More hints on learning English

A friend from this website asked me some questions.  First I will improve his/her English.  Then I will respond.  Here’s my response.

Original question: enlarge vocabulary in a short time? as if i only do like repeat the dictionary.

我建议：How can I enlarge vocabulary in a short time? For example, should I only repeat words I see in the dictionary?

My reply:  Let me tell you how I learned English.  When I was a boy, I had no idea that I had a “reading disability.”  What is a reading disability?  It is a problem in the human brain that makes reading more difficult than normal.  My problem is that I tend to reverse letters, numbers and words.  For example, instead of e, I might see Ə.  Or instead of writing E, I might write Ǝ.  Most people might see a 3, but when I try to write it I might write Ɛ.  The same types of problems come with numbers.  I confuse two friend’s phone numbers: 3826 and 6243.  You might ask, “How could you possibly confuse 3826 with 6243?”  My response would be “they are almost identical.  The number 3826 is a mirror image of 6283.  So, since 6283 is close to 6243, I find that 6243 is extremely similar to 3826 in my brain!  Let me put them together: 38266283.  Now you can see the reflection!  So 38266243 is very close to that. 

Why tell you this?  And how does it relate to learning new words?  Learning words is a magical task!  The brain has to look at a series of letter, combine them together to form a sound, and then associate that sound with a word or concept.  If your brain is constantly mixing these letters and words up, it is all very confusing.  This happened to me as a boy and it happens to you when you study English.  You want to be able to decode the coded words and make them into ideas.

So, how can you increase your vocabulary?  You do it the same way I did!  When I started college, I could read only 100 words a minute.  My reading skills were not very good.  When I finished college I could read 400 words a minute.  What made the difference? Reading!  So, my advice to you is simple.  If you want to increase your English vocabulary, READ!  That is how I’m learning Chinese!  I don’t usually study grammar or study a dictionary.  I read.  I spend a lot of time on QQ currently because it gives me a chance to practice reading Chinese.  Reading what my Chinese friends write forces new words upon me.  The world of chat on QQ is often not complex.  So it meets my current need.  So, if you want a larger vocabulary, I can tell you how to get it in a one word sentence.  Read!

Original question: how to learn the main english grammar?and the form of irregular verbs?
我建议：How can I learn basic English grammar?  And how can I learn the forms of irregular verbs?

My reply:  Who would have thought that the way to increase your vocabulary could be boiled down to one word?  Read!  So, what about English grammar and irregular verbs?  In the past teachers taught language using rules and lists of verbs.  Personally I hated it!  English was my second least favorite course in school.  The course I liked the least was American history.  Why?  Because it was less than 200 years old when I attended high school in the 1960s. 

In elementary and high school, I came to say, “I like math.  A math problem has only one right answer.  In English, there may be 1,000 different ways to say something.”  I liked simple things, right/wrong, black/white, true/false.  Unfortunately, English is not that way.  But in my four year of high school, my senior year, something magical happened.  Grammar became less important and we studied something called literature and writing.  I quickly found I could write and I also enjoyed reading.  Suddenly, even at the college level, my grades quickly improved.  What was the difference?  I was able to forget about grammar and simply read and write. 

Oh, don’t get me wrong.  My teachers still wanted me to use good grammar.  But I was also being graded on WHAT I wrote as well as HOW I wrote it.  I began to improve my English in the same way I improve my use of math.  Practice.  Yes, we are headed toward a one word response to your question.  Do you want to improve your grammar and use of irregular verbs?  I can tell you in one word how to do that!  WRITE!  Seriously!

How can that be?  Writing forces you to use good grammar and irregular verbs.  Try to write a certain number of words each day.  I can’t tell you how many, because your skills vary (the plural form of “your” as in anyone who reads this).  Based on the person who asked me this question, or anyone who can write some basic English, I would say that 250 words a day is a good starting point.  My use of Chinese is such that I try to write about that many words in Chinese now, 左右。I really don’t care about Chinese grammar rules in the same way I didn’t care about English grammar rules in high school.  I will learn by doing.  If I am wrong, someone can help me. 

I would like to point out that my method works!  In 1970, I decided to become both a biologist and a writer.  Today I get paid 100 RMB for editing 250 words of poorly written English from Chinese biologists and improving the English to acceptable standards for scientific journals.  What type of grades did I get in grammar in high school and college?  Cs and Ds.  Does that matter now?  No!  I’ve learned by doing!  Ok, so I did teach school for five years and had to TEACH 8th grade English!  But that’s another story and too long to write here!  You can find the answer in my book Windsong.  Look for it on the internet by searching google for Windsong and Sedgehead.

In short? Write!

Original question: how to improve the cloze test which 10-15 singles words must be filled coeerctly?
我建议：How can I improve on a test in which 10 to 15 words much be filled in correctly? (I don’t understand the word “cloze.”)

My reply: My answer is simple.  Read and write.

I will give you an example from a man in China known as Da Chen, the name he uses for his book.  Sure, his Chinese name is probably Chen Da.  He wrote a book titled, “The Colors of my Mountain.”  In it, he tells how he learned English and used that skill to improve his life.  In fact, he spent 18 months preparing for the national English exam in China.  The result?  Despite being a poor boy from rural Fujian Province he scored the highest on the exam for that year and was awarded one of 24 seats in the English Department in Beijing University.  How did a poor boy from rural China do better on the test than the children of ambassadors who had studied overseas?  Simple!  Like my “Read and Write” answers, I can tell you in one word.  Study! 

Da spent 18 hours a day studying English.  He made flash cards and practiced words constantly, from the time he woke up until the time he went to sleep.  Intense effort will yield results. 

I had a similar experience.  Let me tell you a story.  In 1970, when I started college, the US was fighting an undeclared war in Vietnam.  I had no desire to go to Vietnam, carry a gun, and kill people who were no threat to me or my family.  But, the US government gave me a second option.  I could delay going to war if I went to college.  So, I went to college.  But, my grades were not very good.  In the spring of 1972, the US Army wrote me a letter.  The letter said, in essence, “If your grades do not improve, we will force you to join the Army and you will probably go to Vietnam.”  Talk about incentive!  I had a strong incentive to stay in college and improve my grades.  How did I do it?  I suddenly started studying.  More details are available in my book, Windsong.

So, my answer to your question is simple.  Study.  Put in the time necessary to learn what you want to learn.  I found I had to keep track of my time spent studying.  What I discovered was I was not spending enough time.  I might study for 15 minutes and quit.  I spent three hours studying the first week.  The next week is it was five hours.  After that it was almost 15-20 hours a week studying out of class.  I didn’t spend 18 hours a day studying.  But my skills improved.

Original question: what good method else in learning english?

我建议：What other good methods can you suggest for learning English?

My reply: I often write about this topic.  I suggest you look at what I’ve already written.  See my blogs such as:

http://www.dioenglish.com/space.php?uid=15461&do=blog&id=21537

and

http://ok-english.net/space-83-do-blog-id-156.html

and

http://ok-english.net/space-83-do-blog-id-876.html

My goal is to simply inspire you to read, write, and study.  Time spent is the ONLY solution.  Talking also helps.

pH