Learning a new language is not quick. Nor is it simple. It requires time, energy, dedication, practice, and several language courses to get you from beginner to advanced. English is one of the most widely spoken languages worldwide and one of the most complex. According to Grammarly, a new word is added to the English dictionary every two hours. That’s a lot of words to know, learn, and understand. But this is something you don’t need to think about yet. The first step is mastering the basics. Read on and discover what you’ll learn through the Beginner and Elementary level courses in Alison’s English Vertical.
English Language Facts
Before we get started, we thought it’d be interesting to share three short and interesting facts about the English language:
- The shortest and most complete sentence in the English language is, “I am.”
- The most used English word is “I.” This word is also the oldest in English and was used in ancient medieval texts.
- English is known as the “language of the air.” All pilots, regardless of airline or origin, must identify themselves in English when flying.
English Vertical: Beginner
The first level of learning a language is understanding. The Beginner English courses introduce basic (but important) English topics to help increase your language knowledge. Here is what you will learn in the Beginner English Vertical courses:
- Learn English: The Alphabet and Verb Be: This module is ideal for those with no knowledge of the language or those who want to review the basics. It focuses on three parts: pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. At the end of the module, you’ll be able to have a short conversation.
- Learn English: Personal Information and Possessive Adjectives: The second course pays special attention to personal information. You will learn how to talk about yourself, ask for information and fill out forms.
- Learn English: Directions and The Imperative: This course builds on vocabulary and grammar learned in 102 and teaches you how to ask and give directions.
- Learn English: Family Members and Descriptive Adjectives: In this course, you will learn about the use of adjectives and adverbs and how to talk about possessions.
- Learn English: Dates and Prepositions of Time: Building on 104, you learn words related to time, like days of the week and the months of the year. It also covers ‘prepositions of time’ and ‘what’ or ‘when’ questions relating to time.
- Learn English: Colors and Clothing with Present Simple Tense: In this course, you will learn about nouns, using the present tense and how to pronounce words.
- Learn English: Daily Activities and Adverbs of Frequency: This course focuses on grammar rules and sentence rhythm. You will learn about the “wh” questions and vocabulary for chores and activities.
- Learn English: Household Objects and Prepositions of Place: This course looks at how to apply the prepositions of place, the “s” sound in verbs, and plural nouns and how to form questions.
- Learn English: Money with Countable and Uncountable Nouns: The ninth course in the Beginner series helps you read prices and talk about money. It also covers food groups and how to have a conversation in the marketplace.
- Learn English: Weather and Present Continuous Tense: This course will teach you how to talk about the weather. It will also focus on the present simple and present continuous tenses.
- Learn English: Modal Verbs for Abilities and Permission: This instalment will equip you to understand pronunciation and grammar using modal verbs and gerunds. You will also learn that an object pronoun is a personal pronoun that receives the action in a sentence.
- Learn English: Academic Terms and Past Simple Tense: Part twelve of the Beginner level introduces you to past tense, how to use the past tense affirmative and the negative form and includes phrases to discuss past events.
- Learn English: Contractions and Future Travel Plans: The final course expands on the knowledge you have gained in the ‘Beginner 101’ to ‘112’ courses. It teaches contractions, travel vocabulary and the present simple and continuous tenses.
English Vertical: Elementary
The elementary level is made up of twelve courses that expand on what you learned in the Beginner English courses. Here is what you will learn in each of the courses:
- Learn English: Wildlife and Comparative/Superlative Adjectives: Welcome to the first course in the Elementary English module. This course reviews the skills you learned in the Beginner English series, builds vocabulary, and develops your grammar skills. It focuses on animals and their habitat and comparative and superlative adjectives.
- Learn English: Indoor Spaces and Prepositional Phrases: The building continues in this course. You will build upon the ‘Beginner’ series and learn skills to explain prepositional phrases and expand your vocabulary related to novels and literature.
- Learn English: Shopping Terms with Possessive Nouns and Pronouns: This course takes you shopping and teaches you all you need to know about shopping for electronic devices. You will also learn more about possessive nouns, adjectives, and pronouns.
- Learn English: Medical Advice and Modal Verbs: This section covers the vocabulary you need to know while visiting a doctor or describing a medical condition.
- Learn English: Behavior and the Present Perfect Tense: In this part of the course, you will use common gestures in English when greeting people and what is good and bad etiquette.
- Learn English: World Travel with Present and Future Tenses: It’s holiday time. This course explores the terminology for famous landmarks worldwide and provides their location.
- Learn English: Vehicles and Past Continuous Tense: Stay safe while driving and on the road. This course concentrates on this vocabulary. You will also be introduced to present participle and present and past continuous tenses.
- Learn English: Phrasal Verbs for Cleaning and Chores: This course takes you home and gives you the tools to talk about cleaning and cleaning products. It also introduces you to phrasal verbs, and at the end of this course, you will know where to place direct objects in a phrasal verb.
- Learn English: Visiting Restaurants and Coordinating Conjunctions: Refresh your memory on previous lessons about articles, countable and uncountable nouns. You will also learn some words related to restaurants and eating out.
- Learn English: Life Goals with Gerunds and Infinitives: We discuss goals, hopes, and dreams. This course will help you talk about your goals and how to accomplish them.
- Learn English: Healthy Habits and Adverbial Phrases: This course looks at adverbs and provides the vocabulary you need to discuss diet and exercise.
- Learn English: Natural Disasters with Zero and First Conditional: The final course teaches you the vocabulary required to discuss natural disasters and how to use ‘zero conditional’ and ‘first conditional’ sentences.
Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of the series.
Everything you learn in the Beginner and Elementary courses builds a solid foundation you will use when you proceed to the next series of courses. What you learn here will help you understand future topics and make learning easier at each level. There is much more to learn, but you will be well on your way to becoming fluent.
Not sure what your English level is? Take our free English test below, and we’ll show course recommendations just for you.