摘自《二十一世纪报》（2003年10月9日） Final tips on oral English
My first suggestion is: Make a serious, determined effort and be bold when trying to speak English. Don't be afraid of making mistakes or being laughed at. Making mistakes is natural in the learning process. In China, the biggest problem for English learners is the lack of a helpful language learning environment. There is little chance of meeting or talking with native speakers of English. There is often no easy and adequate access to English TV or radio programmes, or English newspapers and magazines. What's to be done? The answer is: Try to create an environment. My suggestions are as follows: When you're alone, try to practise reciting or reading aloud. You can read or recite a text, a short story, a news item, or a poem. If you have a partner with you, try to practise a dialogue. If there are more people around, try to start a discussion or a debate. Don't be bothered if your partner's English is better than or not as good as yours. You can always benefit from dialogues or discussions. What should you talk about, you might ask. Well, in fact there's so much going on at any given time that you can virtually talk about anything and everything — as long as it's of common interest or common concern. You can choose a different topic every day. It could be about an international, national or local event. It could also be about your life and studies. Read and listen more. Reading and listening give you the input you need for practice. They enlarge your vocabulary and your feeling for the language. You can't expect a major breakthrough in your speaking ability without persistent reading and listening. Combine speaking with writing. If you're not sure of yourself in speaking, first write down everything you want to say, then say it. If you don't think it necessary to write down everything, you might put down a few notes on the major points, or make an outline, to remind yourself while speaking. Sometimes, after you have spoken, you can write down what you've just said. In both cases, you combine speaking with writing, killing two birds with one stone. Story-telling is another exercise for oral practice. The stories you choose should be short. Like "Master Dongguo and the Wolf", for example. You can first practise by telling the story in the third person, beginning with "Once upon a time, there was an old man whose name was Dongguo..." Or "Long long ago, there was an old man named Dongguo..." Then you can imagine yourself as Master Dongguo and tell the story in the first person. Something like this: "My name is Dongguo. People call me Master Dongguo because I'm a school teacher. One day, on my way to town, I saw a wolf rushing towards me. I was scared and wanted to run away. But, instead of attacking me, the wolf begged for help....." After that, you can imagine yourself as the wolf and tell the story from his or her angle: "I'm a wolf. One day I was looking for food at the foot of a hill when a hunter caught sight of me and started to chase me. I was so frightened that I began to run for my life. Suddenly I saw an old man riding a donkey in front of me. An idea came to my mind...." Then, if you like, you can imagine yourself as a farmer who eventually comes to Master Dongguo's rescue. And, finally, you can summarize the story or tell what sort of lesson a person might learn from the story. In this way, you'll not only become more familiar with the story, but improve your speaking skills a great deal. Take part in any activities that involve speaking. I believe that many schools and institutions have English speaking activities such as English Corner, English Salon, and English Club, or English speech contests, recitation contests, forums, debates, or performances. Try to play an active role in these. Of course it would be great if you could win something, but it would be just as good if you just participated. --------------------------------------- The author is a professor of English at NanjingUniversity.
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