Most students think English is a difficult language. They go to tutorial centres to improve their language skills but, in fact, those tutors cannot really help them. In the past, I also thought those who have good results in English must attend tutorial classes, but I don't really think so now. The best way to improve English is to start a good habit of reading it. If you attend a tutorial centre, you have more contact with English but we can do other things too. We can read newspapers or story books and listen to songs or the radio. At first, you may not get better results. But if you keep this habit up, you will find that English is not really as difficult as you thought. We think it is difficult because we don't have enough opportunity to speak or we feel shy about speaking English. Also we might not ask others for help if we have difficulties with English. All this makes us less confident in handling English and so we do not improve. After I read an article about mastering English in a playful way, I tried to be more creative about learning it. For instance, the Internet and ICQ are popular among teenagers and they should take advantage of this advanced technology. In addition, many teenagers have the habit of writing letters. They could practise writing them in English. So, there are many ways to improve. But first we should find out what we are poor at. Then, we should try and improve in these areas. With time you will make progress. Vicky is a student at Kit Sam Secondary School
