On the morning of November 23, Ms. Esther Brooks, an Australian scholar, was talking to English majors of School of Foreign Languages about how to learn English well. Instead of lecturing to the students, Ms. Esther was actively interacting with students and her talk greatly activated students’ interests and curiosities.
Ms. Esther is an expert on the second-language learning and can speak Chinese very well. She has rich teaching experience with non-native speakers and also supervises graduate students majoring in linguistics and translation. She has devoted herself to helping students to study English better though cultural communications.
Ms. Esther began her speech with her daughter’s experience of learning Chinese and her own way of tackling difficulties in her Chinese learning process. She emphasized that one must have a deep interest in the language he or she wants to learn before the continuous practice via different ways. In terms of English learning, Ms. Esther said, students can make full use of the APPs of their cell phones, for example, by turning the language from Chinese into English or use Wechat to talk with English speakers. Through the constant outputs and inputs with foreign friends, students can learn English automatically rather than mechanically.
Before the meeting ended, Ms. Esther patiently answered the questions about English learning and helped to clear the confusion in the learning process. This meeting proved to be fruitful for students. It not only broadened their horizons, but also stimulated their enthusiasm for English language.
(Reported by Wang Xiaoli
Translated by Xiongsi
Translation Revised by Wu Lanxiang )
