A Questionaire for Strategies of Learnling English

1. Do you like learning English? Why?
Yes, I do. Because if you can speak another language, you will have more opportunities than others to find a good job, I have myself study English at least two hours every day, and being able to speak English has made me make friends with lots of foreigners.

2. Do you think your English is good or not? Why?
I think my English is ok. As I am not an English major student, I have to spend more time working on other subjects relating my major.

3. How do you usually study to improve your English?
Since there are four different parts of learning English, which are speaking, listening, writing, and reading, I improve each part with various ways. As for reading, I usually improve my reading fluency and increase my vocabulary by reading a lot easy stories every day at the beginning and then try to read more challenging materials after few months or even years. As for listening, I always listen to online English radio programs, like BBC or VOA. I also download some of the free mp3 data from the Net to my mp3 player and listen to them while I am walking to work or to school or riding my scooter on the road. Speaking, it might be the most difficult part for many people in Taiwan, not except me to overcome. The best advice I will give is trying to speak out loud every word or sentence when you are reading. Speaking to yourself is also a good way. Be thick-skinned. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Days after days, you will find that you can communicate with people well in English. Last, writing is also the toughest for any English learners. We don’t have many foreigners around our life to help with correcting our writing, so I would suggest people who want to improve their English writing by writing short sentences or paragraphs regularly. You can decide what to write by yourself. It’s kind of like writing what you feel on your personal blogs. And then asking your English teachers or teachers from English department to help correct your writing will be the best.

4. Are you afraid of speaking English? Why?
No, I am not. I am not afraid of speaking English as I’ve been practicing very often and making mistakes is no big deal for me. After all, I am not an English native speaker, so I feel confident of speaking out loud even though I am not sure if I am right or wrong.


5. Do you think you speak English fluently? Why?
I think my speaking is ok. Because I don’t have many opportunities like practicing partners or environments to speak English around my life, my speaking improves not much. However, even though I might make some small mistakes like using wrong tenses, or improper words, I still try to use other similar words or expressions to express what I exactly want to say to my friends.

6. What difficulties do you encounter very often when learning English? What kinds of methods do you use to solve the difficulties?
When learning English, I often have difficulties in speaking or writing English with words I want to express. And then I replace them with other words which have similar meanings.

7. Do you discuss what you can’t understand with your classmates while learning English? Why?
Yes, I do. When bumping into what I can’t understand, discussing them with my classmates is always the most efficient way to find out the answers. As the old saying, “Two are better than one ”



8. Do you ask your teacher actively problems that you encounter while learning English? Why?
Yes, I will. I always do so, because if I don’t ask lectures for helping, I won’t be able to know the correct answers to the problems I encounter forever.



9. Do you use other ways of learning English?
No, my ways of learning English are mostly like the above. They are all very good methods to follow. However, in my opinion, the most efficient way of learning English well is that anyone who wants to learn English well only has to be determined to study English and use it every day.

Ways to promote the tourist business in Taiwan written in 2008

When it comes to promoting tourist business in Taiwan, it is always difficult to answer because there are so many different ways to discuss. Some people may say that building new facilities for tourists to visit is the best ways to boost Taiwan’s tourism while other people might say that preserving old buildings or scenic spots is the most ideal one. I have come to my own point of view on this issue as well. In my opinion, both of these ways are suitable to promote Taiwan’s tourism.

First, building new facilities in one nation has always been able to make people around the world feel that the nation is such a creative and modern place that it is worth spending time and money to go on a trip there. This not only can enhance the nation’s image to the whole world but also make the population in this nation feel proud of themselves. Take Taipei 101 for example, when I took my foreign friends to visit Taipei 101 last year, they were very surprised that in such a disadvantageous construction condition, Taiwanese could unexpectedly build the highest skyscraper in the world! This made me feel pride of my people.

Second, preserving old buildings or scenic spots is also a good way to help promote Taiwan’s tourism. Not only can it help our next generation learn more about history, but also attract foreign tourists to visit. Take Torako Gorge in the west of Taiwan for instance. This summer my brother drove my Canada friend and me to Torako Gorge. While we were going on a hike there, both my friend and I were moved by the marvelous view. From my brother’s explanation, we also learned a lot history about how this highway was built. After the trip, my friend said he will take his family to visit this wonderful place again. These two experiences have deeply influenced my point of views on this issue.

That is not to say, of course, that the other ways to promote the tourism in Taiwan are without merit. Some people may argue that spending more money on advertising is more beneficial for Taiwan’s tourist business. Nevertheless, for the reasons I have presented above, I believe that my opinion is more valid.

What should we consider when choosing our majors? Why?

When reflecting on people's opinions about choosing majors, it is important to take two basic points of view into consideration. Some people say that we should follow our own interests while others say that it depends on the future development of the majors we choose. I have also come to my own conclusion. I think both of these important considerations are very considerable.

The first consideration I think we need to pay more attention to is our own interests. People always can do very well on things they are interested in. Take David Beckham, one of the excellent football players around the world, for instance. When he was six, he showed great interest in football. By keeping on practicing on and on for years in Manchester United football club, he led the team, for three year in succession, to the victory of winning European Football Champions, and has become one of the most successful players."Doing what you're good at and doing what you love"is his secret of success.

The second consideration that I would like to mention is the future development of the majors we are about to choose. It's always important for us to find out how the majors will develop because studying the right majors often has a lot to do with great success in our future careers. One of my friends Ryan, for example, knew nothing about what he was going to study before choosing his major, ending up with learning nothing when graduating and changing his jobs all the time due to the lack of professional abilities. Both of these examples have deeply influenced my point of view on this issue.

That's not to say, of course, that the other answers are completely without merit. I'm sure there are many things that I have failed to mention. However, I believe that the reasons I have provided in favor of my point of view are the most valid.