Someone once said that language is the bridge of communicate. English is also the case. It is the most widely used bridge in the world. By learning English, we can communicate with more people. As a graduate student, there are two purposes for me to learn English: reading and conversation.
Many documents are written in English, and we are increasingly publishing our papers in English. Therefore, the number of professional vocabulary and terms paper commonly used becomes the focus of our attention. To my point of view, for these terms, it doesn’t need to spell out word for word. Common words are often looked familiar, and the unfamiliar one only needs to look up in the dictionary.
However, it is necessary to develop a capability that how to write the paper. It is our inadequate where we feel obscure when we reading the original papers. More often, we will follow the Chinese writing mode to write a paper, while ignoring the structure of English. It requires a lot of reading and constant training to correct this shortcoming.
Conversation is communicating with other people. Listening is a very important capability. Whether the report is in Chinese or English, we need to seize the key point. At this time, a number of words and statements that highlight the main point are especially important. Only to remember and digest these words, can we catch the key point of the report.
Having heard many professional reports which foreign professors make in Tianjin University, what interested me most is, the foreign professor are often speaking very slowly and clearly, however, our own professors are speaking very fast, and sometimes mixed with the accent. Gradually, I come to realize that there may be a variety of accents. As long as the pronunciation and pause can be accepted by people, you are successful. We really don’t need to worry about the local accent, and even keep mouth shut.
These are my feelings and experiences of learning English. More original reading, and more practicing, we will be better in English.