My experiences after graduation – dedicated to those who struggle with English

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My experiences after graduation – dedicated to those who struggle with English. First, let me introduce myself: I am a graduate of the Mechatronics program from the class of 2003. I started taking the CET-4 exam in the second semester of my freshman year; I took it a total of 7 times, with scores of 58.5, 53, 45. My score on the fourth attempt was around 40, and I scored in the 30s on the remaining 3 attempts. I didn’t even dare to check my score on the last attempt. In short, my situation can only be described as frustrating. If I had to add an explanation to this word, it would be \"despondent\". Below is my journey in learning English. After graduating in July 2003, I started working at a private company in Zhejiang, with a monthly salary of 1,500 yuan. My job involved mechanical product design, and almost all the customer materials I dealt with were in English. So in August 2003, I began my first attempt at learning English, studying for 5 hours every day; I persisted for 15 days before giving up and turning to playing online games instead. In March 2004, I grew tired of online games; once I became familiar with my job, life seemed utterly boring. I felt lost about my future and my life took on a gloomy tone. At that time, my job responsibilities shifted to project management, which introduced something new and made work more interesting. My job now required me to communicate with clients in English, so I began my second attempt at learning English. I persisted for 20 days before giving up. Then I started reading online novels during my breaks at work and in my free time, and my life once again became chaotic. This situation continued until July 2004. Due to irregular eating habits, I developed chronic gastritis. The doctor warned me to exercise more, maintain a regular diet, and develop good living habits; otherwise, if this condition became chronic, it would cause pain for the rest of my life. Under the doctor’s threat, I began to exercise for 1 hour every afternoon after work (running and strength training). After sticking to this routine for a month, my health gradually improved, and my mood became more optimistic and positive. During that time, I determined my career goal: to become a top-tier professional manager. The path ahead became clear, so in August 2004 I started my third attempt at self-studying English. I would get up at 5:30 every morning and go to the foot of the mountain (the company was located near a mountain), where I would read aloud or recite English phrases. During my free time at work, I read the “Shanghai Student English Newspaper” and “China Daily” provided by the company. After work at 5 p.m., I would exercise and have dinner, then spend 5 hours from 6:30 to 11:30 practicing listening skills. On average, I spent 10 hours per day studying English, with Sundays off. The results improved at an almost daily pace; confidence and a sense of achievement soared, which led to a strong and intense interest in English, motivating me to keep going. By July 2005, I was able to fully understand the programs broadcast on BBC Radio. I could watch English-language movies without the need for subtitles, and even when I encountered words I didn’t know, I could hear their pronunciation and then write them down. When listening to people speak, I would instinctively translate what they said into English in my mind. However, when it came to spoken language, I never had the opportunity to converse with others, so I remained uncertain and lacking confidence. That changed on September 3, 2005 – it was a historic day that I will remember for the rest of my life. A client from Donnaly in England visited us (by then I had been promoted to project manager, with a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan). When the client spoke, I found it very easy to understand him; his speech was not much different from Chinese. So I stopped the salesperson from translating and started talking to the foreigner myself. At first, I was nervous and my tongue felt stiff, but that feeling disappeared after a minute. I excitedly introduced to the client the projects we worked on together. We had a great time over dinner, and I even told them a few Chinese puns. The boss sitting across from me looked at me with great interest at that moment. After the customer left, the boss came to me and raised my salary to 6,000 per month, saying that I might be sent to the office in the United States next year. Still, I decided not to stay here. My home is in Datong; it’s too far from here. I want to settle down in Beijing. I’m 26 years old this year, and at 27 I should start my first love affair while settling down. My 3-year contract won’t expire until next October. I’ve analyzed my strengths: 1) A degree in mechanical engineering, 8 months of experience in product design, solid knowledge of mechanics, and proficiency in 3D and 2D software; 2) One and a half years of experience in technical project management, including half a year as a project manager, with familiarity with the system documents and quality procedures of various companies. 3. Fluent in English, but without any English certificates. I consulted with headhunting firms, and they said that if my circumstances are as I describe, I could find a job in Beijing with an annual salary of 100,000–150,000 yuan. I’m now waiting until October next year; during this year I’ll try to gain some experience in management, and an annual salary of 200,000 yuan isn’t a dream! What I want to say is that whether you have a certificate or not really doesn’t matter at work; what’s important is your actual skills. In our company’s sales department, there’s someone who has passed the Professional English Test Level 8, but he still can’t be said to be good at listening – his salary is only 2,000 per month. The above are my general experiences since graduating. What I want to tell you is: 1. Keep a regular routine in your life, especially regarding diet, as it will make you happy. 2. Find something simple yet useful to do, so as to gain a sense of achievement and feel happy in a short period of time (for example, I make it a habit to exercise for one hour every day; I have done this without interruption for one year and three months, which has helped me achieve a fairly good physique. In July of this year, I participated in the CCTV Golden Partner male model selection contest in Zhejiang province, but was eliminated in the third round and failed to reach the finals). This sense of achievement gives you the motivation, energy, and perseverance to keep learning. 3. Find a suitable learning method – stop memorizing words by rote. Once you’ve finished high school, you’ll be able to express any idea you want to foreigners. Go and practice your listening and speaking skills; in the real world, no one cares about certificates or documents. The ability to speak and understand is what truly matters. Moreover, it’s easier to see progress in listening and speaking, which gives a sense of achievement and motivates you to keep working hard. It is recommended to combine the Crazy English method, the Ten Thousand Methods approach, and the reverse method for learning; you can search online for specific learning methods. 4. Most importantly, find your own direction of development – it is the lighthouse in the distance; only with a clear goal can continuous motivation be maintained