環(huán)球英語 — 580：Listener Mail 107
Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight's listener mail program. I'm Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I'm Robin Basselin. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Our first email today comes from Nhat Minh in Vietnam. He wrote about the program, "Beauty and Perfection: Wabi Sabi." In that program, we discussed the Japanese idea of wabi sabi. It is a way of seeing beauty in simplicity and imperfection, including the beauty of nature. And it is much more!
Nhat Minh wrote about his ideas of wabi sabi in his life:
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"I think that everyone can see and feel "wabi-sabi" every day, if he can take a short time to live for himself. For example, watching the sun rise in the early morning, or listening to birds' songs, or watching small insects looking for food."
"There are many ideas in life which limit our ability to feel and enjoy beauty. For example, many people think that costly clothes are beautiful. They think that these clothes will make them beautiful. But this is not true. Beauty in clothes comes from how they are combined together. That "how" comes from a person's own style, his sense of color and feelings."
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Thank you for sharing your ideas about wabi sabi. It is truly an idea that all of us can use in our lives!
Voice 2
In the last month, listeners have also had a lot to say on our website. They shared comments on our five love language series, Flying Help, Women Taxi Drivers, and many other programs.
Voice 1
One of the most popular discussions was on "Crazy English". Li Yang teaches English in China. But he uses a very unusual method of teaching! The classes are very large – they include thousands of people. And everyone shouts words together. They also use physical movements to go with the words. So does this unusual method work? Some people say yes, and some people say no. But you agreed that it is very interesting! It sounds like many people want to try it.
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Chanmonchan was one of the people who wanted to try this method. He wrote,
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"This is a great subject for me because I am always thinking about how to speak, read and write like a native speaker. I will be trying this method for several months. After that, I will tell you how this method affected me."
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Luong Vu wrote,
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"This is a great method to learn English. Try this to get a strong, confident voice."
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Have you gone to Li Yang's classes, Luong Vu? We would be interested to hear more!
Voice 2
Adriana wrote,
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"I think Li Yang's method is good. When I sing in English, I do not sing softly. I sing very high, and I leave some words in my mind. That is important to increase my vocabulary - the number of words that I know. I will try to use this method."
Voice 1
Singing is another great way to remember words, and gain a strong voice. Thank you for this idea Adriana!
Voice 2
Thanks to everyone who wrote about this subject. If any of you try "Crazy English", write to us and tell us if it worked!
Voice 1
On our discussion forum, listeners discussed two similiar subjects. Adin started a discussion about learning by making mistakes. He had some excellent ideas about learning! Adin wrote,
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"We know that learning a second language requires a lot of sacrifices. But if we do, the language will also do a lot for us, like building strength among our friends. People offer thousands of theories on how to master English. But many of us feel that it is hard to use these theories. Many people get discouraged, and finally surrender.
"What ever we write, we are improving even with only a few new words. The vocabulary develops day by day, and we are getting better every day.
"There are lots of forums we can open, or explore on the internet. The more we say or write, the better we are. Do not ever worry to make mistakes, because those mistakes make us learn."
Voice 2
Thank you for these ideas Adin! Making mistakes is a part of learning. When we have a problem, we learn to solve it. The best way to learn a new language is by USING it – speaking, writing and listening. Every teaching method shows us this. When you use a language more, then you know it better!
Voice 1
Namcuahiem had a different idea, which was also very good:
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"It is true that learning from mistakes helps us a lot, not just in learning a language, but in our lives too. But we should not make mistakes in English. When we make a mistake, we create a bad habit - a wrong way of doing things. When we repeat it, it becomes stronger. After several times, the habit becomes fixed. We start to make that mistake all the time in English. And you know, it is really hard to change a bad habit like this."
Voice 2
Thank you for your comments, Namcuahiem. It is true that repeating mistakes can make them stronger in our minds. This kind of bad habit is difficult to change. But everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even native speakers! So it is important to make mistakes - but then to learn from them. As you say, this idea can teach us in our lives too. Thank you to everyone who wrote in on these discussions!
Voice 1
Finally, Babak wrote us an email from Iran. He asked,
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"I want to know the meaning of this phrase: from all of us at Spotlight, goodbye."
Voice 2
This is a good question. We often say this phrase at the end of a program. It means that the whole Spotlight team says goodbye – even the people who are not speaking in this program. This includes all of the Spotlight writers and producers – the greeting is from all of us!
Voice 1
So from all of us at Spotlight, goodbye! We hope you will join us again next time.
