Here are some tips on listening. We hope it can help you in one way or another.

    ○Relax yourself.

    Before yon start to listen to something, you need to relax. Don't get nervous or excited . This will help you with your listening.

    ○Listen carefully to the first sentence.

    The first sentence tells a lot about the whole passage. For example, if at the very beginning, you hear "Many shops in many parts of China have decided to take away all kinds of Japanese goods off the[r shelves but some people say it's not a good idea. Our reporter says… ", you know you will hear a piece of news, not a children's story, or a science report.

    ○Think when you're listening.

    When you're listening, try to do some thinking. For example, you can think of the following questions: What happened, When, where and how? What was the result and what does the speaker want to tell us? In this way, you may understand the passage better.

    ○Listen for important facts.

    It's important for you to remember some important facts. For example, if the passage is a science report, you should try to remember its findings and how the scientists got their results.

    ○Don't think about one or two words for too long.

    You may hear some words that you don't know, but don't spend too much time on them. Very often, you'll find out what they mean later when you go on with the listening. But you can remember some words or sentences that you think are important, and you can use them when you're answering the questions.

All students need to have good study habits. When you have good study habits, you can learn things well. You also remember them easily.

Do you like to study in the living-room? This is not a good place because it is very noisy. You need to study in a quiet place, like your bedroom. A quiet place will help you only think about one thing, and you will learn better.

Before you begin to study, remember to clean your desk. A good desk light is important, too. You are feeling tired easily if there is not enough light.

Do you ever feel like you are just rushing from one subject to another? When things happen so fast, maybe you can’t understand clearly what you are doing or learning, so it is important to stop yourself to think about what you have been doing or learning.     

Self-reflection (反思) means slowing down and calming (使平静) yourself, including calming your mind. By calming down and going slowly, you give your brain a chance to think about what it has already received. Some people prefer to do self-reflection only in their mind. Others keep a diary. What’s more, taking notes is also OK. Each method works, depending on your own personal learning. You can follow the steps to do so self-reflection.  

First, choose the proper time to do it. School textbooks are divided into units of study. This makes it easier to begin self-reflection. Look for time when you complete a unit of study. Sometimes you know the unit is over because there is some kind of test. Use these natural breaks to stop and do self-reflection.

Then, find a quiet place and take out your reflection diary. Write down some notes on the new things that you learned in the unit. Let your mind think about the notes you have written and make some connections.

Finally, think about things that you are not sure of. Maybe you learned a new way to work out a math problem, but you’re not sure when to use it. Writing down your questions will help you remember to look for answers the next time you are working with the same topic.

Successful students always know self-reflection is important. If you have never taken the time to do self-reflection, try it now.

Swimming and English Learning

Can you swim? Do you like swimming? Yes? Well, how can you learn to swim? I think the best way is to go into the water and learn. I’m afraid you’ll never learn to swim just by reading books about swimming or looking at others swimming. It’s the same with the English study. We must practice, practice and practice.

Listening and speaking are very important for beginners. The children in English-speaking countries first listen to others. Then they try to imitate and speak. We can listen to English programs on radio. You may just understand a few words. It doesn’t matter. Just be relaxed, try to catch every word.

Somebody may be a good listener. But he dare not speak. He’s afraid of making mistakes. You know we sometimes make mistakes when we speak Chinese. Don’t be afraid. We must be brave. If you really want to learn English well, you must try to speak with everyone so long as he knows English. Whether you know him or not is not important when there’s nobody to talk with, you can talk to yourself in English. It’s interesting and also a good way to practice your spoken English. Remember, the more you speak, the fewer mistakes you’ll make.

Reading and writing are more important for senior school students. First we must choose the books we’re interested in. A lot of reading will improve your language sense. This is the most important.

Keep writing English diaries. We can also write English articles. You may even post them to English magazines. Don’t be afraid of failure. Failure is the mother of success.

Easier said than done. Well, let’s do more practice from now on. I’m sure you’ll learn English well in this way.

All schools have their own rules (规则). The rules change from one school to another. Some schools are much stricter（严格）than others. There are also some rules that are strange or funny to us. Here are some funny school rules:

Strict Japanese rules

Most schools ask students to wear uniforms, such as sports suits or skirts. But Japanese schools even have rules about the colour of underwear! They also need that girlsˈ socks should be folded(折叠) in a certain way and boysˈ heads should be shaved(剃).

Other Japanese schools tell students that they canˈt go to the movies after sunset.

Different shoes in the USA

At some American schools, students have to change their shoes when they go into the schools every day.  This makes sure students wonˈt fall over on the floors and keeps the schools clean.

No strange hair in the UK

Students can’t have strange hairstyles in some British schools. But they can wear certain hairstyles during the World Cup years. There were two students who had special hairstyles during the 2002 World Cup. After the World Cup, their teachers asked them to go to the barberˈs at once.

A teacher began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held(举着) it up for all to see, and asked the students, "How much do you think this glass weighs(重)?"

"50 g!" "100 g!" "125 g!" the students answered.

"I really can't know unless I weigh it," the teacher said, "but my next question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?"

"Nothing," the students said.

"Okay. What would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?" the teacher asked.

"Your arm would begin to ache," one of the students said.

"You're right. Now, what would happen if I held it for a day?"

"Your arm could go numb (麻木的). You might have serious muscles stress (压力), or paralysis (瘫痪). You would have to go to the hospital for sure!" another student said. All the students laughed.

"Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?" the teacher asked.

"No," the student said.

"Then what made the arm ache and the muscle stress?"

The students were puzzled(疑惑的).

"Putting the glass down! "One of the students said.

"Right!" Said the teacher. "The problems in life are like this. If you just think about them for a few minutes, they might not seem so bad. Think about them for a longer time, and they begin to ache. Hold them even longer and they begin to paralyze (使……瘫痪) you. You will not be able to do anything. It's important to think about challenges(挑战)in your life, but it's even more important to 'put them down' at the end of the day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not worried, you wake up every day fresh and strong and can solve any problems or challenges that come your way!"

Who would win in a competition to memorize numbers, a chimp (黑猩猩) or a teenager? The teenager? Think again. Scientists have proved that chimps perform better than human beings when it comes to this kind of problem. We may have to rethink what we believe about human memory.

Memory is our ability to learn something, save it and recall it when needed. Our memories are important to our sense of self, our personalities, and our ability to understand the world.

Scientists say that there are different types of memory. There is short-term memory and long-term memory. Your short-term memory saves information for a few seconds or a few minutes. For example, the time it takes to compare the prices of a few items in a store. Long-term memory involves the information you try hard to keep, because it’s meaningful to you (an example is data 数据 about family and friends. ) And then there is visual memory and sound memory. But these are not hard and fast: scientists argue a lot about the nature of memory.

Scientists have also found that people memorize things in different ways. Some memorize better with the help of pictures. Others are helped more by sounds. One thing’s for sure. If you can combine different kinds of memory together, you will remember a lot! So why not try pictures with English words? At the same time listen to recordings of the same group of words. It may help when it comes to memorizing it.

Imagination and association can be useful too. By imagination scientists mean picturing a word in your mind. Association means relating the word to something you already know.