Students Discussion

Some thoughts on English learning

Posted By: Carol
Date: December 22, 2007

Hello.It was nice hearing that Howie made this forum for us to communicate.Let me introduce myself first of all.I am Chinese and my first language is Mandarin.Besides,I can speak two Chinese dialects and English.Actually I learned a little Spanish from my schoolmates.You may think they are from Spain but I have to tell you that you are wrong.They are from Ohio and New York.Spanish could be Americans' second language as there is a large population of Spanish speakers in the United States.
As for myself,I started to learn English at 12,which is not an early age for learning a foreign language.Personally speaking,in China,the way of learning English is absolutely wrong.Most teachers are Chinese and sometimes their pronunciation is not accurate.However,accent is not the biggest problem since all non-native English speakers more or less have their own accents.Then what is the biggest problem?It is the teaching method.Chinese teachers always teach students to remember words and grammar so there is little time for students to talk then they can hardly practice their spoken English.Therefore,many Chinese students can write good English essays but speak poor English when they do presentations.
Howie told me many times that my English is good.Let me say thank you first of all.I was not born or raised in an English-speaking country but I was educated in the United States.That is why I can speak English fluently.The best way of learning a foreign language is to hear and speak it all the time.Unfortunately most Asian students are not able to do that.This is the most important reason why the demand for English teachers in Asia is so great.More talking can make your English fluent.However,some English teachers in China and South Korea are not qualified and students suffer alot.I have met those people in Guangzhou,a city near Hong Kong.They are from Nigeria but they pretended to be African American in order to get teaching jobs.US Consulate needs to pay attention to those people since forging US passport is a criminal act.Also,some Filipino maids tried to teach English in China.Is that ridiculous?
I am not sure if you guys are getting bored while reading such a long essay.Let me tell you a funny story,OK?I met my friend by accident in London when I took the train with my classmate.I said "hey,is that a pickle in your pocket?"He answered "no.I am just glad to see you."Both of us laughed.He is from New York so he understood my joke but my classmate is from Japan so she was confused.She asked "you like eating pickles,huh?"Slang is so interesting!
Howie,I cannot go to San Diego next month because studying in San Diego is only available for students in the US Air Force.Ordinary students should go to St. Louis.Anyway if I have time to travel to San Diego in 2008,I will let you know so we can meet.