In this post you will learn how I myself, without tutors and courses, without spending a penny, learned English in a year from almost full 0 to Upper Intermediate.

So, it's pretty simple: Motivation! It was she who gave impetus to self-development and the thirst for knowledge of English rules, words and letters. Agree, nothing will stop you if you have motivation ...

Everyone may have their own motivation: for some it is to go abroad in search of a better life / work / study, for others to watch films in the original and enjoy the voices of the actors, and not listen to our cool, flawed translations, for others, to understand English-language lectures, thereby killing two birds with one stone: learning English, expanding your vocabulary, and developing in the area that interests you. (Purely for reference, almost every field, whether it's anatomy, programming, drawing or something, is full of different courses and materials, and there are even more of them in English, they are cooler and better. That is, you have more options for what to watch and read.

When everything became clear with motivation, you need to outline a training plan. It can be individual for everyone, because reading is better for one, listening for another, chatting for the third ... You need to find a middle ground for yourself. That is, spend more time on one and less on the other, so that there is no bias such as you read well, but speak poorly or something like that.

It's clear that without knowing the basic set of words, you won't get very far in any of these sections. Therefore, you need to start with the cramming of words, yes, it is with the memorization of words. Services such as Anki and LinguaLeo are very helpful with this. In both of them, this is very convenient: there are spaced repetition functions, there are voiceovers of words, their transcriptions and visual representations. Anki can be downloaded for Android for free, but Apple users will have to pay almost 1000 rubles for it. This can be circumvented by practicing on Anki's own website without downloading the app on an Iphone or iPad. LinguaLeo is free for both Android and Apple, but has some limitations, such as the limit of adding words to the dictionary, truncated grammar, and so on. A full subscription for a year costs 1200r. You can get a free subscription by inviting friends. See Leo's website for details.

Once you have learned a basic set of words, such that you can understand what is required of you in the textbook (English / American textbook in English!) you can move on to grammar. In parallel with cramming the basic set of words, I recommend practicing these words by pronouncing them. It is quite convenient to do this using the method of Dr. Pimsleur, (his lessons can be downloaded, they are free). The essence of this method is that you listen to simple dialogues and repeat them. Very convenient, allows you to fix words. Along with this, you need to read! Reading is very important, do not underestimate it, it is on it that a lot of people who took toefl / ielts got burned. (international exam in English).

Reading should start developing with simple adapted stories for dumb, beginners, like Winnie the Pooh or something like that.

As soon as we push off from complete zero, and we can say / write / read something intelligible, we need to move on, namely, to complicate! In grammar, “Red Murphy or Oxford Grammar (both elementary)” will help you, in listening - BBC podcasts for English learners, conversation - native speaker (English for practice) or at worst, watch adapted videos, write out phrases from dialogues and pronounce them, reading - the same adapted books. We also continue to use Anki and LinguaLeo. Leo, for example, is full of materials that will help you learn grammar, improve reading and listening.

Once this milestone is passed, you can speak clearly (describe yourself, talk about your goals / desires, etc., using simple phrases and sentences), move on. You can start watching normal videos/series/materials for further study... Videos created by natives for natives. Wow! You can start watching Friends!

All the same ones will help you in grammar, but the already blue Murphy (blue) and the yellowed Oxford (yellow), I recommend going through both textbooks, because grammar is well stated in one, practice is well given in the other. In listening - BBC podcasts, Luke's English podcast (I especially liked it), songs, etc. (). Conversation - look for natives, this can be done using the sites interpals and scout (More on this in the next article). Reading - texts for exams like toefl/ielts. We continue to use Anki and LinguaLeo to improve our vocabulary.

After this milestone, you can safely move on to something more serious, namely, read English literature in the original, watch films in the original, talk on various topics with natives, listen to podcasts for natives created by natives and take green Murphy and green Oxford by storm .

Listening and reading can be done on the road, but grammar and conversation will have to be allocated time during the day. The Internet is a very useful thing, it has a lot of textbooks, materials that can be downloaded for free! You can learn English without spending anything but time on it! The main thing is your desire, motivation and faith in yourself. With motivation and a good start, classes will become a habit for you and then it will be easier and more enjoyable for you ...

Below are links to tutorials, podcasts, courses, and more.
(A little tip: determine what you are very interested in, and watch and read about it in English, so learning will be a great pleasure)

Learn and develop and motivate others to do the same! If any of the readers have their own success story, please write in the comments.

Classification of English Proficiency Levels

Depending on the degree of proficiency in certain language skills, several levels of language proficiency can be distinguished.

There are many classifications, but the disadvantage of any of them is the inability to draw a clear line between levels.

At the level of the European Union, a system of language proficiency from A to C has been adopted, where each group is divided into 2 more subgroups. However, in our country, more common, is another classification, which includes from 3 to 8 steps in different sources.

On average, there are six:

1. Basic. At this level, it is too early to talk about any language proficiency, we are only talking about the beginning of learning, getting to know the basics.
2. Elementary. At this stage, a person is already able to understand simple sentences and inscriptions in public places. He should also be able to build elementary speech constructions, for example, introduce himself, ask for directions, order in a cafe, etc.
3. Pre-Intermediate. This stage implies knowledge of the commonly used basics of English grammar, the correct construction of sentences and the ability to explain everyday topics in communication with foreigners with good pronunciation. The average non-linguistic school gives its students about this level of knowledge.
4. intermediate. Knowledge of the language at this level means understanding the meaning when reading books and watching films, competent oral and written speech in the case of most non-highly specialized topics.
5. Upper Intermediate. At this stage, a person is able to communicate fluently, albeit not without gross errors, in oral and written form, knows the entire system of grammar of the English language, although he may not understand the subtleties and nuances that are mostly understandable only to native speakers. This level is sufficient for living, studying and working abroad.
6. Advanced. This stage means knowledge of a foreign language at the level of the native - an extensive vocabulary, knowledge of slang and everyday expressions, the ability to easily communicate on any topic using idiomatic and other established expressions. This level can only be achieved by continuous use of the language in communication.

Language level pre-intermediate

Pre-Intermediate Skills

This level implies slightly below average knowledge, i.e., corresponds to knowledge of the language at the everyday level.

Conversation and communication

• speaking: the ability to speak on everyday topics with competent intonation, correct pronunciation and not too slow speed.
• Speech understanding: the ability to understand calm and unhurried speech in situations of social interaction. This is not only about personal communication, but also, for example, about announcements on the streets, train stations, airports, etc., talking on the phone, using TV and radio, etc.

Reading and writing

• Reading skills: the ability to correctly read and understand the essence of texts of a general orientation, both artistic and journalistic content.
• Writing skills: the ability to tell about yourself, describe a situation, a person or an event, compose the main types of electronic messages - a request, an apology, a request.

Conditions for further study of English from the Pre-Intermediate level

This level implies a deepening of knowledge from the elementary level, a significant expansion of vocabulary, acquaintance and consolidation of such grammatical material as modal verbs, simple past and future tenses, different types of questions.

Development of speech skills on the Pre-Intermediate course

An ever-increasing vocabulary and mastery of basic grammatical structures allow you to move from simple sentences to coherent and meaningful communication on the following basic topics:

• Family.
• Purchases.
• Transport.
• Sport.
• Schedule.
• Story about yourself.
• Hobby.
• Professions.
• Seasons.
• Holidays.

Dialogue is preferred. Students must learn how to build interrogative sentences, understand them, correctly compose answers, that is, imitate situations of real communication.

At this stage, it is important to overcome the fear of communication. This is achieved by constant practice, role-playing games. In addition, it is important to learn how to express thoughts in different ways, that is, in a situation of misunderstanding, make it clear that something is not clear, and try to convey the content in other words.

A variety of schools and courses for the study of foreign languages ​​offer comprehensive testing of the level of knowledge. However, you can test yourself in all respects except for speaking on your own - there are plenty of tests on the Internet. Testing will help to decide on further training and not to re-do what is already well known.

Thus, the path up this ladder from the level of a graduate of a good special school with English to the level of an Oxford University applicant takes at least a whole year of study abroad, no matter how insulting it may seem to our graduate. Well, for a capable and hardworking graduate, perhaps 9 months is enough. And with intensive training (30 hours a week), perhaps six months.

Here we need to make some explanations. When we are talking about the level of language proficiency of a local resident (native speaker), then a decently educated and moderately erudite local resident, for whom this language is native, is meant. And even then, not every Englishman can pass the Cambridge exam for “Proficiency”. What can we say about the huge number of immigrants from all over the world who speak English in a very specific way. Sometimes students who come to study English at high levels speak it much better than those they encounter, say, on the streets of London.

But without studying in the country of the language being studied, it is almost impossible to master a living modern language - no textbooks have time to keep track of what happens to the language when a variety of jargons, dialects, slang, foreign borrowings are mixed. You need to find yourself not only in the linguistic, but also in the cultural context, to know what the newspapers write about, what they discuss on TV, what songs they sing, what jokes they tell ... Only then will it be possible to pass the English exams with the highest score.

So how long does it take to learn English for admission to the University of Oxford (this educational institution makes the highest possible requirements for the level of English proficiency of foreign applicants, in many universities the requirements are much lower)?

According to Western estimates (approximate, average and published solely as information of a recommendatory nature), from zero to passing the IELTS exam at 7.5, you need to study 1000-1200 classroom hours, with a qualified teacher. Hours of self-study, preparation, assignments, etc. must be added to this number.

Theoretically, you can pass all the levels without going abroad - it can take about 2.5 - 3 years if you take courses a couple of times a week for 4 hours. "Theoretically" because in practice it is quite difficult to implement, except perhaps to enter the philological faculty of a prestigious university. In ordinary language courses, it is rarely possible to move from level to level without breaks in classes, and at high levels, groups are generally formed very rarely. At the Advanced level, it is no longer possible to do without a trip to study abroad.

If you study abroad, it will take three times less time - one year is usually enough even for a graduate of an ordinary high school to reach the required level of foreign language proficiency.

Thus, the well-known formula “time is money” gets its visual embodiment: you can save money, but you will have to spend much more time. You can reach the next level faster, but you will have to pay more. You can learn a language even faster - study more intensively, in mini-groups or individually, but it will cost even more.

But what does not happen is miracles. For no money, no one anywhere can learn a foreign language in a month - no matter what the sellers of all sorts of miracles like "25-frame", "unique author's techniques", "English in 16 lessons" and other nonsense promise. Parents who plan their child's future career in advance can successfully combine studying in our country with periodic trips to summer language courses abroad - then by the end of our school, in addition to a certificate, a teenager can also receive a certificate of passing an international exam.

If you need advice on how to most effectively and quickly improve your level of foreign language proficiency, please contact us! We help everyone, regardless of region or country of residence.
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In the resume for various vacancies in the column “language proficiency”, applicants often indicate “English language proficiency at the Intermediate level”. Translated into Russian, this means "possession at an average level." Employers have an ambiguous attitude to such a record. Some believe that this is an insufficient level, others believe that this is quite normal for conducting professional activities in a chosen vacancy. So what is this level? And is it really sufficient? Can it be improved and how? In this work, we will try to answer these questions.

First of all, we note that the concept of "average" in this case is very conditional: after all, we are not in the English-speaking language environment, and English is precisely a foreign language. And to master the language, even at an average level, is already a great achievement. After all, why only on average? The language consists of words, phraseological units, speech constructions. Moreover, many of them are completely unknown to foreigners, and are used only by native speakers, and their true meaning is the subject of study by linguists (see the works of L.V. Koshman, I.V. Tsvetkova, I.A. Zimnyaya, etc.). For example, the expression “We are in the same boat” is translated (in our opinion) as “We are in the same boat”, while in the USA this phraseological unit means “We are all in the same position”, i.e. has a completely different meaning, familiar only to native speakers and, moreover, in a single country. There are also many different individual words and phrases that belong to the general vocabulary, but are not used as often as their synonyms and paronyms, familiar to those who study English. In other words, the concept of "language" as a whole can be compared with Moscow, in which the locals are well oriented, on the one hand, but where, nevertheless, it is impossible to know everything even for a native Muscovite. Yes, and the knowledge of the city is improved only with the years lived in it, i.e. Again, this is purely empirical.

Hence, English Intermediate- level is really normal for most of our compatriots studying it. Moreover, language proficiency at this level is the result of long and hard work: it has been established that this level is typical, for example, for graduates of schools with in-depth study of the English language with the teaching of a number of subjects in it. Teaching in such schools is carried out according to an enhanced program that places very high demands on the student.

What are the skills and abilities of a person who knows English Intermediate? This is the ability to communicate on various everyday topics, a good understanding of oral and written speech, the ability to correspond in English, a good command of its grammar (although errors are allowed), an average vocabulary.

Below we give a brief description of this level in relation to the main criteria for assessing language skills and abilities.

Dialogic speech (conversation):

• Understand other people's opinions, attitudes and emotions and verbally express their own;
• Express a lack of understanding of a situation and ask the interlocutor to explain it;
• Express your thoughts in a simple way using common syntactic constructions;
• Communicate with a clear and understandable pronunciation for others and intonation selection of sentences for the purpose of the statement;
• Express personal emotions and feelings with the help of logical stress and intonational means.

Listening (comprehension of what is heard):

• Understand the main ideas set forth in the text, the general meaning from the context and recognize the content of what is heard;
• Recognize and distinguish between the pronunciation of a person for whom English is not native, and a native speaker;
• Ability to understand and distinguish between informal and formal written and spoken language different situations.

Written speech:

• Fill out various papers: declarations, questionnaires, etc.;
• Write personal letters of various content;
• Write informative formal and informal letters;
• Write down the sequence of events;
• Describe people, places and situations;
• Supplement the presentation of a particular situation with personal comments;
• Simply and grammatically correctly express your thoughts in a written speech statement.

The skills and abilities described above are quite enough for full-fledged work in a domestic company, by the nature of which there are situations where the use of English is necessary. For example, such an employee, using English Intermediate, can carry out business correspondence using common lexical units, meet a foreign partner at the airport, tell him about the company's activities, etc.

At the same time, we note that this level is not enough for those who are going to work abroad or engage in research work there. Modern practice shows that persons who own English to Intermediate-level, pass international TOEFL exams with results of 5.0 or 5.5, which is not enough, for example, for admission to a foreign university where education is taught in English (the passing score in such educational institutions according to the TOEFL system, as a rule, is from 7.0 - A.Ch .). In this regard, it should be noted that English Intermediate can be improved in all aspects of language skills and abilities through special training sessions in courses or individually. At the same time, most methodologists are unanimous in their opinion that the preparation should be gradual, i.e. level-by-level (for example, from the Intermediate level to the Upper-Intermediate level, and then to the Advanced level).

In other words, if your level of language proficiency is average, then it is quite possible to improve it: depending on the goals of learning and the environment for using the English language, an appropriate curriculum, necessary manuals and teaching aids will be selected.

Someone promises that you will learn English in a month, and someone shows a training program for a year and a half or two. Who determines how much time it takes to learn a language? Since September 2016, a new level has been added to the training program in our training center - Intermedia +. Who needs it and why - read this article.

Plus or minus?

In recent years, in many language training centers, after completing the Intermediate level, students are offered to move on to study not Upper-Intermediate, but Intermediate +. The question arises - where did the “+” come from and is it necessary to spend time on it, is it a trick to get additional profit?

For decades, we have been taught that training centers use a classification of 6 levels of English: Beginner, Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate and Advance. Why did they suddenly develop the 7th? And after all, it is not offered everywhere, someone continues to teach according to the 6-level system. Should you consider your training center as a scammer if it has 7 levels?

Where do legs grow from?

But in reality it turns out the following. Intermediate + was introduced by the British themselves, or rather the organization that initially developed its 6-level system, wrote the program and published textbooks - Oxford University Press (most of all educational centers teach exactly according to the methodology and with the help of Oxford textbooks).

The main reason is the large gap between the knowledge after the completed Intermediate level and the expected level at the beginning of the Upper-Intermediate study. That is, a student who passed the test well and confirmed his Intermedia, feels like a loser at Upper, because the tasks of a new level turn out to be very difficult for him. For this reason, many “do not survive” at all before Advance.

Why only now?

Textbooks for the "new" level have been published since 2012, when it gained particular popularity. Ailts began to be required not only for admission to foreign universities operating according to the British education system, many employers became interested in an international certificate, in Kazakhstan it is possible not to take an English exam for admission to a master's program if there is a valid Ailts certificate (with a score of at least 6 points) .

In some English-speaking countries, Ailts is required to obtain a work / student visa or to move there for permanent residence. In general, IELTS forever!

And everyone knows that only those with a completed level of Intermedia are taken to prepare for the Ailts. However, not all students with the Intermedia level are then given the power of Ailts, sometimes it seems to people that they didn’t even learn the language. The result is stress, low scores and wasted money.

Also, one cannot dismiss the fact that our country is increasingly integrating into the international space and more and more people have an incentive or even a need to learn English.

The number of language centers and their graduates is increasing, the number of people who do not learn English "for themselves" or do not consider this process as a fashion or a hobby (such students after mastering Elementary leave to learn the next language), but purposefully strive to master the language at a good level.

And this is where the discrepancy is revealed - why is there such a big difference between the closed level of Intermedia and the base that is expected from those students who came to study at the next level of Upper.

What were you hoping for?

Did the Oxford Methodists initially make a mistake in creating the classification and textbooks, or are local educational centers and language courses somehow incomplete or incorrectly teaching the language?

In fact, just a different mentality and idea of ​​learning. Our post-Soviet teaching methodology, which is still in force in Kazakhstan, primarily at school, involves the following scheme: what the teacher gave in the lesson, he will ask later. Accordingly, no one else does anything - the ceiling is to do homework.

The Western system sees the teacher not as a mentor or absolute authority, but only as a coordinator who gives direction and helps in case of difficulties. A student in the same British school is accustomed to looking for materials on the topic himself, to perform additional tasks for homework, and to be independently responsible for his knowledge.

Therefore, the Oxford methodists implied that at the level of Intermedia, foreign students would themselves develop and improve the language, read additional literature, do not only homework, but also practice similar tasks, expand their horizons and the list of topics, and hence vocabulary. Do everything that the British themselves do when they learn a foreign language. Sorry, this is not how we learn. 🙂

Intermediate+ is…

What does the level of English Intermediate mean? You can already speak fluently on everyday topics, read and write at a good level, have a good command of grammar, but you still make many mistakes and have problems understanding spoken language. Welcome to the Intermediate Plus (B1+) course!

An in-depth study of the previously covered material with the analysis of idioms, improving pronunciation and improving colloquial vocabulary. Intermediate+ eliminates existing defects in grammar and vocabulary.

This course is specifically designed as a smooth transition from Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate. This course is right for you if:

• You have successfully passed the Intermediate level, but still feel unsure in applying the acquired knowledge.
• You start learning English after a long break.
• You need practice to develop all four language skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing.
• Want to continue learning English and complete all levels well.
• You are about to start preparing for the IELTS/TOEFL program.
• In fact, Intermediate + is for those who still want to stay in the “strictly according to the recipe” mode or are not sure that his self-study will give a guaranteed result.

Summary

Intermedia+ also consists of 60 hours (not academic, but full time) and lasts approximately 5 months, just like Intermedia. Intermedia+ does not replace the Upper level, it allows you to deepen and consolidate the knowledge gained at Intermedia. If upon completion of Intermedia at Ailts, for example, you would have received 4-5 points in the exam, then with Intermedia + it is already 5-5.5 points without special training.

Intermedia + will not be needed for those students who have passed the final tests on Intermedia by almost 100%, continue to study a lot on their own, or if a person got the opportunity, having closed Intermedia, to constantly communicate with native speakers (living in an English-speaking country, working in an English-speaking company, etc.). Provided that after that and before the student decided to improve his knowledge of the language, there was not a long period of time.

In any case, remember that now there are many sites on the Internet where you can check your language level for free and online.

Also, before starting to study the Upper-Intermediate level in a group or individually, in almost any training center you can take a free trial lesson and evaluate your strengths and capabilities.

If you can switch from Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate right away, do it. If you feel that Upper is too tough for you yet, it’s better not to rush, otherwise you can lose both time and money.

Learn English the way you like and have fun! We will be waiting for you at the Rocket Stage!