xatrixer
:) :) :)

I received a piece of Private Massage (PM) from one of DXYers who seems to be a bit of discouraged or distressed when he evaluated his progress in English Learning. Here was what he wrote:

“ … I have found that "the more I learn the less I know", I am frustrated and disappointed. I do not know whether you agree with this or not, but I think I lack of the talent in learning language, especially my oral English. The strong will of learning English is decreasing day by day. ... “

Let me start with the so-called “Learning Curve”. Like all other learning processes, mastering a language has the same progression from unknown to known, and from less known to very well-known. It likes climb a hill. The closer you get to the top, the heavier and harder your steps will be. Learning is not competing sports; you don’t need to rush those “final” steps. What you need is to get rid of the “fear”. If you think back on things you’ve learned in the past, you’ll probably realize that one of the things that slowed you down, or impeded your learning was fear. I think at the current of stage as yours, you may consider to adjusting the way of learning. Try to be flexible with the methods you have employed, and avoid of repeated, “boring”, labor-intensive or self-imposed “rules”. If you’re flexible, and have learned how to learn (the learning curve), you’ll be able to shape things to your own benefit. The more you learn the more you know. Further, the more you learn the better you know how to learn.

What about the talent in language learning? Absolutely! Many people do show their talent in learning a new language. An obvious example is that someone may be easily adopted with a local dialect in a short period of time, and others may not. But it is by no means to assume that one could not be trained with great effort and strong-minded will. It is always hard for any adult to speak a second language fluently without his or her native accent. Please don’t damp the spirits and keep up the practicing. Here I would like to quote some famous words to encourage all of us who are never tired of learning.

“Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.” (Helen Keller).

Thanks for reading.

RE: 我學英語的歷程
http://www.dxy.cn/bbs/post/view?bid=11&id=984982&sty=1&tpg=1&age=0

Xatrixer

:) :) :)