EAT, SLEEP, DRINK AND EVEN DREAM IN ENGLISH
English is not a subject you study a couple of hours a week…
It is something you live 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
There is no English speaking environment in China and no university makes even the slightest attempt to create one for their English majors let alone the non-English majors required to study English.
It is therefore up to each student to create their own personal English speaking environment.
Students are encouraged to change their computer homepage to an English search engine or Google News (English) and to do all searches in English. They are also encouraged to read English news and other matters of personal interest on the web. They are also encouraged to stop using Chinese QQ and switch to English QQ.
Instead of watching Chinese movies or English movies with Chinese dubbing or subtitles; students have access to an on campus English movie library with over 500 English movies with English subtitles or no subtitles.
The students are required to attend English corner, role play an ABC (American Born Chinese) native English speaker for one entire day; and meet a new foreign friend and engage in an extensive conversation.
Patches are given that say “SPEAK ENGLISH” that the students can sew on a hat, shirt or jacket.
Students are encouraged to speak English only in their dormitory.
All students are required to send an email to a special account and to provide their correct mobile phone number.
English emails are sent to all students 3 to 5 times each week.
Students are asked to change their mobile phone language to English and to answer the phone in English. Calls are randomly made to all students, several times during the term, to confirm their compliance.
On the download page read the following articles”
Well, our professor really creates an English-spoken environment for us, from computer to mobile phone, from class to daily life. It feels like I was thrown into a place, where I can’t escape, I must use English. There’s an elder who always mention you that English, English, take English with you! I will share my interesting experience with you. One day, when I was talking on the telephone with my mother in my dormitory, there comes a call from my mobile phone. The number is not in my contacts. In the few seconds, I hesitated wondering who that is. Of course, it’s not my mum, because I’m talking to her by telephone. So I needn’t to be afraid to say hello. Then I hold my telephone on and say hello, and nobody answered. Later, I know it’s our professor who called my just to verify whether I was in an English environment. I guess this must be a big project for you. Thanks a lot!
In our university, we can see a lot of slogans and posters written in Chinese, but we can hardly see them written in English, except in the library. If we can not rely on others to create an English environment for us, we can create one on our own. I like watching English TV drama program, such as Heroes, Modern Family, and Desperate Housewives, from which I can always “date” with English and be familiar with English. From March to May, I will be working as a teaching assistant for a foreign visiting professor, and I can always speak English with him and the exchange students. I believe that “Steel sharpens steel” will really work!! Professor Martin has given us a lot of English assignments, and the assignments really push me forward on the way to learn English. I have to read articles everyday and post my comment, which really improves my writing. Now I can complete the opening questions of online application quickly; I watch the English movie “The terminal” with English subtitles and I can’t believe that I can complete it so smoothly! I can get rid of Chinese subtitles now! I am really excited about this. Yes, we can not really live in English 24 hours a day, but we can extend the time and use more English!
In fact, I think, as postgraduates, we have miss the best time if we make up our mind to improve our English untill now, however, better later than never! What you said and suggested in the article is wonderful and will be helpful, I believe it.
A foreign teacher, retied, not lack of money, come to us, and help us to create an “English 24/7” environment. With great enthusiasm, he is quite so enjoy this. I never met a teacher like this before. I love him really.
At the beginning of the semester, I am confused about the “holistic” English; I even never heard it before. What to do? How to do? Does it have magic power to improve our English? Now I do not have the answer, but I already what is holistic English, an environment, an “English 24/7” environment. It is a condition of eating walking talking sleeping at last thinking in English. You imagine you are just in U.S, not China, that is ok. You have to use English at any time, then you will be able to use it more skillfully. That is “English 24/7”.
To be honest, it’s very hard to study English in a so called 24/7 way, after all ,it’s China here, and what all around us are Chinese native speakers. But I do appreciate the idea Professor Wolff gave us ,on how to make our English better. In the past 2 weeks, a English speaking atmosphere is forming，quietly and imperceptibly .I do feel the positive influence by Martin, not only in English study.
I think the above advises on create a personal English speaking environment given by Prof. Wolff is very good for us. In our secondary school stage, the aim for studying English was mainly for passing the exams to many students, because in our daily life we seldom used our English and our study task is so heavy that we can’t put too more time on the activities irrelevant in-class. In our undergraduate stage, things were looking better than before, but were still not good enough. Many students studies English only because they want to pass CET 4 and CET 6. Of cause, after graduation many of them regretted of that because they finally found that if they have a better English level, they can have a higher wage.
Take part in Prof. Wolff’s class let me derive much benefit. By reading the articles on China Holistic English website everyday, my reading ability has gotten exercise, and some questions putted in the articles has given me great thinking. By posting my opinion in English, my express ability has been improved, though I still need to depend on an online English dictionary. Thanks to Prof. Wolff!
First of all, I must thank my professor, Mr. Martin, to give my suggestions to lean English. It is true that there is no English speaking environment in China and it is therefore up to each student to create their own English speaking environment. Mr. Martin gives us some useful suggestions. If all of us follow the suggestions, our English will improve greatly. However, it is a herculean task. It will take much time to do it, but it is worth to do.
If I make up my mind to learn English hard by any reason, I will agree with the view absolutely and try my best to make it truth, that English is not a subject you study a couple of hours a week but something you live 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, I do not think I have made up. As the professor said, English is money. To be frank, I love English just out of my interet. It seems impossible for me to live 24 hours a day, seven days a week with English but something is going on that, I will keep reading my favorite English novels, listening to my English songs, watching my English shows and movies every single day as much as possible.
In fact , I was surprised when I catch sight of “English 24/7″ for the first time. Before beginning this class, nobody ever told me that English is something we live 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
During so many years, our English teachers told us more than once that studying English required more reading, listening and writing , but we are not used to regard English as a part of our life.
So if we want to know well about English, we should absorb ourselves in the English world. Because mastering a foreign language is not only just simply translating it, but also thinking in the same way as the natives.
the best way to master a language is nothing but practice.thank you so much for creating such a good enviromen for us to speak ,read ,write as much english as possible .i will seize this opportunity to improve my english.
Well, I really like the way of which my professor give us, it’s really fresh air to me. I can feel the atmosphere of English, actually, I’ve changed my phone to English. After couples of days, I can understand all the function of my phone in English. It’s amazing. I also wanna to buy a new Bible in English version.
I told my friend that I have a very special professor who taught us oral English in different ways. Maybe he is strict to us, sometimes. However I like this kind of teacher, because only strict teacher can give us the useful knowledge. Only if you eat, sleep, drink and dream in English, you can make a great progress.
After reading this article,I know more about ways of learning English.I appreciate my professor,because he consider it carefully for his students.Grasping English is many chinese people’s wish,and we all know that action is more important than word,so let’s take practical action to learn English well.
Beyond all, I have to admit that I am so stressful that I frequently miss the phonecall, and the reason sometimes is nothing but careless. And people usually be not sued to answer the phone when noticing the number is strange, so…
To return to the subject, I really think it is a good idea to create a 24-hour English speaking environment. It is said that the best way to improve the English is to live in an English-speaking country for a while. In that situation, you have to use English, not only to communicate but also to think, because you can not wasting time in translating even in your mind, or you would miss the next content.
We must creat an English learning circumstance for ourselves in spite of we are not english native speakers.I have changed my cellphone language into English and tried to watch English movies without Chinese subtitles.As an ancient saying “God helps those who help themselves” says,we can make progress only by our effort.
We have studied English for a long time but still not enough,we often compliant that
there is no English–speaking environment. In fact, that because we didn’t seek and
create the environment. I always believe that “The only way you can learn swimming is jumping into the swimming-pool”.The most obvious example is the salers in wholesale market who communicate with foreign buyers in a little English everyday.Do they ever learn much English in school? Don’t they practice English from the environment?
How fortunately we are ! We are givened the right environment to learn English,even if be forced to practice,it will be effective.
Maybe saying is not important,what is important is to do something.We all knowing that to say is easier than to do,we should action now.But when I practice this idea,I found it is really different.I found there are a couple of reasons behind this trend.On one thing,I am shy of speaking English.For anthor,the environment counts most.I dare say that I don’t want to shirk the responsiblity.An simple example is that if you shift you phone language into English while there are few people do as you do,so you will find it difficult to communicate with others.
So these always confused me,maybe what can I do is always read the articles from this web.If the condition allows,maybe we should set an ENGLISH-DAY every week!
English is a tool for us to use but not to take exams.We should change our way of thinking when we practise our Oral English.It is also a cost of time of traslation from Chinese to English, and we will also make mistakes when we think in Chinese and speak in English.If we do live 24 hours a day and 7days a week with English,we can overcome the difficulites.And at last,we will enjoy ourselves.
In China, there is little atmosphere to speak English. When we Chinese people get together, we just naturally want to speak Chinese. We just speak English in the English class or when we meet a foreigner. Because of the lack of English vocabulary, sometimes it is hard to use English to communicate with other people.
I think the atmosphere of speaking English is very important. There is an old saying that learning by doing. We can learn English through using English in our daily life.
Thanks for Professor Martin. He creates an atmosphere of English speaking for us. English will gradually be “something we live 24 hours a day, seven days a week”. It is good for our English learning.
Always it is not we cannot, but is we never do! English should listening more, speaking more and writing more, if not we can never improve our English. So if we can do just as Martin’s request, I think everyone can use English fluently. But we all know that speaking is one thing, doing is anther. So just now, we should shape our daily life, and reform our thinking ways, that’s very and very important.
I have learned English almost ten year. But rethink this process, I found that I just view English as a subjuect but not a tool for communication. I think many Chinese students have the same experience. Our purpose for learning English is just want to get a high grade in the exam. We didn’t use it in our daily life. So I think we should change our way to learn. Using as much as possible would be a better way.