I'm a local woman who has been studying English for years.I'm teaching English in a local school with limited English skills.
I wonna be a more qulified one to meet the needs of my students, but how can I improve it in my daily life.
Because I've always lived in China,and I learned all my English in China. Now I've found my knoeledge is far from enough to deal with everyday English,news, movies,and children's books.
I know that language is learned by living, but what shall I do?
Could someone please tell me how to improve!
Hes' my advice as I'm sure you will get different ones. You have to be around foreigners. Why? Because you can improve your listening skills and speaking skills by meeting different foreigners with different English accents. The more you do this the more comfortable you are going to feel around us and develop confidence in your speaking and understanding. You can learn grammar, writing by yourself but speaking and listening is more of a hands on approach. Let go of the fear of making mistakes when you speak. Carry a little notebook and take notes. Be proactive. Don't just sit there and listen. If you want to be a good speaker, you have to speak. If you want to be a good listener, you have to listen. Don't worry about 面子. Do worry whether they are going to laugh at you when you make a mistake. Remember this wise saying that says: "He who laughs last, laughs best"
Even if they laugh when you make a mistake, in the end you will get the last laugh when your English has improved. Hang out where the foreigners hang out like Wen lin Jie. Since you are a female, be careful with guys who say they will help and in reality their only goal is to get you into bed (have sex with you). Not all foreigners are good or honest so keep that in mind when you start meeting them. If you're goal is to really learn then nothing can stop you. Good Luck! I'm sure other posters will give you good advice.
I also suggest watching movies and tv series in English, which can be fun even if don't understand everything (make use of the cheap DVDs here!). By looking at the subtitles and listening you can pick up many useful phrases, especially for everyday use. If you watch the films on your computer or a DVD player, you can also hit the pause button to write down interesting sentences or look up words and listen to difficult parts multiple times. That's how I picked up a lot of useful vocabulary and context for using it.
Hello Liumingke1234 and ShiFang, thank you for your suggestions.
I live in the north side of kunming where is far away from Wenlingjie, it's not easy for me to hang out with some language partner there. I wonder if there is any good place for me to go in the north side of kunming?
I do watch movies, and I can understand many of them but not completely by listening .
I hope to find a school to practice my english with an experienced native teacher and classmates with a higher level in the north side. but where?
I did language exchange via internet, but not very effectively.
Does any body know any right places to go in the north .
Shall I find a person to correct my article online or something like that?
what's more, I can't afford too much for a private tutor. I prefer online tutors in Kunming, so sometimes we can meet in person.
Xiashengli
Beichen has several bars and cafes where there are lots of foreigners. These are on the pedestrian street between the Metro store and Carrefour.
When learning higher level English it is important to remember that spoken English does not follow the same rules as written English. Often the rules are broken to add mood or change the meaning of the utterance. The same it true, to a lesser extent, with informal writing.
Also, you can start reading more informal English. Pick a topic that you are interested in (e.g. fashion, technology) and read on-line magazine articles about these topics. On-line articles do use less formal English.
Additionally, read interviews. This will give you examples of 'natural speech' to look at.
Final point. You now can stop thinking about English as a set of rules (science), and think of it as a living thing or an art. All of the above will make you feel much more confident in your use of . Although you will find some of what you learn really 'cool', I advise you not to take it into the classroom as you will confuse most of your students, and undermine the confidence in others.
tigertiger
I'm trying to help my students learn English in a natural way. I do agree with you that we can't learn language in the same way as we learn math or other sciences.
Although in a nonenglish speaking country, I'm try to help my students use english in their daily life. e.g, I ask my students to make a report about their daily life before each calss, and let them teach other students 3 relevant words of their reports.
I help them understand english by guessing.
but for historic reason, me myself do not know enough english. I'm the first one who need to MASTER the language.
If you really, really, really, really, really, really want to learn as you say, then nothing can stop you. Not distance or lack of money. The trick is you have to be innovative. You've made a start by starting this thread and you are letting people know your situation. That's a good start. But you have to 'hang' out with foreigners. Make friends. Share your passion or hobby. Ask your friends (Chinese) if they know of any foreigners they could introduce you to to have a chat or do things like watch a movie, KTV, play pool, go running, go skating. Before you know it you will get the 'hang' of it. Remember one important thing xiashengli. They (foreigners) don't need you, you need them (by that I mean to get better with your English). They're not gonna come up to you and say: "Hey can I help you improve your English?" We have another expression that goes like this: It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
So in a nutshell, no excuses.
