Author: DA WEI LIU
Creation date: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 9:42:18 PM EST
Date last modified: Thursday, June 10, 2010 9:38:30 PM EST
Total views: 20 Your views: 14
To be or not to be,that's not a question.
If taking a closer look at the topic, we can find that the topic is obviously emotive. As some people upstairs said, "can" means an ability, a right. Learning English is a right to everyone, such as eating, speaking, walking, so "should" obviously includes a tone of command, which means this topic is imposing us to learn English. However, whether people should learn English really depends on who they are, what kind of work they are doing or they will do.
For those who often communicate with English speakers, such as workers in transnational coporations, or English educational institutions etc, English means more opportunities, more accesses to up-to-the-minute information, it can facilitate their careers now and in the future. For them, English is an essential and indispensable tool of success in the information age and dog-eat-dog scociety. Without it, they would fall behind. Our great Chairman Mao told us:" Lagging behind leaves one vulnerable to attacts."
However, for those who probably never have opportunity to use English in their rest of lives, learning English is totally a wast of time and money. Maybe someone questions who knows whether she/he will use English in the future, but do you think a farmer who did not finish the primary-level education and lives for herding sheep in a mountainous area will speak English to foreigners and discusse how to herd sheep with them？For them, nothing in the world can make them excited than having a baby sheep.
All in all, whether to learn English or not varies from who you are and what values you hold. With English, businessmen are more likely to catch up with the unpredictable society to sucess, but without English, some people also can enjoy their lives, like the farmer.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The reflection in the first week in E7.
In the first day i went to the class in E7, i deeply realised that E7 would be totally different from E6. It is like a pre-schooling of university and the study will be more challenging coz my English level is far enough to reach demands of
E7. I need to learn more to complement my poor English.
To reading, it was the first time for me to analyse an article critically, which is the biggest difference between Chinese education and Australian education. Instead of accepting all opinions, i need to give personal ideas according to my education and experience. It is really way to keep me think in English way.
In terms of writing, i wrote my first response about "Money Talks". It was very hard to figure out some arguments that exist opposite ideas at first and i had no idea which aspact to begin. So by the second week, i will pay much attention to writing and thinking critically.
I spent most of the time on listening which is my biggest weakness and almost failed in E6 exam coz i could not consentrate on radio, i mean sometimes i was lost. However, i tried to follow Carla and Jonathan in class. Besides, i listened to BBC and CCTVNEWS, and did some listening exercises. i find i have made obvious progress. But my mental quality is not very good, especially in listening exam. That may cast a shadow on my heart, OMG!
I spoke English to classmates as much as possible, and made friends with new classmates. I guessed they could understand what i was saying even i did not pronounce clearly and spoke kind of fast sometimes. But my Chinglish is too obvious and i cannot well structure what i want to express that may make listeners confused.
A small thing needs to be mentioned that i listened to a debate with my girlfriend and her classmate, Daisy, at 7pm. That was organised by the local authority and the topic was "whether the community consultation is usefull". Except us, all of other listeners were senior citizens, most of whom are the local experts in urban planning, architecture etc. That really made us embarrassed. What was worse was i could follow with debaters coz they spoke very fast and even if i knew every word they were speaking, i still understood what was the point and neally fell asleep.
I am not flattering Carla and Jonathan, they are really good teachers even though i did not choose them as my topic of the 1 minute presentation that was about my favourite English teacher. Joking aside, i believe i will learn more things useful from them.
In short, i really enjoyed the first week of E7. i hope i will keep my enthusiasm in the rest weeks.
E7. I need to learn more to complement my poor English.
To reading, it was the first time for me to analyse an article critically, which is the biggest difference between Chinese education and Australian education. Instead of accepting all opinions, i need to give personal ideas according to my education and experience. It is really way to keep me think in English way.
In terms of writing, i wrote my first response about "Money Talks". It was very hard to figure out some arguments that exist opposite ideas at first and i had no idea which aspact to begin. So by the second week, i will pay much attention to writing and thinking critically.
I spent most of the time on listening which is my biggest weakness and almost failed in E6 exam coz i could not consentrate on radio, i mean sometimes i was lost. However, i tried to follow Carla and Jonathan in class. Besides, i listened to BBC and CCTVNEWS, and did some listening exercises. i find i have made obvious progress. But my mental quality is not very good, especially in listening exam. That may cast a shadow on my heart, OMG!
I spoke English to classmates as much as possible, and made friends with new classmates. I guessed they could understand what i was saying even i did not pronounce clearly and spoke kind of fast sometimes. But my Chinglish is too obvious and i cannot well structure what i want to express that may make listeners confused.
A small thing needs to be mentioned that i listened to a debate with my girlfriend and her classmate, Daisy, at 7pm. That was organised by the local authority and the topic was "whether the community consultation is usefull". Except us, all of other listeners were senior citizens, most of whom are the local experts in urban planning, architecture etc. That really made us embarrassed. What was worse was i could follow with debaters coz they spoke very fast and even if i knew every word they were speaking, i still understood what was the point and neally fell asleep.
I am not flattering Carla and Jonathan, they are really good teachers even though i did not choose them as my topic of the 1 minute presentation that was about my favourite English teacher. Joking aside, i believe i will learn more things useful from them.
In short, i really enjoyed the first week of E7. i hope i will keep my enthusiasm in the rest weeks.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Speaking
Goal 1:Slow down and try to pronounce every word clearly when speaking English.
Goal 2:Be confident when speaking English.
Goal 3:Dare to identify what others are saying when I cannot follow them, especially speaking with the locals.
Strategy 1:Read somethings everyday to practice pronounciation, like reading and listening materials.
Strategy 2:Try to communicate with others in English, especially the guys from other countries, adapting to various accents and learning somethings from them.
Strategy 3:Learn some words or sentences used in daily life through some useful websites.
Goal 2:Be confident when speaking English.
Goal 3:Dare to identify what others are saying when I cannot follow them, especially speaking with the locals.
Strategy 1:Read somethings everyday to practice pronounciation, like reading and listening materials.
Strategy 2:Try to communicate with others in English, especially the guys from other countries, adapting to various accents and learning somethings from them.
Strategy 3:Learn some words or sentences used in daily life through some useful websites.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Listening
Goal 1:Improve note-taking skills.
Goal 2:Grasp the mainideas of listening materials.
Goal 3:Learning some slangs and listen to some conversations of the locals.
Strategy 1：Listen to a lecture everyday. Repeat to listen it two times and check words or phrases I am not familiar with according to the script, then write them in notebook. Create own abbreviation of key words when notetaking. Finally, read the script 2 times.
Strategy 2:Listen to English radio, such as ABC, BBC, CCTVNEWS. Make myself consentrate on the radio even sometimes I am no idea what the point is, but try to listen to the words I understand.
Strategy 3:Listen carefully to what Carla or Jonathan are saying in class, which is a good way to active my ears and make myself think in the English way.
Goal 2:Grasp the mainideas of listening materials.
Goal 3:Learning some slangs and listen to some conversations of the locals.
Strategy 1：Listen to a lecture everyday. Repeat to listen it two times and check words or phrases I am not familiar with according to the script, then write them in notebook. Create own abbreviation of key words when notetaking. Finally, read the script 2 times.
Strategy 2:Listen to English radio, such as ABC, BBC, CCTVNEWS. Make myself consentrate on the radio even sometimes I am no idea what the point is, but try to listen to the words I understand.
Strategy 3:Listen carefully to what Carla or Jonathan are saying in class, which is a good way to active my ears and make myself think in the English way.
Writing
Goal 1:Learn the academic vocabulary and phrases,and use them in essays as much as possible, but make sure they are used properly.
Goal 2:Learn the authentic expression to make my essays more fluent.
Goal 3:Think critically before writing a essay.
Strategy 1:Excerpt the useful words or sentences from academic articles, reading materials or newspapers.
Stragegy 2:Review these words and sentences, write and recite them everyday. Practive makes perfect.
Strategy 3:Structure the essay before writing them; control the time.
Goal 2:Learn the authentic expression to make my essays more fluent.
Goal 3:Think critically before writing a essay.
Strategy 1:Excerpt the useful words or sentences from academic articles, reading materials or newspapers.
Stragegy 2:Review these words and sentences, write and recite them everyday. Practive makes perfect.
Strategy 3:Structure the essay before writing them; control the time.
Reading
Goal 1:Grab the main ideas of articles
Goal 2:Enhance the reading speed.
Goal 3:Learning more vocabulary and review them everyday.
Strategy 1:Read newspapers or browse news on the Internetin my spare time, scan them and understand mainpoints.
Strategy 2:Analyse the structure of articles, especially academic ones.
Strategy 3:Do some reading exercises twice a week to keep a good condition of reading.
Goal 2:Enhance the reading speed.
Goal 3:Learning more vocabulary and review them everyday.
Strategy 1:Read newspapers or browse news on the Internetin my spare time, scan them and understand mainpoints.
Strategy 2:Analyse the structure of articles, especially academic ones.
Strategy 3:Do some reading exercises twice a week to keep a good condition of reading.
Kinaesthetic learners or active learners
Kinaesthetic learners prefer to being involved in activities. They need to apply the information and make it their own by constructing something or practising a technique or skill.
Characteristics of kinaesthetic learners
• Often they take notes or even draw pictures or doodle whilst listening
• Remember best what they did
• Memorise by walking and seeing
• Like ‘hands on’ activities and group interaction
Study hints for kinaesthetic learners
• Test your learning by applying it or transforming it to another form. For example use lecture notes or readings to draw a diagram, flow chart or even construct a model.
• Start or join a study group
• Relate facts or theories to your own experience
• Learn or memorise information by teaching or telling someone else
• When studying take frequent breaks. This is also helpful for the other learning styles.
