Learning English: how to move up from level to level quicker?

Irina Bondarchuk — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 22:36:46 +0000

Time needed to move up from level to level in English depends on individual abilities of students and such factors as:

1. Age and motivation (in general, children are more apt and fast learners than the adults).

2 . Intensity of learning in the past (i.e. if you were exposed to the foreign language in the secondary school, it would be easier for you to unlock your idle knowledge and turn it active to start with).

3. Intensity of the foreign language usage outside of the classroom.

4 . Time spent on homework and self-learning.

Why is learning English or any other foreign language more alike climbing a mountain rather than a ladder?

At the outset, it seems that moving from level to level in the foreign language learning is the linear experience and can be compared to climbing the ladder with each step being equidistant (i.e. from A1 to A2, B1, B2, etc.).

However, we better compare the foreign language learning experience to climbing the mountain i.e. the higher one climbs the harder is to make each subsequent step. As a result, it takes more time to get from B1 to B2 level than from A1 to A2 level.

The reason being, as the student makes progress in the foreign language, one needs to get more and more language competencies. Into the bargain, as soon as the student exceeds the B1 level, there is a high probability for the student to get into the “language plateau” trap, where it seems that the further progress slows down dramatically. Thus, when you feel like getting into the aforementioned trap, you will know that this is a normal experience. The higher you get the harder you must learn to achieve considerable progress.

Сколько часов нужно изучать английский, чтобы перейти с уровня на уровень?

Поскольку не существует двух людей, которые обладают одинаковыми способностями к языкам и вышеперечисленными факторами, то достаточно трудно определить точное количество времени, необходимое для достижения каждого уровня.

На основе данных Ассоциации языкового тестирования Европы (ALTE) и полученного опыта мы создали таблицу с примерным количеством учебных часов, необходимых для достижения каждого языкового уровня:

* Вы можете посмотреть, что означают названия языковых уровней A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2

Теперь Вы сами можете рассчитать скорость Вашего продвижения в изучении английского.

Пример рассчета.

Предположим, на данный момент у Вас уровень А2. Для того, чтобы перейти на уровень B1 Вам нужно 110 часов индивидуальных занятий или 170 часов групповых. При этом занятия под руководством учителя – это только 50% от общего времени, которое Вам нужно посвящать языку, чтобы перейти на следующий уровень, 30% у Вас должно уходить на домашние задания, когда Вы садитесь и прорабатываете детально грамматику, делаете задания на запоминание слов и фраз, слушаете аудиозаписи и отвечаете на вопросы, соответственно, последняя часть усилий 20% должна уходить на самостоятельную практику – применение английского в реальной жизни. Например, чтение художественных книг на изучаемом языке для удовольствия, смотреть фильмы, ролики в ютьюбе, слушать радио, аудиоподкасты, писать личные и деловые электронные письма, общаться с иностранцами в личной и деловой обстановке.

Имейте в виду, что это только примерные цифры. Лично у Вас изучение языка может занять как большее, так и меньшее количество часов.

Может Вас вдохновит факт, что существует много примеров самостоятельного изучения языков.

Для самостоятельного изучения английского языка нужны:

1- учебные материалы,

2 – языковая практика по всем 4-ем навыкам,

3- дисциплина

4- сильная мотивация.

Чаще самостоятельное обучение хорошо идет у людей, у которых уже есть успешный опыт с первым иностранным языком и они его переносят на второй , третий и т.д.

Правда, в самостоятельном изучении есть самая главная ловушка – люди читают, пишут, слушают, но не могут говорить на языке. Именно поэтому так важен пункт “2 – языковая практика по всем 4-ем навыкам”, а именно – разговорная практика английского языка.

© Статья написана Ириной Бондарчук по материалам ”Teacher`s guide to the Common European Framework” by Pearson Longman http://www.longman.com/cef. Вы можете копировать данную статью и размещать у себя в блоге или на сайте, только укажите автора и ссылку на нее. Благодарим!

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“Swimology”

Irina Bondarchuk — Tue, 28 May 2013 08:44:35 +0000

Once a young professor was making a sea voyage. He was a highly educated man with a long tail of letters after his name, but he had little experience of life. In the crew of the ship on which he was travelling was an illiterate old sailor. Every evening the sailor would visit the cabin of the young professor to listen to him hold forth on many different subjects. He was very impressed with the learning of the young man.
One evening as the sailor was about to leave the cabin after several hours of conversation, the professor asked, “Old man, have you studied geology?”
“What is that, sir?”
“The science of the earth.”
“No, sir, I have never been to any school or college. I have never studied anything.”
“Old man, you have wasted a quarter of your life.”
With a long face the old sailor went away. “If such a learned person says so, certainly it must be true,” he thought. “I have wasted a quarter of my life!”
Next evening again as the sailor was about to leave the cabin, the professor asked him, “Old man, have you studied oceanography?”
“What is that, sir?”
“The science of the sea.”
“No, sir, I have never studied anything.”
“Old man, you have wasted half your life.”
With a still longer face the sailor went away: “I have wasted half my life; this learned man says so.”
Next evening once again the young professor questioned the old sailor: “Old man, have you studied meteorology?”
“What is that, sir? I have never even heard of it.”
“Why, the science of the wind, the rain, the weather.”
“No, sir. As I told you, I have never been to any school. I have never studied anything.”
“You have not studied the science of the earth on which you live; you have not studied the science of the sea on which you earn your livelihood; you have not studied the science of the weather which you encounter every day? Old man, you have wasted three quarters of your life.”
The old sailor was very unhappy: “This learned man says that I have wasted three quarters of my life! Certainly I must have wasted three quarters of my life.”
The next day it was the turn of the old sailor. He came running to the cabin of the young man and cried, “Professor sir, have you studied swimology?”
“Swimology? What do you mean?”
“Can you swim, sir?”
“No, I don’t know how to swim.”
“Professor sir, you have wasted all your life! The ship has struck a rock and is sinking. Those who can swim may reach the nearby shore, but those who cannot swim will drown. I am so sorry, professor sir, you have surely lost your life.”
You may study all the “ologies” of the world, but if you do not learn swimology, all your studies are useless. You may read and write books on swimming, you may debate on its subtle theoretical aspects, but how will that help you if you refuse to enter the water yourself?
You must learn how to swim.

The post “Swimology” first appeared on Art of Learning Int Ltd..

изучение английского языка.

Learning English: how to move up from level to level quicker?

Time needed to move up from level to level in English depends on individual abilities of students and such factors as:

Why is learning English or any other foreign language more alike climbing a mountain rather than a ladder?

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“Swimology”