Any advice for a Chinese learning English?!?

Question

I learn English start from kindergarten, until now almost 18 years, but my English still horrible.

There is a funny education system in my country.
I am studying in a college now, my text book is written in english, my lecturer teaching in english. But even if a lecturer is not really good at english, he still can't use Chinese to teach(Because of his job contract), although there are all Chinese student

Answer 1

I advise you to seek out someone fluent in Chinese and English and ask them to tell you what differences exist between the two languages. These differences would create a series of areas where you would need to focus on learning ways to manage English better.

For example, there may be the absence of verbs that you need to develop that skill in English that is missing from Chinese or something present in Chinese that is missing from English. It is these gaps that cause trouble.

Also, in speech, there are natural impediments to speech from one language to another. Certain vowel sounds or consonants may be difficult and take some special help to conquer. "L" seems to be difficult for Chinese as in Fa La La La La, people think the Chinese can't sing that song. But it is only a silly trouble. However, if you think you want to conquer the speech, people often use tongue twisters to work out difficult sounds. Like repeating over and over: Little Larry is Late for Lunch, until they can say "L" very well and clearly.

I helped a German person conquer a certain vowel combination he could not say. It just took some thinking.

Answer 2

I'm Chinese too. But I speak/write English better than I speak/write Chinese. If you want to improve English orally, hang out with friends who speaks English as their first language. Speak English in your daily conversation. Learning new words are good, if you know how to use it properly. Also, read English newspaper everyday including the comics. The comics in the paper use proper English, so no worries of learning the wrong thing. Listen and watch English news on your local television channel. But, sometimes, these newscasters might pronounce certain words wrongly or by mistake as well. You can also learn by watching English movies and dramas with subtitles to help you understand and speak more accurately. Listen to English radio station as well. Want a fun way to learn English? Listen to English songs that you like, Google the lyrics and print it out. Each time you listen to the song, listen and try to sing it from the printed lyrics. I bet that would be fun.

Answer 3

Find english speakers and talk to them.

Watch english language movies WITHOUT subtitles.

I learned some of my german language that way.

I think the best way is to take a month or two, travel to an english speaking country and NOT speak any Chinese.

I studied german for 3 years, and the most improvement in my german skills was when I went to a "german-only" language school for 8 weeks.

Answer 4

u serious? i moved to the US when i was 9, it only took me two years to learn english. when i gt to 6th grade, i didn't have to take ESOL classes anymore and i was on my own, taking regular classes with the american kids. that and my mom told me not to hang out w/ chinese-speaking kids so much because it will only slow down my learning. so i had to hang out and play with american kids. of course it took me about another year or so for me to fully understand everything. now i'm in college and speak perfect english with no accent or anything. but once in a while i'll say things in the wrong grammar. but who doesn't? i think u just need to stop speaking chinese all the time, and stop watching chinese TV and start practicing speaking english a whole lot. i don't even speak chinese to my family anymore, we all have to communicate in english.

Answer 5

Specifically, what do you want to improve? Speaking, reading, writing or listening skills? Obviously, there are different methods for each. In general, the best way for you to learn is to spend as much time as possible around English speaking people. You will see an improvement very quickly.
Good luck!

Answer 6

Stop learning English in a classroom setting, and try to make friends who speak English as a first language. It doesn't help to make other Chinese friends who'll speak to you in Chinese (been there, done that, with Japanese friends, and Chinese friends).

And it doesn't help as much just to listen to English than actually speaking it. Try to find a good friend who isn't afraid to correct errors either.

Answer 7

You can do this:
-Get a penpal/msn pal
-Go on english forums and be an active user
-Watch movies in english (first start with subtitles then avoid the subtitles)
-Get involved with english-speaking people

Answer 8

Stop watching television. Stop spending so much time on the internet. Surround yourself with people who have a genuine command of the language and speak properly. It's not entirely your fault - the language itself is being distorted and destroyed.

Answer 9

talk to someone who knows english really well, watch tv, read picture books and/or translated novels. if you don't live in an english-speaking country, then get a pen pal or do some traveling. you can email me if you want!!! i'm an ABC, haha.

Answer 10

I'm pretty sure your english is a little better than my chinese.... Just keep at it. watch tv and movies, that helped me improve my spanish.