Learning English

I have been Calgary for almost one year. Since I came here, I have been learning English in EAP program. I will be done my English study. Happy!!!!! However, as non-native speakers, we must keeping learning English all the way even though we graduate from EAP program. Although we can understand what professors speak and communicate smoothly with native speakers, we still have a gap with native speakers, such as vocabulary, pronunciation and so on. Like my uncle, his English is very awesome. Actually, he is a PHD and works in Husky Oil. He can work in this big company, not only does he have a higher degree, but also his English is wonderful. It is certain that communication is very important at work. What if his English is not very good even though he has a higher degree? If we want to live in English-speaking countries, English is the basic skills. My uncle said:" There is no problem that I can deeply talk about professional knowledge with native speakers. However, I cannot understand the jokes spoken by native speakers at all. When one of my workmates talked about a joke one day, everyone around me laughed except for me." He said that the big reason is the different cultures and languages. He said that he/she is close to native speakers if someone can understand the jokes. Therefore, everyday my uncle listens to radio when he is on the C-train. Also, he listens to radio when he cooks or do anything. Oh, my gosh!!! Actually, in our home, we have several radios. One is in the kitchen, one is in the living room, and there is a radio in every bedroom. He even asks me to listen to radio every day. Oh. my god~~~~Actually, I am not interested in what the radio says.

Personally, learning English should totally immerse into English environment. For me, even though I speak English in the classes and at work. However, I speak Chinese after I get home, and most of my friends are Chinese. Maybe I will find a Canadian homestay next summer. I think that that is not enough for me to understand what professors said in the classes and the simple communication. I want to know more about Canadian culture and more language, such as slangs and idioms. I just want to try my best to immerse into Canada. Actually, it is hard for us to have foreign close friends due to different cultural background and languages. However, for us, we just try our best to live and study here. Another thing is that we study academic English. Sometimes, I found that we speak in English formally, but people in the daily life say something informally. Therefore, we should understand some expressions which are local. Like Chinese, we speak informally in the daily life, not use formally expressions.

I am writing this blog because I want to tell you guys that we must learn English all the way as non-native speakers even though you pass TOEFl exam or EAP program.

Try Our Beat!!!!!!!