How to Improve Your English

Ever since I arrived in Beijing almost two years ago I have heard this question from an English major, from a stranger on the street, from a brave soul standing in the middle of a large lecture hall, from a dark shadow beside me one evening at an English corner: How can I improve my English? It seems a perfectly fair and simple question, and it's a question I hate.

I hate it because it seems completely reasonable but is actually a trap, because it seems so easy but is actually a riddle to be answered by Oedipus. And I'm not Oedipus.

It is an innocent question always asked by earnest students, and every time I hear it I feel that this sincere expectation must have a satisfactory and clear answer and that I, as an English teacher, should know what this answer is. I always feel I have failed somehow when I have to admit that I don't.

Oh, I have answers, hoping the students won't notice how unsure I am, though I spent several days and nights in thinking it over and over. I have answers, but I don't have the answer, not the answer I think they're looking for.

I don't know what the question they are asking really means, but I guess they're asking for a quick solution that will correct all their mistakes and expand their vocabulary in six easy steps. I can't provide that. The truth is there's only one easy way to learn a language: you must throw yourself into that language from the time you are two years old until you are four years old. These are the years, linguists tell us, during which children don't learn a language, but rather catch it like a disease. They pick it up without conscious effort.

After that mysterious time, learning a language is work. It is exciting and fun work sometimes, but also a matter of self-control and long-term effort. Some people are naturally better at this work than others; some naturally enjoy this kind of work as others might naturally enjoy running slowly or doing math problems. I am sure most people who ask me that question—"How can I improve my English?"—already know all this.