Question & answerEnglish! English! English! Everyone seemed to be crazy about learning English nowadays. But how many of us can learn it well, and speak it fluently? Why Chinese students can get a good mark in the English exams but can hardly communicate with others in English? Here are some suggestions from Dr. Cornell Thomas, a foreign expert teacher of Foreign Languages School.
Journalist:
According to your teaching experience, what’s the weak point of Chinese students when learning English?
Mr. Thomas:
The Chinese students have studied the English language for approximately ten years before arriving at the university to study English., but most of these students cannot speak English correctly or fluently.
In my opinion, there are several obstacles that have cause this to happen. “The main obstacle is fear! Another obstacle is the habit of mentally translating from Chinese to English and then to convert these thoughts into spoken words and sentences. Many of these difficulties are caused by the way Chinese people study and learn the English Language.”
Journalist:
Then, how to improve?
Mr. Thomas:
(1) Learning to speak as a child learns to speak. When we learn a second language we need to remember how we learned our native language. We need to learn to speak as a child learns to speak. Learning to understand and speak a language is one of the first skills a child develops. How does a child learn the language? They listen for a time and then they try to repeat the word. Parents give great praise for the smallest efforts and slightest improvement. Therefore, the child develops courage and is excited about learning. It is a long times before they know anything about grammar, spelling or formal sentence structure.
There ,whole focus is on speaking and communicating the word they want to say.
(2) “Language teachers should avoid criticism and be very encouraging and generous with praise.”
Criticism or pointing out faults too often causes the student to be apprehensive and they lose self-confidence and develop fear of speaking. The best way to motivate a student is my using praise
Journalist:
Confidence is very important in English speaking,
but it is just what many students lack. What should they do?
Mr. Thomas:
The most important aspect of speaking is having good self-esteem. Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. When most Chinese people are asked how their English is or they are told their English is very good , they immediately respond by saying, “Oh my English is very poor. If you say this to yourself often enough you will believe it. When someone compliments you, just say thank you .
Journalist:
Would you please give us some good suggestions about learning English well?
Mr. Thomas:
I have listed below ten secrets to learn English more successfully. The list comes from the book “10 Secrets To Speaking English” by Dale H Christensen. I use this book in teaching English at TongJi University. The quotes and information come from this book with permission from the author: 1. Self-Esteem; 2. Teach Others; 3. Sing Songs; 4. Talk to the TV and Radio; 5. Read Aloud and Read a Lot; 6. Call Others on the Telephone; 7. Group Participation; 8. Interpret For Others; 9. Memorize New Words And Phrases; 10. Read, Write and Memorize Poetry. And also writing in a personal journal daily . I have found this to be one of the most effective ways to learn English. When writing you should read out loud what you are writing. This way you hear yourself pronoun word.
Journalist:
Thank you very much for your suggestions.
Mr. Thomas:
You are welcome. Hopefully, these ideas will help each of you to be a more fluent English speaker. Have lots of fun learning English! 1 2 下一页 ，法语论文网站，法语论文 |
