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When you start learning English, many people are wondering what to start with. Actually, the speed of improving English varies greatly depending on the order of learning English. In this article, I will explain the order of studying English so that you can master English efficiently. Please read it to the end and use it as a reference for your English learning plan.
The best order is "basic knowledge"-> "read / listen"-> "write / speak"
When studying English, you first need to learn the basic knowledge of words and grammar that you will learn in junior high school. If you don't have the basic words and grammar, you can't input or output. If you are not confident in English, start over from junior high school English. It may seem like a detour, but laying the groundwork is the fastest way.
Once you have acquired the basic knowledge, let's study English with a focus on "reading / listening" as an input skill. If you can't speak what you can't hear and understand, you can't write what you can't read and understand. Therefore, first of all, you will learn input skills and accumulate knowledge of English.
Input learning alone does not give you practical knowledge. Therefore, at the end, the output learning of "writing / speaking" is performed, and the accumulated knowledge is made into usable knowledge.
Once you have acquired the basic knowledge, increase the ratio of input learning so that it can be used in output learning on a regular basis.
Explain the shortest route for studying English in detail!
Now that we have introduced the ideal order of learning English, we will explain the shortest route more specifically below. Please use it as a reference for your English learning plan.
1. 1. First, acquire basic knowledge
Basic knowledge of English can be broadly divided into vocabulary and grammar. The following describes vocabulary and grammar.
Vocabulary: Learn the 3000 most important words you use in your daily life
It is said that the number of English words learned in junior high school is about 1,000. These 1,000 words are important and often appear in everyday conversations and business English conversations, so make sure you remember them. Important 1,000 words often have multiple meanings.
For example, make is used not only to mean "make" but also as a causative verb to "make". Because it is a basic word, it is deep, so be sure to memorize it one by one.
Once you have learned 1,000 basic words, you need to memorize the most important 3,000 words. In fact, it is said that most of everyday conversation can be covered by 3,000 words. Memorizing the most important 3,000 words is the first goal of learning English.
When learning a word, it is recommended to memorize it along with the actual usage in an English-English dictionary or example sentences, rather than comparing the meaning with the word. By associating the meaning with the scene in which it is used, it is expected that the retention rate in memory will improve.
Grammar: Let's master English grammar learned in junior high school
Grammar is a rule for using English. If you ignore the rules and use English, no matter how high the level of English you know, the other person will not understand it. Therefore, study English grammar carefully.
For learning, middle school level English grammar is sufficient. You don't need the complicated and difficult English grammar that is asked in college entrance exams.
If you master the English grammar you learn in junior high school, you can freely express your feelings and thoughts. The important point in using English is to express what you want to say in short and easy-to-understand English.
To speak short and easy-to-understand English, you need junior high school English grammar. If you memorize the English grammar you learn in junior high school and replace the words according to the situation, you will be able to handle everything from daily conversation to business English conversation.
2. 2. Train input skills
By studying the input system, you can expect not only to accumulate English words and phrases, but also to build an English brain that can understand English in English, and to become accustomed to rhythms and voice changes peculiar to English. Below, we will introduce how to learn input skills.
Read: Read English until you can understand it as it is
Reading learning helps build an English brain. The English brain is a brain that can understand English as it is, without going through Japanese.
If you don't have an English brain, you will have to translate English into Japanese in your head. Through Japanese, it becomes difficult to communicate with a natural rhythm.
When you're just starting to read, it's difficult to read fluently because of the process of translating English into Japanese. However, as you continue reading, you will be able to understand English in English.
When reading, you can effectively build an English brain by reading aloud and shadowing.
Listen: Learn pronunciation, voice changes, and rhythm
The ability to listen to English is not the only skill that can be trained in listening learning. You can also learn English-specific rhythms and voice changes.
The reason you should learn the sounds that are unique to English is to get fluent speaking. You don't necessarily have to pronounce it like a native speaker, but you have to learn English pronunciation in order to speak English that is universal.
By listening, you can experience native pronunciation, voice changes, and rhythm. By repeating listening learning, your ears will become accustomed to native English and will be able to smoothly acquire English-specific pronunciation.
In addition, it is recommended to perform shadowing when learning listening. You can acquire fluent English pronunciation by repeating shadowing until you can pronounce it in the same way as audio materials.
3. 3. Train output skills
After input learning, it is output learning that makes English fun. The growth of output is determined by how much basics, words, and phrases can be accumulated up to this point. In the following, we will introduce the details of output learning.
Write: Write down a lot of what you want to say
An English diary is recommended for writing learning. Make full use of the knowledge you have accumulated and write down what you want to say every day. It takes time to get used to it, so a few lines are enough. It is important to continue every day, so please do so within a reasonable range.
The difficult thing about an English diary is that you don't know if you can write it correctly. One way to solve this problem is to ask an instructor for online English conversation to make corrections. Alternatively, it is recommended that you find someone to correct with the language exchange, or check with DeepL Translator.
Also, pronounce and memorize what you wrote in your English diary so that you can use it in speaking.
Speak: Let's talk a lot using English conversation lessons etc.
Once you have accumulated this knowledge, it is important to work on speaking more and more and acquire usable English. If you have foreign friends around you, talk positively with them in English.
If you don't know any foreigners and want to create an environment where you can speak quickly, online English conversation is recommended. For online English conversation such as EnglishPhonetics , you can start English lessons with foreigners at a relatively low cost, and you can take lessons at any time from early morning to late night.
Also, the wide range of lessons is another attraction of online English conversation. For example, for EnglishPhonetics , you can do daily English conversation, business English conversation, free talk, and correction of English diary.
The best way to improve your speaking skills is to increase the amount of output, so we recommend online English conversation, which allows you to build an environment where you can speak English whenever you want at a low cost.
Studying in this order is NG!
Now that we have introduced the recommended order of learning English, we will introduce studying in an NG order. Even if you study in the order introduced below, it will not be effective, so please be careful.
Avoid sudden free talk in English even if you don't have the basic skills
As mentioned earlier, speaking is difficult without basic knowledge. Free talk is particularly difficult, so as a guide, let's do it after reaching the same level as TOEIC 700 points or higher.
Without grammar and vocabulary, you can't speak. If you don't have grammar, you won't be able to speak the English that is transmitted to the other person, and you will have a conversation with only words. On the other hand, if you lack vocabulary, you cannot express what you want to convey.
Even if you start English conversation or free talk without basic skills, you will be frustrated. First of all, please acquire the basic skills carefully without rushing.
Also, let's continue input learning even at the stage of online English conversation. By memorizing many words and phrases, you can broaden your range of expressions and improve your speaking skills. Since the amount of input and speaking skill are proportional, 10 minutes every day is enough, so please work on word learning.
Use English listening even though you don't have the basic skills
As the name suggests, listening to English is a learning method that allows you to listen to English without focusing. You can expect various effects such as memorizing words and improving listening comprehension in listening to English. However, listening to English is effective only for intermediate and advanced students who have sufficient basic skills.
For example, a person without basic skills will not understand the meaning of the sound even if they listen to English. Since English only flows as noise, it does not lead to word memorization or improvement of listening.
For those who do not have the basic skills, it is recommended that you listen carefully to one audio material or repeat shadowing instead of listening to English.
As a guide, let's start listening and learning after you can understand 80% of the listening materials.
Conclusion
If you are starting to study English from now on, please try learning in the order of "basic → input → output" as introduced this time. The most efficient learning method is to acquire basic skills with words and grammar.
Once you have the basics, try to balance your inputs and outputs. Many people neglect input learning, but the ideal is to have a little more input than output.
If you don't know any foreigners around you, use online English conversation to output efficiently.
