Professor Sherlock is answering questions on an English learning forum about the subject of learning English. An attendant asks Professor some questions.

A is short for attendant and P for professor

Note: Sentences in red are for English learners who are confused in front of various learning materials and don't know which one to choose and how to effectively use them.

A: Pro. Watson, I have been studying English for some years, I have traveled to some English-speaking countries for business, and I’ve learnt a lot of grammar and vocabulary, but I still find it very difficult to speak. Days ago, I attended a meeting with some British; I could hardly understand those British at all. I got really disheartened.

W: Yes, that sounds like a problem, how long have you been studying English?

A: I have been studying English for two years until now.

W: What is your method of learning English? Have you joined some English language institute or using some multimedia resource for learning?

A: I’ve been going to an evening class and I have watched a lot of English films.

W: I always think that learning a language is rather like learning to drive, you can't learn to drive a car just by sitting in a classroom or watching videos. I think what you need is a lot of practice.

A: I need to practice with a native speaker but there are not so many native English speakers in my country.

W: I understand your situation. Even if you lived in the country where the language is spoken, you have to be skilled enough to be able to speak with native speakers.

A: How can I know whether I have learnt enough skills?

W: Well, nowadays there are many standardized English tests containing listening part that you can attend, or you can only try their sample tests, which are issued by those organizations.

A: What can I get from these listening tests?

W: You need to try to take a sample test and restrict yourself to finish the listening part in a standard test time. Once you finish it and you will know how much you can understand natives speaking.

A:  Why should I use this test? Are there any other options?

W: Some tests, especially those issued by English-speaking countries’ language education institutes, are very sophisticated designed, and they can effectively reflect examinee’s real capability in listening, speaking, reading and writing. But most of them are costly, so a sample of these tests is a good choice; you can find these samples on the Internet very easily.

A: This is for practice listening, but I don’t how to speak good English.

W: Hmm, you could use a micro phone and record what you said in English, and then compare your pronunciation with native speakers.

A: What if I find that I am far below the basic standard to have a conversation with natives?

W: If things are like what you said, you need to do a systematic project to improve yourself. This will be a long term that varies from 3 months to a year depending on what kind of exercise you practice.

A: I want to improve myself as quickly as possible.

W: Well, then you need a lot of practice every day, and use some good materials.

A: What material? It sounds interesting, I watched online American TV series, all of them are amazing and I like them very much.

W: TV series are quite good resource, but they are not enough.

A: Not enough? Should I watch more?

W: I think you always watch TV series with scripts; it will do no good to your listening. If you want these TV series helpful for your English, just shield those scripts, and try to understand what they are saying.

A: It’s too hard for me, it’s impossible to understand an American TV series without scripts.

W: This means that you need some simple learning resources and enhance your basic listening ability.

A: Could you introduce some?

W: I would recommend VOA Special English, it’s very basic and slow, but absolutely helpful.

A: I once tried listening to them; and they are very easy. So I think I can jump this step to a higher level.

W: This is a common mistake that many beginners may make, you might be thinking that you have understood the real meaning, but you haven’t really understood the words, the sentences, and the paragraphs.

A: I’m confused. I understand the story of VOA Special English, and then what should I do?

W: The VOA is an essential material for any beginner. You should not only listen to them, but also have a dictation.

A: Do you mean that I should write down what I heard? But what I need is to improve my listening.

W: Sure, Listening skill is correlative with writing, reading and speaking, dictating is a process of input and output. If possible, reciting what you heard while you are writing them will benefit you a lot.

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