How I learned English I have been learning English for many years. My first experience was at school, not in Kindergarten as it is common now because it was believed one should not learn a second language in a childhood. A grammar-translation approach in teaching was the most common. I have spent over 6 years learning English this way and I faced many problems. For instance, I had a vast knowledge of grammatical rules but I have never put this into practice through discussions, interactive activities and role-playing games. Second, finishing school I was under the impression I knew English, but I could hardly use it when I first met with native speakers. I was devastated and embarrassed. English I spoke was a book, fake English, far from a real life. Now looking back I may say it is unpractical to learn language grammar without assimilating it by using and hearing the language. I did not understand how English works and how a learning style of a student is important in a teaching process. Later, studying on the Historical department, I have been learning English by reading and translating historical articles. Thus I expanded my vocabulary and improved my comprehension skills. However, my other skills like listening and speaking were poor. Only when I worked with children in English Kindergarten, I brushed up my English immersing in the environment. I had to speak with native speakers, read and write in English every day. My confidence has grown after a year working in such environment and I appreciated a communicative approach in teaching. Unfortunately, there were some drawbacks. I picked up a lot of colloquial phrases over the year but I have not used complicated structures or academic vocabulary, my language was plain and babyish. Therefore, I had to work on English myself. Now I incorporated it into my everyday life. I watch films and new in English, read magazines and listen to British and American podcasts. It helped me improve my listening skills. I do not deny drilling techniques and use them sometimes, for example, to learn vocabulary or grammar rules. But now I fry to understand unfamiliar words and structure first. To sum up, I would say all teaching methods and approaches are worth being used. However, they should be applied wisely. In addition, I believe, experienced teacher should be able to help students to set learning goals and imply time-management techniques to make a learning process more stable and motivating.