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How to Not Study English.

Hot 7696 views. 2013-9-29 06:28 |Individual Classification:English| English

Ok, so I study Chinese.  But you can apply my ideas to any language.

Vocabulary:

Charms - items used in magic.

Incomprehensible - unable to be comprehended; something that cannot be understood; something hard to understand.

Peru - a country on the west coast of South America.

Spanish - the language spoken in Spain and much of the Americas, including much of the United States.

Uncle Sam - a symbol of the U. S. government.

*******

How to Not Study English

1) Never study English while you are sleeping.

Why do I say this?  When I was in college my teachers said, "One way you can tell that you are seriously learning a language is when you start to dream in the new language."  Dreaming is fine.  Studying while dreaming doesn't work.  I know.  Lately, I've been trying it on a regular basis.  Studying Chinese while I'm sleeping is like studying for college while your sleeping.  I dream I have a test paper in front of me.  I can read some of the Chinese words, but nothing makes sense.  As soon as I start to read a sentence I encounter new words that are incomprehensible.

2) Never study English by wishing.

"Wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying, ... planning and dreaming each night of these charms ..." won't help you learn English.  I learned this lesson in college.  No matter how hard I thought about getting good grades, it simply didn't happen.  You have to take action.  For the first year and a half I attended college, I hoped I could get good grades. I did little outside of class to make it happen.  Then Uncle Sam told me I could improve my grades or go fight the Chinese supported Vietnamese in Vietnam.  By learning now to study, I avoided war and was allowed to remain in college because my grades improved.  I started keeping track of the number of hours I spent on each class, outside of class.  I studied 3.5 hours the first week, five the second, and ten the third.  After that, I rarely studied less than 15 hours a week.  Start studying English 3-5 hours a week and time yourself.  You may be surprised how much time you've spent, like the 1960s song says, "Wishing and hoping...."

3) Never speak English and assume no one can help you.

A friend told this story.  "A man and his wife went to Peru for two years.  The man was afraid to say anything wrong.  He decided he would spent time studying the language and only speak when he was sure he could speak correctly.  The woman took a different approach.  She decided speaking was more important than being correct and spoke terrible Spanish.  At first, people could not understand her.  After two years, which one do you think knew how to speak the language?"  The answer?  The woman, of course.  I tell my Chinese friends a slightly different story.  We live in a town of mostly English speaking people with 11,000 people.  The largest minority are Asian, but that's fewer than 100 people and I don't know most of them.  So, I practice using Chinese with my family and friends.  In this way, I can practice my use of Chinese and not worry about whether I'm right or wrong.  They can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so how would they know whether I'm right or wrong anyway?  One day, I spoke for five minutes with a friend and a new employee at Walmart where I used to work.  Neither of them understood anything, but I got five minutes of practice answering their questions . . . in Chinese!

4) Never think in English.

Like number 3 (Never speak English), you should never try to think in English.  It is too challenging to your little brain.  If you are riding a bus or train, why bother looking out the window and thinking in English?  You might learn something.  You could think of describing colors, naming objects you see, or even coming up with sentences.  But that might strain your little brain!

5) Don't make any assumptions.

Never say, "I speak English."  People will assume you want to learn the language and say something to you in English, which might embarrass you and cause you to lose face.  As for me, after studying Chinese for a few minutes I could say, "你好。" I immediately starting saying, "I speak Chinese."

Conclusion:

If you want to learn English, it is up to you.  I can't put it in your brain.  Only you can do that.

Post comment Comment (11 replies)

Reply Yusuf 2013-9-29 08:39
thank you for your suggestion and for your share
Reply fengchui99 2013-9-29 09:39
haha,good ideas for my study .Thank you very much .I believe your Chinese must be very cool ..haha,expect for your next blog..cheers
Reply sunnyv 2013-9-29 10:13
Sometimes, people assume others cannot speak English and asks:
'You speak English?' It is quite embarrassing for our Chinese friends.
It would be fun if they could bounce the embarrassment back.
You are a witty and funny guy so you may suggest an answer.
Can you suggest a suitable answer in different flavors?

* A normal answer
* A sarcastic answer
* A humiliating answer
* A funny or humorous answer
* Any other suitable answer

That should be fun.
Reply teadrinking 2013-9-29 18:41
Just say it, never feel bad whether the one is good at it or not, action is the final prove.
Reply seshuanglala 2013-9-29 19:25
Good tips for us to learn a new language ...and I believe you can master Chinese very well .
Reply loong 2013-9-30 17:11
No wonder. My dream s official language isn't english. French do!
Reply Ausfrank 2013-9-30 21:18
The answers are as followed correspondingly:

Yes, I do. Or No, I can't.

No, just like you, I'm afraid.

No, if you think English is overused.

No, if you prefer to listen Chinese.

Hey XX, of course I can, because I ate salt more than you ate potatoes ( a Chinese idiom, it should be: I ate salt more than you ate rice. It means I have much more experiences than you or I'm much better than you.)
Reply Ausfrank 2013-9-30 21:22
sunnyv: Sometimes, people assume others cannot speak English and asks:
'You speak English?' It is quite embarrassing for our Chinese friends.
It would be fun  ...
The answers are as followed correspondingly:

Yes, I do. Or No, I can't.

No, just like you, I'm afraid.

No, if you think English is overused.

No, if you prefer to listen Chinese.

Hey XX, of course I can, because I ate salt more than you ate potatoes ( a Chinese idiom, it should be: I ate salt more than you ate rice. It means I have much more experiences than you or I'm much better than you.)
Reply sunnyv 2013-9-30 22:00
Haha.. I like the last one. A famous Chinese saying. Nowadays, they say;
'I walk bridges more than you walk streets'.

Question: Do you speak English?

Answer: Sorry, do you?
Answer: Which version? Britannic or American?
Answer: Sure, If you don't mind my Britannic accent.
Answer: Smart, how did you know I can't speak English.
Answer: My mom said I must be a Englishman in my last life.
Answer: Westerners only know 'nihao' and assume they are
fluent in Chinese, I wish speaking English is that easy.
Answer: Sorry, I don't speak funny American English, only British, U mind?
Reply sedgehead 2013-10-4 12:18
I wrote a new blog in response.  I like what folks listed above.
Reply sunnyv 2013-10-4 14:29
sedgehead: I wrote a new blog in response.  I like what folks listed above.
Got it my friend. Thanks and have a good time in China.

facelist doodle 涂鸦板

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