巨匠美語專任講師：Anorew Laing
6個學好英文的要點
重新啟動學習的按鈕
從你一開始你是個嬰兒或學習英文開始，你在學自己的母語-中文時，是不需要任何幫忙. 乍聽之下，感覺是個簡單的事,但可能是最困難的事. 所以在學英文的環境中，例如在教室裡，你必須要把中文丟在教室外面。你要找出你學英文的那個轉換鈕，這樣你的腦袋會快速地把中文翻譯成很不錯的英文。
走出教室還是要用它
你從教室裡學到很多很棒英文，然後都會永遠記得。=>這是不可能的。
學英文沒有特別什麼技巧，重點在你要一直重覆使用，且你不可以在很安靜的在家裡自己學英文。練習文章中的英文句子只會學學術的英文上，把學習新的片語和單字用到現實社會中，並且用在自己周遭環境。所以阿學習英文的內容重點是要把它實用和生活化。
簡單(式)不是總是好事
你有學過現在式以及一些可以描述時間的字嗎?當你跟外國人說話時，你常用現在式，他們可以完全地懂你在說什麼。就這樣是吧?並不完全是如此，簡單式並不能夠完全解釋整個對話。通常要解釋一本很好的文法書，要用到幾百萬篇長?以及通常你問你的老師一些文法上的問題，為什麼他們的答案都很簡短呢?
原因是在西方語言的文法裡，西方人用語言通常都不須思考或不需要完全地了解文法的用法，就可以把句子修飾得很漂亮，相對的也比較常。所以逼你自己要多用複合子句，讓你更像外國人一樣的用英文。
讓你自己沉浸其中
像英國人、美國人、澳洲人、紐西蘭人或其他說英語的國家，他們英文怎麼可以這麼好? 因為他們完全沉浸在語言中!當我們在玩樂同時，其實學習是快樂的。
例如: 你喜歡電影嗎? 喜歡音樂嗎?試試看用英文去看電影或聽音樂，真的很有用!也可以試試看 HBO & BBC。如果你有外國朋友對喜歡的音樂/電影/書籍是會滔滔不絕地跟你分享文化面，這一定會讓你的生活會話加分，並且英文會更多元化。
斷絕說你的母語-中文
這是一個很花錢和時間的事，但是對程度很好的學生是必備的。你需要花時間在一個只說英文的國家，由環境來逼你一定要每天說英文。
不要害羞
千萬不要害羞，英文課是很安全的，並且在犯錯下的學習是比不敢說英文下的學習還要學得更好，更快喔。
6 tips for getting good at English.
Push the 'reset' button.
Become a baby again, and learn English from the beginning. You need to do this without taking help from your Chinese language skills, these are a bit like a language bigger-brother; he might think he's helping, but he's not. Though it sounds like simple advice, this may be the most difficult of the lot, as it requires losing knowledge rather than gaining it. In the English classroom you need to leave Chinese outside. You have to dive into your brain, find your language center, and press the button that says 'restore to factory settings'. Until you do this, you will be speaking Chinese sentences quickly translated into very unusual English.
Take it out of the classroom and use it.
Excellent: you've learned some stuff in the classroom that sounds great, and will stay in your memory for ever. It won't! There is no skill which you master on the first try – you've got to repeat, repeat and repeat some more; and you are NOT allowed to do it quietly at home. Practicing English sentences in the context of study will reinforce the idea that English is only for study. Take new words, phrases and grammar out into the real world with you, and use them to describe what you're seeing and feeling. Giving your new English some real associations to stick onto will give it the context it needs to become real and useful.
Simple is not always best.
You've learned the present tense and some words which describe time. You talk to English speakers and they understand what you're saying perfectly. You're done, right? No, not even nearly. The present tense is not enough for the clarity of expression needed in conversation.
There's a very good reason grammar books in English are frequently over a billion pages long, and why that grammar question you asked your teacher got such a terrible answer – the grammar systems of Western languages are so deeply tied up in the language that we use them without thinking and don't properly understand how they work their magic. Push yourself towards using more complex grammar.
Immerse yourself.
So, how did we Brits, Americans, Aussies, Kiwis and other English-speakers get so damn good at English? Complete and total immersion in the language, even when we're having fun. In fact, especially when we're having fun. You like to follow the news? Try it in English. You love movies? Try them in English.
You listen to music? Try it in English. TV shows? English ones are much better than Taiwanese ones, anyway. Yeah, I said it! I'll say it again! HBO and BBC shows are art, man. Even better if you can find a Western friend who also likes the music/films/books you do: your shared love of culture will add oil to your conversation, and you'll go for hours!
Cut yourself off from your Mother Tongue.
This one is incredibly expensive and time-consuming, but it's required material for the advanced level. You have to go and spend some real time in an English-speaking country, where all these things I've talked about happen naturally, every second of every day. There is no better way to learn English than by getting yourself somewhere that Chinese won't help you.
Don't be shy.
Seriously, don't do it. The English classroom is safe, and it's better to say something wrong than not at all.