Learning English

Some fellow students complained, “I have learned English for more than six years! But I speak poor English still, it’s really hard.” Is it true? They say six years, but how many hours have they actually committed everyday during those years? What a short time indeed! Compared with countless hours we’ve spent learning and speaking our mother tongue, we do learn English with a high efficiency.
There are quite a lot of learning methods and no good ones or bad ones. In China our English teachers teach us the most basic things and we are not in a English-speaking environment. Mostly we focus on practicing writing and comprehension. The skills are very important especially for exams. Usually we have no much difficulty reading an English article if there aren’t too many new words. Besides we are also trained to write English composition in which we should obey some certain regulations.
Listening is very important. I once met an Indian guy in the canteen and we had a nice talk. But sometimes I found it hard to catch him and had to say many pardons. That’s embarrassing. We should not only make sense of standard oral English but also adapt ourselves to different accent and talking speed.
When it comes to speaking, we may feel down. To tell the truth, I can hardly stand myself when speaking with grammar mistakes here and there or using a long sentence to mean a simple meaning. But I know we will never overcome these shortcomings unless we really try. So we spend much time talking in English without fearing of making mistakes. To some degree, speaking is the most basic usage of a language. Oral communication is always convenient and essential.
You must believe that your efforts won’t be in vain. Practice makes perfect. Since you devote yourself to learning, your English will surely be greatly improved.