http://www.tiec.tp.edu.tw/lifetype/post/1130/33921
Doris Brougham, the founder of Studio Classroom has had her autobiography published recently. She is 83 years old now and has been dedicated to Taiwan's English education for half a century. I salute her from the bottom of my heart. The following is a news report in today's UDN about her comments on Taiwan's English education .
http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NAT5/5387492.shtml
搶救「菜」英文 彭蒙惠批考試很假
彭蒙惠不是在「教英文」？或許沒有人會相信，不過照她自己的說法，她是「讓人用英語這個工具來瞭解世界」。在台灣教了半世紀英文，彭蒙惠認為，光靠考試沒有辦法提升台灣學生的英文程度。
My comments: I couldn't agree more. My students who are really good at English use English in their daily life. They read English books, listen to English programs, watch English movies, and even talk to themselves in English.
日前國科會建議將英語聽說測驗納入大學指考，在彭蒙惠看來，考試無法測出學生真正的英語聽說能力，更別提透過考試讓學生喜歡用英文。「考試很假」，彭蒙惠認為，不但考試當下學生容易緊張，可能無法發揮實力，「就算考過了也不代表學生真正學會」。
My comments: For example, tests may prove that some students know about the grammatical rules of tag questions. However, it doesn't ensure that the students can use tag questions in conversation without any problem.
她強調，學英文最好的方法就是在生活中用，每天講十分鐘也好，像用英語上一些音樂課，讓英語融入生活。她常被政府找去開英語教育的會議，「但大家為什麼不用英語來開這樣的會？」
My comments: I remember some ways of learning English mentioned in the book How to Learn English (如何學好英文). One of the interviewees, all of whom have a good command of English., said he put a radio in every room in his home and tuned each to ICRT. So wherever he goes in his home, he heard English. Well goes the sentence I read somewhere long ago, "When you swim in the sea of English, you'll surely get wet."
她認為，台灣現在的英語教育大有進步，但她覺得學校應該要多一點英語活動，少一點考試，她看到很多孩子白天在學校學，下課了還要到補習班學，覺得很心疼，「學英語不要太強迫」。
她回憶當初開辦「空中英語教室」，是因為台灣由農業社會轉形成工業社會，想要學英文的人多了。「我不想做一個『This is a desk.』這樣無聊的教學節目」，開始的節目形態是以英文報紙當教材，她在節目中幫讀者解答英語問題。報紙上出現的單字像是freeway（高速公路）、supermarket（超市）當時台灣都還沒有，所以彭蒙惠認為，英語只是一種「瞭解世界的工具」，本身並不是學習的目標。
My comments: When you take English as part of your life, you won't be afraid of it. You befriend it.
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