Chien English Series (Serial 3) - My English Breakthrough Recipe: 4 Key Ingredients （Part 1）

说起我初到阿德莱德的生活还是挺不易的。

尽管有着英语基础，但在这种纯英语环境下的日常交流还是让我十分受挫。喜欢表达的我无法让人们轻松听懂我在说什么。反过来，陌生的澳式口音和完全不熟悉的串串俚语，也让我很难明白他人的意思。有时，我会鼓足勇气请一个人重复一遍他说的话。可是很多时候，即使那人重复了一遍，我还是茫茫然而不知其所云。那种滋味。。。最后我只好尴尬得微笑散场，假装听懂。因为我想着对方应该没有耐心再重复第二次吧。同时也觉得很丢脸，因为我不想让别人嘲笑我。

可想而知，这让我的自信心急剧下降。无奈失落的我决定逃避现实，每天只与国内的亲戚朋友聊天。

就这样两三个月过去了。直到有一天，记忆中的一个场景在脑中一晃而过。也正是它使我的人生发生了剧变。

那时的我还在上高中，在一次乘火车的途中，我看到了车厢里居然坐着一个蓝眼睛白皮肤的老外。这让从未见过歪果仁的我超级兴奋，因为我终于可以在现实生活小试口语了！犹豫良久后，我最终克服了害羞，开始与他聊天。

“但看看我现在身在何处？！”

被各种肤色的人包围，可自己却因为英语水平而怯场了，避开人群了。有点讽刺，不是吗？于是乎，自省模式开启：

•“那个勇敢的爱语言的倩倩在哪里？”

•“从长远看，这样封闭自己真的会帮助到我吗？不练习我的口语就能自动提高了？”

我意识到此时的我真的很需要做出一个改变。我是真心想充分利用在澳大利亚阿德莱德的时光去提升自己，不枉费爸妈的辛苦钱，也不辜负自己的青春时光。但究竟我该如何行动呢？

记得很多英语达人都曾强调找到适合自己方法的重要性。因为每个人的情况都不同。以前，我曾试图通过收听英语广播或观看电视节目的方法去提高英文。但这对我而言似乎收效甚微，往往坚持不了几天我就自动放弃了。因为大部分时候我都听不懂里面在说什么。

“那我究竟喜欢什么呢？”我不禁陷入沉思。

良久过后，我找到了答案：“是人与人之间的无限畅聊！”

以此为引子，我渐渐探索到我的英语突破食谱里的四大秘密食材。在这个英语国家里学习生活更加速了整个过程。那么食材究竟有哪些呢？让我们开始一一揭晓答案吧：）

食材一- 移动式聊天

这个食材非常简单，不过听上去却又让很多人紧张：在公共车站或在车上与陌生人交谈。

在刚开始的一个月，每次对话前我都需要花很长时间给自己打气。

“如果他们觉得我很奇怪而拒绝与我交谈直接走开怎么办？那岂不是太尴尬了。”

“我会损失什么吗？不会啊。我们本来就是陌生人。这也是人在海外的一大优势吧。不必担心面子的问题。因为这里没人认识我，哈哈。”

深吸一口气后，我开始一键进入畅聊模式。

如果你也想尝试一下，下面献上我的三大锦囊：

1. 选人环节：挑个看起来面善的人。这样你不至于太紧张，例如一个慈祥的老奶奶。

2. 话题环节：选择你自己感兴趣的主题，这样会有助于谈话的可持续性。我的燃点永远是文化背景，美食，餐厅或任何阿德有趣的地方。

3. 实践环节：微笑微笑微笑。微笑能传递温暖，也更容易建立信任。我们的老祖先不就曾说：伸手不打笑脸人嘛。

在此，我还想献上一条安心信息，我的聊天邀请还从没有被拒绝过，所以？ ：）而且，从千奇百怪的谈话中我还收获了很多有意思的信息。公交站就像是一个迷你世界，开阔了我的视野，并帮我透过不同的视角领略了这个大大的世界。

倩故事时间

如果要问我，这么多次谈话中，进入聊天模式最自然的是哪一次？

我的回答绝对是：和那个背着吉他酷酷的音乐人的那次。

“你喜欢什么类型的音乐呢？”作为一个音乐粉，我就这样直接进入主题。不过他后面提出的问题却惊讶到了我。

“你能给我介绍介绍你们中国的音乐吗？我一直很想问一个中国人，但这太难了。”

“哦？怎么会呢？”我很好奇。

“因为我注意到你们总是喜欢集体出洞，而我是一个人，一对多还是挺考验胆量的。”他腼腆地笑了笑。

“哦，原来即使对于一个男生而言，主动发起对话也不容易啊。但我每天都在这样做啊。” 想到这里，还挺为自己的勇气自豪滴:) 同时我又也开心听到别人对中国文化感兴趣。这让我不禁意识到很多时候我们可能代表的并不仅仅是自己，还包括我们血缘里的文化和身后的国家。所以我应该尽量把每件事都做好，不能给祖国丢脸哈。

也有一些对话让我打破了自己原先对于西方国家的一些刻板印象。

我就曾遇到过很多类似以下的对话：

“你从哪里来呢？”

“中国。”

“来这边多久了？”

“刚来几个月，我在这边读书。”

“您来这里应该是因为这边有一些认识的人在这边吧？”

“并没有。”

“哇。那你和你的父母都很勇敢啊。如果让我想象自己的孩子在一个陌生的国家求学，我会很担心的。我不知道自己能不能做到。”

出乎意料的回答。因为之前我在媒体上总是听说西方父母和中国父母很不一样。他们在孩子一成年就会把他们赶出房子，让其独立在外闯荡。这也是我来澳大利亚的目的之一，想亲眼看看世界。用自己的眼睛，耳朵和心灵去观察，感受和体验这个陌生的国家。

公交站还是答疑解惑的理想场所。

在中国，我们往往对其他国家的人特别热情而友好，总是争相主动与他们聊天。所以，那时的我想着自己在澳洲的大学里应该也能享受到这个待遇吧，但这种福利却鲜有发生。为什么呢？

当看到一个面貌和善的姑娘在公交站等车时，我立马走上前去。确认她也是大学生后，我抛出了这个自己一直百思不得其解的问题。

“我从来没有想过要主动去搭讪诶。因为我并不觉得他们与众不同，也不想让他们觉得我们认为他们和我们不同。澳洲是一个多种族国家，我从小就在这样的环境下长大。另外，我担心自己会不会因为一些无意识的言语而冒犯到他们。” 她思考片刻，说道。

嗯，原来如此。所以，作为国际学生的我们，要想提高口语，必须要积极主动地去开启对话呀。

此外，这儿还是一个很棒的故事角。

因为每当我遇见老人时，总想知道他们以前曾做了什么。每个人都是一本独一无二的书，对吗？

仍然记得那位老爷爷，大方地在车上与我分享他的人生故事。

“我曾做过多年的美发师。我很热爱我的工作，因为觉得自己做的事儿很有价值。”他的眼睛里闪烁着兴奋的光。

“一些人的容貌因为我的剪刀而完全改变。”他继续说道。 “但是一场地震却让我的职业发生了改变。我开始做护发产品销售。我的业绩很好，所以直到退休我都再没拿起过剪刀。现在想想还是挺遗憾的。”

嗯，有一份自己超级热爱的工作，听上去真的很棒。我也很想拥有这样的感觉。于是我往自己的梦想后花园里种下了这颗种子。

除了这些精神收获外，巴士还让我收获了一份惊喜。

一天，当我下车后，两个女孩朝我走来：“你也是这个校区的学生吧？”

“是的，你们怎么知道的？”我感到很震惊。

“哦，我们在公车上无意听到了你的谈话。”

我们开始边走边聊起来。最后，我和其中的一个女孩乔安妮（Joanne）还成为了好朋友。多么美妙的遇见：）

乔安妮来自马来西亚，她也会说一些中文。但她提议道：“我觉得，为了长远发展，我们应该坚持说英语。而且这样做，一些不懂中文的人也可以参与到我们的对话中来，如果他们愿意的话，你觉得呢？”

对啊。我怎么没有想到呢？多么有礼貌而富有包容性的举动。独特而明智！双手赞同！另一个秘籍轻松学到。

如果看到这儿的你，还是觉得在公交站聊天实践难度太大，那么可以想办法降低难度。比如在你消费时，在理发店理发或礼品店购物中，去尝试着和理发师或售货员聊天。有创意的按照自身情况自行调整哈。

下篇我将介绍我的另外三大秘密食材。敬请期待：）如果你有任何小妙招，请记得留言分享哈。

Part 1

To be honest, my first few months in Adelaide were not easy.

Despite my English foundation, I still found it very frustrating in daily conversations. I couldn’t really express myself well enough so that people could easily understand me. Meanwhile, it was not easy for me to get others’ points either, due to the foreign accent and Australian slang. Sometimes, it even took so much courage for me to simply ask a person to repeat themselves. And the worst thing was, after that person repeated, I still felt puzzled. So I just smiled and pretended that I got it, because I was too embarrassed to ask them to repeat again.

So my self-esteem dropped dramatically. I chose to escape from reality, only talking to my friends and family back home every single day.

This lasted for two to three months. One day, a scene popped up into my head and it changed my life.

Once when I was a teenager on a train travelling to another city in China, I saw a foreigner. I got so excited because finally, I could practise my spoken English in real life! Eventually, I overcame my shyness and initiated the chat with him.

“But look where I am now! “

Even though I was surrounded by different races and colours in everyday life, just because of my poor English I chose to shy away from the crowd. Ironic, isn’t it?  I asked myself:

“Where is that courageous and language over Qian?”

“Will closing myself off help me in the long-run? Is my English going to be better if I keep doing this?”

I realised I really needed to make a change. I did want to make the most of my time in Adelaide, in Australia. But how?

I recalled some people had stressed the importance of finding the methods that you feel most comfortable with. Previously, I tried to listen to the radio or watch TV episodes. But, they just didn’t work for me, as I couldn’t understand much of what was being said.

“What do I like?” I pondered.

“Ah, people interaction.”

I then finally discovered my own four key ingredients gradually for my English breakthrough recipe😉 Living in this English speaking country definitely accelerates the whole process if you are proactive enough. So what are my ingredients?

No.1 Ingredient - Moving Talk 

This ingredient is very simple, but nerve-wracking at the same time. That is, to talk to people at bus stops or when I was on the bus.

“What if they feel I am so odd that they walk away and refuse to talk to me? That would be so embarrassing.”

I hesitated. Then I thought:

“We are strangers anyway. Will I lose anything? No. That’s one of the joys of living overseas for a Chinese person.😊I don’t need to worry about losing face. Because no one knows me.”😊

Taking a few deep breaths, I started to initiate conversations with strangers.

Here are my three tips for you if you want to try out this too:

1. Pick someone who looks friendly, such as an old person.

2. Select a topic that you are interested in or familiar with, because that will help you to keep the conversation flowing. Forme, the topics are always cultural heritage, food, restaurants or any interesting places.

3.  Smile smile smile. A smile sets a tone and initiates trust. There’s a Chinese saying goes that, never slap over a smiling person.

One comforting fact for you, I didn’t have any rejections. Instead,I had so many interesting conversations. It's like a mini world, opened my horizon and helped me to see the world through different lenses.

Story Time

Reflecting back, what is the easiest conversation for me to start?

It must be the one I had with a person carrying a guitar.

"Which music genre do you like?" As a music lover myself, it was so easy to initiate the conversation. But later, something he raised struck me.

"Could you tell me the music from your country? I've always wanted to ask a Chinese person. But it was too hard."

"How so?"

"Because I noticed you tend to go out together as a group, so for me as an individual, it's very intimidating to approach you."

"Oh, even for a guy, to initiate a conversation is not easy. But I am doing It. " I thought. It made me feel proud of myself :)Also, it's great to know people are interested in my culture. That also made me realise sometimes I not only represent myself, but also my country. I should strive to be great at everything I do then😊 

Some conversations helped me notice my own strengths and break a stereotype.

 I've had quite a few similar chats like this:

“Where are you from?”

“China.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Only a few months, and I am here to study.”

“Did you know anyone here when you first came?”

“No.”

“Wow. You are so brave as well as your parents. I would be so worried to send my children to study overseas.”

Hearing that surprised me. Because I was told in media that western parents are generally very tough. They throw their children out of their house once they turn 18. That’s one of my purposes coming to Australia too. I want to see the world, to discover Australia with my own fresh eyes, ears and heart. How exciting😊

A bus stop is also a perfect place to ask some of my burning questions too.

For example, in China, we tend to be so intrigued to talk to a person from other countries. But here, it seems not the case. My friends and I used to hope that local students could approach us first, but this rarely happened. Why?

When I saw a friendly girl waiting at the bus stop, I started to chat with her. After confirming that she is a university student too, I asked my question.

“It has never come to my mind because I don't feel they are different and don't want them to feel they are different either. We are a multicultural nation, and I've seen so many races when I grew up. Also, I don't want to offend them if I said something wrong.”

Ah, that explained why. So as international students, we do need to be proactive to initiate conversations if we want to improve English.

In addition, it's a great storytelling place too.

Whenever I met the elderly, I was so curious to find out what they did before.

I still remembered that gentleman, he was so willing to share with me his life stories.

“I used to be a hairdresser for so many years. I loved it, because it’s so rewarding.” His eyes beamed with excitement.

“Some people's looks changed completely because of you.” He continued. “But my career changed after an earthquake. I started to sell hair products. I did it so well that I've never got the chance to do hair cutting anymore. I missed that.”

Hmm, to have a job that you thoroughly enjoy. How does it feel like? I want to experience that feeling. I planted this seed in my dream garden.

Besides, I even received a pleasant surprise after a bus conversation😊 

One day, when I got off my usual bus, two girls came along and asked: “You are a university student studying here too?”

“Yes, but how did you know?” I was shocked.

“We overheard your conversation on the bus.”

We ended up walking and chatting along. One of the two girls Joanne and I even became good friends ever since. What a wonderful encounter😊

Joanne is from Malaysia, and she can speak some Mandarin too. But she suggested: “Let’s speak in English for our own good in the longterm. Also, it is a more inclusive act in public if any non-Chinese person wants to join our conversation.”

What a unique but wise perspective! Deal! Another lesson learned.

If you think talking at the bus stop still sounds too scary for you, then try to talk to a stranger when you are using a service. For example, when you are having your haircut at a salon or choosing a gift for your friend at a shop. Be creative and adjust when you need to.

In the next serial, I am going to reveal my other three ingredients. Stay tuned :) If you have any feedback or any great English learning tip, welcome to share with me.