how to learn English new words?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>hi,im alva from Beijing Univ.yes,i speak Chinese in my daily life.but i must learn English in college.my english is too bad.the most difficult thing is English words.im always forgetting new words,so cant read and talk! i'll fail in CET4!! oh ....no..</p>

<p>so i got one to ask u. how did U learn English new words? </p>

<p>i know u all are around English every day,and English is ur motherlanguage,and most importantly,u all have good Language Sense.so,i just want to learn how did U learn English new words?</p>

<p>im lack of english,so maybe make lots of mistakes above.so pls Forgive me.thx!!</p>

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<p>you have to watch american movies without subtitles, or if its too hard start with cartoons. Watch cartoons like dexters labolatory or something. You should also read some children books. Buy Diablo 2 or something and play it on US east or west and talk to everyone there.</p>

<p>I learned english from those things, they should help everyone.</p>

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<p>do not watch dexter's labaratory. watch american shows involving teenagers. one tree hill is a good one or something like the o.c.</p>

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<p>First off, because we learned English as children through a natural, biological process of language acquisition, we learned words as they were used around us. Just like you would have in Chinese, in simplified terms, we begun with short, one-word statements (ma-ma, da-da, ball, etc.) and then progressed to 2-word combinations and our vocabularies and sentence lengths just increased gradually from there. However, for you as a second language learner, your needs are different.
What has been mentioned will help, as will getting as much experience as possible actually speaking with native speakers. If possible, you should spend a year abroad in an English-speaking country to learn the language. As far as expanding your vocabulary (learning new words), I would actually suggest focusing on your fluency for now. Your writing is pretty understandable and your vocabulary appears wide enough to cover basic communication, so I would make sure you're getting practice with native speakers and paying attention to the way they say things. Rote memorization (that is, just repeating the words over and over) isn't going to help you learn English. I believe you will learn the necessary vocabulary for whatever you do in English best by simply speaking the language with other people (preferably native speakers). Paying attention to the way we say things will also help you sound more native, since while something may be grammatically correct in English, it does not necessarily mean that that is the way we would say it. (I would give you an example but the ones I can think of are all in Spanish from having learned that language as a second language. I don't think awkward-sounding ways of saying things really come to mind for a native speaker because if they did, they would sound natural!)</p>

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<p>I have no idea if there's anything like this for Chinese (Mandarin?) speakers trying to learn English, but I'm studying German, and I found this "Slow German" podcast on itunes that helped me. It's done by a German woman, talking about various aspects of life in Germany (such as holidays, recycling, clothing, music, and such), but it's meant for people who want to learn or brush up on German, so she purposely speaks slowly and extra clearly. You could try seeing if there's anything like that available for people learning English. Or you could look for a regular English podcast about some topic you're interested in, like a certain band, an academic topic, news and current affairs, etc.</p>

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<p>I learned English (well, not perfect English, but good enough to take classes) by getting addicted to fanfiction. The vocabulary is limited (because 90% is written by teenagers), and it's fun.</p>

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<p>my husband learned English by watching American televison.</p>

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<p>I would suggest typing the way you speak. Using abbreviations like "u," "thx," etc. can lead to you writing English in the same way, which would be bad.
As for learning, try reading these forums a lot (especially the Parents section, since their style will be more mature).</p>

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<p>Friends, Internet, TV.</p>

<p>Just make an effort and you'll get it, don't expect it to come to you without you yourself trying.</p>

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<p>Chinese is my first language also, although I started learning English a long time ago. I found that there are two important things that one can do to improve his/her vocabulary and they complement each other. </p>

<p>1). Vocabulary lists: I know it's boring. I know it may seem hopeless. But if you don't have a foundation of basic English words, no amount of practice will help. Start small, 10 words a day. Test yourself everyday on the stuff from the day before and at the end of every week on words learned during that week. </p>

<p>From your post, Alva it appears that you have done this before and do possess the basic vocabulary of English words. In that case, you should move onto more advanced lists. </p>

<p>2). Practice: you must practice speaking and listening. I'm sure this part is infinitely harder for you than it was for me since you live in Beijing, but I encourage you to seek out those who are reasonably fluent English speakers so that you can practice. Try talking to your teacher one on one. Or try to find a place frequented by English-speaking expats and ask to converse with them on a regular basis for practice. I'm sure you will find someone who's willing to oblige. </p>

<p>Additionally, you should read English, preferably aloud if you can. Pay attention to pronounciation, sentence structure, and flow. If you need to know how to pronounce a word, try [url=<a href="http://Dictionary.com%5DDictionary.com%5B/url"&gt;http://Dictionary.com]Dictionary.com[/url&lt;/a&gt;], they provide free pronounciations. If that doesn't work for you, you can purchase Kingsoft Powerword (金山词霸), a chinese-english/english-chinese dictionary software that includes adequate pronounciations. The easiest way to do this, I think, is to read the news. Try one or two articles a day from sources like the New York Times, CNN, etc. if you can access those sites. Once you are comfortable with articles, you can move onto materials such as magazines, etc. </p>

<p>Finally, if you can access them, watch movies or TV in English. Don't use subtitles and just listen. Try to catch bits and pieces of conversation that you can understand. Don't worry if you can't understand everything, you can often infer plot, etc.</p>

<p>As you keep practicing, I'm certain that you'll find it easier and easier but you must put forth the effort to do these things. Since you said you attend Peking University, I think it would be fair to say that you are a hard working student so I wish you the best of luck in this pursuit. :)</p>

<p>Edit: of course, you can also visit online forums to practice English. But be aware that internet jargon is very prevalent and can be detrimental to those who are trying to learn English properly. Certainly try to use proper English when you communicate on the internet.</p>

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<p>also... english is my native language so i can't help you specifically with learning it as a second language... but i'm learning french and like people have said--watch movies and TV. i'm going to add music to that list. </p>

<p>it's A LOT easier to memorize songs than it is to learn lists of vocabulary (i'm not saying that you shouldn't do that too, though)... there's just something about them (the rhythm probably) that makes them easy to remember. i've learned so much french by listening to french music.</p>

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<p>I am not a native speaker either, so I'll try to give you some advice.. </p>

<p>Basically, watching television and reading a lot of books is the best method to both expand your vocabulary and learn new sentence structures and such. You have to hear the words in context though, otherwise you'll forget them (i.e. vocab lists aren't going to work)..</p>

<p>My english is really bad as well (as you might have noticed already; luckily I still have 2 years left before college!), but I notice I'm getting better every day, just by reading a lot. Oh, wait, you could play isketch as well, it is some sort of online pictionarygame and really fun, it helps you to improve your basic communication skills, try it! (iSketch</a>) </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>I would have to disagree with the vocab lists not working assertion. They do work, but you have to practice. </p>

<p>Think of the vocab lists as piles of bricks. If you don't put forth the effort, the pile of bricks won't turn into a house by itself. It'll just sit there and weather away. Same thing with vocab lists, if you just memorize them and don't use them, you'll forget them. </p>

<p>As someone who's "been there and done that", vocabulary lists were critical to my learning process. Heck, even American schools use vocabulary lists. I distinctly remember learning 10 words a week in spelling class in 4th grade and having to know their definitions, usage, spelling, etc. It's a proven method that works but you have to know how to use it.</p>

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<p>你好
首先，祝贺你考进了全中国最好的大学！我认得几个朋友在北大！你是哪年的？
IF you want to learn new words in English, I highly recommend you to borrow a book or something from the library and read it from the first page to the last. Pick up the words you don't know and write them down on a piece of paper. After you finish 20-30 pages of book reading everyday, try to remember them by writing them repeatably, for me, it is five times. This form of root memorization combines with creative book reading is what I adore the most. In fact, that's how I read my textbooks a long time ago. lol
Now I'm preparing for GRE, and I'm just reading off the 红宝书.
hahahahha</p>

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<p>I'd give the exact same advice as pharmakeus. Read books, magazines, fiction, nonfiction, anything, and keep an English dictionary on hand.</p>

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<p>Reading PLUS writing PLUS TV PLUS music is good. Actually speaking w/ a NATIVE speaker is best. Speaking with another non-native speaker is good at beginning levels but at more advanced levels will reinforce bad habits that let native speakers know you're not native and/or lead to awkward-sounding speech. Native speakers can also clue you in on cultural and other language usage issues that a non-native speaker is unlikely to be aware of.</p>

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<p>I imagine OP is trying to decipher all this text by all the people who replied. haha</p>

<p>Some good advice here, though.</p>

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<p>Well plenty of practice then. :)</p>

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<p>The exchange-student from China learned new English words by looking up words he didn't understand in a dictionary, then using it in his everyday speech.</p>

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<p>
[quote]

I imagine OP is trying to decipher all this text by all the people who replied. haha</p>

<p>Some good advice here, though.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>haha, true, which will be good for the OP! Definitely won't hurt to crack open a dictionary and look words up as well as get a feel for some complex sentence structures. It's by reading and writing (and speaking) that the OP will learn the language most effectively, so I'd say keep it up. I haven't seen any extremely difficult language being used yet. Nobody's pulling out too many GRE words or subject-specific terms! Additionally, as long as we all stick to more-or-less formal English and don't go off using slang, idioms, and metaphor, the OP should be fine!</p>

<p>Btw... MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!!!</p>