Day1~2
中国学生学习英语的四大误区（上）总结反思
Outline:
4 pitfalls that English learners in China should avoid:
1.Translation-Grammar method
2. Why it’s difficult to read in English
3. Why you can’t build your vocabulary efficiently
4. Why you still can’t communicate in English after taking so many English classes
Main contents:
1.Translation-Grammar method
We tend to check grammar like tense.
2. Why it’s difficult to read in English
Because English books are written by English native speakers, and they are in English order. However, we always use Chinese to translate it in Chinese order. Moreover, we don't choose the material suitable to us.
Reflections:
I actually have some bad habits as July mentioned in his lecture. I like to translate the sentence into Chinese if the sentence is too difficult for me. When I try to express myself in English, I like to form a Chinese outline in my mind first and then translate them to my listeners. Moreover, I prefer to look for English-Chinese dictionaries because I think it is more convenient for me to understand the word's meaning.
Solutions:
1. 20-80 principles
20% are hard to understand, 80% are what you are familiar with.
20% for content, 80 for language.
As you make progress, the proportion should be changed as well.
2. Read a lot and look for English-English dictionaries to build up my vocabulary.
Day3~4
中国学生学习英语的四大误区（下）
Main contents:
3. Why you can’t build your vocabulary efficiently？
Because a single word doesn't mean anything.
Because we use Chinese to memorize English words
4. Why you still can’t communicate in English after taking so many English classes？
The teachers and classes are not professional. You always learn the history of the language rather than use them.
Solutions:
1. Be patient
2. word collecting methods:
collect words in your notebook.（40 words）
think about it and use context to guess the meaning.
use an E-E dictionary
sense the words in different context and build up the concept of the word
3. Use the language first!
Use the language a lot!
Day5~6
Steps taken to build your vocabulary:
1.READ A LOT!!!!! Indulge yourself in English.
2.Collect words from your reading/binge-watching/academic classes and so on.
3. Look up E-E dictionary rather than E-C dictionary. Find the English definition of the word and summarize it in 3-5 words.
4. Try to pronounce it correctly—accent is fine but pronunciation matters more.
5. Find the stem(root) of the word.
6. Make a sentence out of it.
7. Output: use the word as much as possible.
--Talk to yourself
--Story making
--No subtitle
For example, you encounter the word 'egoist' in your reading.
Collect it in your phone or notebook.
Find its English definition and summarize it: me first
Find its pronunciation.
Find the stem of the word: ego.
Ego: from Latin, the pronoun ego, meaning I.
You may find its brothers: egocentric, egomaniac, egoist.
Make a sentence out of it.
Output: use the word as much as possible.
Conclusion:
In this week, July points out the common pitfalls that English learners in China should avoid. To be honest, I harvest a lot. I eventually find the reason why I can not stick with my reading materials. It is not because the material itself is uninteresting, but I choose the wrong level which is higher than my present level. July also provides us with a more effective way to bulid up our vocabulary, which is actually different from my previous method. All in all, after this week's method-learning, I become more confident of my following English learning.
