No Foreign Language Learning Environment_q Make One for Yourself!

No Foreign Language Learning Environment Make One for Yourself! One of theexcusesmost frequently quoted bylearners of a foreign language is the lack of a foreign language learning environment. Many people take it for granted so much that they assume that they will learn a foreign language well once they are livingin the country where that foreign language is the indigenouslanguage. It would be hard to disprove such an excuse in those days when China was not so open to the outside world as today and when the media available to the public were mainlyradio and newspaper. At that time, it was indeed not so easy to avail oneself of the resources for learning a foreign language due tothe scantiness of up-to-date foreign language materials that had the chance of coming into China. Nonetheless, those old days have long passed into history and we are having a greatly improved situation today. It goes without saying how easy it is for anyone to have access to all kinds of learning materials in the mainlanguages on the globe. The difficulty does not lie so much in obtaininglearning materials as in choosing from availablematerials. Therefore, if you like, youcan come intocontact with a foreign language in any format any moment. For example, if you want to read English texts, you may go to a library or bookstore. If you want to listen to English, you may listen to the radio or watch TV. There are many English radio or TV channels for your choice. If you would like to talk to someone in English, you may join anEnglish corner or English-speaking club that you can find in most cities. Plus, nowadays, onthe Internetyou can do nearlyeverything in a foreign language. Therefore, as long asyou have the will, there must be a way that youcan immerse yourself in a foreign language environment. All you need to do is onlytotry your best to learn from the materials and other learners that surround you. Some people may stillinsist that it will be better for learning a foreign languageif they can stay in a foreign country for a long time. For such an opinion, I can only say, It depends. My experience of working andliving in an English-speaking country tells me that many Chinese living in this country are no better in English than many learners of English backin China. There are immigrants, permanent or temporary,who have become better acquainted with a foreign language. But these people are those who arein constant need of using English for their work or life. For example, some Chinese work in a company where the only language used at work is English. As a result, they will have no choice but to learn English very well. Otherwise, they can hardlycope with their tasks. While living in a foreign country, an immigrant will receive many documents from the government or commercial institutions, say, bills for local public services, water and power bills, and alwaysads. While most of these may not need your immediate attention, a few do require your promptresponse somehow. So, if you are concerned with your family life, youll take care of those documents as much as possible. However, there are also immigrants who just ignore the majorityof these documentsor simplyleave them to theothers in the family. As for social life, I have the impression that immigrants are divided into two groups. The first group consist of those who are inclinedto stay close totheir country fellows and seldom communicate with people from other countries. This group of people think it more convenient andsafe, however illusory may it be,to deal withpeople of the same language and culture whereas theyfeel it hard to use a common language like Englishto communicate with people of different languages andcultures. Unfortunately, these people are of the majority of immigrants from Asian and East Europecountries. In many English speaking countries, there is typically aChina Town in every bigcity. That is a language and culture enclavewhere Chinese immigrants can feel a sense of being at their home country. People in this group, of course, have much fewerchances of using English and their English proficiency will not grow quickly as time goes by. Thats probably why many Chinese overseas studentsfeel little progress intheir English proficiency after they study in an English-speaking country for a few years. Some even cannot get a mark of no more than 6 in the IELTS spoken English test. These students usually avoid the occasions where they are to use English in oral communication. Ingroup activities in class,if they have the freedom of choice, they wouldoften opt to join a group of Chinese students. Even if they have to be in a group where there are non-Chinese students, they willtypically fall short ofcontributing very much.As for after-class time, they will always choose tostick only tothe community of Chinese students. They seldom voluntarily joinany organized activity in which students from different countries take part. Therefore, in a sense, it is these studentswho havedeprivedthemselves of most of the chances of practicing theirEnglish. They sever themselves from the English learning environment that is ready to welcome them. In a sense, they have wasted much of the investment madefor them to study in a foreign country.The other group, apparently the minority of immigrants,are made up of people who have no obvious tendency in their optionof the language and culture community in their social life. They have no problem makingfriends with peoplefrom diversified linguisticand cultural background.Neither do they estrange themselves from their country fellows. In contrast to those in the first group, members in this group will have a much greater opportunity of practicing their English and gain more rapid