一个获奖者的英语学习之路
AfterIcamebackfromthe“21stcentury-Ericssoncup”7thnationalEnglishSpeakingcompetitionwiththeawardofthe“MostPromisingSpeaker”,peoplekeptaskingmethesamequestionoverandoveragain.“HowdidyoulearnEnglish,especiallyasaNon-Englishmajor?”ActuallyIbelievethatahundredpeoplewouldhaveahundredofwaystolearnEnglishwell.However,IwouldliketosharemypersonalexperienceofEnglishlearningwiththosewhohavetheenthusiasmforimprovetheirEnglish.SinceIhavesetupthreemirrorsinmypreparedspeechinhopingthattheywouldguideouryounggenerationonthewaytoglobalization,IwouldliketomaintainthreemirrorsheretoreflecthowIlearnedEnglish.Thefirstmirror,Iassume,shouldreflectasteadyfoundation.ThisinvolvesmyfirstfewyearsofEnglishlearning,whichIconsiderasthekeyfactorofallmyachievementsintheyearstofollow.AtthattimeIenteredthemiddleschoolattachedtoXi’anJiaotonUniversity,IcouldonlysaymyABCswhileothersinmyclasscouldatleastcommunicateinsimpleEnglish.AllthetalesaboutthefrightfulnessoflearningEnglishthenpoppedupinmymindandmademefeelscared.FortunatelymyfirstEnglishteacherwasveryexperiencedinenlighteningherstudentsonEnglishlearning.Shewasakindwomanwithacharmingsmile.Butherhomeworkassignmentswerenoteasytask:Theyrequiredustoreadafterthetapefor20timesandrecitethewholetext.Soitwasquitenaturalthatmostofmyclassmatesonlyrecitedtheshortessaywithinashorttimeandthenwenttoplay.Butmyfearofnotbeingabletosayasingleword,mademesitdownandimmersemyselfinwhattheteacherhadaskedmetodo.
BeforeeveryEnglishclasswewouldhaveanondutyreporttoletthestudentssaysomethingaccordingtowhattheyhadlearned.Myfirstpresentationinclasswastoreciteadialogue.Buttomygreatsurprise,myteacherpraisedmeformypronunciation.ItitteredbecauseIhadimitatedthereadersinthetapeforatleast20timesuntilfinallyIcouldn’tfindanydifferencesbetweenourpronunciations.AndIdidnotrealizethatthislittleprizegivenbymyteacherbegantoinfluencemyEnglishlearningmagically.
IbelievethefirstthreeyearsofEnglishlearningguaranteedthepossibilityofmyfurtherachievementsbecausebymeansofimitationIbuiltafoundationofgoodpronunciationandbymeansofrecitingIrestoredthebasicelementofEnglishlanguage.Onthewhole,IwouldliketoshowmysincerethankstomyfirstEnglishteachers.YuZhiling,whoisnowstillcaringformygrowth.
ThesecondmirrorIwouldliketomentionherereflectsaneffectivewayofEnglishlearning.IstillsticktomypointofviewthatdifferentpeoplehavedifferenttechniquestolearnEnglishwell.Buttherearesomemethodsthatseemtobeobviouslyineffective.
Let’sfirsthavealookatthefourimportantskillsforstudentstomaster:reading,writing,listeningandspeaking.Ihaveplacedtheminorderofdifficulty.
Readingistheeasiestskill.ItisalsothemostwidelyfoundEnglishlanguageskillamongstChinesestudent,Writingisamoreactiveskillthanreading.Howeveritisstillalittleeasierthanspeaking,asthereisplentyoftimetochoosetherightwordslookinthedictionaryforhelp,andmakecorrections.Listeningisthethirdmostimportantlanguageskilltolearn.ItisfarmoredifficulttolistenandunderstandspokenEnglishthantoreadEnglishinabookorinaletter.SpeakingEnglishmaybethemostdifficultofthefourlanguageskills.Itisanactiveskill,andrequiresthestudenttoputwordstogetherintosentenceswithoutmuchtimetoprepare,andwithnotimeforcorrection,yetitisthemostexcitingskilltohave,asitopensupwonderfulchannelsofcommunicationwithpeopleofothersculturesandcountries.Butthisisjustwhatwelack.
MoreoftenthannotIfoundsomeofthestudentswhogethighmarksintheirexamsshowedaninabilitytocommunicatewithpeopleinEnglish.AndthisenabledmetounderstanddeeperwhatmyfirstEnglishteacherhasalwaysemphasized:listeningandspeakingkeepingahead;readingandwritingfollowingup.Ibelievethisistheruleoflearningalanguagebecausewelearnacertainlanguagetocommunicate.Asweconqueredthemostdifficultparts:listeningandspeaking,wewouldeasilymasterthewritingandreadingskills.
Thenhowcanwemakeit?IhaveseenlotsofdiligentstudentsintheearlymorningreadingaloudtheirEnglishtextswithoutpayinganyattentiontotheirnearlyunacceptablepronunciation.IfeelsorryforthosestudentsbecausetheirhardworkdeservesamuchbetterEnglishleveliftheyimprovetheirmethodoflearning.
IfoundthatmywayoflearningEnglishthatIformedfrommiddleschoolstillworkstoday.Bylisteningtotapesandimitatingthespeakersonecanimprovehispronunciationwithinashorttime.Byrecitingclassicessaysonecanenrichtheirlanguageaswellasenlargetheirvocabulary.Asanon-Englishmajor,IliketosetasideacertainperiodoftimeforEnglishlearningeveryday,usuallyanhouroratleasthalfanhour.IutilizethisprecioustimebylisteningtotapesandimitatingtheircontentandthenrecitingtheshortpassagesIlike.Tobefrank,“CrazyEnglish”hasalwaysbeenmyfavorite.Thisisdefinitelynotintendedtoflatter.Insteadofdividingmyattentionbetweentoomanymaterials,I’dratherconcentrateononeparticularresourceatatimesuchasCE,notonlybecauseofitsabundantcontentandnativeEnglish,butalsobecauseofthebenefitsithasbroughttomethroughintensivereading,listeningandreciting,IbelievethatstudyingEnglishbyusingtheseintensivemethodswillhelpyoutogettwicetheresultwithhalftheeffort.
Lastbutnotleast,thethirdmirrorreflectstheinterestinEnglishlearning.Confuciusoncesaid,“Knowingitisnotasdelightinginit.”NowhereisthismoretruethanonthematterofEnglishlearning.MyexperienceinEnglishlearninginitiatedquitepassively,butbeforelongmyinterestinitbegantoinspiremetocontinuetheprocess.TotestifymyEnglishskillsandtostirupevengreaterenthusiasm,Iusedtoparticipateinvariouskindsofcompetitions.WhenIwaspreparingforanation-wideEnglishcompetitioninhighschool,Igottoknowthe“21stCenturyCup”EnglishspeakingcompetitionforthefirsttimeasIusedtheirscriptsasmypreparingmaterials.Ienviedthosecontestantsinthe“21stCenturyCup”verymuch.TheirEnglishskillsandtheirquickresponsemademefeelswooning.AlthoughIdidnotgetagoodrankinthenationwidecompetitionforhighschoolstudents,Ihadbegunmywildestdreamofparticipatinginthe21stCenturyCup.EvenafterIbecameanengineeringstudentIstillheldontomydream,thatitwouldcometruesomeday.BecauseIcanalwaysfindsomethingnewtochallengeme,andsetupthosechallengesasmygoalstoachieve,IneverfindEnglishlearningadulljob.IbelieveIwillforevercherishthegloriousmomentwhenIwasonthestageofthe“21stCentury-EricssonCup”7thnationalEnglishspeakingcompetition,andmywonderfulmemoriestherewithoutanydoubtwilladdpassiontomyEnglishlearninginthedaystocome.
Sincethethemeofthisyear’scompetitionwas“globalization”,wehaveenjoyedvariousvisionsfromcontestantsonthinkingofwhatweyoungpeopleshoulddotomeetthechallengesandtheopportunitiesposedbyglobalization.Butthere’sonethingforsure:goodEnglishandcommunicationskillsarethegatewaytotheworldarena.IhopesomeofmanandwomaninChinawhohaveconqueredEnglishtoholdhandstogethertobuildupthebridgebetweenChinaandtherestoftheworldwiththeworld’smostwidelyusedlanguage!