I often ask myself this question, but to be honest, I don't know why. In China, when I was in primary school, many of my classmates attended extracurricular English courses, so my parents asked me to do the same. But at that time, I really had a plan that I could talk with native English speaker fluently after several years of English learning. A few months later, I found I was wrong, what I had had planed was exactly impossible without a language environment. As the time passed by, I drew a conclusion that passing the exam was ok, nobody would care how your oral English was and whether you could communicate with foreigners who speak English. So before I came to Singapore, I study English mostly for passing the exams and having high scores. In my spare time, I also studied some English just because of so many words which I don't understand in computer games, as we all knowed that many popular games were programed by certain American companies.
Fortunately I was chosen as a scholar of NUS and finally got a chance to experience the education in English, but the situation I came across was far more different than that I had supposed in China. Tutors speak English with an accent which is quite different from American English or British English. Some tutors speak too fast, sometimes I can't follow. I think these are the difficulities I have to adapt to. But more problems exsit in daily life, some local men insist speaking Chinese to you even when you speak English to them, when you come to Macdanald or other fast food restaurants you can't get what you want to eat. And I still remembered the situation in my orientation camp, my group leader talked with her friends in English too fast which I think even faster than Mrs Nora, I can only understand two sentences : Hello and OK. So I think this is only the problem of speaking and listening and is only the ability I look foward to.
Now nearly four weeks of English study have passed and I think I've improved a little. I understand the real reason to study English:just communication!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Yeah,I can't agree with you more.Our purpose to learn English aborad is to learn how they think and express our own ideas.We should seize any opportunity to communicate with others,especially native English speakers.Every opportunity counts.Though they may be thought to speak too fast,it provides you a chance to anneal your English listenning and so you can acquire Engkish faster and better.I have also gone through with a lot of difficulties since I got off the plane in Changi airport.But I tell myself:no pain,no gain.I feel I am blessed for meeting with so many friends good at English and that they can help me.Just go ahead and persuit the success!
ReplyDelete