1、英语学习技巧系列英语学习技巧系列陈觉法一 The Importance of English为什么要学英语？英语的重要性是什么？这是每个英语学习者必须首先弄明白的问题。 There are thousands of languages in the world. Each language seems to be the most important to those who speak it as their native language. The importance of a language can be judged according to several things. The
2、 first is the number of native speakers that a language happens to have. The second is how widely the native speakers are spread over the world. Next comes the cultural, economic and political influence of those who speak it as their mother tongue and who write in it. There can be no doubt that Engl
3、ish is one of the worlds most widely used languages. People use a language in one of the three ways: as a native language, as a second language, or as a foreign language. English is spoken as a native language by nearly three hundred million people: in the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zeal
4、and, Canada, some Caribbean countries, and South Africa. As a second language, English is often necessary for official business, education, information and other activities in a great many countries such as India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Singapore, and the Philippines. Along with Chinese, French, Spanish
5、, Russia and so on, it is one of the few “working” languages of the United Nations and is more frequently used than the others. It is said that English has become the language of international trade and transport. It is indeed true. Most pilots in planes traveling from one country to another use it
6、to talk with airports. All ships sailing on the oceans call for help by radio in it. It has been said that 60 percent of the worlds radio broadcasts and 70 percent of the worlds mail uses English. At international sports meets, at meetings of scientists from different countries and at talks of write
7、rs and artists from the corners of the earth, English is the language most commonly used and the most widely understood. English has in fact become the language of international cooperation in science and technology. The most advanced results in space, nuclear and computer research are published in
8、it. A scientist who speaks and writes English is in closer touch with the scientists in other countries than one who doesnt. In China, more and more people have been learning English as a foreign language since the reform and opening up. At present, all the middle schools and some primary schools ha
9、ve English lessons. With the all-around development of society, we are experiencing more and more international intercourse（交往）in all kinds of fields, in which we use English as the major tool for conversation. Generally speaking, we can hardly do without English in all the international activities.
10、 As the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is drawing near, another English heat has appeared all over the country, especially in Beijing. In time the Chinese people are sure to show to the world their high quality of English language as well as their brand-new look in spirit. English is playing a even more
11、 important role in international affairs than ever. Only when we realize its importance can we study hard at it and use it to serve society well. （520 words）Questions:1. How can we judge the importance of a language?2. How many people speak English as a native language in the world?3. How many peopl
12、e use English as a second language in official business, education, information and so on?4. How much of the worlds radio and the worlds mail uses English?5. Why has another English heat appeared in China?Answers:1. We can judge it according to three things: the number of its native speakers, how wi
13、dely the native speakers are spread and the cultural, economic and political influence of its native speakers.2. Nearly three hundred million.3. More than 1 billion (including Indians, Pakistanis, etc.). 4. 60 percent and 70 percent separately（分别）. Because the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is drawing n
14、ear.二 A fifth skill needed to master English学好英语的第五种技能良好的语感英语学习十分强调听说读写；然而更重要的是，要养成用外语进行思维的习惯。这种习惯或意识就是“语感”。英国诺丁汉大学教授罗纳德卡特把它称为学好英语必须掌握的“第五种技能”。Speaking of English study, as we all know, reading, writing, speaking and listening are important for complete mastery of the English language, and many peop
15、le even think that so long as we master the four kinds of skills, we can study English well. But, according to Ronald Carter, a professor of the School of English Studies at the University of Nottingham in the UK, we need yet another skill, a fifth one, in order to master the language. Whats languag
16、e awareness? What are its functions? Language awareness is the thinking skill, the ability to think in and about a language and to reflect（think）on it. It is not only something a native speaker does but something that can help students from other countries understand how languages work and how peopl
17、e learn a language and use it. Carter made this point in a speech at an international English language seminar（研讨会）held in China no long before. He spoke about “Language Awareness and English language Teaching” at the International Annual TEFL-China (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Conferenc
18、e. Carters lecture gave a lot of attention to how traditional English teaching overlooks the role of active thinking in the learning process and set people thinking about it. Carter believes that reflective thinking（沉思）can help increase language awareness explicit（clear）knowledge about language amon
19、g students. It is defined（explained）as a kind of conscious perception（有意识的感觉）and sensitivity（敏感）in language learning as well as in the teaching and application process. The focus of language awareness is encouraging learners to be more conscious, to pay attention to more things and to become more re
20、flective, Carter explained. In fact, theories of language awareness applied to foreign language teaching have been around for decades. And research has proved the advantage of active thinking. “My research shows in many ways that a reflective language learner is an effective one. A good language lea
21、rner is one who is willing to ask questions about the language. Why should we do that? What is the purpose of a certain sentence or a word?” Carter explained. He also placed stress on it that English teachers should pay attention to these questions if they want to encourage students to ask questions
22、 and develop the habit of thinking about the language itself, while students themselves should also deeply realize this and pay much attention to their language awareness and try to improve their language awareness through practice. （403 words）Comprehension Check:1. What are the five skills of learn
23、ing English well according to Ronald Carter?2. Whats “the thinking skill”?3. How to judge whether a student is one with or without language awareness?Answers:1. Reading, writing, speaking, listening and language awareness / thinking skill.2. Its the ability to think in and about a language and to re
24、flect on it.3. A student with language awareness is willing to ask questions about the language and think in it.三 How do we learn and remember? 怎样才能学好英语？怎样才能记得牢？这些都是同学们苦苦追求并渴望获得的技能。读读下面这篇文章，它也许会给你一个满意的答案。How do we learn? “Practice,” says the piano teacher. “Practice three hours a day, every day, and
25、 in four or five years you will have made much progress.”How do we learn and remember English well? “Practice,” says the English teacher. “Practise speaking, listening, writing for hours a day, and youll master the language in a possible short period.” “Study,” says the history professor. “Practice,
26、” says the tennis instructor or the track coach. Practice, study, practice. Whenever the task is at all complex, whether it is the acquisition（获得）of a skill such as piano playing or tennis, or the mastery of an intellectual activity such as chess, mathematics, or 17th-century history the procedure i
27、s the same: study, practice. Learning takes time; learning takes effort. Consider how long it takes to learn a language. Children are still learning the grammar of their native language when they are well into their teenage year. The learning of vocabulary continues over the whole life. An adult may
28、 never manage all the subtleties（微妙）of a second language. How long does it take to learn? There can be no definite answer, because there may be no end to the learning of a language. Weve watched people learn to ride a unicycle（单轮脚踏车）, to use new computer systems. Five thousand hours seems to be a re
29、asonable minimum（最小量）for learning such things. That sounds like a lot of time. It isnt. Five thousand hours is the equivalent of two and a half years of study, eight hours a day, five days a week, 50 weeks a year. The learning of table tennis, baseball, psychology, programming, and chess gives much
30、the same answer. Almost any activity that is difficult enough to learn obviously requires thousands of hours of study and practice over periods of years to reach great ability. With intellectual（智力的）activities, one problem of learning is simply the size of the task. How does one learn a complex（复杂的）
31、intellectual topic? The task is not easy. The difficulty seems to lie in the inter-relationships among the ideas that must be acquired. It is the totality of the topic that requires time and mental effort. With sports or the performing arts, there is an additional issue: the body and limbs（四肢）must b
32、e controlled with great precision（精确）. This requires motor learning, an achievement that is both the same as, and different from, the learning of intellectual skills. Motor skills can be developed to high levels of performance. A single piano piece by Chopin may last 20 minutes and require the playing of 10,000 notes. Some piano pieces require the performer to play up to 25 notes per second for many minutes. Practice, practice, practice. It is onl
