英语演讲:一个获奖者的英语学习之路
ThreemirrorsreflectthewayIlearnEnglish
AfterIcamebackfromthe“21stcentury-Ericssoncup”
7thnationalEnglishSpeakingcompetitionwiththeawardofthe
“MostPromisingSpeaker”,peoplekeptaskingmethesamequestionoverandoveragain.
“HowdidyoulearnEnglish,especiallyasaNon-Englishmajor?”
ActuallyIbelievethatahundredpeoplewouldhaveahundredofwaystolearnEnglishwell.However,IwouldliketosharemypersonalexperienceofEnglishlearningwiththosewhohavetheenthusiasmforimprovetheirEnglish.SinceIhavesetupthreemirrorsinmypreparedspeechinhopingthattheywouldguideouryounggenerationonthewaytoglobalization,IwouldliketomaintainthreemirrorsheretoreflecthowIlearnedEnglish. Thefirstmirror,Iassume,shouldreflectasteadyfoundation.ThisinvolvesmyfirstfewyearsofEnglishlearning,whichIconsiderasthekeyfactorofallmyachievementsintheyearstofollow.AtthattimeIenteredthemiddleschoolattachedtoXi’anJiaotonUniversity,IcouldonlysaymyABCswhileothersinmyclasscouldatleastcommunicateinsimpleEnglish.AllthetalesaboutthefrightfulnessoflearningEnglishthenpoppedupinmymindandmademefeelscared.FortunatelymyfirstEnglishteacherwasveryexperiencedinenlighteningherstudentsonEnglishlearning.Shewasakindwomanwithacharmingsmile.Butherhomeworkassignmentswerenoteasytask:Theyrequiredustoreadafterthetapefor20timesandrecitethewholetext.Soitwasquitenaturalthatmostofmyclassmatesonlyrecitedtheshortessaywithinashorttimeandthenwenttoplay.Butmyfearof
notbeingabletosayasingleword,mademesitdownandimmersemyselfinwhattheteacherhadaskedmetodo.
BeforeeveryEnglishclasswewouldhaveanondutyreporttoletthestudentssaysomethingaccordingtowhattheyhadlearned.Myfirstpresentationinclasswastoreciteadialogue.Buttomygreatsurprise,myteacherpraisedmeformypronunciation.ItitteredbecauseIhadimitatedthereadersinthetapeforatleast20timesuntilfinallyIcouldn’
tfindanydifferencesbetweenourpronunciations.AndIdidnotrealizethatthislittleprizegivenbymyteacherbegantoinfluencemyEnglishlearningmagically.
IbelievethefirstthreeyearsofEnglishlearningguaranteedthepossibilityofmyfurtherachievementsbecausebymeansofimitationIbuiltafoundationofgoodpronunciationandbymeansofrecitingIrestoredthebasicelementofEnglishlanguage.Onthewhole,IwouldliketoshowmysincerethankstomyfirstEnglishteachers.YuZhiling,whoisnowstillcaringformygrowth.
ThesecondmirrorIwouldliketomentionherereflectsaneffectivewayofEnglishlearning.IstillsticktomypointofviewthatdifferentpeoplehavedifferenttechniquestolearnEnglishwell.Buttherearesomemethodsthatseemtobeobviouslyineffective. Let’
sfirsthavealookatthefourimportantskillsforstudentstomaster:reading,writing,listeningandspeaking.Ihaveplacedtheminorderofdifficulty.
Readingistheeasiestskill.ItisalsothemostwidelyfoundEnglishlanguageskillamongstChinesestudent,Writingisamoreactiveskillthanreading.Howeveritisstillalittleeasierthanspeaking,asthereisplentyoftimetochoosetherightwor
dslookinthedictionaryforhelp,andmakecorrections.Listeningisthethirdmostimportantlanguageskilltolearn.ItisfarmoredifficulttolistenandunderstandspokenEnglishthantoreadEnglishinabookorinaletter.SpeakingEnglishmaybethemostdifficultofthefourlanguageskills.Itisanactiveskill,andrequiresthestudenttoputwordstogetherintosentenceswithoutmuchtimetoprepare,andwithnotimeforcorrection,yetitisthemostexcitingskilltohave,asitopensupwonderfulchannelsofcommunicationwithpeopleofothersculturesandcountries.Butthisisjustwhatwelack.
MoreoftenthannotIfoundsomeofthestudentswhogethighmarksintheirexamsshowedaninabilitytocommunicatewithpeopleinEnglish.AndthisenabledmetounderstanddeeperwhatmyfirstEnglishteacherhasalwaysemphasized:listeningandspeakingkeepingahead;readingandwritingfollowingup.Ibelievethisistheruleoflearningalanguagebecausewelearnacertainlanguagetocommunicate.Asweconqueredthemostdifficultparts:listeningandspeaking,wewouldeasilymasterthewritingandreadingskills.
Thenhowcanwemakeit?IhaveseenlotsofdiligentstudentsintheearlymorningreadingaloudtheirEnglishtextswithoutpayinganyattentiontotheirnearlyunacceptablepronunciation.IfeelsorryforthosestudentsbecausetheirhardworkdeservesamuchbetterEnglishleveliftheyimprovetheirmethodoflearning.
IfoundthatmywayoflearningEnglishthatIformedfrommiddleschoolstillworkstoday.Bylisteningtotapesandimitatingthespeakersonecanimprovehispronunciationwithinashorttime.Byrecitingclassicessaysonecanenrichtheirlanguageaswellasenlargetheirvocabulary.Asanon-Englishmajor,IliketosetasideacertainperiodoftimeforEn
glishlearningeveryday,usuallyanhouroratleasthalfanhour.IutilizethisprecioustimebylisteningtotapesandimitatingtheircontentandthenrecitingtheshortpassagesIlike.Tobefrank,“CrazyEnglish”
hasalwaysbeenmyfavorite.Thisisdefinitelynotintendedtoflatter.Insteadofdividingmyattentionbetweentoomanymaterials,I’
dratherconcentrateononeparticularresourceatatimesuchasCE,notonlybecauseofitsabundantcontentandnativeEnglish,butalsobecauseofthebenefitsithasbroughttomethroughintensivereading,listeningandreciting,IbelievethatstudyingEnglishbyusingtheseintensivemethodswillhelpyoutogettwicetheresultwithhalftheeffort.
Lastbutnotleast,thethirdmirrorreflectstheinterestinEnglishlearning.Confuciusoncesaid,“Knowingitisnotasdelightinginit.”
NowhereisthismoretruethanonthematterofEnglishlearning.MyexperienceinEnglishlearninginitiatedquitepassively,butbeforelongmyinterestinitbegantoinspiremetocontinuetheprocess.TotestifymyEnglishskillsandtostirupevengreaterenthusiasm,Iusedtoparticipateinvariouskindsofcompetitions.WhenIwaspreparingforanation-wideEnglishcompetitioninhighschool,Igottoknowthe“21stCenturyCup”
EnglishspeakingcompetitionforthefirsttimeasIusedtheirscriptsasmypreparingmaterials.Ienviedthosecontestantsinthe“21stCenturyCup”
verymuch.TheirEnglishskillsandtheirquickresponsemademefeelswooning.AlthoughIdidnotgetagoodrankinthenationwidecompetitionforhighschoolstudents,Ihadbegunmywildestdreamofparticipatinginthe21stCenturyCup.EvenafterIbe
cameanengineeringstudentIstillheldontomydream,thatitwouldcometruesomeday.BecauseIcanalwaysfindsomethingnewtochallengeme,andsetupthosechallengesasmygoalstoachieve,IneverfindEnglishlearningadulljob.IbelieveIwillforevercherishthegloriousmomentwhenIwasonthestageofthe“21stCentury-EricssonCup”
7thnationalEnglishspeakingcompetition,andmywonderfulmemoriestherewithoutanydoubtwilladdpassiontomyEnglishlearninginthedaystocome.
Sincethethemeofthisyear’scompetitionwas
“globalization”,wehaveenjoyedvariousvisionsfromcontestantsonthinkingofwhatweyoungpeopleshoulddotomeetthechallengesandtheopportunitiesposedbyglobalization.Butthere’
sonethingforsure:goodEnglishandcommunicationskillsarethegatewaytotheworldarena.IhopesomeofmanandwomaninChinawhohaveconqueredEnglishtoholdhandstogethertobuildupthebridgebetweenChinaandtherestoftheworldwiththeworld’smostwidelyusedlanguage!
英语演讲-一个获奖者的英语学习之路
