Expand Your Vocabulary Through Reading--學英語 陳超明：累積有用單字

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學英語 陳超明：累積有用單字

【聯合報╱記者李承宇／台北報導】2010/08/01

「全台灣都在學『國手級』英文，但很少人真正學好」，政大英文系教授陳超明說，想學好英文應多看英文小說、多累積「有用的單字」。

My comments: Several students of mine have proven that reading English novels is the best way to expand vocabulary. Etta, a student I taught at Chieh-show Junior High School, who had a really good command of English, told me she had forgotten the words she memorized for the GRE but still remembered those she learned through reading.

陳超明昨天在政大公企中心以「開啟台灣英語革命」為題演講，強調學好英文必須「持續練習」。他感嘆在現行大班制的英語教學環境，「只有有錢人的孩子才能學好英文」。他強烈建議學校英語小班教學。

My comments: However, in a TESOL textbook I read when studying in the States, the author mentioned the most communicative class he'd ever observed took place in a classroom of 80 students.

你到國外用英文跟別人要一顆橘子，但不小心把橘子的冠詞說成「a 」（正確應該是an），你會因此拿到一顆蘋果嗎？陳超明用這個例子說明，學習英文應該要以「實用」為目的，有些需要國際會議或談判工作的人需要學習高階英文，但不是所有人都要學這麼深。

My comments: There are so-called ESP, or English for Special Purpose, courses.

陳超明說他高中英文幾乎沒及格過，到了大學養成看英文小說的習慣，持續到現在。他建議挑英文小說一定要選自己可以看得懂六、七成單字的，才容易進步；而學單字一定要學「有用的」。「碰到不會的單字一定要忍住馬上查字典的衝動」，陳超明說，等一個字出現在你周遭三次以上，代表你真的需要會，再去查字典記下來。

My comments: It depends on the purpose. When I read English books or magazines for pleasure, I don't often consult the dictionary. On the other hand, if I read to improve my vocabulary, I looked up each important new word.