How
Can I Improve My English?
Mr white
1Ever since I arrived in Beijing almost two years ago I have heard this question: from an English
major, from a stranger on the street, from a brave soul standing in the middle of a large lecture
hall. from a dark shadow beside me one evening at an English corner
2 It seems a perfectly fair and simple qucstion, and it's a question I hate
3 I hate it because it seems completely reasonable but is actually a trap, because it seems so ca
but is actually a riddle to stump Oedipus. And I am not Oedipus
4 It is a question always asked by earnest students, and cvery time I hear it I feel that this
sincere plea must meet a clear answer and that I, as an English teacher, should know the answer.
s Oh. I have answers, but I dont have the answer, not the answer I think theyre looking for
E Whatever they are really asking for, it feels like theyre asking for a quick solution that will
fix all their mistakes and expand their vocabulary in easy steps. I cant provide that. The truth
is theres only one easy way to learn a language: you must be immersed in that language from
the time you are two years old until you are four years old. These are the years, linguists tell us.
during which children don't learn a language, but rather catch it like a disease. They pick it up
without conscious effort
