AS A LANGUAGE LEARNER, I ATTACH ENORMOUS ATTENTION TO SELF-STUDY, FOR IT IS
IMPRACTICAL TO DEPEND ON TEACHERS TO TAILOR APPROACHES SPECIALLY FOR EVERY
STUDENT. LEARNING A LANGUAGE IS SOMEWHAT LIKE LEARNING TO RIDE A BICYCLE. IT IS
NOT UNTIL A LEARNER ACTUALLY GETS ON THE BIKE AND UNDERGOES FALLS THAT
MEANINGFUL LEARNING WILL TAKE PLACE. SO I PERIODICALLY SET GOALS FOR MYSELF AND
WORK IN A CLEAR DIRECTION. IN THIS WAY, IT’S EASIER FOR ME TO MEASURE MY CURRENT
PERFORMANCE. THEN I SET UP A REGULAR SCHEDULE FOR EXERCISES AND STICK TO IT.
AFTER ALL, ALL KNOWLEDGE NEEDS TO BE OBTAINED CONTINUOUSLY IN SMALL BITS.
MOREOVER, I WEIGH MISTAKES CONSIDERABLY AND CORRECT THEM CAREFULLY, AS I FIND
THIS HELPS TO LEARN FROM THEM AND THUS AVOID THEM. TO ACHIEVE THIS, I HAVE FORMED AN ACTIVE HABIT OF TURNING TO REFERENCE. I ASSUME IT IS BETTER THAN ASKING
TEACHERS ON THE GROUND THAT THE “SILENT INSTRUCTORS” ALSO PROVIDE THE USAGE
AND RELEVANT PHRASES TOGETHER WITH ALL THE MEANINGS. ON THE OTHER HAND,
TEACHERS ARE SUPPOSED TO SAVE TIME TO ANSWER A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS,
THEREFORE IT IS NATURAL THAT TEACHERS SHOULD NOT INFORM THE STUDENTS OF
EVERYTHING CONCERNING THE QUESTIONS.
SPECIFICALLY SPEAKING, ONE HAS TO GRASP LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING, WRITING AND
TRANSLATING BEFORE HE CAN SAY HE HAS REALLY MASTERED ENGLISH. HERE I’D LIKE TO
SHARE MY EXPERIENCE AND RECIPE IN BETTERING THE FIVE BASIC SKILLS WITH OTHER
LANGUAGE LEARNERS.
1.LISTENING
I USUALLY GLANCE AT THE ITEMS AND GUESS THE GENERAL IDEAS BEFOREHAND. WITH
THESE HINTS, I TRY TO CONCENTRATE ON EACH WORD AND KEEP THINKING AT THE SAME
TIME, OTHERWISE I MAY MISS PART OF THE DETAILS AND EVEN GET NOTHING MORE THAN
SEVERAL SEEMINGLY UNRELATED WORDS. BUT EVEN THOUGH I CAN’T CATCH THE CRITICAL
INFORMATION, I NEVER PANIC SO AS NOT TO MISS THE FOLLOWING CONTENTS. ALSO, I’M
AWARE THAT LACK OF VOCABULARY AND FIXED PHRASES PREVENTS UNDERSTANDING THE
PASSAGES TO A VAST EXTENT. FOR INSTANCE, THE MEANING OF THE PHRASE “SET THE
WORLD ON FIRE” IS OFTEN REGARDED AS WHAT IT COMES OUT LITERALLY, WHILE IN FACE, IT
MEANS “BE FAMOUS ALL OVER THE WORLD”. FINALLY, I PAY ATTENTION TO A CERTAIN WAY
OF EXPRESSING, LIKE SENSE OF HUMOR, WHICH IS SOMETIMES WRONGLY PERCEIVED AS
SERIOUSNESS.
2.READING
I HAVE TAKEN STEPS TO MAKE READING EFFECTIVE. FIRST, I READ WITH THE READING
PURPOSES TO SAVE TIME AND BEWILDERMENT. SECOND, I CONSTANTLY INCREASE MY EYE
MOVEMENT AND ATTEMPT TO READ IN UNITS AS LONG AS POSSIBLE IN THAT IT WILL ASSIST
ME IN UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT AS A WHOLE. THIRD, READING IS FREQUENTLY DONE WHEN
I’M AT EASE AND RELAXED. IN THIS WAY, I SEEM TO FOCUS ON THE PLOT AND BENEFIT FROM
THE MATERIALS MORE EASILY. WHAT OUGHT TO BE MENTIONED IS THAT WE DON’T
NECESSARILY HAVE TO READ ALOUD WORD BY WORD. FOR SOME TYPICAL MODEL
COMPOSITIONS, I READ THEM ALOUD TO DEVELOP SENSE OF ENGLISH, WHICH I DISCOVER IS
FAIRLY HELPFUL IN IMPROVING THE OTHER FOUR PHASES. FOR OTHER ARTICLES, I’LL JUST
SCAN THEM AND GET THE USEFUL ELEMENTS. HOWEVER, NO MATTER I READ ALOUD OR NOT, I
NEVER FORGET TO JOTTING DOWN THE WELL-WRITTEN SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS.
MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, I LIKE COMBINING EXPRESSIONS TO PROVIDE STRONGER MEMORY.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH CONTAINS A FEW EXPRESSIONS ABOUT “RAT”. “
A RAT LEAVING A SINKING SHIP HAS RATTED ON THE ARMY AND WAS SO AFRAID OF THE
ARMY’S REVENGE THAT HE HAD A RAT IN A GARRET. WHEN SITTING ON THE BEACH ONE DAY,
HE WAS SUDDENLY PUSHED INTO THE SEA, STRUGGLING LIKE A DROWNED RAT. HE KNEW HE
WAS LIKE A RAT IN A HOLE, AS A GROUP OF ARMY MEN WERE SURROUNDING HIM. IN THE
NEXT MOMENT, HE DIED LIKE A RAT.” THIS “MIXTURE” I YIELDED MEANS A TRAITOR HAS
BROKEN AWAY FROM THE ARMY AND WAS AWFULLY WORRIED. LATER ON, HE WAS CAUGHT
BY HIS FORMER FELLOWS AND REALIZED HE COULDN’T ESCAPE. AT LAST, HE WAS POISONED
AS A PUNISHMENT.
3.SPEAKING
WITHOUT ANY DOUBT, IF ONE IS ABLE TO FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH RIGHT ANSWERS BUT
INCAPABLE OF SPEAKING ENGLISH FREELY, HE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AS REAL EXPERTS. IN
MY CASE, THE FIRST SECRET OF MY FLUENT ENGLISH LIES IN MY CONFIDENCE AND
BOLDNESS. I AM NEVER SHY, I DARE OPEN MY MOUTH AND LET THE WORDS FLY ON ANY
OCCASION. ALTHOUGH I INEVITABLY MADE SPOKEN MISTAKES AT FIRST, I DIDN’T GET
DEFEATED. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE MORE I SPEAK, THE BETTER MY ORAL ENGLISH
BECOMES. I PRACTISE MY PRONUNCIATION AS WELL AS ORGANIZATION OF SENTENCES AT
THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY. AS A RESULT, FOREIGNERS ARE ALWAYS IMPRESSED ABOUT HOW
SIMILAR MY PRONUNCIATION IS TO THAT OF A NATIVE SPEAKER AND HOW FEW GRAMMATICAL
MISTAKES I MAKE. YET I’M RARELY SATISFIED WITH MY PERFORMANCES, ON THE CONTRARY, I
BEAR IN MIND THE GOLDEN RULE THAT THE MORE PRAISES I GET, THE GREATER EFFORTS I
HAVE TO MAKE. SO I TREASURE ANY CHANCE AVAILABLE TO TAKE PART IN SPEECH
CONTESTS, IN THE COURSE OF WHICH I FIND MORE SKILLS ARE ESSENTIAL. APART FROM
ACCURACY AND FLUENCY, I GRADULLY PLACE STRESS ON THE CONTROL OF MY VOICE,
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AND BODY MOVEMENTS. STEP BY STEP, I HAVE FORMED MY OWN STYLE
OF DELIVERING STATEMENTS. FLAKES OF COMPLIMENTS CONTINUALLY FLOCK AND FALL ON
MY LEAN BODY ON THE STAGE. MY FREQUENT AUDIENCE SAY MY SPEECHES ARE SO
WONDERFUL THAT THEY ARE JUST LIKE INSPIRING SYMPHONIES. AND THIS, CERTAINLY, IS
PARTLY OWING TO MY QUICK REACTION AND WIDE RANGE OF KNOWLEDGE.
4.WRITINGMANY PERSONS CAN SPEAK PERFECT ENGLISH AFTER LIVING ABROAD FOR YEARS, WHEREAS
THEY ARE SELDOM DISTINGUISHED WRITERS. NATURALLY, NO ONE CAN RELY BARELY ON
ACCUMULATION OF WORDS AND IDIOMS TO WORK OUT A PIECE OF EXTRAORDINARY WRITING.
IN MY OPINION, IT IS ADVISABLE TO READ ALL TYPES OF COMPOSITIONS AS MUCH AS
POSSIBLE, WHEREUPON LEARNING FROM THEM. I GAIN AN INSIGHT INTO HOW TO FORM THE
FRAME AND ARRANGE THE SEQUENCE, HOW TO USE FIGURES OF SPEECH PROPERLY ETC.
LITTLE BY LITTLE, I HAVE ACCESSED ORIGINAL IDEAS AND INSPIRATION OF CREATIVITY. NOW I
HAVE EASTABLISHED MY INDIVIDUAL WAY OF WRITING BY POURING OUT MY TRUE FEELINGS.
5.TRANSLATING
WE DON’T OFTEN FIND TRANSLATING EXERCISES IN EXAMS PROBABLY BECAUSE SOME
EXAMINERS BELIEVE TRANSLATING TECHNIQUES ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE MASTERED BY
ALL. BUT I GUESS STUDENTS’ COMPREHENSIVE ABILITIES ARE GREATLY SHOWN THROUGH
TRANSLATION. IT IS KNOWN TO ALL THAT A TINY ERROR IN TRANSLATION IS BOUND TO
AROUSE NEGATIVE INFLUENCE. EVEN IF I HARDLY DREAM TO BE A TRANSLATOR IN THE
FUTURE, I HAVE BEEN STUDYING UP ON CONNOTATIONS OF WORDS AND DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN SYNONYMS. THANKS TO THESE EFFORTS, I AM ADEPT AT USING ENGLISH RATHER
ACCURATELY.
NOW THAT I HAVE SHOWN HOW I STUDY ENGLISH, YET PERSONALLY, I DON’T SUPPOSE THERE
IS A PRECISE SOLUTION TO THE QUESTION “HOW TO STUDY ENGLISH WELL” SINCE IT IS BEING
ANSWERED BY MASSES OF PEOPLE EVERY DAY. IT’S ALSO A SUBJECT BEING EXPERIMENTED
BY QUANTITIES OF LEARNERS ON A DAILY BASIS. DIFFERENT PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO MASTER A LANGUAGE, AND NO ONE CAN ACHIEVE SUCCESS BY
MEANS OF EXACTLY COPYING SOMEONE’S STUDYING METHODS. INSTEAD, IT IS UP TO EACH
LEARNER TO ADOPT VARIOUS METHODS AND STRATEGIES AND SEE WHICH OF THEM ARE
APPROPRIATE FOR HIS OR HER DEVELOPMENT.
