Learning ENGLISH

Nah, I am not trying to teach English here (you can count the vocab I master with your fingers, and toes). But I can tell you honestly that I have fallen deeply in love with English (the language, don't cook up a speculation that I have an English girlfriend). I must thank my English teacher who taught me when I was still in Form 1 (you can see who she is in my post 'Dine, Converse', she was the special guest). She didn't just teach me English, she taught me how to learn English. She catalysed the germination of my love towards this international language.

If you (juniors) think that you can learn everything from your English textbook, then you are terribly wrong. English is everywhere (if you care to dedicate some time to it).

Me? My first English 'sharpener' wasn't Hans Christian Anderson's work (I already knew his stories in the Chinese version), it was the Reader's Digest magazines. My brother is fond of reading them and one day, I picked up one of them. I browsed through the pages and found that I could hardly finish any paragraph without asking him the meanings of the unfamiliar words. I guessed he was tired of my constant pestering since he then taught me how to use the dictionary.That little incident kickstarted my curiosity about English.

There are many ways for me to learn English:

• Whenever I come across new words, I refer to the Qur'an of English, i.e. the dictionary. Sometimes, when I feel lazy to scan through that big pile of papers to find the words I don't know, I make sure to note those words down so that when I regain my spirit, I will know where to start from. 
• Songs! It is of no use to only know how to write in English, it is equally vital to be able to listen when other people speak. So, I make it a habit to visit YouTube and listen to some English songs, then I will write down the lyrics and check with the actual lyrics when I am done to see if I get them right.
• Write, write, write. That's why I blog. It's to make sure I don't forget what I've learnt. When I was still in school (during which time I didn't have the time to blog), I write on pieces of paper. I sommer came up with topics and tried to elaborate from scratch.

I bet I am still very, very, very far from mastering English. But I'm not worried. After all, non scholae, sed vitae discimus.