When I was young,
I had no problem learning Chinese, Taiwanese and some Japanese – it all came naturally.
...
At age thirteen, I began studying English.
Eleven years later, I passed all the relevant subject exams including TOEFL.
However, I freaked out right on the spot and couldn’t speak even one word in English
when someone asked me “What are you here for?” during my first visit to the US
(although I kept all those words of the entire dictionary in my brain).
Sometimes, I reflected on my study:
“Am I not smart enough to learn English? I don’t know what is wrong with me.
I am extremely upset. Why can all native speakers or local students studying in the American schools overseas speak English so well? Most of people from my country and even those foreign ESL students in my class who passed TOEFL can’t speak English that well.”
Evidently, English became my most challenging subject to study in school,
but it also gave me an opportunity to improve myself as well.
...
As matter of fact, I needed to take Beginner ESL 101 subject courses for consecutive semesters in BYU Provo, Utah for an entire year. During that period of time, I not only tried to overcome the English language barrier but also had a chance to examine the effectiveness of my study –
"Is my IQ an issue or something else with how I study? Or does my learning approach lead to problems? Is there any other better way, shortcut, or the best way to learn English?" Later on, I realized it has nothing to do with my IQ because of my remarkable performance as a math tutor in school, especially when I scored 100% on my –Calculus– subject final exam; it must be something that’s wrong with my method of learning English.
Therefore, why would anyone need to follow my wrong footsteps
– wasting so much time on useless effort and ineffective resources without being able to communicate in daily life?
This fact looks like if you took a swim class: When you passed the writing exam for it, if you still submerged yourself into water without being able to swim, you finally shall drown yourself.
After twenty years from what happened to me before, my niece encountered the same problem in US high school. She attended Spanish class and got all straight As for four semesters. When she was asked, “How are you?” in Spanish, she just stood speechless and confused; she was unable to utter a single word.
Finally, I discovered the easiest way to learn a new language while observing my then four-year-old daughter, Christina, who learned to speak Chinese in less than four months, and my other nine-year-old niece, Mimi, who sang the names of all the states in less than 30 seconds in front my face! I was puzzled; how did they do this?
Simple: they learned by singing!
That is (the reason) why English initiated my motivation for starting the Sing2Learn program. Nowadays, it has become my best companion and language learning tool which enables me to communicate with everyone.
--AC
