Rediscovering English思维导图

学生运动会志愿服务工作，先后作为东帝汶和荷兰王国代表团的联络员，获北京市市级优秀志愿者、志愿服务先进个人等称号。

Englishlearningtomeisakindofnaturallanguagelearningprocess．ThefirstencounterwithEnglishImadecouldbetracedbackto1989，13yearsuptonow．Thence，IhavereceivedsystematicEnglishtraining，firstintheTianjinForeignLanguagesSchoolandlaterintheBeijingForeignStudiesUniversity．Iusedtotoilonit，learningitasa“language”．However，asmylanguageproficiencygrows，thelanguagehasbecomemybloodandbone，amediaofmythought，justlikeChinese，butnolongera“language”tobelearnt．Inmostofthecases，whenaskedaboutanytipsinEnglishlearning，Ialwaysoffersome“opensesames”piratedfromothers，theoriginandthefeasibilityofwhichareofteninquestion．

ItwasnotuntilveryrecentlythatIgrewconsciousagainoftheindispensablepartsandproceduresinlanguagelearning，throughmylearningoftheFrenchlanguage，fromwhich，incomparisonwithandcontrasttoEnglish，Ihavelearntmoreaboutthecommonfeaturesoflanguage，aswellasthelearningofit．

Foranylanguagelearnerlikemyselfwhocouldafford13yearsonendbentononelanguage，whostillhasmuchtimeforimprovement，itislesslikelythatbyfollowingthescholasticmeasures，hewouldnotstrikeproficiencyoneday；however，fortheavidlearners，especiallythosewhoexpecttomakerapidprogress，acertaincalculatingshouldbeinvolved，andcertainprocedurestobefollowed．

Firstly，phonetics，orrather，pronunciationisimportantatalllevels，especiallyatthebeginners'levels．SinceIlearnFrenchallbymyself，onlywithseveraltapesasmyguideinthesphereofphoneticsandlackanyproperrepetitionandreinforcement，IhaveencounteredgreatimpedimentinthelearningofFrenchasawhole，whetherinpronunciation，inspeech，orinlistening．Languageisprobablythefirstthingwelearnintheworld，andwefirstgettounderstandlanguagenotbythewrittenscript，butbythesound，orratherthearticulationofcertainwordsandsentences．Language，whetheritbeChineseorEnglishorwhatever，isnotmerelyalanguage，butamediaofthought．Eachofusthinksinourmindnotthroughavisionofthewords，butbyachainofthesoundsofthem．Ifwedon'tknowwellthepronunciationofthewords，wecouldnotspeak，northinkwell，norcouldweunderstandotherswell，forthevisionoflanguageinourmindsbasedupontheimperfectpronunciationisdifferentandoftenincompatibleatallwiththatofothers．ThisremindsmethatsomestudentswhohavepoorpronunciationarealwaystryingtoimprovetheiroralEnglishbypracticingindeedveryhard，andsometimescouldachievefluencyintermsofspeechrate，butallbasedontheirown，ratherthanthecorrectversionofthesoundsystem，thenwemightsay，theirpracticeonlyleadstothereinforcementoferrors，andthemoreefforttheymake，themoredifficultitwillbeforthemtocorrecttheirmistakesinthefuture．Therefore，asIhadthoughtbefore，pronunciationliesatthebasisofalllanguagelearning，andisthefirsttobepolished，theearlier，themoredesirable―thisisthefirsttipinlanguagelearningthatIhaveconfirmedtobetruethroughmyownexperience．

Thesecondpointisabouttherulesofgrammar．Tolearnersatthepremierandmediumlevels，sometimestherearetoomanylanguagerulestoobserveandstillmanyyetunheardof．Asaresult，eitheroneisafraidtospeakinpublicforfearofmakingmistakes，orisboldenoughtomakethemistakethatiscalled“overgeneralization”inlinguistics．Tosolvethisdilemma，thereisnootherwayoutbuttopursuethe“more”policy―tospeakmore，inordertoconsolidatewhatyouhaveabsorbed；towritemoreandgetitchecked，inordertoimproveyourunderstanding；tointensivelyreadmore，inordertoacquaintyourselfwithmoregrammaticalphenomena．Thisisarepetitionandreinforcementprocess，throughwhichonemightimprovehislanguageskills．Ifnot，onewouldget“fossilized”，asisoftenreferredto，whichmeansthatone'slanguageskillstaysatonepointandneverwillmoveagain．Toavoidthis，oneshouldcultivateverygoodlearninghabitthatheshouldspendhiseffortandhiscuriosityoflearningforalongtimeonend，without

anybreakthatmightunderminehiseffort．Thethirdpoint，oralEnglish，isarealheadachetomany．InEnglishlearning，Ihaveneverhadsuchproblemsmyself，butinFrenchIdo．Ithinkthedifferenceinthenatureofthingsliesintwofactors：first，pronunciation，andsecond，repetitionandimitation．Astopronunciation，aswehavealreadystated，itliesatthebottomofalllanguagelearning，notonlythepronunciationofwords，butalsotheintonationofthesentencesandthatinlinewithdifferentoccasions．Withoutagoodcomprehensionofthis，weareoftentootimidtoopenourmouths，forifnot，itisverylikelythatwewouldgetmockedof．Therefore，imitationandreinforcementconcernthewaytoimprove．Preferably，youshouldhavea24-hourteacherbyyoursidewhocanoftenprovideinstructions，butifnot，trylisteningtotheEnglishprograms，whetherfromtheradioortheTV，nottocomprehendthecontent，buttofeelthepronunciation，theflowofthewords，theintonationofsentencesaswellasthestressandthemodeofemotioninvolved．Inaddition，itisnotnecessarytoproduceverycomplicatedandpolishedsentences．ItisOKsolongasitisgrammaticallycorrectandsufficestoexpressyourmeaningwell．ManychoosetofindanoralEnglishpartner，orfrequenttheEnglishcornersweekly―theseareofcoursehelpful，butsometimestootimeconsuming．Oneisthe24-hour，neverfatigue，andneverimpatientpartnerofoneselfintermsoforalEnglish．SpeakingtomyselfismypracticeinthelearningofEnglish，aswellasinFrench．Throughthisway，itisveryhelpfulnotonlyinpracticeoforalEnglishSkills，butalsoatrainofmymind．Ofcourse，whenyoudothis，youhavetomakesurethatyourpronunciationsarequalified；otherwise，itwillonlyservetoreinforcetheerrorsyoubearinthisfield．Listeningcomesthefourth―itisdeterminedbythenaturalsequenceintermsoflanguagelearning．Quiteoften，itwouldbelongafterwestarttolearnalanguagewhenwewouldbeabletostrikeproficiencyintermsoflistening．Unliketheopinionthatmanyhold，listeningisnotonlyamatterabouttheear，norisitonlythroughintensetraininginlisteningthattheskillcouldbeimproved．Listeningcomprehensionrelatestoone'spronunciationandintonation，forifone'spronunciationandintonationisfaulty，itisunlikelythathewouldbeabletounderstandothers；itrelatestothelearner'soralEnglishability，forifonecannotproducecoherentandfluentsentences，itisnotpossiblethathismindwouldadapttoveryarticulatespeechfromothers；itrelatestovocabulary，forinspeech，thereisnotimeandchancetobroodoverthemeaning，nortolookanythingupinthedictionary．Therefore，thewaytoimproveone'slisteningskillsisself-revealing．Besidesthenormalapproaches，Ispeciallyrecommendlisteningtotheradioortelevisionprogram，eventhoughyoucouldnotunderstandasingleword．Inthisway，youwouldnotfeelnervous，norwoulditdemandmuchattentionofyou―theapproachsimplyprovideyouwithafeelingofthelanguage，arecognitionofthestopsandstresses，thetoneupandthetonedown．Andasone'slanguageskillimproves，onewouldbegintodistinguishcertainwords，ormorewordsandexpressions，untilfinally，theprecisecomprehensionofall．Anothertipisthatnevergetnervousaboutlistening，especiallyinexaminations．Idoknowsomeonewhoeachtimegetover-nervousandmakeunnecessarymistakes．Justfeelateasewhetheritisinexamsorintheeverydaypractice．