My English Adventure

Grace Liang
Dec. 1, 2004
Intermediate English conversation Class

My English Adventure

I went to Australia with my niece two years ago. Her English is excellent. I depended on her on the entire trip. I couldn't speak any words in English because I was afraid of making mistakes. I was very upset. I decided to learn how to communicate and improve my English skills. Then I could travel abroad by myself.

I went to the Daan Community College and started my adventure in English. Learning a foreign language is very difficult, especially at my age. I attended the Intermediate English Conversation class. The first rule is: Speak English and no Chinese in the class. I had a lot of worries about it. I remember what I said in the first class： "My English is very poor. I feel nervous and wonder if I can catch up with the class. "Fortunately I had met a nice teacher - Jennifer. She said："Take it easy. Relax. There is lots of fun in the class. The most important thing about learning English is your attitude. Only compare with yourself－not with others. "She encouraged us: "Just try to speak, don't be afraid of making mistakes. The more mistakes you make, the more you learn. "She always reminds us that maintaining a positive attitude when learning English is very important. So try, try, try, and never give up.

This is my third term. We have many discussions (such as relationships, travel, hobbies, work, beliefs, etc.). I can practice over and over. We had a presentation at the end of each semester (one is "the Dumb Blond", the other is "When the Prince Meets the Princesses"). Performing in English was exciting! We had many things to arrange, including actors, props, outfit, and memorizing the script. It was a special experience which I'd never had. I really got lots of fun from the class.

I'm glad that my English is improving. I went to the photo shop last week. A foreigner came in, but the clerk couldn't speak English. I encouraged myself to communicate with her. She wanted to take a photo for her visa and get the photo by 12 o'clock. She was in a hurry. She wanted to take a snapshot. The clerk said the snapshot couldn't be used for visa, because there was no film. She should wait until one o'clock. I was not shy to talk with the foreigner in English although my translation was not perfect. I found that I had more confidence than before. Later when I went back to the photo shop to pick up my photos, the clerk said "You speak English well. "I knew it was not true. It doesn't matter. I didn't feel nervous when I met the foreigner. If I continue to practice, my English will get better and better.

Create an English environment for yourself. It will be help you speak good English. This can include playing CD as background sound when you are driving or cooking, listening to ICRT and trying to figure out what the Dee-jays and their guests are saying, and watching English movies on TV. Or you can consider joining our English class. If you allow yourself to be immersed in English a couple of times a week, you will definitely start to see improvement.


我的英語探險之旅
梁敏之

兩年前我和姪女到澳洲旅遊，她的英語一級棒，整個行程我都仰賴她，因為怕出錯我根本不敢開口。我很沮喪，下定決心學習如何溝通並增進英語會話技巧，以後就可以獨自出國旅遊不求人了。

於是來到大安社區大學開始了我的英語探險。學習外語本來就蠻難的，尤其像我這樣年紀。我參加的是中級英語會話課，老師的第一條規則就是：在教室只能講英語不可以說國語。這讓我很擔心，猶記得上第一堂課時我說：「我的英語很破，我非常的緊張，真懷疑能否跟得上課程進度？」。幸運的是我遇到了一位好老師－Jennifer，她說：「別緊張，放輕鬆，這課程很有趣。學習英語最重要的是你的態度，只要和自己比較，而不是和他人比較。」，她鼓勵我們：「儘管試著說，不要怕犯錯，錯的越多你會學的越多。」她時常提醒我們，當你學習英語時保持積極的態度，這是非常重要的，所以要不斷的嚐試，千萬別放棄。

這是我第三期的英語課，課程中我們有許多話題的討論(例如：關係、旅遊、嗜好、工作、信仰…等)，可以不斷的練習會話。每學期末成果發表會我們表演短劇(一齣是「金髮尤物」，另一齣是「當王子遇見公主」)。我們用英語表演短劇，是多麼令人興奮的事啊！這期間有許多的事要準備包括色角安排、道具、服裝和記對白等。這是我從未有過的特殊的經驗，我碓實從這課程中得到很多的樂趣。

很高興我的英語在進步中，上週我到照相館洗相片，一位外國人進來，店員不會說英語，我鼓足了勇氣上前和她溝通，她要拍照辦簽證須在十二點拿到照片，因為很急希望能拍快照。店員說辦簽證是不能用快照的相片，因為沒有底片，必須等到下午一點才能拿得到相片。雖然我的翻譯不甚完美，但我已不再害羞和外國人說英語了。我覺得比從前有信心許多。我再到照相館取相片時，店員說：「你的英語說得很好」，我知道不是真的，那又何妨，我若遇到外國人已不會那麼緊張了。如果持續不斷的練習，我的英語將會更好。

為自己創造一個英語的環境，有助於你的英語會話。這包括了當你在做飯或開車時可播放CD做為背景聲音，聽ICRT並試著理解DJ和來賓的對話，看英語發音的電視影片，或是可以考慮加入我們的英語會話課。如果你能讓自己每週沈浸在英語裏一些時間，你一定會發現你的英語開始進步了。