The profession of a programmer has always been and will be directly related to the knowledge of languages ​​- programming languages ​​and, of course, English. This is also due to the fact that most of the innovative solutions, inventions and achievements often come to us from America and Europe.

In addition, no matter how trite it may sound, English is the most common international language, which means that it can be useful not only in work.

Why is English needed in IT?

Let's try to name the main reasons why programmers and other IT employees often turn to schools or English courses:

• a higher level of English is often associated with new career opportunities, including a relocation to another country, with a higher salary and better conditions;
• most of the modern resources, manuals, professional literature is written in English and has not yet been translated, and what has already been translated, as a rule, quickly becomes outdated;
• English simplifies the task of communicating with your foreign team lead or customer, client, which means it speeds up the work process and saves time on communication;
• self-development - many people, developing professionally, want to develop personally, increasing their competence not only in the main field of activity;
• entertaining content is often presented in high quality in English (for example, watching the Silicon Valley series in the original will be much more interesting, because you often have to omit and even cut out certain points if they could not be adequately and clearly translated);
• travel and vacations - it is often possible to buy a more profitable tour or tickets at a discount on the English-language sites of popular low-cost airlines, and simply, relaxing and hearing English speech, or buying souvenirs in a foreign store, it is easier to do this by knowing the necessary phrases and words in English.

We figured out the reasons, now let's move on to the nuances of learning English for programmers. Most often, you don’t have to start learning a language from scratch - you already have knowledge of at least certain professional vocabulary, computer slang, the ability to read and write. Concerning Teaching technical English can be easier.

Problems in learning technical English

• the percentage of live communication in English is usually much lower than communication by correspondence using special solutions such as Confluence or Jira;
• narrow specialization of terms that are used in speech - a programmer often has to discuss nuances and errors in the code in English than simple everyday things;
• low frequency of communication in English in general, since communication usually takes place in their native language (many IT departments are often formed from Russian-speaking employees so that communication is better established);
• professional literature, despite many complex technical terms, contains relatively simple grammar, which leads to misunderstanding of more complex structures and sentences;
• English, despite its analytical structure, contains a fairly large number of exceptions related to historical factors that are rarely or not explained at all when learning the language;
• an abundance of synonyms and shades of the meaning of one word, which can even have opposite meanings, or even be several parts of speech at once (let's take the word fine - this is both good, and a fine, and a fine).

There are a number of simple recommendations that you should be aware of, given the above nuances in the study. It is always worth starting from the terms of study, where, most often, many mistakes are made, because many set themselves a relatively difficult and too global task - to learn English.

And all and for a month or even three days. But ask yourself a question: is it possible to pump up the press from a big ball into beautiful cubes in 3 days, a month or 3 months?

Usually not. But you can tighten flabby muscles, increase muscle elasticity and throw off a couple of extra pounds.

Also in English - you can learn simple tenses and three or four hundred words, but you can’t go from a beginner to a professional English expert in three months, and therefore the timing should be determined based on current tasks.

If we want to learn the basics - 3-4 months, and each further level will mean another plus six months of study.

It is better to take an introductory lesson in one of the English schools, where a specialist will test your skills, talk in detail about key mistakes and tell you where to start.

If it turned out that the level of English is basic, it is worth starting with general basics and simple tenses, and not specific vocabulary and technical language, because this will complicate the task and increase the learning period. This is what, as a rule, greatly reduces the motivation of students and leads to disappointment in learning languages ​​in general.

It will always be possible to connect a special course and study it in parallel, after a certain time. But learning at a time and fixing in practice is faster and easier than 10-15 words than 20-30. On the other hand, if you have an average or high level, it is advisable to immediately move on to studying a narrower vocabulary.

It is worth finding the opportunity to communicate in English additionally, outside the lessons - in conversation clubs, for example, because this will increase the ability to perceive by ear and improve the skills of spontaneous communication.

In addition to homework and special technical English classes, you need to connect English-language content in order to accustom yourself to it and speech in general.

But all the previous tips are more general and will suit almost anyone who wants to learn English.

Specific moments of technical English

• technical English very often intersects with business English, and therefore it will be useful to know the basics of business communication;
• a number of topics that tend to suit most IT professionals are interviews and resumes, business correspondence, team communication, popular teamwork methods, reporting and technical specifications, presentations, time management and, for the more advanced and experienced , topics of startups, freelance and your own business;
• given that the previous topics involve live communication, it is worth studying with a teacher at least to work out these particular topics.

One of the most important points can be called the question of motivation, since it is half or even more of the overall success:

• set aside regular two or three days a week when you are ready to study English for an hour and a half;
• homework is worth doing, and it is better if you do it immediately after the lesson or the next day, in order to more reliably consolidate knowledge in memory;
• on all other days, you also need to spend at least half an hour on English in order to constantly be in an English-speaking environment;
• you need a clear and, preferably, a visual goal in studying - global and intermediate (a teacher will help you with this, who after a couple of weeks of training will remind you that certain lexical and grammatical topics have already been studied, and after 3-4 months will say whether you are ready to move on further, one level higher);
• constant feedback on progress is needed (again, the teacher is most welcome here), because, observing your progress, it is much easier to move forward;
• it is worth choosing entertaining content so that English is associated not only with compulsory study and a lot of effort, but also with relaxation.

If you think that half an hour a day is not enough and not productive, here is a list of things that will easily help you constantly throw firewood into your mind halls:

• you can read the BBC\CNN news feed;
• see the news of profiles you are interested in in social networks (Twitter is good for this);
• listen to songs of your favorite foreign artists;
• watch short videos on YouTube or episodes of your favorite TV shows;
• make stickers with unknown words and hang around the house;
• take one of the types of training on the site dedicated to the English language and its study;
• write a message to a foreign pen friend.

Technical English courses for programmers

Now imagine that in the process of learning you have an experienced mentor who will correct mistakes and cheer you up when needed. Then, taking into account the previous recommendations, even the study of difficult technical English turns from torment and routine into a great way to relax and develop, which will also bring material benefits in the future.

These are the classes that await you at EnglishDom. You can see for yourself by visiting a free introductory lesson at our school, and at the same time check your level, and have a good time, having received important and useful tips on learning the language.

In addition, we have very attractive prices for English courses for engineers!

The choice is yours. We wish you success!

Big and friendly family EnglishDom

English is spoken by more than 400 million people worldwide and another 1.5 billion use it as a second language. All programming documentation is originally in English, the 5 million Stack Overflow community communicates in English. Interesting and money orders, latest news from the IT field and much more are closed to developers who do not speak this language. Knowledge of English is a prerequisite for successful employment and career growth as a programmer. To help GeekBrains blog subscribers learn, we with a startup team for learning English via Skype EnglishDom prepared practical tips on how to learn technical English quickly and effectively.

Get busy every day

This is true for anyone who wants to quickly learn a foreign language. Do not look for excuses in well-established phrases like: “five minutes does not solve anything.” During this time, you can read the news in English, learn a few words or watch a thematic video. Look for opportunities, not excuses. Download an English audiobook to listen to while riding the subway, or a language-learning app to make the most of those five minutes.

Learn words by topic

For a better memory study words in context of usage. For example, to master the English terminology on the topic “Algebra of Sets”, read the thematic articles and highlight unknown words. After that, practice them by studying materials on the topic until you can do without a dictionary. This way of studying will allow you to understand the shades of the meanings of words, which cannot be achieved simply by memorizing a dictionary.

Set your goals right

“Learn technical English” is too abstract a goal. New words appear daily and even native speakers do not know all the subtleties. And when something is too abstract, it is impossible to understand the quality of the result, because of this there is no motivation. That's why set specific, measurable goals, for example: “Fulfill a small order from an English-speaking employer”, “Read such and such a Java book in English”, “Know 100 technical terms”, “Ask for advice on an English-language resource.”

Read English-language IT forums

Here you can pick up relevant expressions that programmers around the world use in informal communication. It's not just a fun whim. Knowing the subtleties will be important for subsequent communication with foreign colleagues and customers.

Subscribe to English-speaking programmers on social networks

First, it is an inexhaustible source of new words and expressions. Secondly, you will be “in the know” of the latest events and novelties from the IT world.

Knowledge of vocabulary without the ability to perceive by ear is not enough. In order to successfully communicate with foreign customers and colleagues, you need to be able to perceive the language by ear. In order to acquire this skill, we recommend watching videos from conferences, hackathons, presentations. The main rule is the maximum of live communication. Movies, series, programs are useful, but they will not give the same effect as familiarity with “unfiltered” speech. You can also listen to audio recordings, but watching a video creates the effect of complete immersion in the language environment, everything is tracked, down to the characteristic gestures and facial expressions of the speaker.

Review material regularly

A person remembers well only what he uses. This fact is due to the fact that the brain considers a skill that has not been used for a long time to be irrelevant. That's why it is very important sometimes to repeat even long-studied and obvious words and expressions. It would be better if it were in practice.

Don't go deep into grammar

Learn grammar along with vocabulary, this will give a deeper understanding of the language and its structures. When young children learn to speak, they are not drilled into dozens of rules for the use of articles (although, unfortunately, this is often the case when learning languages ​​at school), they simply watch how others do it and repeat after them.

Do not teach by force

You can make learning even a dry technical language enjoyable. Find a specific topic or news item that interests you in English and try to translate it. When you understand that this will bring you results right now, for example, in the form of new knowledge about technologies, then this is very motivating.

Practice

Everyone talks about it, but not many use this mandatory rule. The absence of a language barrier, the ability to quickly switch to conversational mode and select the right words are one of the most important indicators of language proficiency at an advanced level. Look for any opportunity to speak. For example, you can chat with native speakers in text and video chats.

The purpose of the textbook is the formation and development of the competence necessary for the use of English in the field of professional communication. The textbook allows you to develop the skills of communicative reading of scientific literature, oral and written scientific speech, expand vocabulary through general scientific and special vocabulary, work out the grammatical phenomena of the English language characteristic of a scientific text. The textbook contains original scientific and popular science texts that help expand the horizons of students.
This textbook is intended for students of engineering and technical specialties with an intermediate (Intermediate) level of English proficiency (which corresponds to level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Language Proficiency) studying in educational institutions of secondary vocational education.

Examples.
Write down the following formulae in your notebooks. Check the results as a class.
1) V over I equals R (all capital letters)
2) P subscript one V subscript one equals P subscript two V subscript two (all capital letters)
3) one over u plus one over v equals one over f (all small letters)
4) capital F equals small m small v squared all over small r
5) one over R equals M over EI (all capital letters)
6) sigma over capital Y small n equals capital M over capital A small h capital R subscript small f
7) capital A equals two pi capital R subscript small c, open square brackets capital R subscript small c minus square root open brackets capital R subscript small c squared minus small d squared over four, close brackets, close square brackets
8) tau equals four capital Q over three pi capital R to the power of four, open brackets, capital R squared minus gamma squared, close brackets
9) F is proportional to M subscript one M subscript two all over R squared (all letters capital)
10) T squared over R cubed equals four pi squared over GM (all capital letters)

Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense, Present Perfect or Past Simple.
1. They (carry out) a series of experiments this week.
2. They (introduce) some new methods of investigation lately.
3. He (publish) a few papers on the problem this year.
4. We (clarify) this question last week.
5. Prof. Brown (give) some useful recommendations a few days ago.
6. There (be) a heated discussion at the seminar today.
7.Dr. Clark (be) in charge of this project for some time now.
8. Our efforts (be) useless so far.
9. These studies (be) very intensive until now.

Free download e-book in a convenient format, watch and read:
Download the book English for Engineers, English for Engineers, Kovalenko I.Yu., 2015 - fileskachat.com, fast and free download.

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In vacancies, it happens that they are required by specialists, where the following requirements are indicated - technical English.

What is it and what is it eaten with?

Let's say right away that this is such a separate level of knowledge of the English language. It has its own characteristics. Who needs knowledge of English at this level? These, of course, are engineers, motorists, programmers, specialists involved in technology, etc.

This is a pretty broad concept.

Scope of technical English

1. Army and navy - weapons, equipment, etc.
2. Automotive industry: fuels and lubricants, cars.
3. Medical and construction equipment.
4. Engineering - communications.
5. Mobile phones and cameras.
6. IT sphere, everything related to computers.
7. Trade and Marketing

Of course, this list is not complete.

Learning this type of English is vital if your profession is related to the technical field. If you master this level, it will increase your value as an employee, because you will be able to work, if necessary, with foreign colleagues.

Why do you need technical English and how to learn it?

First of all, as already mentioned, in order to increase your level as a specialist, and, accordingly, value.

There are two ways to learn English:

1. Independent study.
2. Studying from textbooks.

If you want to study on your own, that is, for example, such manuals as Technical English - “Professional English”, you can also consider English for technical universities for technical specialties, edited by Orlovskaya, as a manual.

You also need to read technical literature in your field - this is how you will gain the necessary vocabulary. You can also read articles in popular science magazines, newspapers, educational programs in English with a technical focus. So you can learn the basic

Thus, this level of English, called technical, is applied to the direction that you have chosen. The main thing is to learn the terminology in your field.

Learn new things, learn English at a high technical level and be successful!