My Experience of English Learning

【作者：史教员,编号8580 更新时间：2018-09-03】
I am now in master`s program in the U.S. It is not so easy and comfortable to learn a foreign language. I thought about give up when I faced over 150 totally new words and another 150 words for reviewing a day. Words is the most difficult part during the study. Like Chinese, they have multiple meaning. And when the meanings come across the test, it get ugly. Here is some experience of my TOEFL study. Hope they can help more students like me. 

Listening

When everyone talk about TOFEL study, the listening always come first. I won`t bother to replay where the audio TOFEL used come from. So, let me be straight: how I practice my Listening. First, watching videos with subtitles. It dose not have specific kinds to choose to practice listening. You should understand that all people say their language with accent. But if you are new here, you can choose some videos around New York and Washington. For their pronunciation is clear and more official. But, do not be happy for the thought “it is just watching videos, it is so easy”, because it is just the beginning. After you choose the one you interested in, you can start. Play every sentence of it and write down all the words you do not recognize. The good news is that you do not need to remember them all. Just try to remember the short ones.Remember, the point is not at the words but the sentences they belong to. Forces on the voice rather than subtitles.TIPS: If you are new, choose some TV series which are more related to daily life. And if you find daily conversation do a little bit help, choose series related to Sci-Fi, crime, lawyers or doctors. Or if you are documentary guy, just remember to watch multiple kinds of it. Second, listening to TOFEL audios. It is practicing your test skills. Just treat every lecture and conversation as an examination. I won`t talk in to details for there are so many. 

Speaking

Speaking is hardest part for students. For it is not difficult on itself, but difficult in finding another person to talk with. What is speaking? Speaking is talking. How can a man practice his speaking skills just depends on talking to himself? But unfortunately, most of students do not have the environment to talk. So, the best way is to use TOFEL to practice. Timing on yourself and do as it is real. Just remember to summarize both the good parts and bad parts of what you said. 

Reading

Reading is the most easy part for Chinese students, comparing to other three parts. But it is not so easy itself. You need to prepare too. I think the best way is to read the news. The articles from famous publication are always the best choice. Of course they have lots kinds of articles, like new technology, new drugs, political articles, articles about famous stars. You will eventually find a one which interest you. Except that, reading articles on Wikipedia is also a good choice, from which you can learn some words specifically related to certain areas. As to the frequency, reading everyday for about 30 to 40 minutes will be okay. But it is cool if you want to read more. 

Writing

Writing is the most annoying parts in TOEFL. For it is so inefficient, you can barely get nothing after weeks of hard working. So the best way to practicing writing is to remember how to answer the questions in TOEFL test. But give it up totally is not appropriate. You can write the articles using the questions TOEFL give to you. One article a week at least. And remember to polish it after you finish. 

Summary

The way of English learning is basically the same. The four parts: listening, speaking, reading, and writing are basic elements for a language including English. Words is the foundation for all of them, but words is not everything. If have to choose one to start, start with reading and listening.      

Sep 3, 2018
Tianyun Shi