HowIlearnedtolearnEnglish
LastyearmyEnglishclasswasdifficult.Firstofall,itwasn'teasyformetounderstandtheteacherwhenshetalked.Tobeginwith,shespoketooquickly,andIcouldn'tunderstandeveryword.Lateron,Irealizedthatitdoesn'tmatterifyoudon'tunderstandeveryword.Iwasalsoafraidtospeakinclass,becauseIthoughtmyclassmatesmightlaughatme.Icouldn'talwaysmakecompletesentences,either.ThenIstartedtowatchEnglish-languageTV.Ithelpedalot.Ithinkthatdoinglotsoflisteningpracticeisoneofthesecretsofbecomingagoodlanguagelearner.AnotherthingthatIfoundverydifficultwasEnglishgrammar.SoIdecidedtotakelotsofgrammarnotesineveryclass.ThenIstartedtowritemyownoriginalsentencesusingthegrammarIwaslearning.It'samazinghowmuchthishelped.NowIamenjoyinglearningEnglishandIgotanAthisterm.Myteacherisveryimpressed.Howdoyoulearnbest?
ThisweekweaskedstudentsatNewStarHighSchoolaboutthebestwaystolearnmoreEnglish.ManysaidtheylearntbyusingEnglish.Somestudentshadmorespecificsuggestions.LillianLi,forexample,saidthebestwaytolearnnewwordswasbyreadingEnglishmagazines.Shesaidthatmemorizingthewordsofpopsongsalsohelpedalittle.Whenweaskedaboutstudyinggrammar,shesaid,鈥淚neverstudygrammar.It鈥檚tooboring.鈥WeiMingfeelsdifferently.He鈥檚beenlearningEnglishforsixyearsandreallylovesit.Hethinksstudyinggrammarisagreatwaytolearnalanguage.HealsothinksthatwatchingEnglishmoviesisn鈥檛abadwaybecausehecanwatchtheactorssaythewords.Sometimes,however,hefindswatchingmoviesfrustratingbecausethepeoplespeaktooquickly.LiuChangsaidthatjoiningtheEnglishclubatschoolwasthebestwaytoimproveherEnglish.Studentsgetlotsofpracticeandtheyalsohavefun.Sheaddedthathavingconversationswithfriendswasnothelpfulatall.鈥淲egetexcitedaboutsomethingandthenendupspeakinginChinese,鈥shesaid.MyBiggestProblem
MybiggestproblemisthatI鈥檓toobusy.WhenIwasyoung,Iusedtohavesomuchtime,butthesedays,Igetupearlyandstayinschoolallday.ThenIgorighthomeandeatdinner.BeforeIstartedhighschool,Iusedtospendalotoftimeplayinggameswithmyfriends,butIjustdon鈥檛havethetimeanymore.Intheevening,IusedtowatchTVorchatwithmygrandmother,butnowIhavetostudy.Ilovemusicandmyfathertakesmetoconcerts.Thesedays,Ihardlyeverhavetimeforconcerts.Idomyhomeworkandgotobed.Ireallymisstheolddays.
Theotherday,myfriendsandItaikedaboutetherulesthantwehaveinschool.Atourschool,wehavetowearuniformseveryday.Theproblemisthatallmyclassmatesthinktheuniformsareugly.Wethinkyoungpeopleshouldlooksmartandsowewouldliketowearourownclothes.Ourteachersbelievethatifwedidthant,wewouldconcentratemoreonstudies.Wedisagree.Wewouldfeelmorecomfortableandthatisgoodforstudying.Ifwecan'tdothant,weshouldbeallowedtodesignourownuniforms.Thantwouldbeagoodwaytokeepbothteachersandstudenteshappy.
It'salsoprobablyagoodideaforparentstoallowteenagerstostudyingroupsduringtheevening.Iknowwegetnosiysometimes,butwelearnalotoffromeeachother.Wealsothinkthantvacationsshouldbelonger.Atpresentthey'retooshort.
Longervacationswouldgiveustimetodothingslikevolunteering.LastsummerIhadanopportunitytovolunteeratthe