English, I think most people agree is a headache to Chinese students.
We spend a lot of time on it, but an absolutely majority of students can not speak it.
We try many ways to learn this language.
We remember words, we read grammar books, we do exercises.
But we still can not use it.
There are two questions about such a phenomenon,
the first one is, should we spend so much time on English?
the second one is, why cannot we use English after we spend so much time on it?
Let's discuss the second topic first.
I think, the reason why we cannot use English well is that, we still regard English as a subject for students, we don't regard it as a language. Yes, if it is a subject, we need to spend a lot of time on it, doing exercise, trying to pass the exams; if it is a language, the first way to learn it is to use it. The way to learn a language, include to speak, to listen and to write.
But how do we study it?
Yes, you can complain that our teachers can not speak this language, but do you have other ways to do speaking, listening or writing?
Yes, I think there is, have you ever watched a movie for many times in order to learn the language?
We have access to many English-speaking movies, I think many students have watched many of these movies, but few of us pay attention to the language.
Do you often watch the English channel of CCTV?
Do you often write in English? Similar to writing, another way of improving writing is copying, write an essay or anything written by a native speaker on your notebook, as copying, you will remember how the native speaker use this language. However, I have never copied anything.
The third way is, to speak.
I think individuals differ in their ability of learning languages. Yes, it is difficult for some people to learn a language, especially speaking. But, have you ever tried, at least speak to yourself when you are alone?
The first topic, should we spend so much time on English for every student?
I think no, especially when English is used as one of the most important standards to choose students for further study. I think, at least, we can remove English from some of the majors, such as Chinese, or other branches of traditional Chinese culture.
Let our young students spend more time on their majors. I think for most of them, after their graduation, they do not need to use this language, or they do not need to learn it any more.
So, why should they spend so much time on this language?
On the wall of a university, the words say, xxx university changes (or another verb) your dream into a job.
So, for most of the students in our college, I think going to work after graduation (I mean undergraduates), is their firs choice, so, let's prepare them for job-hunting, not for anything else.
Because we don't use this language, so for most students, the most important way to learn English is to read books for examinations.
This is not efficient in learning a language.
So, from tomorrow, let's speak this language, let's listen to it, let's write in it, if you really like it, and need to use it. |