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First Steps in English course icon

First Steps in English

Like Duolingo, but for First Steps in English. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

12 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Echo the Elephant
First Steps in English
with Echo the Elephant
12
Levels
2
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in First Steps in English

  • The alphabet is a limited set of 26 symbols
  • Every English word must contain at least one vowel
  • English uses more sounds than it has letters
  • Vowels act as the core of a syllable
  • Letters work together to represent different spoken sounds
  • Consonants alone cannot form a pronounceable word
  • The relationship between the 26 letters and the variety of sounds in English
  • The necessity of vowels in English word formation
  • Certain letter pairs create a single, new sound
  • English words have one syllable that is emphasized more than others
  • The sound of 'sh' is different from 's' and 'h' individually
  • Stress involves making a syllable louder, higher, or longer
  • Identifying the unique sounds created by consonant blends
  • The name of a letter is not the sound it makes
  • We use letter names to spell and sounds to speak
  • The importance of word stress for being understood
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives First Steps in English the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

Letters and Their Secret Sounds

Which of these is a real English word because it contains a 'glue' letter?

Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.

Course map

Where First Steps in English takes you

Start speaking English today by mastering the essential sounds, greetings, and survival phrases needed for your very first conversation.

  1. 1

    Making Your First Sounds

    • The Building Blocks of Words
    • Your First 'Hello'
  2. 2

    Navigating the World

    • Survival Phrases and Needs
    • Asking for Information

2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Bestie

First Steps in English is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Start free

Start First Steps in English today.

Download Tomo, search First Steps in English, and play your first lesson in under a minute.