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Typical mistakes when learning English. Fundamentals of foreign language teaching methods. Role, classification and correction of errors Common errors in English pronunciation

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Everyone starts learning a foreign language with one main goal - to learn to speak. And our task is to teach you to speak correctly. During the learning process, all students make mistakes, and teachers, in turn, correct, explain the rules and reinforce them in speech to avoid repetition of mistakes. But is it always possible to “avoid”? How many times from lesson to lesson did you say “ I am agree”, “It depends from”, “I feel myself good"? Well, sooooo much! And for these “infectious” errors this is not an indicator at all! If at the initial stage such mistakes still forgivable, then students levels Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate And Advanced We must seriously think about our behavior and realize our mistakes! :-)

In this article we will look at what we hear, what prevents us from speaking correctly - the most common mistakes made by our students ( spelling mistakes– this is a topic for a separate discussion).

Pronunciation mistakes

NB! If you have trouble understanding, please use our online dictionary. Just double-click on any word and you can listen to how it is pronounced correctly.

The proverb “We write “Manchester”, but say “Liverpool”” perfectly characterizes the features and. And I perfectly understand the difficulties that arise when pronouncing sounds [ θ ] And [ ð ] (think / this), [w] And [ v] (which are often pronounced as the Russian sound [в]), difficulties in pronouncing words such as conscientious, circumstances etc. But these pronunciation difficulties are usually easy for students to overcome, which cannot be said about the following words:

Colleague- instead of [ ˈkɔliːg] pronounce [ kɔˈliːg] – probably by analogy with the Russian word “colleague” with the emphasis on the second syllable.
Hotel- instead of [ həuˈtɛl] pronounce [ ˈhəutɛl]. The reason is unclear. In Russian, the word “hotel” is also pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable. There is a hypothesis that the pronunciation [ ˈhəutɛl] related to the song Eagles “Hotel California”.
Also- instead of [ ˈɔːlsəu] pronounce [ ˈaːlsəu] – once again we forget that the rules of reading Russian are not applicable to English!
Since- instead of [ sɪns] pronounce [ saɪns] – this is a favorite mistake of those who remember the rules of reading in open / closed syllables VERY well. But, as they say, grief comes from the mind...
Has hæz] pronounce [ haz].
Put– entry-level students instead of [ put] pronounce [ pʌt] - cm. since.
To live(live) – instead of [ lɪv] They say [ laɪv], A live(alive) [ laɪv] pronounce [ lɪv]. Exactly the opposite!
Policeman- instead of [ pəˈliːsmən] pronounce [ ˈpɔliːsmən]. The reason for this error still remains for me complete mystery! :-)
Additional- instead of [ əˈdɪʃənl] They say [ aˈdɪʃənl] – somewhat reminiscent of also.
Stopped, worked etc. - pronounce [ stopɪd], [wəːkɪd]. At the same time, everyone knows the rule perfectly well: [ ɪd] we pronounce only after the sounds [ t], [d] (hated, decided), and in other cases [ t] (after [ k], [p], [f], [s], [ʃ ], [tʃ]) or [ d] (after voiced ones).
Born- instead of [ bɔːn] (to be born) they say [ bəːn] → burn(burn, burn). And instead of saying when you were born, it turns out that you say that something incomprehensible was done to you, most likely... burned?!
Society- instead of [ səˈsaɪətɪ] They say [ ˈsɔsɪətɪ] – as I see, so I read!
Stomach- instead of [ ˈstʌmək] They say [ ˈstomʌtʃ] – the same story as with society.

So, let’s remember the basic rule of reading English words: not sure - check in the dictionary.

Grammar mistakes

Sometimes funny expressions and sentences come up, but let's start with the "unfunny" most common mistakes.

Rules for using prepositions("", "", "") is hated by almost everyone. Still would! A lot needs to be memorized and learned by heart, so they often use the wrong preposition, skip it, or use it where it is absolutely not needed. Many people, I think, are familiar with the mistakes that teachers correct in almost every lesson:

I went to somewhere – to there's an extra one here → I went somewhere(I went somewhere).
I phoned to him → I phoned him(I called him).
I came to home → I came home(I came home). It's easy to remember - we don't need an excuse (reason) to come home, so don't use one!
We discussed about it → We discussed it(we discussed this). BUT We talked about it(we were talking about it).
I went to holiday → I went on holiday(I went on vacation).
To influence on smth → To influence smth(to influence something). BUT To have influence on smth(to have influence on something).
In the weekend → At the weekend(on the weekend).
In 5 o'clock → At 5 o'clock(at 5:00).
It depends from smth → It depends on smth(it depends on something).
In last week → _Last week(last week).
In next year → _Next year(next year).
Monday → Monday(on Monday).
This also includes the use of the particle to: can to / should to / must to / may to– we never use the particle to after these!

Sometimes they let you down plural forms of nouns (« », « »):

childrens
peoples
mans
womans
And, of course, advices– everyone knows, but they forget that the noun advice(advice) – and is used only in the singular. For example:
He gave me a lot of useful advice. – He gave me a lot of useful advice.

Many students like to say “I am” ( I am) where they don’t need to “be” at all. The result is: “I am working”, “I am agreeing”, “I am going”, etc.:

I am agree- classics of the genre! → I agree / I don't agree(I agree/disagree).
I am working etc. → I work(I am working).

And that's where to be It should be noted that it is often missed:

I_tired → I am tired(I'm tired).
I_ afraid (I don’t afraid / scared) of → I am afraid (I am not afraid / scared) of(I'm scared / I'm afraid).

Errors are also common when the “wrong” word is used, the “wrong” meaning changes. Here are the most favorite ones:

To make photos instead of To take photos(photograph).
I very much like/I very need instead of I like it very much / I need it very much(I really like/need this).
He said what instead of He said that(he said that...).
I forgot my book at work instead of I left my book at work(I forgot the book at work).
I like read books instead of I like reading books(I like to read books).
Hardly(barely, barely, forcefully) instead hard(diligently): He hardly works → He works hard. Mixing up the words hardly And hard, you called a person lazy, not a hard worker!
Use because instead of that's why, For example: She is ill because she stayed at home → She is ill that’s why she stayed at home(i.e. “she didn’t get sick because she stayed at home”, but “she stayed at home because she got sick”).

The following grammatical errors are often made:

It's dependent on → It depends on(it depends on the...).
It's often rain → It often rains(it rains often). In this context rain is a verb.
It's mean that → It means that(it means that...).
Extra it: Supermarket it is a place where we can buy food → Supermarket_ is a place where we can buy food(a supermarket is a place where we can buy food).
Some common questions are given short answers with incorrect : Are you ready? – Yes, I do. → Are you ready? – Yes, I am. Remember that in the short answer ( Yes / No) we use the auxiliary verb with which the question began: Do you speak English? – Yes, I do; Is he a student? – No, he isn't.
Misused other / another- You can read more about this in our article “”.
Misuse say / tell / speak. Read more about this - ""
He looks like young → He looks_ young (he looks young). And here like used if next comes /. For example: He looks like his father (he looks like his father).
I haven't a car instead of I don't have a car / I haven't got a car(I do not have a car).
And, of course, the subordinate clause with if (when), in which is NEVER used. That is, instead of must speak .

Funny mistakes

All the errors mentioned above can be called “serious”, but there are also “funny” ones. So, for example, the expression I feel myself fine makes you think about the actions of the speaker, because in such a combination feel translated as “touch”, “feel” and the phrase I feel myself fine Sounds quite strange, doesn't it? :-) If you want to say that you feel great, then you should say I feel fine.

For some reason, problems arise when answering simple questions: “How are you?”, “What is the weather today?” Let's look at examples:

How are you?(How are you?) - I am good(I'm good). Of course, you are a good person, but you need to answer: I am well/fine(I'm fine).
How are you doing?(How are you?) - I am doing nothing(I do nothing). Nobody asks what you are doing. Expected to hear how you are doing, i.e. I am well/fine.
What is the weather like today?(what is the weather today?) - Yes, I like it(yes, I like her) → The weather is fine today(it's a good weather today).

Very often you can hear how everyone loves you and needs you:

English needs me for my job(English needs me) instead I need English for my job(I need English for work). English will manage without you. English doesn't need you! :-)
These new shoes like me(these new shoes love me) instead I like these new shoes(I love these new shoes).

There are also students with high or low self-esteem:

I am interesting(I'm interesting) instead I am interested in it(I'm interested).
I am very good(I'm very good) instead I am very well(doing very well).
I am boring(I'm boring) instead I am bored(I'm bored).
I am scary(I'm terrible) instead I am scared(I'm scared).

And some went there, I don’t know where:

I went to the magazine (magazine– magazine) instead I went to the shop(I went to the shop).

Let's imagine the above-mentioned errors in the form of a table that needs to be printed and hung above the desk (next to). :-) Here are the most common examples:

(*.pdf, 361 Kb)

Top 40 most common mistakes made by our students
№	Error	Correct option
1	Colleague	Colleague [ˈkɔliːg]
2	Hotel [ˈhəutɛl]	Hotel
3	Also [ˈaːlsəu]	Also [ˈɔːlsəu]
4	Since	Since
5	Policeman [ˈpɔliːsmən]	Policeman
6	Society [ˈsɔsɪətɪ]	Society
7	Stopped, worked	Stopped, worked
8	I went to somewhere	I went somewhere
9	I phoned to him	I phoned him
10	I came to home	I came home
11	I went to holiday	I went on holiday
12	To influence on smth	To influence_smth
13	It depends from smth	It depends on smth
14	Discuss about smth	Discuss_smth
15	In last week	_Last week
16	Monday	Monday
17	In 5 o'clock	At 5 o'clock
18	In the weekend	At the weekend
19	Childrens, peoples, mans, womens	Children, people, men, women
20	A lot of advice	A lot of advice
21	I am agree	I agree
22	I_tired	I am tired
23	It's mean that	It means that
24	I_ afraid / I don’t afraid	I am afraid / I am not afraid
25	I like it very much	I like it very much
26	He said what	He said that
27	I haven't a car	I don’t have a car / I haven’t got a car
28	If the weather will be fine, we'll go for a walk	If the weather is fine, we'll go for a walk
29	I feel myself fine	I feel fine
30	I forgot my book at work	I left my book at work
31	It's often rain	It often rains
32	How are you? – I am good	How are you? – I am well/fine
33	How are you doing? – I am doing nothing	How are you doing? – I am well/fine
34	What is the weather like today? – Yes, I like it	What is the weather like today? – The weather is fine today
35	English needs me for my job	I need English for my job
36	These new shoes like me	I like these new shoes
37	I am interesting	I am interested in it
38	I am boring	I am bored
39	I am scary	I am scared
40	I went to the magazine	I went to the shop

If you have been learning English for a long time, then you should also have “favorite rake” - mistakes that do not want to go away. Share them with us, and maybe then we can fight them together!

They talk about the most common mistakes made by Russian-speaking students.

So, you are learning English. This is great - it will be useful for work, for your own development, and it will make communication with foreigners easier. But our native language is still Russian, and we are so accustomed to its rules that we automatically apply them to other languages. And the grammar of the English language is very different from the grammar of Russian, and as a result we make mistakes - funny, or stupid, or even indecent. For example:

1. I feel myself (I feel myself)

Wrong: I feel myself fine today.
Right: I feel fine today.

In English, the verb “feel” is not followed by the reflexive pronoun “myself” - native English speakers will understand that you are talking about your well-being. They say simply: I feel well; I feel sick; I feel happy.

If you say “I feel myself”, then for English speakers it will sound... strange. They will think that you are telling them about physical contact with yourself or touching yourself.

2. Enough (enough)

Wrong: She spoke English well enough to get the job.
Right: She spoke English well enough to get the job.

In English, correct word order is more important than in Russian. The place of the word “enough” in a sentence depends on which part of speech it belongs to: an adverb, adjective or noun.

If “enough” refers to an adverb or adjective, it comes after the semantic verb:

Do you think he’s old enough to watch that movie?
- We’ve done enough today.

Old (adult) is an adjective, today (today) is an adverb.

If "enough" refers to a noun, it comes before the verb:

We had enough money to buy a ticket.

3. Normal

Wrong: How are you? - I’m normal, thanks.
Right: How are you? - I’m fine, thanks.

In English, we don't usually use the word "normal" to talk about our mood or our day. English speakers say "fine" or "okay". And they perceive the word “normal” more likely to mean “average, ordinary” or precisely “normal”.

Imagine being asked: “How are you, how are you?” And you answer: “I’m normal.” Agree, it sounds ridiculous: it’s as if you are trying to convince your interlocutor that you are a normal person, and not strange or even crazy. It may be time to announce your normality to the world, but that's probably not what you were talking about.

4. Scientist, scholar (scientist)

Wrong: Scientists study history so that humanity can learn from the past.
Right: Scholars study history so that humanity can learn from the past.

Both words, “scientist” and “scholar”, are translated from English as “scientist”, but they have different meanings.

“Scientist” is an expert in the exact (chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology) or social (psychology, sociology, political science) sciences.

“Scholar” is an expert in a certain field of knowledge. He has a great understanding of the subject because he studies it. "Scholar" is an expert in areas such as history, art or languages. They also call a smart student who receives a scholarship - “scholarship”.

The difference is also that a “scientist” uses scientific methods to study a subject - builds hypotheses, conducts experiments, and draws conclusions. "a scholar" usually dispenses with this.

5. Prepositions

Wrong: I was waiting for David on the theater.
Right: I was waiting for David at the theater.

When learning English, Russian speakers often get confused with prepositions or omit them altogether. It seems to us that prepositions in English phrases should be the same as they would be in Russian. But that's not true. In order not to get confused, you just need to learn the most common expressions, where the preposition is closely related to the verb.

Depends on - depends on.
- Tired of - tired of.
- Divide into - divide by.

Often in an English sentence a preposition is necessary, but in Russian it is not, or vice versa:

To wait for someone - wait for someone.
- To graduate from school - finish school.
- To listen to someone/music - listen to someone/music.
- To be afraid of someone/something - to be afraid of someone/something.
- To explain to someone - to explain to someone.
- To answer a question - answer the question (note: without a preposition, but with an article).

Prepositions can be divided into several categories. This way you will quickly understand when and what preposition to use:

a) Coverings (table, wall, floor, slabs, roof, shelves): on.

For example: on the roof, on the table.

b) Technology (computer, TV, radio, screen, DVD, hard drive, CD): on.

c) Public transport: (train, bus, tram, plane, ship, ferry): on.

On the bus, on the ship.

d) Inside a physical object/structure (book, pocket, box, number): in.

In his pocket, in a boxes.

e) Places: (office, stadium, store, supermarket, station, theater, park) at/in.

In the street, at the station.

6. How and What (how and what)

Wrong: How do you call this in English?
Right: What do you call this in English?

Russian speakers often confuse the question words “how” and “what” when asking in English: “What is this called?” They try to start a phrase with the usual “how” - “how”. But in English they use “what”. This needs to be remembered.

7. City

Wrong: I am from Moscow city.
Right: I am from Moscow / the city of Moscow.

Often they only say the name (Moscow, New York, London) and do not add the word “city”. If it is important to clarify that this is a city and nothing else, then use the construction “the city of”.

For example: the city of London, the city of Boston, the city of Moscow.

In rare cases, the word “city” is included in the name: New York City, Salt Lake City, Mexico City. Sometimes they make it clear that this is a specific city, and not another geographical area with the same name:

I grew up in a small town in the state of New York, but now I live in New York City.
- Although I have lived in Moscow for several years, my parents still live in a small town outside of the city but still in Moscow Oblast.
- I visited Salt Lake City this summer.

8. Plural and Singular (singular and plural)

Wrong: The professor gave us several useful advices for our researches.
Right: The professor gave us several useful words of advice for our research projects.

Both Russian and English have countable nouns that can be easily counted (chair, apple, glass), and uncountable nouns that cannot be counted without additional units (water in liters, time in minutes, rice in grams). But often countable nouns in English become uncountable.

Example of uncountable nouns:

Advice, research, knowledge, accommodation, baggage, equipment, furniture, garbage, information, luggage, money, news, pasta, progress, travel, work.

If you want to use uncountable nouns in the plural, use additional words: piece, glass, chunk.

For example:

We just bought several new pieces of equipment for our lab.
- I’ll have three glasses of lemonade, please.
- She cut off a large chuck of meat and fed it to her dog.

There are several set expressions that are always used in the singular in English:

- Right: Thank God, we have each other.
- Wrong: Thanks Gods

- Right: No problem!
- Wrong: No problems!

- Right: We have no comment about the case.
- Wrong: no comments.

9. Possibility and Opportunity

Wrong: I will have the possibility to go to the conference next year.
Right: I will have the opportunity to go to the conference next year.

Russian speakers often say “possibility” when talking about their ability to do something. But in English there is also a word “opportunity”, which also means “opportunity”. Which word to use depends on the context.

"Possibility" is something hypothetical that could happen or turn out to be true.

Opportunity is favorable circumstances that allow us to do something or give us a chance to act.

There is a possibility that it will rain tomorrow, so you will have an opportunity to use your new umbrella.
- There is a possibility that we will have enough funding for another research assistant position. If so, you will have an opportunity to apply for this position.

10. Say and Tell

Wrong: Can you tell me how to tell this in English?
Right: Can you tell me how to say this in English?

“Say” is said when you want to repeat the words of another person. “Tell” is used when they want to ask for something, ask about something, or inform someone about something. The verb “tell” is accompanied by a direct object: tell us/him/her/the audience.

At lunch John told his coworkers about his business trip to China.
- John said that the business trip to China went very well.

Remember these phrases:

Say yes or no, a few words, something.
- Tell a story, a lie, a secret, a joke, the truth.

11. Learn and Teach

Wrong: Can you learn me to speak English better?
Right: Can you teach me to speak English better?

"Learn" and "teach" are often confused because both words mean "to teach." But in English their meanings are completely different.

“Learn” is learning on your own. A student learns homework, a girl learns to play the guitar, and so on.

"Teach" is to train someone. The teacher teaches students the intricacies of the language.

- “I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything.” So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.” - Larry King

12.Free

Wrong: I want to speak English freely.
Right: I want to speak English fluently.

If a person wants to say that he speaks a foreign language fluently, then he uses the word “fluent”, not “free”. Yes, “free” means “free,” but its other meaning is “free.” And if “free” comes after a noun (smoke-free, car-free, alcohol-free), this means that the action is prohibited.

This is the smoke-free bar. If you want to smoke, you must go outside.

13. Do and Make

Wrong: I think I did a mistake
Right: I think I made a mistake.

In Russian, both verbs - “do” and “make” - are translated as “to do”. But they have different meanings.

“Do” - for everyday activities or work, the result of which will be something intangible, something that cannot be touched:

Do homework, do the dishes, do the laundry, do a job, do the shopping.

“Do” is used when generalizing rather than specifying. Often there are words nearby: something, nothing, anything, everything:

He has done nothing all day.
- She would do anything for her Mom.
- Is there something I can do for you?

“Make” is used when talking about creating a material, tangible thing:

Make food, make a cup of tea, make clothes, make a mess.

But there are many exception phrases with the verbs “make” and “do” that you just need to remember:

Make money, do someone a favor, do business, make a decision, do good, make a plan.

14. Expensive and dear (dear)

Wrong: That computer is too dear for me to buy.
Right: That computer is too expensive for me to buy.

The Russian word "dear" is translated into English as "expensive" or "dear", again depending on the context. Both words mean something valuable to a person, but their meaning is different.

"Dear" is something of value in an emotional or personal sense:

This necklace isn’t very expensive, but, since it belonged to my grandmother, it is very dear to me.

"Expensive" is something valuable in a financial sense, such as an expensive purchase:

I wish I hadn’t dropped my new iPhone in the toilet. It was really expensive!

15. Gender (gender)

Wrong: It’s time I bought a new computer, since he is very old.
Right: It’s time I bought a new computer, since it is very old.

Russian speakers often habitually say “he” or “she” in cases where they should use “it”.

In English, the personal pronouns "he" or "she" are used to refer to people. It is appropriate to say “he” or “she” about dogs, cats or other animals whose gender is known. We often call the pets that we love or that we like this way; for us they are not a faceless “it”, but rather “he” or “she” - “he” or “she”.

I have fond memories of my dog, Spot. He was a great dog.

You can say this about inanimate objects to which we are attached - cars, ships and even countries:

Look at that sports car! Isn’t she a beauty?
- “God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her, and guide her
Through the night with a light from above."
Irving Berlin

There are words in English that already have a gender - they take into account the actual gender of a person or animal:

Feminine: women, girl, mother, daughter, aunt, niece, nun, goddess, empress, queen, princess, heroine, actress, waitress, lioness, cow.

Male: man, boy, father, son, uncle, nephew, monk, god, emperor, king, prince, hero, actor, waiter, lion, bull.

In modern English, words like waiter, actor, and hero are used for both masculine and feminine genders. If you need to accurately indicate gender, you can add the words “man” or “woman”:

In English, the word "hero" does not only mean the hero of a book. A hero is a person, real or fictional, who shows great courage or makes a sacrifice for the greater good.

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They say that a wise man learns from the mistakes of others, a smart man learns from his own, but a fool learns nothing from his own mistakes. In this article, we propose to act wisely and learn from the most common mistakes that Russian-speaking students make in English. To compile a list of such mistakes, we interviewed native English teachers at our school, because they easily catch mistakes in our speech. We have given a brief explanation for each point, so that you can not only become familiar with typical errors in English, but also understand how to get rid of them.

So, we asked our English-speaking teachers one question: “What mistakes do your students make most often in English?” Here are the answers we received.

Saying “most of people”, instead of “most people”.
They say “most of people” instead of “most people”.
Explanation: You just need to remember the phrase “most people”, which translates as “most people”. The preposition “of” can appear after the word “most” only if you want to indicate a specific group of people, but then the definite article “the” must be placed before the word “people”. For example:
Most of the people in my country enjoy reading. - Most people in my country like to read.
However, most often the phrase “most people” should be used.
Using “and etc.” instead of “... etc.”
Use “and etc.” instead of “... etc”.
Explanation: The word “etc” is translated as “and so on”; it does not require the conjunction “and” (“and”) in front of it.
Pronouncing “clothes” as “klo-thus”.
Pronounce “clothes” as /kləʊðəz/ (closes).
Explanation: The word “clothes” (“clothes”) is used only in the plural and is pronounced /kləʊðz/. Many Russian-speaking students remembered the incorrect pronunciation from school, because there, as a rule, they taught to say /kləʊðəz/. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it is difficult for us to pronounce the similar sounds /ð/ and /z/ together, so we simplify our work and insert a vowel sound between them - this makes the word easier to pronounce.
Stressing the end of words, saying “cele-brAtion”.
Place the accent at the end of the word, pronouncing “cele-brAtion”.
Explanation: You might be surprised to hear that Dave wrote that putting the stress on the last syllable of the word “celebration” causes incorrect pronunciation. However, if you look in the dictionary, you will see the following transcription of this word /ˌseləˈbreɪʃ(ə)n/. The sound /s/ below is preceded by an additional stress mark. As a rule, such stress is present in words where there are 4 or more vowel sounds, and it is there for rhythmicity and euphony of speech. Here are examples of such words with two accents: “delegation”, “demonstration”, “motivation”, “generation”. By the way, in the Russian language there is also an additional stress, pay attention to how we pronounce the words “construction site”, “twelve-story” - they also have two accents. To learn how to correctly pronounce words with two accents in English, you need to listen to native speakers speak more often and communicate in English. Gradually you will get used to the correct placement of accents.
Using the definite article for place names, e. g. “the Moscow” or “the Sochi”.
They use definite articles with city names, for example: “the Moscow” or “the Sochi”.
Explanation: Please note: articles, as a rule, are not placed before city names. If you put an article, the word will have a different meaning: “a certain city of Sochi” (“the Sochi”) or “that very Moscow” (“the Moscow”). Here is an example of a sentence where you need to write an article before the name of the city:
This is the Moscow of my childhood. - This is (the same) Moscow of my childhood.
Mistaking adjectives for nouns when talking about countries, e. g. “I live in Russian.”
They confuse adjectives and nouns when talking about countries, for example, “I live in Russian” (“I live in Russian”).
Explanation: The error is that the country Russia in English will be “Russia”, and the name of the nationality “Russian” will be “Russian”. That is, you need to say “I am Russian, I live in Russia.” The names of countries and nationalities can be very similar, so it’s easy to get confused. To prevent this from happening in the future, practice using these words, for example, using tests on agendaweb.org and englishpedia.net.
Using (noun) + it is/are (adj) - for example, “my friend he is nice” instead of “my friend is nice”.
They construct a sentence incorrectly, for example, they put two subjects: “My friend he is nice” (“My friend he is nice”) instead of “My friend is nice” (“My friend is good”).
Explanation: A typical error in the English sentence “My friend he is nice” is associated with the peculiarities of our colloquial speech. So, we can start saying the sentence “My friend...”, then we think and pause, and then we forget that we have already named the character, so we start saying again “... he is nice”. To eradicate such an absurd mistake, you need to train your conversational speech more often, then you will select words and speak faster, pauses and unnecessary subjects will disappear from the sentence.
Using “one” instead of an indefinite article, saying “I read one book” not “I read a book”.
Use the word “one” instead of the indefinite article, for example, “I read one book” rather than “I read a book”.
Explanation: The article “a”/“an”, although it comes from the numeral “one” (“one”), cannot always be replaced by this word. The word “one” should be used if you really need to indicate that you have read ONE book.
Asking “How is it named in English?” not “What"s it called in English?”.
They ask “How is it named in English?” instead of “What"s it called in English?”.
Explanation: Sentence “How is it named in English?” contains 3 errors at once: the word “called” is replaced with “named”, the word “what” with “how” and a completely Russified version of “on English” instead of “in English”. Note: “how” is usually used to clarify how something happens, for example, “How does it work?” ("How it works?"). Therefore, we cannot use this word in questions like “What is it called in English?”, “What do you think?”, in such cases we will say “What"s it called in English?”, “What do you think?” .
A student once said their wife was boring. They meant to say she was bored.
A student once said that “wife was boring” instead of “wife was bored”.
Explanation: In the sentence with a bored (not boring) wife, the student got confused with the adjectives. In such cases there is a simple rule. The ending -ed indicates the feeling of the person we are talking about in the sentence: “bored” - the wife was bored, she was bored. The ending -ing indicates to us the characteristics of the subject, that is, if a student wanted to characterize his wife as a boring person, he should really say “My wife was boring” (and then only if the wife does not know English:- )).
Another common error I"d like to mention is the confusion between “say” and “tell”.
Another common mistake I would like to mention is confusing the words “say” and “tell”.
Explanation: In fact, in English you should say “tell somebody” and “said to somebody”, for example:
I told him / I said TO him - I told him.
To understand in what cases to use the words “tell” and “say”, we suggest watching the following useful video. In it you will learn about another common mistake Russians make in English - the confusion of the words “hear” and “listen”.

Experience as a teacher: 8 years

Experience at Englex: 2 years

Interesting fact from biography: Worked for American Airlines for 17 years

My students like to ask: “how to say” instead of “how DO you say”? My students are not fond of the word “do” in any form.
My students like to ask “how to say” instead of “how DO you say.” My students don't like the word “do” in all its forms.
Explanation: This kind of error most often occurs because we are trying to literally translate the question “How to say...?” into English. However, in English such a question should be structured differently: you need to add the subject “you” (“you”) and the auxiliary verb “do”. Russian-speaking students quite often forget about the auxiliary verb when constructing interrogative sentences, which should not be done.
Also, they use the term “I should”, when they really mean “I have to”. My students like to put the word “to” after modal verbs e.g. “I should to...”. And, they hate prepositions.
They also use the expression “I should” when what they really mean is “I have to.” My students like to insert “to” after modal verbs, such as “I should to.” And they hate English prepositions.
Explanation: After modal verbs the particle “to” is not placed (exceptions are “ought to”, “have to” and “be to”), you just need to remember this rule. The above modal verbs are translated differently: “should” - “should”, “have to” - “must”. To get used to speaking correctly and not to confuse “should” and “have to,” practice on our tests for the use of modal verbs in English.
Additionally, the mistake “say” and “tell” is something terrible. e.g. “he said me” or “she told that”.
On top of that, a mistake with the words “say” and “tell” is something terrible, for example: “he said me” or “she told that”.
Explanation: In addition to the previous explanations, watch this useful video from engvid, in which a native speaker briefly and clearly explains how not to get confused by the words “tell” and “say” in indirect speech.
One more thing. My students use question forms a lot when they make general statements. For example they might say "I don"t know who is he" or "I"m not sure where they are or where is it". They get the forms confused.
One more thing. My students use interrogative forms when making general statements. For example, they can say “I don"t know who is he” or “I"m not sure where they are or where is it.” They get confused in sentence construction.
Explanation: The sentences “I don"t know who is he” and “I"m not sure where they are or where is it” are formulated incorrectly because the student did not take into account that these are not questions, but statements with so-called indirect or embedded questions . Since the phrase is a statement, the structure of the sentence should be the same as in an affirmative, not an interrogative, sentence. The correct options are “I don"t know who he is” and “I"m not sure where they are or where it is.” In the article “Do you know what Embedded questions are? Built-in questions in English » you can study this rule in detail.

Pronouncing “clothes” with 2 syllables.
The word “clothes” is pronounced as /kləʊðəz/ (two syllables).
Explanation: Teacher Christine also mentioned the notorious mistake in pronunciation of the word “clothes”. Apparently, this is the “weak point” of many Russian-speaking students.
Saying the expression “Oy!” when they make a mistake which we would only use when we call someone or shout at them.
They say “Oops!” when they make a mistake, but we only use this word when we call someone out or yell at someone.
Explanation: As for the interjection “Oy!”, here students simply automatically pronounce the Russian “Oy!”, without thinking that in English it has a completely different meaning. Interjection “Oy!” in English it is similar to our “Hey!”, which we use to call out to someone, to attract someone’s attention. Therefore, it seems very strange to native speakers that we shout at them when we make a mistake

Experience as a teacher: 4 years