【Chat】When did you start to learn English?

[shieiuping 10]

I started to learn English when I was 3. I tried to memorized the alphabets as ABC and something like "A of the Apple" . But...Unfortunatery, my English is not well to this day.T_T

[Richtu 10]

me? Five, kept forgetting the alphabets...

[spacedunce-5 10]

Beyond recollection. Three or four, maybe?

I only remember that my first novels were My Side of the Mountain, Where the Red Fern Grows, and something else about Alexander, Aristotle, and their women which I found quite boring at the time.

I also recall that my first grade teacher wanted me to read the Cam Jansen series and write a one-page summary for each book. My classmates were reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar.xdxd

[MikiRei 10]

....not sure. Possibly 3? Basically, some time before I could remember anything. My mum just threw me into some American school in Taipei where all the teachers are American and never spoke a single Mandarin to us so we can pick up the language naturally. *shrug*

[spacedunce-5 10]

That's not a bad way to learn, actually,

better than the ESL (English as a Second Language) classes back in Dallas.

[Richtu 10]

I think sending kids(before 5) off to English speaking preschools is a bad idea...a waste of money, since all the kids still talk in Chinese and you're too young to really learn anything.

[shieiuping 10]

To speak frankly, I memorized English alphabets earlier than "ㄅㄆㄇ"......

[雞翅 10]

Our family moved to Singapore when I was around four, and I spoke Chinese at home and English at school (lots and lots of embarrassing moments during the first few years). English is still my more proficient language.

[spacedunce-5 10]

skatergirl, to me, you are one of the most natural users of English without having lived in an English-speaking environment.

Great job!!!

Of course, nobody is perfect. Watch out for article misusage.

[MikiRei 10]

That's not a bad way to learn, actually,

Nah. Not a bad way at all. Helped me settle in Australia fairly quickly when my family migrated there.

I think sending kids(before 5) off to English speaking preschools is a bad idea...a waste of money, since all the kids still talk in Chinese and you're too young to really learn anything.

You think so? 'cause none of my classmates spoke Chinese when I was in a school like that before the age of 6. They don't really teach as such eg. Using a blackboard and book. They just spoke to us in English and engaged us in fun activities in English. eg. Building blocks or learning how to cook pizza, except the teacher only spoke English and children were forbidden to speak Chinese so it really was effective. I remember meeting a 4 year old girl some 2 years ago on my trip to Korea and her mother also sent her to a similar school like the one I used to go. Her English was like any 4 year old in an English speaking environment.

[Richtu 10]

Maybe I should rephrase it...I should emphasize more on the "memory" part.

For me, I didn't really learn anything other than a few simple sentences that I can count with my fingers.= =""

Don't get me wrong, it's a really good idea to send kids to a English-speaking environment, but sending them too early is not very "cost" effective, it's not like everyone can afford it...一_一狠

[spacedunce-5 10]

Mmm..I'll pay more attention to the usage.I apologize for the misusage if it inconvenienced or even bothered you.

Don't sweat it. The important thing is for the reader to be able to understand you.

Unfortunately, English in Taiwan is not only a language, but a subject, so any small mistake can lose you points. Many people come here to learn enough to prevent easy mistakes from occurring, and some here (including me) help to correct them.

So there's no need for apology. Gratitude is just fine.xdxd

[MikiRei 10]

but sending them too early is not very "cost" effective, it's not like everyone can afford it..

True, true in which case, you probably try and create the environment yourself eg. watching movies, listening to music and talking to people online but of course, you'll have to be much older than that. My point is (I guess this is my point - *confused*), they could teach English in a less bland way ie. eradicate the traditional textbook way of teaching and have students INTERACT in it - especially if you're talking about early age teaching. *shrug*

For the record, that place I went to wasn't that expensive really. They just hire a bunch of American students who's studying in Taiwan at the time. It's not like they need to create questions and tests etc. You just get a student and have them play with kids all day.XD

[Richtu 10]

The preschool I went to didn't teach us with blackboards or anything, we did what any preschoolers did at the time:

"swimming" in the kiddy pool <---actually, that's the only thing I remember...

[等待 10]

I study English when i was 7 years old.

I studied at ACES

[spacedunce-5 10]

They just hire a bunch of American students who's studying in Taiwan at the time.

That one should be "who're."

I know I was recently lambasted for doing this, but I can't help myself!!!xdxd

[阦燚*SOC 10]

in my memory, I started english when I was... hum.. 7.

It wasn't that hard if you learn it as a tool to communite not something that help us passed our school tests, eh?

Learning english is not just about memorizing the ABC and so on. but you need to be gifted to learn a second language.

I know there's one guy he don't know any english who is in the same school as me.

the way he passed the tests and all the writing is that he just stuff the order in his mind like.... I- -l-i-k-e- -a-p-p-l-e

[風雨者 10]

i learnt it when i was attended the junior school at about 12 age. As though i don't realized it was resembled chinese with linguistic character,I just regarded it as a complouray compulsory curriculum.So allegedly i didn't have a passion for it and use it just for exam

Despite the past ,nowaday i become very intersting in it as it give me a lot of fun ,a way to gain more funny ,humor ,and more useful knowledge. And when i left school for home i start my computer firstly,entering into the wiki encyclopedia,which was the best available for me .

I sometimes feeling like english as a bridge to communicate others around the world through it i could really experienced that i was a member of the earth villager.

[唬爛客 10]

i started to learn English at the age of 3 ,but my grammer sucks ( sigh* )

sometimes i just don't get it , why do teachers always force us to use some

words that aren't even frequently use to the natives... that just doesn't making any sense!

Is it that such things only happened in our school or anyone of you have the same problem?

[spacedunce-5 10]

I'm curious, did you learn English in a natural environment?

Because even when reading your posts aloud, it still doesn't sound as if you're a native speaker.

[spacedunce-5 10]

i learnt it when i was attended the junior school at about 12 age. As though i don't realized it was resembled chinese with linguistic character,I just regarded it as a complouray compulsory curriculum.So allegedly i didn't have a passion for it and use it just for exam

Despite the past ,nowaday i become very intersting in it as it give me a lot of fun ,a way to gain more funny ,humor ,and more useful knowledge. And when i left school for home i start my computer firstly,entering into the wiki encyclopedia,which was the best available for me .

I sometimes feeling like english as a bridge to communicate others around the world through it i could really experienced that i was a member of the earth villager.

Be careful about your words, you get nouns and adjectives mixed up sometimes.

And make sure your tenses are the same.

You're doing great!!! Just watch out for the small things.

[shieiuping 10]

And when i left school for home i start my computer firstly,entering into the wiki encyclopedia.

I usually enter the "uncyclopedia" rather than "wikipedia" to learn English. Is it work? :P

[damoko 10]

Does it work? :P

Not sure about it. Uncyclopedias got quite a few slangs and sometimes even profanities

[留香~ 10]

I started to learn English when I was three.

My mom said that I cried when I could't spell 'apple'

But My mom wanted to cosh me when I could not spell it!

[jhr342002 10]

i started to learn English at the age of 3 ,but my grammer sucks ( sigh* )

sometimes i just don't get it , why do teachers always force us to use some

words that aren't even frequently use to the natives... that just doesn't making any sense!

Is it that such things only happened in our school or anyone of you have the same problem?

i stayed in new zealand for 'bout a year when i was 6

i didn't really realize what's grammer then but i did my conversation well

but after i came back

uh……

school teaches grammer and always make it quite complicated(especially from junior high…) now I'm extremely careful about what I'm going to say or to write

sometimes my mind STUCKS!!!

bty, my accent changes (totally british to totally american)

uh! how much i hate this kind of education

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

o whatever…………………..