Hello, I'm Ray!
Today I'll be sharing the story of how I learned English~
This is Ray’s English Corner, for those of you who don’t know
this is like my vlog-style videos
where I talk about things in my life in English
Today I’m going to walk you through the stories of how I learned English
Right now my whole career is built around English
My YouTube channel, my social media websites
my speeches all around Taiwan, it’s basically all about English
Of course I still have room for improvement
I do not think that I have perfected English
sometimes even I still make mistakes in my videos, sorry about that
But I’d say I’m in pretty good shape
I've passed the advanced level in GEPT
and I’ve aced the TOEIC examinations in all fields
but more importantly I’m passionate about sharing the language
and I’m constantly learning new things about the language
So, the big question is, how did I learn English?
How did Ray Du English learn English?
The short answer: just like the rest of you
I studied hard, I memorized my vocab, I prepared for my exams
But let’s get into the details
When I was in second grade I was sent to Singapore with my sister
to move in with my aunt’s family and to learn English
When I first got there
my English level is exactly what you’d expect from an eight-year-old
Practically zero
I can spell the word apple I guess, but maybe with like just one p
I explicitly remember that I failed
my primary school entrance examination
and there was this one question where it asked me
to pick out the piano from four musical instruments
There was of course, the piano, a violin, a drum, and a trumpet
Yeah, I picked the trumpet
So I had to cram for it
I was nowhere as capable as needed be in order to enter a school
where every single subject is taught in English
First I went to a language school that was
all the way across the other side of the island, it was really far away
And, that didn’t work out, so after that my aunt got me a private tutor
and that didn’t work out
And then I got another tutor, which didn’t work out
and I got another one and so on and so forth
At this point, I was honestly just sick of everything
I mean, why did I have to leave all my friends in Taiwan
and come to this place to learn this impossible language?
It just wasn’t working out for me
But then, I got assigned this new tutor
What she did with me was a little different
Uh, no, she didn’t molest me
Before throwing me heaps of assignment
she first asked me a very interesting question
“What’s something that you want to do but can’t do because of English?"
I thought about this question for a bit, like really really deeply
And then, I came up with my answer:
“I can’t buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards.”
Serious answer
But she didn’t laugh at me
what she did next was she taught me the phrase
“I want to buy a pack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards”
and after I’ve gotten it, she gave me 2 Singaporean dollars
and told me to go buy a pack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards
Guess what, I used fluent English and
bought a pack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards from a Malaysian shop keeper that day
So that was really the eye-opening experience for me
to see that English is not just a subject that I had to cram for
but a language that I can use to communicate with people
And more importantly buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards
Now after this “enlightenment”
I was more willing to put my effort into learning
Now, don’t get me wrong English was still hard
I still had tons of homework and tests
But, I had a feeling that I was getting somewhere
I had a purpose
Of course, I could tell you how many words were on my weekly vocab list
I could tell you all about the essays that I memorized
the newspaper articles that I recited, the grammar textbooks that I used
But that’s not really the point
The point is, instead of asking how you should learn English
it’s better to start off with asking
why you’re learning English in the first place
Starting with why gives you a sense of purpose
Are you learning just to pass an exam?
Are you learning to meet your parents’ expectations?
Or are you really learning for yourself?
It’s a pity how English is just seen by most people
as a subject that you have to study
It’s more of a language that allows you to
see a bigger world and connect with more people
I love this quote by Natalie Portman, an actress, she said
“I hate studying but I like learning. Learning is beautiful.”
So are you studying English? Or are you learning English?
There’s actually a difference
So that’s basically how I learned English so well
I started at a young age and I had the advantage
of being in an English environment, but above all
it’s because I like learning English and I put a lot of effort into it
I didn’t stop learning and I don’t plan on stopping
So at the end of the day
what should you do if you wanna learn English?
My advice to you:
subscribe to my YouTube channel
and learn English every week with me
Yup, I’m shameless
If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up!
If you wanna see more videos, click to subscribe! Our YouTube channel!
We have new videos up every Monday and Thursday at 9!
Announcement here, there won’t be a video this Thursday
Normally Crown would host the Thursday vid, but she’s feeling very sick
She has gastroenteritis, sore throat, bronchitis, running nose...etc.
So, this Thursday, she can’t really talk, so...
Did anyone notice, that although Ray is really funny in today’s video
but, you weren’t able to hear Crown laughing, yep, that’s cuz she’s sick
So, no new vid on Thursday, giving you a head’s up
Our Facebook page and Instagram will give you our latest updates
So if you wanna see them first...
Well, cuz there’s only 2 YouTube videos per week, you know
So, you can follow our FB and IG for more immediate updates on us
You’ll be able to find us by using Ray Du English or 阿滴英文
And that’s a wrap, thank you guys for watching as always
and I’ll catch you guys next time! See ya!
Hello sir, I want to buy a pack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards.