using Skype, Zoom, or their alternatives, but it may be a course with actual attendance.Is this approach effective? Yes, in many ways, we can call it 'effective', but there are several factors that may affect its attractiveness:
In addition, you need to understand that a tutor-guided learning form doesn’t rid you of the need for self-directed work at all, and the tutor’s time will be used not only for conveying a better understanding of the language and its rules but also for motivating your commitment and discipline.
The strong points of this approach to learning are: (1) speaking skills; it is highly likely that your communication with a tutor will be designed as a series of tasks; you probably will be asked to prepare speeches, present them, and answer questions; and (2) writing skills (including knowledge of grammar) that will also develop better as you will receive detailed feedback on your work and a review of grammar rules you need to understand better.
As for reading and listening skills, we wouldn’t give priority to this approach. Let’s say they are average here, and what almost entirely depends upon your own effort is your English vocabulary development.
One of the most noteworthy disadvantages of this approach is its cost. Tutors can often be expensive, as they charge a fee for every hour of tuition. Besides, if you want to have tutoring sessions with a native English speaker, you need to already have some background knowledge in the language to better understand your tutor, communicate, and derive maximum benefit from the course.
Learn English from a book. There are countless books, textbooks, and self-study guides for learners of English. Collins, Longman, Oxford, Cambridge, and many other publishers print new or rewrite their existing textbooks every year. These books often come as packages complemented by audio material and exercises.The choice of a particular book is not an easy question; to cover this subject adequately would require a separate article. But here are some quick hints: Choose books for self-study learning; this should be stated explicitly («self-study») at the beginning of a book. The level of language proficiency of a target learner of the book should match your level of language proficiency (beginner, intermediate, or advanced). A good example of such a book is any from the series “English for Everyone” (link 2). Your options may be limited by what's available in your region or the availability of versions of a book in your language (although we believe the latter is not absolutely necessary, especially if you are able to use a dictionary).
Without a book (or textbook), it is practically impossible to learn a language well. Good books are typically authored by subject-matter experts, who then have their work reviewed by other experts before publication. The most important elements of English are covered in these systematically arranged texts. Review exercises and questions allow you to practice the tenses and grammatical structures and assess your progress through the book.
This learning method is well suited for people with strong self-discipline, as it requires learners to spend more time working on their own. The advantages of the approach are its relatively low costs and the fact that it is easy to periodically review material you have already studied to reinforce what you have learned and identify chapters you might need to restudy.
Use of English books and text books is a good way of learning grammar; reading these books in the learning process also develops your reading skills. But it is less effective in developing sufficient speaking and communication skills, so you have to balance this out in one of the ways available to you (for example, you may try to find an English conversation partner in one of the groups on social media; another option is to use special services and sites online; or use language exchange apps).
Self-directed learning based on audio or video content. It is also quite a popular approach, which may include watching movies, TV shows, and other videos, including YouTube, and listening to podcasts in English. There are a very large number of absolutely free pieces of content that include text recordings of the audio (in the form of subtitles) or voiced-over versions of some newspaper articles (for example, you may find audio versions on Google Podcasts and text versions on the newspaper’s site).The “more is better” rule is at work here: the more you listen, the more you learn and understand English. The hardest part of this strategy is the need to translate large numbers of pieces of material by yourself. Listening without understanding, even if it does some good, might be boring for you, and it may just wear you out, as well as listening to the same audio too many times. So, the factor that may limit your progress is your speed of translation. Still, it is worth mentioning that while you are doing translation, you also improve your language knowledge.
It might already be apparent that this method is good for the development of listening skills and also for growing up your vocabulary (when you translate). At the same time skills in other areas of language proficiency are not getting enough attention. You may additionally read texts aloud to somehow improve your speaking skills and add some other techniques (from other approaches) to get better at your writing skills, including grammar.
The method is more effective when you already know English at a level that allows you to listen without constantly looking at the dictionary (when you understand 80 to 90% of speech that is approximately equivalent to knowing 1800–3000 words). It will make your listening experience interesting and pleasurable, and you will just look up the meanings of the new words in the dictionary from time to time. An additional strong point is the fact that it is absolutely free.
Web applications and mobile applications. It is another option covering a large group of variants of learning, which in turn is better to divide into subgroups as follows:There are many different views about the effectiveness of web application-based learning in English. As our own experience (of the authors of this article) suggests, we would underline apps built on the spaced repetition technique. The essence of this technique is that you need to remember a word with the given meaning and with its example of use in a sentence. If you succeed, the time interval between a moment when the same word will be asked again will increase (it may be several days, a month, half a year, etc.). But applications of this type all vary in their convenience, and some of them may be seen as inconvenient (complex to handle, need to load data, search for correct meanings).
In spite of that, of course, an app may be characterized as an effective method to study the language, firstly for its vocabulary-building potential, which in turn becomes the basis for the development of reading skills, listening skills, and, to a lesser extent, the development of writing skills (correct spelling of the words) and speaking skills (vocabulary for speaking and communication needs).
Social networks, communication, and language exchange sites. There are groups of different language learners on social media (for example, on Facebook) where you can find a partner for conversation practice. You may use social media even without joining these groups; just write the comments to the posts or videos in English. If you feel embarrassed by possible mistakes, you may use grammar-checking tools that are available on the internet (quillbot.com or writer.com) and also a translator (for example, Google Translate).
For instance, after watching a video on YouTube (ensure the subtitle function is turned on), understanding its main points, and wanting to leave a comment, you write a first draft of your text, copy it to one of the sites mentioned above, check it for grammar while trying to understand your errors, and then use the translation tool to see if your message matches what you are trying to say in your native language. After some time, you become less dependent on such a long procedure, and your mistakes will decrease.
Social networking and online communication, first of all, will help to develop your writing skills, as well as your listening and reading skills.
Becoming fluent in another language is not an easy goal to achieve. In the same way as in the case of your native language, which we start to take in from infancy and spend thousands of hours (listening, identifying meanings, developing reading, and writing), the foreign language will require, if not comparable, then definitely considerable time.
As we can see, no one method, when taken alone, can guarantee effective language acquisition. In order to be successful, we must combine the approaches. The combinations will vary depending on the specifics of each situation in order to better adapt, accommodate, and serve each learner.
Now let's look at the possible combinations. Here are a few scenarios:
And, of course, do not forget what we mentioned in the beginning: motivation and dedication. Be ready to undertake learning activities on an everyday basis. To the same degree as in a sport, in our case, your achievements are very much dependent on your efforts.
This article is written by the team of the Lexicise project.
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