I’m glad to receive your e-mail and know that you are interesting in learning Chinese. It is well-known that Chinese is difficult to learn it. One can’t avoid making mistakes, to tell a truth, when learning a foreign language.

Here are some tip on how to learn Chinese. First, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Making mistakes are a good way to learn what to say things right. Second, if you knew a Chinese friend, ask him or her to practise with you. Third, you should spend more time practising listening to Chinese and speaking it frequent.

I hope you will succeed learning Chinese. I am looking forward to hear from you. At last, you are welcome to China.

Yours,

Li Hua

   Do you still remember your favorite poem during high school or some other important periods in your life? Why is it that decades later it still stands out in your mind? Probably the main reason is that some aspect of that poem resonates (产生共鸣) with you. In the same way, you too as a school leader can touch the hearts of your teachers and students.

Poetry allows us to experience strong spiritual connections to things around us and to the past. The power that poetry has displayed over time and across cultures actually satisfies this common need of the human heart and soul.

As one of the oldest art forms, poetry has successfully connected carious parts of humanity (人性) from one generation to another. Referring to poetry, Hillyer makes a simple yet meaningful statement,” With this key mankind unlocked his heart.”

School leaders can find and make use of the value of poetry for themselves, their students and their teachers. Beyond the simple use of poetry, techniques of poetry such as repetition (重复) can be sued to take advantage of the power of language to transform communication, create meaning and culture of care and attention.

Since schools are mainly about people and relationships, school leaders, like poets, are required to inspire and encourage the human heart. The use of poetry — or even of some techniques of poetry — in school leadership not only helps to improve communication, but also serves to meet the human need for inspiration.

   “If you’ve gone through adolescence already, you’ll no longer be able to speak a foreign language perfectly.” This and other similar statements are not the only thing argued among brain researchers and experts in languages. But they agree on one thing: Children learn languages differently from adults.

“Good morning, boys and girls!” For decades this has been how English classes started in Germany. They are the first bits of vocabulary and basic phrases. For years now, however, increasing numbers of primary schools in Germany have been teaching younger children their first foreign language. In order to better prepare children for a multilingual future, parents, educators and policymakers are seeking support behind the idea of “the earlier the better” when it comes to learning foreign languages. But does this necessarily mean that small children in general learn foreign languages better than adolescents or adults?

“It depends on what we consider ‘better’ about foreign languages,” says Rudiger Grotjahn, professor of language learning.” If we look at the end result of language acquisition（获得）, an early start is certainly advantageous.”

If “better” means faster, then young children don’t do so well compared to adolescents or even young adults, especially at the beginning of the course when, according to Rudiger Grotjahn, the latter two groups make better progress.

Educational psychology has also shown us that successful learning is mainly based on existing knowledge. The same is true for language learning. Furthermore, techniques developed when you are learning the native language also play an important role in learning a foreign language.

Children often respond to（应对）new languages with curiosity while adults increasingly look to their own learning and life experience to help them learn the words, structures and ideas of a foreign language. The result is that children learn more through games and gestures while adults take a more analytical（分析性的）approach with stricter rules. Rudiger Grotjahn thinks that good foreign language courses should take these various requirements and methods into account. The joy of learning a foreign language is something both the young and the old can experience to an equal degree.

   How To Learn English Effectively

Have you ever tried to study English, but it turned out it’s too difficult for you? Well, let me tell you that the language is easy once you keep in mind these golden rules:

▲ Always study and review phrases, not individual words.

Did somebody give you a dictionary when you started learning your native language as a child? No? Then why do you keep using it when studying a foreign language? Memorizing individual words has absolutely no sense without the context. 【小题1】

▲ Don’t study grammar.

When you start thinking about what construction to use, you begin to stammer, stop sounding natural. Your responses should become automatic to master the language, so instead of studying theory – take more practice! When you speak, you don't have time for considering what tense is appropriate, one hundred percent correct. 【小题2】 Grammar is important in writing, not in speaking.

▲【小题3】

One of the most common mistakes when studying a foreign language is relying solely on textbooks. Thanks to them you may know a lot of grammar and vocabulary, but you're still not capable of conducting a conversation. It is because you should learn English by listening and not by reading. If you listen more, you'll grasp useful vocabulary and grammar without even realizing it and without memorizing!

▲ Learn English deeply.

Remember it's always about quality, not about quantity. 【小题4】 When memorizing the phrases (remember the first rule!) slowly, you put them into the deeper parts of your brain so they don't fade away quickly.

▲ Listen and answer, not listen and repeat.

【小题5】If you practice listening with a podcast or a video, pause it every 20 – 30 second and summarize what has been said. You have to think quickly, so you stop bothering yourself with useless grammar and start to speak the real, living language!