Let's make English fun
With the English standard of most Hong Kong students lower than ever, many will face problems finding jobs. Something needs to be done.
Firstly, we should improve the education system. I believe boring teaching methods, such as only focusing on grammatical rules in textbooks, do not help students learn English and also takes away their motivation to learn more and improve.
We need to use more interesting methods - fun activities, such as singing English songs, and watching movies and television programmes.
Teachers also need to get serious about correcting 'Chinglish', which seems more and more common.
Lastly, teachers and schools should give students more space and freedom to practise English, while also looking at options such as multimedia learning software.
Let's find ways to get students more interested in English by making it fun.
Ken Lau Kin-kui, Tin Ka Ping Secondary School
From the Editor
Thanks for your letter, Ken. Past participles, future perfect, homophones and aliteration are all pretty scary words. They also make learning English such a dull experience. It is far easier for people to learn a language if they find joy in it, and develop a passion and curiosity. That is why we at Young Post always advocate reading for pleasure, watching movies for the fun of it, and even playing video games which in some cases can help improve your vocabulary. Singing and music are also excellent ways to learn a language as the melodies and beats help it to stick in your head.
Sometimes though, we do need to learn a few rules of the road. Otherwise we could have some serious language accidents and not say what we mean. But even grammar can be presented in a fun and enticing way if teachers have a passion for passing on the knowledge.
Susan, Editor
