E-Concussion

The following is the dear Yenney's suggestions for us to run the club, Amy and I will try to use the way in the first session when we are the hosts. You also can use the ways to improve our learning quality, yes, we can make it!!! ----------------------------------------- Tue, 24 Jul 2007 "Yenney Lai" yenneybegood@yahoo.com.tw Sorry for the late response, Amy and Joyce! From what I can see, the E-concussion is about being sociable, instead of getting concussion in English. It's still the best thing you can pull out for using English outside of classrooms; yet, merely chatting light-heartedly is not going to get you very far: it takes serious work and practices other than "spontaneous conversations" to acquire speaking skills. Hard work: Learning English should be fun, but what is "fun"? I would like to think that the real fun is also what makes you really tired. It shouldn't be just pleasure, it's pleasure and a bit of pain too, to the degree that sometimes you don't know, and perhaps don't even care, if it's pain or pleasure that you're enjoying. For example, does not the activity of making a complete sentence always involve a sense of "torture"? Is not the intensity of reading aloud as well as understanding exactly what it means painful yet enjoyable? I've said this elsewhere: studying English is not just sitting there using your eye to go through words on the page; better to find ways to make it harder. If after 15 minutes' review you're still feeling easy and relaxed, then you're not getting anything out of it. An analogy may refer to bicycling: for whose who love it, a memorial ride is never without sweat and muscle aches. Other than small talks: first, reading and writing help a lot; which is also to say, it takes deliberate designs to make your speech flow. I know a lot of people believe in "輕鬆 自然 直覺式學習," in "spontaneity"; I don't. Every bit of a good, natural-sounding and idiomatic English sentence is built on something "unnatural": we have to do "listen and repeat (CD跟讀)" numerous times to pick up linking and fluency of pronunciation; we have to look up in the dictionary and go through a few silly example sentences before we master the vocab; we have to be very patient when filling up those dull grammar practices in order to use it without thinking. That kind of philosophy that says "let's just talk, just hang out" does not suit us: we are adults who struggle to learn in a non-English-speaking environment; spontaneous learning is designed for small children who grow up in places such as Singapore. I think the club in general is afraid of doing things that are difficult and demanding. My suggestion will be to add some "dull" activities, activities that will make you work, shatter your brain, cause you a concussion. The conversational part should remain, but can be down to 30 minutes and pushed to the last. This has a psychological effect: speech will come out after hard work, and after hard work it's time to relax. Consider these two activities: Speak grammar up (first 30 minutes): Has any of you got a decent grammar book? Photocopy a page or focus on one grammar point, and use your creativity to come up with different ways of drilling through speaking out. This is normally what I enjoy most when preparing for class. Remember some of my tricks? I still believe grammar practice is a much better way to warm up than chit-chatting. Reading and thinking (1 hour): From the book I gave you, pick an article or an issue that interests you. Don't have to pre-read it, just do a close reading together on the spot. Stop every one or two paragraphs to discuss. Language problems aside, what should come into the discussion is what you think about what the article says. Most of the articles are very opinionated, and in contrast with the following ones. This is going to be difficult, and that may be a good thing for the club: time to challenge yourselves. One last thing: form your own ideas out of my ideas. I'm not even a club member; I have just been being honest and telling you what I think about the club, but that doesn't mean that's the only way to get out of the bottleneck. Also, keep in mind that other club members may still prefer the easy way; then you just have to throw out the ideas and defend your own philosophy--which itself is a pretty good English activity. All the best, Yenney 廖佳樺 說： Dear Yenney, Thank you for your advice ...I hope I could find some time to do it.(I will try^^) and also thanks for telling us your life time there. we all missing you badly^^ By the way, if you are free, would you like to also give the E-concussion some advice. I am afraid that we must be face a bottleneck.I am thinking about using the book that Leo got from you. But I don't know what is the good way to use it. Everyone seems so busy, I don't know if we have time to read it by oneself. Best regards, Amy