On 21, May, 2011, there are two English classes (commercial and applying English class) started at 8:00 from our school------Yong Jiang University to the West Street Foreign Language School, this school is located in a famous places of interest-------Gui Lin Yangshuo. On that day, we had a six-hour journey on our school bus; our purpose is to go to Yangshuo to practice our oral English. Thanks to our school giving this opportunity to us, before we go, we have a full expectation to this practice！When we arrived at Yangshuo that afternoon, the principal (Ou Jin) of the west street foreign language school gave us the first lesson about the taboo matters and skills to talk with foreigners, this is the beginning of our seven-day practice. We got much enlightenment. He mentioned that if we want to have a smooth communication face to face with foreign friends, we should avoid some of the questions that somebody else has asked many times, such as: how are you? What's your name? Where are you come from? What is your phone number? And so on. If foreign friends had face the same, simple and boring questions so many times, they will feel bored. We should ask them like this: “How are you feeling recently? What‟s your impression of Yangshuo? Is Yangshuo a fun and famous place? And your travel plans?" Because foreign friends come to Yangshuo isn‟t to make friends with us only or to answer our questions, their purpose is to pay a visit here and have a relax, so talking about theirmood and feelings now or travel plans next should be the most important thing they care about, only in this way can foreign friends will willing to talk with us. At the same time, it would be easy for us to ask them the contact information (QQ, telephone or email number), the more we communicate with them, the better our oral English will be.During this seven-day practice, foreign teachers gave us many practical lesson s: the principal‟s lesson had introduced the basic information of the school and talked about some taboo matters and contents in detail when we talking with foreign people. This lesson made us know about the foreign language school and know some effective methods and techniques when talking directly with foreigners for the first time. Business teacher (Brad) had an introduction of himself in class, and he told us something about the course content in a few days behind, increasing the chances we see real people speak English in front of us, making us easier to imitate their oral English. In addition, we were also had an introduction of ourselves, it increased our courage and communication ability of speaking on the stage. Brad gave other lessons: talking about the same and different things between British and American national language, we understood the universality of English; Explaining advertising about food, drink, medicine and commercial, we learned some knowledge of making commercial advertisement attractive; correcting the errors in our small paper stories, we learned some new words, enhancethe ability to write and revise a composition, and strengthened us describing things ability. Integrated courses teacher (Geraldine) explained the history of football, for example, the beginning time of football and the establish time of football association or the reason why football is always the most welcomed sport until today, and so on, making us have a deepen understanding of football. Geraldine also gave us other lessons about health and happiness, we improved the reading and appreciation ability to British and American essays; Leading us to learn the local custom in European countries, comparing to China; Conducting us to studied many dialogues between bank clerks and customers, we understood the establishment of English dialogue.When having conversations with foreign friends Outside the Foreign Language School, I got a lot of chances to talk with them. They were real friendly people, because they were very happy to share some opinions with me. To begin with, it was n‟t easy; I was failed when talking to the first and second foreign people. For the first one, because I walked directly and didn't say "hello" to him, it‟s not polite enough, he was not willing to communicate with me; For the second one, because he is a Spaniard, he was not speak English but Spanish, I was very polite this time, but he refused me with a "No" and went away. Looking for the third, I thought that Spaniard refused me wasn‟t my fault, because he spoke Spanish but nothing more. Then the principal words occurred me, so I gotmore courage and confidence to find foreign friends and speak English, it turned out to be a great success, owning to my conclusion of the experience and good preparation of the topic. With the successful experience, I felt more confident and proud. According to the successful model, it‟s easy for me to communicate with foreign friends next to the pool, on the street corner, in the supermarket and restaurant or wherever.Because my English is not very poor, I can have a smooth conversation with foreign friends within a period time. Of course, they were willing to help me to fill out those comment papers that prove my English level, they gave me a high appraisal, I am very grateful to them. Here is one conversation between an English beauty and I: “Hello, nice to meet you! May I have a conversation with you?”“Aha! Ok, I‟m very glad to, what do you want to talk about?” Then I smiled and said: “Ere, my name is Steven, I want to ask you, …English is your mother tongue?‟Because I‟m a student, I choose English as my major, maybe I can learn some English from you”“Oh! Yes, I‟m from England and my name is Heidi, nice to hear that, …are you a college student?‟” I said: “Yes, yes, I‟m a college student, I choose English as my major, because I‟m very interested in English, so I come to here------Yangshuo to practice my oral English, because there are many people from other countries come to here and pay a visit to some famous places of interest, many people speak English, and I t‟s my honor to talk with you, I really want to learn someEnglish from you.”She answered: “Aha! I see, I see. So, how do you learn English?” “Ere, in the past, in my school, I learned English by watching some English language movies and listening to some tapes, English tapes.”“Oh, yes, that‟s some good ways to learn English, and it‟s also convenient for you to watch TV tunnels that speak English, it‟s good for your listening. But I think the best way is to practice, just like now, to open your mouth. ” Then I said: “Yes, yes, and my teacher had told me that the best way to learn English is to have a face-to-face conversation with foreigners, as we all know, …practice makes perfect‟, the more practice you have, your English will become better and better, the more fluency your English is.”“Yeah, yeah, you are right, you are right, you speak well, practice makes perfect. You say your name is Steven, ere, …what‟s your Chinese name?‟，and，‘you gave your English name by yourself or by your teacher?‟”“Ere, my Chinese name is NingWen, ere, I choose “Steven” as my English name, this is because I found that name used by my favorite star------Stallone, used in his famous movies, he is a very strong man, you know?”“Stallone! Stallone! Yeah, he is also my favorite star, a star famous all over the world, you know, he works in Hollywood! Yeah? I like his movies very much! And how about you?”“Yeah, yes! Hollywood! Me too! Me too! I am also like his movies!” We laughed together. Then I asked her with laughing: “You asked me my Chinese name, I am so curious that you can speak Chinese, you speakChinese well?” “Ha-ha, no, no, just a little, you know, there are many Chinese colleges established all over the planet, Chinese is become more and more popular! I just can speak several words, for example: “Ni Hao”and “Chi Fan”, and I speak not well. But you speak English well.”“I speak English well? Yeah?”“Yes, and your pronunciation is good.”I smiled and said: “No, no, you are humorous, ha-ha. Ere, do you have any suggestions for me? For my spoken English?” “Suggestions? I have no Suggestion, your English is good, and you are an excellent student! Congratulations to your teachers.”“Oh, thank you for your words and comment.” In the end, I asked her to help me to fill the comment papers that prove my English level. I said to her:“I t‟s very kind of you.”“My pleasure.” And we took some photos for anniversary before she leaved.In these seven days, except the English conversation with foreign friends, we were also paid a visit to some famous scenery such as Jade Dragon River, Moon Hill and Butterfly Spring and so on. Famous for its mountains and rivers, Yangshuo is a really good landscape for people to travel and relax. This practice, we were not only improved our oral English, but also have a good relax from the nervous school life, increased some knowledge and expand the field of vision. Therefore, if we have another chance, I still love to have another such practice.。
