Larning English when you have no idea

Even if you've never studied it, there are surely some English words or expressions like: hello, I love you, good bye, game over... that sound familiar to you, either because you have heard them on TV, or because you see them when you are playing on the Internet, or you have simply learned them without knowing exactly how. So, it seems that you do know some English.

The ideal way to learn English is to learn it the same way we do with our mother tongue, that is, listening to a lot of English so that little by little, we will be able to speak without having to think about how we should formulate a sentence.

Since we are not that patient and want to speak English quickly, I suggest the following tips:

1. SURVIVAL PHRASES

   To start communicating in English it is a good idea to have some basic phrases that you can use for specific situations, such as: Where is the toilet?, I don’t understand, Can you help me, please?, How much is this?... You can find these phrases on websites or online English videos, where you will also be able to listen to the way they are pronounced.

2. VOCABULARY

   It is essential to have a word base in English, start with the words you are interested to know and from there, you can expand your vocabulary. You can learn them in groups (clothes, colours, food...) or by random words depending on your needs, because those will be the ones you will use the most when you communicate in English. It is also a good idea to do crossword puzzles or word search puzzles in English, as these types of activities help learn new words in a fun way.

3. BASIC VERBS

   The basic verbs that will allow you to start communicating in English are the verb to be and the verb have got. With the verb to be and a little vocabulary you can talk about how you feel: I’m tired, I’m happy..., where you are: I’m at home, I’m at school..., what something or someone looks like: I’m tall, this table is beautiful... With the verb have got you can talk about what you have: I have got a new car, I have got a sister, I have got a headache or I have got blue eyes.

   Once you have practised these verbs well, you can continue with the verbs that you usually use when you speak Spanish and learn how to use them in present, past and future, because to start communicating in English you don't need to know all the existing verb tenses.

4. PRONUNCIATION

   One of the most complicated parts of English is pronunciation, as unlike Spanish, English is not pronounced as it is written. Therefore, it is important that you listen to every word you learn and once you have done that, practise aloud and if you can, record yourself so that you can compare your pronunciation with the original, this way, little by little, you will end up saying it like an English person. It is also very helpful to listen to songs in English, which we learn even though we don't know what they are saying. Besides, you can look up the lyrics and listen to the song at the same time that you see what they are singing.

Practice English from minute one, either by signing up for face-to-face English classes, or by doing an online course such as lewolang, where you will find vocabulary cards in which you will be able to listen to how each word is pronounced and test your pronunciation through a voice recognition system; moreover, you will have an example sentence so that you can see the use of that word in context. In this English course you will also find exercises, fun dialogues and interesting readings.

Remember that you are just starting out and that you will probably make mistakes, but in the end what counts is that you will end up speaking English.