Practice for half an hour every day; after 30 days, you’ll be able to have free conversations in English

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This post was last edited by Reading_Peak on 2016-12-29 at 18:18. The most common method for Chinese people learning English is to memorize words. But the definitions in dictionaries are static, while the use of language is dynamic; a mechanical understanding can lead to serious misunderstandings. Words are not the most important thing; context is what matters. It can be said that words have little practical value; no matter how large the amount of words memorized mechanically, it will not truly improve your foreign language skills. It is important to develop a good habit of memorizing sentences, as they contain pronunciation rules as well as grammatical elements, and they also show the specific meaning of a word in a particular linguistic context. Any language is living and develops every day. Reading more foreign-language newspapers and watching original films and TV shows helps to acquire new vocabulary. 1. Keep listening even if you can’t understand it. When practicing listening skills, many people complain that they can’t understand what’s being said, which makes them lose interest in listening and often leads them to give up halfway. In fact, even if you don’t understand it, it is still a form of learning; you just aren’t aware of it yourself. Although you can’t understand it yet, your eardrums are already trying to adapt to the pronunciation of a new language; your brain is adjusting its frequency in order to accept a new set of information codes, and that in itself is a significant step forward. To practice listening, it’s important to make use of the principle of involuntary attention in psychology. Whenever you have time, turn on the recorder and play foreign language tapes, thereby placing yourself in a language environment where that language is spoken. It’s okay if you can’t hear everything clearly; you can do other things at the same time without having to focus intentionally on what’s being said. As long as you’re surrounded by the sounds of that language, your listening skills will improve. It’s important to be brave enough to speak – using English is meant for communicating with others, but the difficulty in speaking is also a notable characteristic among Chinese people learning English. The problems lie in the following points: First, some people use whether they understand something as a standard for learning*. When I got an oral English textbook and flipped through a few pages, understanding everything there made me think it was too simple and not suitable for me. In fact, the materials used for practicing spoken language are definitely not difficult; otherwise, it would be impossible to practice. Understanding something does not mean being able to speak it; the main goal of oral language textbooks is to enable one to express what has been learned fluently. Second, never use Chinese characters to remember English pronunciations. If one’s pronunciation is not good when learning a foreign language, they will never truly master it; moreover, the biggest drawback is that it hinders the development of an interest in that foreign language, affecting further learning. Currently, some people use Chinese pronunciations to transcribe English words; for example, they write “goodbye” as “gǔ dé bài”. Some even publish such attempts as actual achievements. This practice will undoubtedly lead to many problems in the future. Third, there is fear of making grammar mistakes. If there are no specific questions, it’s generally not necessary to read grammar books. Learning grammar in advance will leave you confused and lost, taking away the enjoyment and confidence in learning a foreign language. Grammar is like swimming theory; for those who have never been in the water, swimming theory is of little use. Similarly, for beginners with limited language practice, learning *grammar directly is not very useful. Therefore, grammar must be understood in conjunction with language practice; grammar is a theoretical consideration that arises after one has learned a language. There is no right or wrong in learning a language; as long as one can speak and make oneself understood, that’s enough. There’s no need to go to great lengths to figure out which sentence structure to use – it’s sufficient to choose the right word. The best way to learn spoken language is not by doing exercises, memorizing, or studying grammar books; rather, it is to read texts aloud repeatedly. The purpose of this approach is to develop a sense for language. Only by having such a sense can one write the correct answers instinctively, without having to think, when doing exercises. Moreover, once you have mastered reading dozens of texts aloud, many common sentences will come out instinctively, and the so-called \"stage of thinking in a foreign language\" will arrive quietly. 2. Stick to one set of teaching materials. There is an abundance of materials for learning English available on the market today, which gives people more choices; however, if not handled properly, this can lead to negative consequences—using one set of materials today and another tomorrow undermines the systematic nature of learning. The correct approach is to select one set of textbooks as the main source, using the other materials as supplements. Moreover, many exam materials available on the market currently market themselves as containing \"real exam questions,\" and many candidates place their hopes on working on these real questions, believing that this will help them pass the exam. In fact, many legitimate exams draw from a wide range of sources, undergo rigorous assessments of their difficulty level, and it is absolutely impossible for the materials that have been used to be used again. Facing such an exam, preparing solely by doing practice questions is clearly a temporary solution; it only serves to help with solving specific types of problems... For candidates, improving their language skills is what truly matters. 3. There is no quick way to learn English; there is no such thing as a “fast track” to learning English. There is no shortcut to learning English well; only the quality of the methods matters. For example, when memorizing English words, bending your head and desperately writing from memory is not a good approach. A good method is to read aloud, repeatedly training the vocal organs and ears to engrave the sound in the mind. This way, it improves listening skills, enhances spoken pronunciation, and helps with memorizing words as well. Dictation only trains the eyes and hands, but they cannot listen and speak for you. This is the difference between good schools and ordinary schools: good schools, through training in learning methods, enable students to make progress in the shortest possible time, but this still requires the students’ own effort and dedication. 4. Find a study partner – having strong motivation is also necessary when learning English. Every time you sit down to study*, whether at home or at a language center, you need short-term motivation to focus on reading and listening. But what’s more needed is long-term motivation to ensure that such things are done regularly every day—this is the hardest part. So many people start learning *English, but give up after a while—learning *English is not a process of continuous improvement; rather, it involves periods of sudden progress followed by phases that seem to show no change, which is what is known as the \"plateau effect\". During several months of studying, you might not notice a significant improvement in your English; it is during such times that learners are most likely to lose their long-term motivation and give up on learning. A good way to avoid the \"plateau effect\" is to try not to study completely by yourself*. If you can’t go to the language center to study*, at least you should try to find a study* partner, so that you can encourage and support each other. To develop fluent and natural spoken language, one must imitate and learn the correct ways of speaking. It is recommended to find a foreign teacher to practice with, which is why it is often emphasized that one should communicate as much as possible with native speakers. The more standard spoken English one has in contact with native-speaking teachers*, the lower the likelihood of being influenced by poor pronunciation, and the smoother one’s speech will become