Many students write to Young Post saying that they are afraid of English. Here is one of the letters. Dear Young Post, I do not know why my English is still poor. Maybe I am slow. I flip through the dictionary every day, trying to enrich my vocabulary. I write out all the possible explanations of a word 10 times. I can recite what the word means soon after the exercise. However, I forget everything the next day. Please help me. A student Although there is no foolproof key to success in learning a language, one thing is for sure; the writer should remember the first rule of learning - never look down on yourself. Whether it is learning English or other skills such as drawing, one must enjoy the process. Try to have fun with the 26 letters of the alphabet. Draw pictures to help you remember action words. Correlate new vocabulary with something you know. For example, a report on the Talk to Win English-speaking competition in Young Post last Tuesday used the headline 'Thumbs up' from an English idiom, 'to give the thumbs up', an idiom which means to show you approve of something or somebody. Former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang, South China Morning Post editor Thomas Abraham and the audience were all impressed by the contestants' performances. They gave the 'thumbs up' to competitors' efforts. By noting the 'Thumbs up' headline you will already have an idea about the main idea, and then - when you read the story, it will help to reinforce the new idiom in your memory. As another example, do you know the name of the finger next to the thumb? Ask classmates to look up something from the index of a textbook. See which finger they use while going through the index. They will most probably use the index finger, the one next to the thumb. The fourth finger is also called the ring finger. Look to see on which finger married people wear their wedding ring. Now close this paper. Have a good night's sleep. I bet you will still be able to remember the name of the fingers tomorrow. From today, English Corner on Tuesdays will try to bring out the fun in learning English. Send in your questions or jokes about using English to agatha@scmp.com Graphic: 2201P4GYO
