the best way to learn English

adck

the five skills of grasping a language:
1.listening   2.speaking  3.reading  4.writing  5.translating
which one do you prefer?

many people say that listening and speaking come first.,but i don't think it works for me.because it's hard for me to speak with foreign people(especially before),and listening to the tape or radio almost doesn't work at all.

my answer to it is reading.since i was a child,i liked reading books like hell.there a lot of books that i like,harry potter serials,etc.after reading the chinese editions,i began trying to reading English versions.as a matter of fact,it does work.and now i can extend to improve the other four skills,which makes me quite glad.

dear friends,can we share your opinions on it?

shawle

I adore reading.too.

But actually,I think listening and speaking are more important than the three others when you are communicating with people regardless of their countries they come from,regardless of their languages they use.

English is a practical language,
it's not noble as French,
it's not rigid as German,
but it is useful,isn't it?

adck

through reading,i've got enough practice.
now i have no big problems talking with my American friends,though i need to organize the sentences before speaking.
and the process is getting shorter and shorter.

eternal

really?

i have never tried read an english novel before, because my mom says that it's worthless and i should study the text book well first.

however, after trying to read the english textbook for months, i felt really confused now. it's boring and have no obvious effect.

oh, my gooood. help me!

can i as u a question? how to solve the new words through reading novels? if there r many new words , that is to say if i meet so many barriers that i even lose interest and wanna give up,what can i do?

and what's your opinion about studying english book? u know, textbook is the painstaking effort of many experts, if we abandon it and pursue some other studying materials , whether we will abandon sth really essential.


thank u very much!

Cailimin

I absolutely agree with eternal，I also have such  problems~~~

eternal

adck

eternal: really?

i have never tried read an english novel before, because my mom says that it's worthless and i should study the text book well first.

howeve

when in college,i had the same problems like you.the text books was not my cup of tea,and there were so many difficult words.i wasn't interested in them at all.
after graduation,i began trying to study english in my own way,and had lots of fun in it.
from that,i realized that if you have no interest in it,you won't be able to study it well.interest can be your best teacher.
where there is the interest,there's the way.
reading is my favorit,so i can try to study english through it.i think you should try to find your best way to learn it.
the first time i tried reading harry potter serials,it took me much time and energy.for i had to look the new words over and over again.
but i had read the chinese version before,so  no big problems occur.gradualy,i could read it faster and faster.
no need to look up the every new word you come across,because the most important words will appear again and again.you will finally find out what they mean.

Juleo.xie

well, maybe I also need read more novel.