苗淑华

English classes are the most popular way in which people study English. But English classes are a very poor way of learning English. We spent a large part of our lives in English classes （in middle school， college， and in language schools）， and we know what they are like. With all our knowledge of English classes and courses， we would be surprised if we met a person who has learned to speak English very well by going to English classes.

英语课堂是人们学习英语最普遍的方式，但却是一种很差的学习英语方法。我们生活的大部分时间都花在英语课上（中学、大学和语言学校），我们知道它们是什么样子。尽管对英语课和课程都很了解，但是如果我们遇到一个通过上英语课学好英语的人，一定会很惊讶。

Here is what you can do at an English class：

以下是你在英语课上会做的事情：

Listen to some bad English. The pronunciation， grammar， and vocabulary of other students （and sometimes the teacher， too） will be bad. Surely listening to these people will not make your English better.

听蹩脚的英语。其他学生（有时也是老师）的发音、语法和词汇会很差。当然，听这些人（说英语）不会让你的英语变好。

Say five sentences in English. There are usually more than 20 students in the class， so there is little time for you to speak English. Normal English classes are very poor speaking practice. （Conversation classes are better.）

用英语说五句话。班上至少有20名学生，所以你几乎没有时间说英语。一般英语课的口语练习都没什么效果。（会话课会好点儿。）

Listen to a few grammar rules， such as “the present continuous tense is used for talking about developing and changing situations”. Grammar rules may improve your scores in tests， but they do not improve your English.

你会听到一些语法规则，如“用现在进行时谈论发展和变化的情况”。语法规则可以提高你的考试成绩，但不能提高你的英语水平。

Do some grammar exercises. After talking about grammar rules， teachers usually give you some exercises， such as multiple1 choice or gap filling tests. Grammar exercises have two functions2： 1） they make you review the grammar rules， 2） they test your English. The first function is useless because grammar rules are useless. The second function， testing， is okay if you want to compare your knowledge with other people. But testing does not teach you any English.

做语法练习。讲完语法规则后，老师通常会给你布置一些练习，比如多项选择题或填空题。语法练习有两个功能：1）让你复习语法规则；2）测试你的英语水平。第一个功能是无用的，因为语法规则是无用的。第二个功能是测试，如果你想把你的知识和其他人进行比较的话，这没问题。但是考试并不能教你学会英语。

Get a homework assignment3. The homework is usually a grammar exercise or a composition. The subject of the composition will usually be some boring things that you dont care about. Doing boring things is not going to help your English. It will only decrease4 your motivation5.

完成家庭作業。作业通常是语法练习或作文。作文的主题通常是一些你不喜欢的无聊的事物。做无聊的事对你的英语学习没有帮助，只会降低你的（学习）动力。

English classes will not teach you good pronunciation （which is simply necessary for communication！）. Most teachers completely ignore6 it， sometimes because their own pronunciation is bad. Some teachers will correct your mistakes when you speak. But very few teachers will tell you how you can avoid making the same mistakes again. Very few teachers will tell you about the sounds of English and how to use a dictionary to learn about the pronunciation of words.

英語课不会教你良好的发音（这是交流所必需的！）。大多数老师完全忽略这一点，有时也是因为他们自己的发音不好。有些老师说话时会纠正你的错误。但很少有老师会告诉你如何避免再犯同样的错误。很少有老师会告诉你英语的发音以及如何使用字典来学习单词的发音。

Most teachers will not encourage you to read in English， to buy a good English-English dictionary， to listen to English-language recordings on your own. They will just do their textbook and the exercises in it. If your teacher is different， you are lucky.

大多数老师不会鼓励你进行英语阅读、买一本好的英英词典、自己听英语录音。他们只会按课本来教，布置上面的练习题。如果你的老师不是这样，那你很幸运。

This is what most English classes look like. Think about your classes. If they are like that—boring and ineffective7—then you are simply wasting your time.

这就是大多数英语课的样子。想想你的课堂，如果是那样无聊且无效，那么你就是在浪费时间。

You can replace ineffective and boring classes with interesting things which will really improve your English：

你可以用真正能提高英语水平的有趣的东西来代替低效和无聊的课程：

Instead of listening to bad English in the classroom， turn on your TV and watch some English-language channels. You will get lots of perfect sentences in excellent English.

不要在教室里听糟糕的英语，打开电视看英语频道。在优质的英语中你会学到很多好句子。

Instead of sitting for two hours to say five sentences in English， sign up for a conversation class with a native speaker. Or start speaking English with your best friend.

与其坐两个小时说五个英语句子，不如报名上一个以英语为母语的人开的口语课，或者和你最好的朋友说英语。

Instead of working with a boring textbook， read something interesting. There are so many interesting texts in English！Surf to English-language sites on the Web. Read a good book in English. Simply， read something that interests you. Something that wont bore you to death.

不要学枯燥的课本，读一些有趣的东西。世上有这么多有趣的英语课文！上网看英语网站，读一本好的英语书。简单来说，就是读那些你感兴趣的，不会让你无聊致死的东西。

Instead of memorizing grammar rules and doing grammar exercises， read and listen to English. Input is the only way to learn impressive， natural English.

不要背诵语法规则、做语法练习，多朗读并听英语。输入是学习令人印象深刻的地道英语的唯一途径。

Instead of writing compositions about the subject that your teacher gave you， write about something that you care about. Dont write for your teacher—write for yourself！

不要写老师给你的命题作文，写你关心的事物。不要为老师而写——为你自己而写！

1. multiple [ ] adj. 多重的；多样的；许多的

2. function [ ] n. 功能

3. assignment [ ] n. 分配；任务；作业；功课

4. decrease [ ] v. 减少，减小

5. motivation [ ] n. 动机；积极性

6. ignore [ ] vt. 忽视；不理睬

7. ineffective [ ] adj. 无效的，失效的；不起作用的