26 English Learning Tips From A to Z

从A到Z，26个英语学习的小方法

 

By 许利生Benny

 

 

 About a month ago, I was asked to write a long sentence using words beginning with 26 letters from A-Z. It’s was a challenge, and I did it. Here it is: As Benny Calmed Down Emotionally From Gunfire, He Intermittently Joked, “Killing Lawless Mobs Needs Operational Planners’ Qualification, Resourceful Specialized Tactics, Unbreakable Vehicles, Wireless X-rays, & Youngsters’ Zeal.”

 

This does not make sense actually, it’s just a game. Then one night, a eureka moment came upon me- Maybe I can challenge myself again, to use the 26 letters to write an article about how to learn English, based on my personal experience. Why 26 letters? The reason is simple- I believe that things can be easily memorized in an alphabetic order. And then I made it a routine to write one tip a day before I went to bed. Finally, I did it. And here it is. I sincerely hope that you can give me suggestions on my ideas and language flaws. Thank you!

 

 一个月前，有学生让我帮他用26个字母为单词开头写一句英语，这个有点挑战，不过还是写了出来：随着Benny的情绪从战火回来后慢慢冷静了下来，他断断续续地开起了玩笑：“剿灭这些非法的暴徒需要实战策划的资质，足智多谋的专业战术，坚不可摧的战车，无线X光装置及年轻时期的斗志。”

 

当然这只是一个语言游戏，没有什么意义。几天后，我突然有了一个灵感，是否我可以再挑战一次，用26个字母来写一篇关于如何学习英语的文章，而且尽量参考我个人的经验。为什么要用26个字母呢？原因其实也很简单，按字母顺序，我们记起来容易些。后来我们每天晚上坚持写一个小方法，一个月下来，终于写了一篇。再次和广大英语学习者和老师分享，也真诚希望大家能在我的内容及语言的运用上提提建议，谢谢！

 

 

 

 

Benny

Sept 25, 2011

 

 

 

A: Analyze the Why! 分析“为什么”！

 

Why do I want to learn English? What can it do for me? Do I like it? These are the questions we have to repeatedly ask ourselves before we kick off. The reason for school students to study English is obvious, it’s a must. But if you are an adult, or a college student, you have to figure out the why. It could be for a better job, better communication with foreigners, a chance to go abroad, and so on. If the why is clearer, the how will be easier. If the why is strong enough, the how will no longer be a matter. You can’t hit a target that you can’t see, so if the why is not clear or not strong, don’t even start, you can do something else for opportunity cost’s sake. It’s good when the why is out, but he’s lonely. He needs a good friend called interest. You may not find his friend when you set off, but keep walking, he might be there for you halfway.

 

为什么我要学习英语？学习英语对我有什么好处呢？我喜欢它吗？在我们开始学习之前我们必须问自己这些问题。中小学生学习英语的原因不用探究，因为这是学校的要求。而大学生或成人，我们最好多问自己为什么。为了一份更好的工作？为了和外国人更好地沟通？为了出国？等等。当“为什么”清楚了，“怎么做”就简单了。当“为什么”有足够的说服力，“怎么做”将不再是难题。无的我们无法放矢，当“为什么”不清楚或能量不够，最好不要学，因为从机会成本的角度，我们用学英语的时间做其它的事情会更有价值。当“为什么”清晰了，这是不错的开始，不过它会比较“孤独”，它需要一个朋友，这个朋友的名字叫“兴趣”。出发的时候这个朋友可能还没找到，不用怕，继续走，它也许就在半路等待你们。

 

 

B: Belief! 信念！

 

Language skill is one of the basic skills that human beings are born with. All languages are created from the people, by the people, and for the people. They are meant to be acquired easily by any human being. The fact that we can flexibly use our first language has already shown our capability in language learning. We have to believe that as long as we are still able to listen, speak, read, and write, we can, with the proper instructions and effort, conquer any roadblock on the way and use it like its native speaker. So don’t blame yourself for your awkwardness on a new language, you can make it!

 

语言是人类与生俱来的本能。所有语言来源人类，被人类所创，为人类所创。因此，语言必须很轻松地被掌握。我们能够灵活运用我们的母语足够证明我们在语言方面的能力，所以我们必须有坚定的信念我们能够像外国人一样使用一门外语。只要我们在听说读写方面有正确的指导及努力，我们能够克服种种困难。不要因为开始的不熟练而埋怨自己，这是因为不适应，过后你是能够克服的。

 

 

C: Catch any chance!

 

Unlike some other subjects, English is a skill that you can practice anytime and anywhere. What you need is to carry with you some tool or material, and seize every minute to study. These minutes include the minutes you spend on commuting, waiting, or bedtime stories. If you can save 20 trivial minutes a day for your casual English study, then these 20 minutes would translate into 10 hours a month or 120 hours a year. 120 hours is the time that you take off to be a full-time student for 2 weeks

 

和其它科目不一样，英语是可以随时随地学习的。你只需要随身带工具和学习资料，便可以争取每一分钟，抓住每个机会学习，例如坐车，排队，睡前等。当你每天能够挤出20分钟的零碎时间学习英语，你相当于一个月挤出了10小时，一年挤出了120小时，也就相当于全脱产半个月做一名全职学生的学习时间。

 

 

D: Design a schedule!

 

Any goal without a plan is only a wish. Are you willing to set aside one extra hour a day for your English study? If the answer is YES, then I can tell you that you are 10 times more likely to succeed in learning English. This rule can also apply to school English study. The extra English that you learn outside your school can help what you learn inside your school, and can eventually make a great contribution to your exams. Therefore, you have to figure out which one hour in your day is the most distraction-free and the most productive. It could be the one hour before you sleep or the one hour after you rise.

 

没有计划的目标只是一个愿望。你是否愿意每天挤出一个小时学习英语呢？如果你愿意，那我可以说你拥有比其他人多10倍的成功可能性。这个方式也适合中小学生，学生在课外的英语学习到最后能够帮助到课内英语学习并能提高成绩，因为语言是相通的。你必须找出一天中哪一个小时是最不受打扰而且最有生产力，可能是睡前，也可能是起床后。

 

 

E: Express, not impress. 多表达，少表现。

 

One big problem some students have in English study is that they always try so hard to impress others, by speaking too fast or too vague, using too difficult words, or building too long sentences, as to appear professional. This is totally unnecessary. The purpose of a language is to communicate and our aim is to express ourselves clearly. Those acts not only cause confusions, but tension as well. Not thinking about impressing others lessens much of our burden and forms a state of flow for the conversation. So, speak slow and make it clear, to show more respect to your listeners.

 

一些学生学习英语的典型问题是他们总是把英语讲得很快很模糊，用很难的词汇或把句子弄得很长，为了表现得“很地道”。这根本不需要，语言的目的是为了沟通，所以我们得尽量清楚地表达自己。多点表现只会引起混淆及紧张，少点表现会减少我们的压力并创造沟通的流畅状态。所以，我们说慢点，说清楚一点，给听者更多的尊重。

 

 

F: Focus on key words. 聚焦每句话的重点单词。

 

In our daily use of Chinese, we read and listen to get the content by catching the key words. It’s normal that we sometimes come across some characters that we do not understand, but it doesn’t seem to affect our comprehension, for we have got the key words. English is no different, so we have to let go, we have to get rid of our perfectionism of figuring out every single word by telling ourselves that it’s absolutely enough if we can get the idea by catching the key words. While we are doing some listening or reading exercises, try to catch the key words, and connect the key words to guess the meaning, don’t linger.

 

平时使用中文进行听和读的时候，我们只关注每句话的重点词，因为这些重点词就是大意的所在。有时也会碰到一些不懂的汉语词汇，但我们对大意的理解一般不会受到影响，因为我们捉住了重点词。英语也一样，所以我们得放下，我们得放下我们的完美主义，不断告诉自己，我们没必要词词计较，捉住大意就行。做听力及阅读练习时，只要我们找到重点单词，把它们串联起来，就能够大致理解，不要步步停留。

 

 

G: Guts to speak! 鼓起勇气，勇敢表达！

 

One of the biggest obstacles that most of us have is that we do not have the guts to speak in front of foreigners. We are so afraid of losing face by making mistakes. This doesn’t make sense at all. Will we laugh at foreigners when they speak lousy Chinese? No! So we have to take it for granted that they never expect us to speak flawlessly. When you are about to speak, say to yourself, “I respect you, so I speak your language. If you are not happy with my poor English, I’m going to have to ask you to speak Chinese with me.” But of course to them, we still have to show our honesty and courtesy.

 

我们面对外国人说英语的最大障碍是我们没勇气说出来，因为怕犯错，怕丢脸。这个完全没必要。当外国人和我们说汉语的时候，我们会取笑他们的错误吗？不会。我们没期望他们说完美汉语，所以换个角度，他们也没有期望我们讲完美英语。当我们要开口的时候，我们告诉自己：“我跟你讲英语是给你面子，如果你对我的英语不满意。那你就和我讲汉语吧。”当然这只是自我暗示的一个技巧，对于他们我们还是要表示我们的真诚和尊重。

 

 

H: Hybrid practice. 混合练习。

 

Among the four skills in language acquisitions, listening, speaking and writing are more commonly used. There is one way to practice all these three skills at the same time--- to watch videos which have English subtitles. Trigger your ears, eyes and mouth by reading the subtitles and repeating closely after the actors or narrators. Whenever you encounter new words, don’t stop, keep going, for your purpose is to catch up and create a form of flow. Another way to do it is to listen to songs with lyrics, and interestingly, this will make your English musical.

 

听说读写四个语言技巧中，最常用的是听说读。我发现有一个方法可以同时练习听说读，即看带有英语字幕的原声电影。听对白，看对白，跟读对白，三个动作同时启动。遇到不懂词汇的时候，不要理会，继续跟读，我们的目的是形成语言的“流状态”。另外一个方式，就是听带有歌词的英文歌，这样也可以使到我们的英语带有音乐感。

 

 

I: Imitate like a copycat. 高仿。

 

Language learning is all about imitation. To make your English sound more standard, you can get rid of your accent by having in hand a short passage and simply imitating the speaker over and over again. One single passage may cover most, if not all, of the features of the pronunciation and intonation of a language. My recipe for this is, 15 minutes a day, one passage a week, as loudly as possible, as clearly as possible. Making it 90% sound like the speaker is more than enough. Don’t struggle to pursue 100%, as the last 10% is hard and time-consuming, and it’s totally unnecessary. Keeping a little bit of an accent, like the French do, is fun.

 

语言就是靠模仿。为了使我们的发言更标准，我们可以通过重复地模仿一小段文章的标准朗读，从而减少我们的口音。一篇小短文一般包含了几乎全部的发言要素，包括语音及语调。我的建议是：每天15分钟，每周一篇文章，尽量大声，尽量清晰。当我们模仿到90%像的时候，已经足够了。不要追求100%，因为后面的10%是最难的，也是最花时间的。而且也没必要，保留一点点口音，像法国人一样，也挺好玩的。

 

 

J: Join a class. 参加课程。

 

English is one of the subjects that can be learned by oneself. However, it’s not always easy to start off. You need a teacher to guide you with some basic knowledge and learning methods. Taking part in a class that suits your level helps you better discipline yourself to learn on a regular basis, and it offers you an environment in which you have partners of your level to practice with. Of course, you can learn it on your own, in a more flexible way if you believe that you are a self-help kind of person and you can set a ritual for study.

 

虽说英语是一门可以自学的科目，不过起步不容易。在初级阶段你最好有一位老师给你打基础及指导学习方法。参加符合自己水平的课程也帮助我们更好地规范自己定时学习，同时也给我们一个可以和同学练习对话的环境。当然，如果你相信自己能自我约束及拥有很强的自学能力，并希望灵活地学习，那也可以独自学习。

 

 

K: Keep a dictionary with you. 随身携带小字典。

 

Buy yourself an electronic dictionary or simply install some dictionary software into your cell phone. Whenever you come across some words that seem to be important, look them up to get the meaning and pronunciation. As you check the usage, you might find some words are worth memorizing, then note them down in your little special vocabulary book, and accompany them with the cited sentences. If you cannot make any, copy some from a dictionary. The best way to memorize a word’s spelling to remember its sounds; and to memorize its usage, put it in a sentence.

 

买一个电子辞典或安装字典软件到手机里，这样当你看到不懂的单词，而且感觉它们是重要单词，就可以随时查看意思及发音了。当查看单词的意思及使用范围的时候，我们就能判断这些单词是否值得记住，然后把它们记在我们的单词本里，最好连例句也一起抄下。背单词的最好方法是背发音，然后按发音规则拼出单词。而关于如何使用单词，最好把它们放在句子中去读。

 

 

L: Listen for 30 minutes a day. 每天听英语30分钟。

 

When we were babies, the first step we took to learning our own language is listening. We first listened, and then we spoke. To learn a second language, we have to respect and apply the same law- Listening is the first and foremost part. We have to keep a habit of listening to audio material that suits our level at least 30 minutes a day without distraction. If you are a beginner, it’s natural that you do not understand the content, what you need now is a language concept. If you are at a higher level, close your eyes and imagine a typewriter in your mind that types out most of the words. If you are at an advance level, your job is to get the idea-just like the way we do with our Chinese-by focusing less on the new words and complex sentence structures.

 

我们小时候开始学母语的时候的第一步是听。我们先听，后说。学外语，我们也必须遵循“听力是第一步，也是最首要的一步”的规律。我们最好坚持每天30分钟的高度集中的听力训练，难度最好适中。如果我们是初学者，我们只是培养语感，是否听懂不重要。如果我们是中级水平，听的时候想象一下头脑里面有一部打印机，正在逐字地把整篇资料打出来。如果我们是高级水平，我们可以像听中文一样，只听大意，对于新词或复杂句，不用太理会。

 

M: Music and Movies! 音乐和电影！

 

Learning English doesn’t always put everyone in their comfort zone, for study in and of itself somewhat takes effort and perseverance. But there are some methods that English learners can never get tired of using, like listening to English songs and watching English movies. Song lyrics are not designed for daily conversation as they have to appear poetic and rhyme. But most of them are so precisely and slowly pronounced that learners can imitate very closely. Likewise, English movie lines are fairly good learning materials which consist of typical slang and idioms that you cannot learn from standard textbooks. If you can focus single-mindedly enough to put yourself in the movie and associate with the characters and stories, you will get yourself in a total English environment.

 

学英语不一定让我们时时刻刻处在自己的“舒适区”，因为学习本身需要努力和毅力。当然也有方式让我们不会疲倦于英语学习，如听英文歌及看英文电影。歌词并不是为日常口语设计的，因为它们必须有诗歌的感觉，有韵律的听觉，但歌手经常把它们的每个音发得很到位，所以很适合我们模仿。同样，电影台词包含了很多我们课本里无法学到的俚语及俗语，也是我们学习的很好材料。当我们全神贯注地看电影并和故事情节及演员很好地链接，我们已经身处在一个很好的英语环境了。

 

N: Neglect any mistake! 忽略错误！

 

As human beings, we all make mistakes. When it comes to a language, as long as our mistakes are not serious enough to make others misunderstand, we might ignore them. In most cases, the use of a language is to get our ideas across, and whether or not it’s professionally applied, it’s not important. We occasionally make mistakes with our own language, and most of them disappear without letting us know, because any language has an auto-correct function. With this function, the language can detect the mistakes and perfect itself, by consulting other speakers. Making mistakes is not an end, but a means to the end.

 

人非圣贤，孰能无过。在语言的运用方面，只要我们的错误没有严重到使别人误解，我们便可以忽略。在很多方面，语言的功能就是沟通，是否被专业运用并不重要。我们运用中文的时候也经常犯错误，只是一些错误随着时间的推移渐渐地消失，只是我们不知道而已。因为语言有“自动修复”的功能，该功能能够参考别人的运用方式，从而自动发现及修正自身的错误。犯错误并不是我们的目的，而是走向正确的方式。

 

 

O: Obtain resources from internet. 网上“淘课”。

 

The internet is the best and the biggest library ever. You can download anything from books to audio materials, from tips to lessons, from the internet. Signing up with a MSN, facebook, or twitter's account, you can reach people around the world and communicate in very casual English. By the way, don’t get lost in the overwhelming space, you have to select resources that suit yourself and your learning habit, and bear in mind one principle - Quality is prior to Quantity.

 

互联网是最棒也是最大的图书馆，我们可以从上面下载书籍，多媒体，学习方法及课程等。注册一个Msn，facebook，或twitter账号，我们便可以和世界各地的朋友用日常英语沟通。当然，不要掉到信息海洋的深渊，我们必须解除贪念，只寻找适合我们的资料，并告诉自己，质量比数量重要。

 

 

P: Portable Gadgets. 随身设备。

 

As mentioned earlier, English can be practiced anytime and anywhere. Books are not enough or not always convenient. What you need additionally is some portable gadget like an Mp3 or Mp4 player. Download some audio or video materials into your gadget or even your cell phone and make it your English class on the walk. Pick it out and study whenever and wherever possible. Be careful, don’t concentrate too much while walking, riding or driving, for safety’s sake.

 

我前面提到，英语可以随时练，随处练。书籍并不总是很方便，我们如果随身携带Mp3或Mp4，那就可以随身听了。把音频及视频资料到你的Mp3，Mp4或手机，这样你就拥有了一个“随身课堂”，随时随地带上耳塞都可以学习了。当然，在路上还不能太专注学习，安全第一。

 

 

Q: Question-oriented! 问！问！问！

 

Be an active information seeker instead of a passive answering machine. It’s common that we do not have the tendency to initially ask questions when we are speaking English. Apart from shyness, another reason is that we are used to being asked by our English teachers at school when practicing dialogues. To converse freely and fairly is to constantly ask questions and listen attentively. Feel free to say Pardon if you don’t follow. Stop blaming yourself for your failure to understand, it’s partially the speaker’s fault when confusion’s caused. Keep in mind again that we are not to show, but to know and to be known.

 

我们还要做一个问者，不只是一个答者。我们在用英语沟通的时候很少主动问，除了害羞的原因，还有就是我们在学校学习英语的时候习惯被老师问，习惯一起大声回答。自由公平的沟通要求我们主动问问题，专心听答语。但你听不懂的时候，大胆地说“请重复一遍！”，无须过份自责，造成听不懂，对方也有问题。记住：沟通，我们是去了解和被了解，而不是作秀。

 

 

R: Read for 30 minutes. 每天阅读30分钟。

 

Unlike spoken English, written English is more rigid. Written sentences are more carefully built with proper words and grammar. Reading helps us better organize our language in a formal way, and it is always the best way to strengthen and increase our vocabulary. Find some proper readers and keep a 30 minutes’ daily reading habit. Pay attention to the general information or idea you can gain from reading, don’t pause for every single new word. Note down or underline some beautiful sentences or useful words, and regularly review them until they are acquired.

 

书面英语相比起口语，会更严谨，书面英语的选词及语法相对会严格一些。阅读使我们更规范地组织我们的语言，同时也是增加及增强我们词汇的最佳途径。找一些适合自己的阅读材料并保持每天30分钟阅读的习惯，阅读的时候只理解大意，不要为每一个词停留。当然，如果读到一个很棒的单词或句子，可以划起来或记下来，以便日后复习。

 

 

S: Sentence-centered! 句子中心论!

 

If you ask me what forms a language, I would say Sentences, not Words. My reason is simple, we express by sentences, not words. Words cannot exist separately, and they need to be placed in a sentence to make sense. I am not underestimating the functions of words, which are certainly very important, but memorizing words is far from enough. We need to make every useful sentence our own sentence. To achieve this, firstly we need to select the sentences that are often used. Secondly, consider each sentence as a sentence pattern by spotting out the key words. Lastly, replace the rest of the words with other sets of words to form new meanings. For instance, I prefer apples to pears, for apples are more delicious. The key words are I, prefer, to, for, more. Keep them and replace the rest to form any meaning we want, I prefer basketball to football, for basketball is more exciting. By transforming for 3-5 times, the key sentence will inevitably belong to you.

 

如果你问我语言又什么组成，我会说是句子，而不是单词。原因很简单，我们用句子表达意思，单词无法独立存在，它们依赖句子而生。这里我并不是低估单词的价值，单词很重要，但单靠背单词远远不够。我们必须学习那些对我们来说很有用的句子，然后找出构成句子架构的重要单词，最后用这个架构去造几个相似的句子。例子（略）

 

 

T: Talk to yourself! 自言自语！

 

The biggest problem that we have is that we do not have much English environment to practice our English. On average, over 90% of the daily languages we use are Chinese, since most or all of the people we talk to are Chinese. So how do we deal with this? I personally suggest you to talk to yourself, and I have been doing this for a long time. Talking to yourself doesn’t mean talking out loud, as this might look silly or weird. It simply suggests you to mumble to yourself when no one’s around or talk to yourself in your mind only without any sound or lip movement. By talking to yourself, you spontaneously develop your fluency and your tendency to think in English.

 

我们在中国学习英语最大的问题是我们没有环境。我们日常生活90%以上的语言是中文，因为一般和我们沟通的人90%以上都是中国人。怎么办呢？我建议我们用英语“自言自语”，我也经常这样做。自言自语并不是大声说出来，因为这样看上去尴尬，甚至奇怪。自言自语只是建议：没人的地方，我们在嘴巴里喃喃自语；有人的地方，我们在脑袋里嗡嗡自语。这样做的另外一个好处就是提高我们的流利度及英语思维的能力，

 

 

U: Undervalue the grammars! 语法不是一切！

 

One of the reasons why English is not well learned and applied in China is the grammar-oriented teaching at school. English is taken more like a science class rather than a language class. Every grammar rule must be detailed, every exception must be focused, and every application must be consistent with the rule. Most of the students are not good at expressing themselves because when they are about to speak or write, they are subconsciously so afraid of making grammar mistakes that they would choose sacrifice fluency. Accuracy is important, but not as important as fluency if the mistakes are trivial. When your fluency is ahead, your accuracy will automatically catch up. Let your fluency lead, but not chase, your accuracy. Fluency creates a sense of language, which I believe, is the highest form of grammar.

 

中国学生英语讲不好的原因之一是学校的以语法为中心的教学理念。在学校里，英语更像是一门理科，所有的语法必须细化，所有的特殊情况都是重点，所有的运用必须根据语法。很多学生在说英语和写英语之前，潜意识总是告诉自己：“语法必须用对，不能错！”，这样流利度大大降低。精确度很重要，但流利度更重要，特别是当小错误不伤大雅的时候。而且当流利度上来的时候，精确度也会跟上。让流利度去引领而不是去跟随。流利度到了一定的程度便形成了语感，语感就是语法的最高境界。

 

V: Vocabulary Book. 随身背单词。

 

You have to meet a new word on average 36 times before it becomes yours, according to a linguistic survey. This is why we forget most of the words, for we do not have enough number of times to meet them. The famous law of memory-Forgetting Curve by Ebbinghaus tells us that we lose our memories easily and quickly at the beginning, and to avoid this, we have to increase the frequency of memorizing. Keep a small notebook with you all the time, and keep a habit of taking down some useful words that you come across anytime and anywhere. It’ll be much better if you require yourself to take down 5 words a day, and in 3 years’ time, you will have a record of up to 4000 words, which is absolutely enough for you to get by in any English speaking country. With a vocabulary book in hand, you can set a routine, like 3 times a day, for your memorizing exercise. Stick to your routine, and any new word will be yours in 1.5 weeks.

 

根据一项语言调查，我们必须和一个单词约会36词，这单词才会终身相伴。难怪我们总是和单词分手，因为我们约会的次数不够。艾宾浩斯的“遗忘曲线”告诉我们遗忘先快后慢，因为我们必须在前期增加记忆的频率。随身带一小本单词本，并随时记下有用单词。如果你能够每天背5个单词，3年的时间，你便可以背下4000个单词，出国绝对够用。同时你得有规划，如一个单词每天背3次，一周半后这个单词非你莫属。

 

W: Write once a week! 每周一写！

 

Among the four language skills, writing is always considered to be the most difficult. In writing, we have to be careful with the choice of word, the structure of sentence, and the correctness of grammar. The rigidity of writing helps us trim and shape our language. As I mentioned earlier, accuracy is not the most important, but practically speaking, school students and teachers still need to pursue it. Keep a habit of casual writing once a week, and you will find your English strengthened greatly. You can write a weekly journal, recording the ups and downs of the past week, with no more than 10 sentences. If you have a teacher, send him or her your work for modifications, and the mistakes pointed out are the most common mistakes that can and should be gotten rid of.

 

听说读写四项技能，写是最难的。因为写作对于单词，句型及语法的规范性要求比较高，也能帮我们美化我们的英语。我前面提高，精确性不是最重要的，但回归现实，学校的学生和老师必须做到运用精确。每周写一段或一篇，你的英语会强大不少。你可以写周记，10句话记录一周点滴。如果你有一位老师，可以阶段性把你的作品发给他看，并让他帮你修改，因为一些经常犯而不知道的错误在写作中会体现出来。

 

 

X: Xtremely single-minded! 高度集中！

 

There are two ways to achieve high effectiveness and efficiency, one is to look for short cuts or a quick fix, which may not always be available or practical, the other is to get twice the results with half the effort, by focusing single-mindedly. Focusing is a skill that can be acquired. It simply asks us to do one thing at a time, and never start another until one is done. It always happens that while we are placing our hands on one thing, but our mind is constantly on another. Be extremely single-minded helps us learn more quickly and more firmly. Squeeze out 30 minutes a day for your focusing practice, by doing some reading or listening. Apply this skill to other areas, and you will find great wonders.

 

提高效率有两个方式，一个寻找捷径及速成，但好像并不可靠，另外一个是高度集中达到事半功倍。高度集中是一个可以通过训练而掌握的技能，它要求我们任何时间只做一件事情，只有当一件事情完成了，在着手另外一件，因为我们通常着手一件工作，而思想却在其它的工作。高度集中帮助我们学得更快，学得更扎实。每天抽出30分钟做集中能力的训练，通过做阅读或听力。把这项技能运用到其他方面，我们也能创造不少奇迹。

 

 

Y: Years’ effort!  不要急功近利！

 

Some of my students ask me for suggestions for rapid growth in their English study, and by rapid growth, they mean conquering the language in one year. Uncle Benny’s answer is conservative-It takes years to learn it well. Personally I have been learning English for more than 10 years, and I believe I have been spending quite an amount of personal time on it. And I’m pretty sure that my English is still on the intermediate level. You have to be patient and on the other hand, be rational, English is only a tool, it’s not all. Here I do not mean to discourage you, but I really feel sorry to see someone who knows English, and English only.

 

有些学生问我学习英语有没有什么快速的方法，如一年克服英语。班尼叔叔的回答是比较保守的，要学好至少花几年的时间。我个人学习英语超过10年，我很清楚我的英语水平只到中级。我们必须有耐力，同时，也必须理性，英语至少一个工具，并不是一切。在这里我并不是要打击你的积极性，但我总是很遗憾地看到一些学生英语很棒，但除了英语，其它一无所知。

 

 

Z: Zeal! 激情！

 

To learn something well, you have to fall in love with it first. Your love for English will generate zeal, which is a great force for continuous study. You will never get tired of learning something you love. I know it’s not easy for a beginner to love it, since he doesn’t know it well. Take your time, and I’m sure you’ll love it someday. How can you tell when that day’s come? It’s easy. It’s the time when you feel excited about anything concerned with A-Z.

 

把一样东西学会，我们必须爱上它。你的英语的热爱会激发你的激情，让你持续学习，因为你永远不会对自己喜欢的东西厌倦。对于初学者，要爱上英语并不容易，因为不了解。慢慢来，有一点也许你会爱上它的，你怎么知道你已经动心了呢？很简单，也就是当你见到和A-Z这26个字母相关的东西，都会很激动。

 

 

 

 

Good luck with your difficult yet joyful journey of English study, and feel free to share your problems and happiness, with me via weibo.com/benny618 or QQ414766370.

亲爱的朋友，祝你学习旅途愉快。当你有问题或欢乐需要和我分享的时候，可以通过微博weibo.com/benny618或者QQ414766370跟我联系。

 

 

 

许利生Benny

Sept 25, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

微博: weibo.com/benny618   QQzone:414766370