Thread: Mastery

I stydy English myself (without assistance). When I've been started to
learn English I had a simple goal. I wanted only understand an English
speech when I was listening radio or watch a TV. I wanted only to pick the
words from a speech and to have an ability to write the words I've heard. I
thought it was an impossible goal to reach After a few month of practice
I did it. Also I can pronounce English words not bad, I hope

The next my goal was an ability to think in English a little, to put my
things into English words in order to native speakers can understand me. I
hope I can do it

And now I have a question to all of you. What do I have to do in order to
write and speak in English correctly. What kind of activities allowed you
to write and speak in English/Russian well? It will be interesting to me
to listen your opinions.

I would also pretty love to listen answers from "Rtyom", "Leof", "Оля",
"Zaya", "VendingMachine", "kalinka_vinnie", "chaika", "tranlations.nm.ru",
"Lampada", and THE OTHER participants.

P.S. I open for any question myself.

As my nick-name is the first in the list, I have to start it...

1. Study grammar rules attentively.
2. Make charts, lists, and whatever you want of rules and examples and control your knowledge with them.
3. Practice using your knowledge.

Мой первый качественный скачок произошёл, когда я начал общаться по-английски, не используя русский вообще. Так что, о Измеритель астронов, ничто не может помочь лучше, чем полное погружение.

Маэстро Leof, теперь Ваш выход!

Originally Posted by astronomer

I study English by myself (without assistance). When I _ started to learn English I had a simple goal. I simply wanted to understand _ English speech when I was listening to radio or watching TV. I wanted _ to pick out the words from a speech and to have the ability to write down the words I _ heard. I thought it was an impossible goal to reach After a few months of practice I did it. I can also pronounce English words not badly, I hope (A more natural way to say it: I hope I pronounce English words pretty well, too!)

My next goal was an ability to think in English a little, to put my thoughts into English words so that native speakers can understand me. I hope I can do it

And now I have a question for all of you. What do I have to do in order to write and speak in English correctly. What kind of activities allowed you to write and speak in English/Russian well? It will be interesting for me to listen to your opinions.

I would also really love to listen to answers from "Rtyom", "Leof", "Оля", "Zaya", "VendingMachine", "kalinka_vinnie", "chaika", "tranlations.nm.ru", "Lampada", and THE OTHER participants.

P.S. I am open for any question myself.

Hi astronomer! I hope you don't mind the corrections. You write very well, and I had no trouble understanding you. It's hard to believe you're self taught!

Originally Posted by Timofeev

Originally Posted by astronomer

I study English by myself (without assistance). When I _ started to learn English I had a simple goal. I simply wanted to understand _ English speech when I was listening to radio or watching TV.
[...]

Hi astronomer! I hope you don't mind the corrections. You write very well, and I had no trouble understanding you. It's hard to believe you're self taught!

Timofeev, thanks a lot for your corrections and your opinion!

Originally Posted by Rtyom

As my nick-name is the first in the list, I have to start it...

1. Study grammar rules attentively.
2. Make charts, lists, and whatever you want of rules and examples and control your knowledge with them.
3. Practice using your knowledge.
[...]

OK. Thanks. I caught the sense!

Some ideas for you:

A. There are 4 language skills. You must practice ALL of them
1 Listening
2 Speaking
3 Reading
4 Writing

Reading is easiest to practice. You only need a text in English, and maybe a dictionary. Listening is probably the hardest to practice.

B. Use many different methods. Read newspapers, books, magazines. Talk to people in English when you can. Write a journal in English. Write more posts in English here (you are doing a good job with this so far). Listen to English tv or radio. Keep reading grammar books sometimes. Your grammar books help you more if you are also learning from "real" language.

C. Find something you want to study (history, psychology, chemistry, math, anything) and study it in English. If you do this, you will learn about the subject and learn English at the same time.

D. If you like finding partners with Skype, this is a good site: http://www.language-exchanges.org/

E. Remember, there are different levels of English (or any language). You can learn to have a normal conversation with maybe 2-3 years of study, but to learn university level English usually takes 10-15 years.

I hope that helps you.

I can't say anything new.
I've got the skill I have today (you judge if it is good or bad) by using simple methods. I am greedy for new words and phrases. I write them down and then study them every day as your prayor.

Reading books and watching films in the original language is a way of combining study with pleasure.

As Rtyom said, nothing compares with the constant conversations with the native speakers. I conversed through Internet which made me think in English fast and type fast. It didn't exclude the errors though.

EDITED: Yes, there are words colored olive, it's all right with your eyes. They have been carefully corrected due to Vinnie's advice. Кланяюсь в благодарность!

Originally Posted by Timofeev

Originally Posted by astronomer

I study English by myself (without assistance). When I _ started to learn English I had a simple goal. I simply wanted to understand _ English speech when I was listening to THE radio or watching TV. I wanted _ to pick out the words from the speech and to have the ability to write down the words I _ heard. I thought it was an impossible goal to reach After a few months of practice I did it. I can also pronounce English words quite well, I hope (A more natural way to say it: I hope I pronounce English words pretty well, too!)

My next goal was the ability to think in English a little, to put my thoughts into English words so that native speakers can understand me. I hope I can do that

And now I have a question for all of you. What do I have to do in order to write and speak _ English correctly. What kind of activities allowed you to write and speak in English/Russian well? It will be interesting for me to listen to your opinions.

I would also really love to listen to answers from "Rtyom", "Leof", "Оля", "Zaya", "VendingMachine", "kalinka_vinnie", "chaika", "tranlations.nm.ru", "Lampada", and THE OTHER participants.

P.S. I am open for any question myself.

Hi astronomer! I hope you don't mind the corrections. You write very well, and I had no trouble understanding you. It's hard to believe you're self taught!

Originally Posted by astronomer

Originally Posted by Rtyom

As my nick-name is the first in the list, I have to start it...

1. Study grammar rules attentively.
2. Make charts, lists, and whatever you want of rules and examples and control your knowledge with them.
3. Practice using your knowledge.
[...]

OK. Thanks. I caught the sense!

A quick grammar point:

In English слушать кого-то /что-то is listen to someone / something. You have to have the preposition "to" before the object.

The verb "to hear" слышать does not require the preposition "to":

I am listening to the radio: Я слушаю радио
I (can) hear the radio: Я слышу радио

Originally Posted by TATY

I am listening to the radio: Я слушаю радио

Keep in mind that the ending -сь in Russian causes a change of verb in English:
Я слушаюсь радио - I obey the radio.
Confusing, isn't it? That's Russian for you.

Originally Posted by Leof

I can't say anything new.
I've got the skill I have today (you judge if it is good or bad) by using simple methods. I am greedy for new words and phrases. I write them down and then study them every day as your prayor.

Reading _ books and watching films in the original language is a way of combining study with pleasure.

As Rtyom said, nothing compares with the constant conversations with the native speakers. I conversed through Internet which made me think in English fast and type fast. It didn't exclude the errors though.

Practice makes perfect! Keep posting in English and pretend to be a Russian young woman, desperate for marriage. That way, suddenly you will have penpals from all over the world!!!

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Practice makes perfect!

OK

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Keep posting in English and pretend to be a Russian young woman, desperate for marriage. That way, suddenly you will have penpals from all over the world!!!