1. Hard-working

2. Communicative

3. Risk-taking

4. Determined

5. Independent

6. Imaginative

O.K., so what do I think are the characteristics of the ideal language learner? Well, first of all, and like many other subjects, I think a learner has to be hard-working. Hard-working in the classroom, but also outside the classroom. And not just in the sense of doing your assignments, but hard-working in creating the opportunities for yourself through which you can learn, so for example, reading magazines in English, going to bars or cafes where you can actually hear English people talking, forcing yourself to read even a tiny article from the South China Morning Post every day, being disciplined and hard-working to make use of all the opportunities for real language use that are available in Hong Kong.

Another point I think is extremely important is a good language learning student seems to, needs to be communicative. Learning a language is not like learning another subject such as Physics for example, or Mathematics, which is very much an accumulation of knowledge and then an application of that knowledge to, in analytical situations. There needs to be an accumulation of knowledge in language learning, but there also needs to be an application of that through communication, so that means building up your communicative skills, so being prepared to talk to people, all different kinds of people is very, very important, and building up the fluency, the self-confidence that comes through that communication.

O.K. And related to that, of course, is risk taking, being prepared to maybe even look stupid in front of somebody, but communicating nevertheless, even though you are making mistakes.

O.K. Being determined is very important, do you really want to learn the language, do you really want to get good at language? Then work at it, go for it. O.K.?

Being independent is also very important. I personally think Hong Kong students are very good at this. They know what they want to do, and they work by themselves towards that goal. So keep up the good work.

And last of all I think it’s really important to be imaginative. Learning a language isn’t just about, or learning a language well isn’t just about using language for things that are practical. Learning a language well is for using it for things like making jokes, for dreaming, for chatting with your friends, for reading novels, for watching films, and all of this is imagination.

So, I think these are the characteristics that I choose as being the most important.

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Jeanne: The topic of the seminar today is “Problems of the transition from school to university.” The purpose of the seminar is to think of ways to help students to cope better with academic work. Let's start by talking about two problems faced by first-year students. They are: Time management and Working in Groups. I think that University students seem to have a lot of ‘free' time available and there may be a whole day with no lectures or seminars. In other words, university life is sort of ‘unstructured' compared to school. We often have to hold discussions and do assignments in groups which can cause lots of problems for first-year students. I know you have searched for useful materials in the Library and on websites. Let's see what we've found out. I'd like to start off by asking Dennis to tell us about time management.

 Dennis: As I see it, the most important thing is to learn and use organizing and time management skills.

 Jenny: I think you're right. The books say we should make three kinds of timetables: the semester planner, the weekly planner and a diary for everyday work …

 Dianne: Yes, go on.

 Dennis: A semester planner is for things you must do and don't change such as tests and exams, and assignment due dates. A weekly planner is for you to put down classes and extra-curricular activities; while the diary is an actions list for everyday work e.g. pre-lecture reading, homework, and family functions. They help students organise their time in a systematic way.

 Dianne: To a certain extent, yes, but they are not always helpful. Research shows that it's difficult to stick to planners, like it's difficult to control how long it takes to collect information for papers and projects.

 Jeanne: I couldn't agree more. It's hard to fit in part-time jobs, extra-curricular activities, and social life with academic studies. Some social activities pop up at last minute. and you feel bad turning down invitations.

 Dennis: It seems to me that I spend too much time on ‘time wasters' such as chats, phone calls, ICQing, watching TV, browsing the internet, etc. I must learn to say “NO”.

 Jenny: I've got some tips from university websites. They say we must also learn to research effectively, like attend workshops organized by the library, ask teachers for help outside class time and make use of consultation hours. This is important because we need to do a lot of reading and assignments in a short time period.

 Jeanne: Yes. Well, we're running out of time. Let's move on to the second problem. What's your view on working in groups, Jenny?

Jenny: As I see it, it is a problem because group work requires communications in different ways, like face-to-face, phone, and email, which take up a lot of time.

 Dianne: As far as I'm concerned, the problem is you need to work with people that you don't know. Group work is never easy because some people are dominating, others don't contribute much. Very often I find that the time is spent unproductively and I feel frustrated.

 Dennis: I agree with Dianne about knowing our team members. It's good to get to know our team members, find out their backgrounds, strengths and interests so we know what they like to do and what they are good at, so we can build a good working relationship.

 Jeanne: My readings say that to get better grades we should clarify assignment requirements such as the purpose of the project and the skills we need to demonstrate in the project.

 Dianne: I think you're right. And after understanding the task, then we can break it down into subtasks. See which parts can be done on our own and what must be done in a group.

 Dennis: Then we need to agree on a plan and the deadlines. Some one should be chosen to take on a leadership role to guide the process.

1. Hard-working

2. Communicative

3. Risk-taking

4. Determined

5. Independent

6. Imaginative

Question 1: Did your English improve?

Question 2: Tell us about the academic programme.

 Question 3: How was the social life?

Phoenix:          It was a very unforgettable experience. I stayed with a British couple. They were not very young, but they were very nice.

Emily:             We've been to Chinatown, and all the beaches like Waikiki and Haloma Bay. We went to many different museums.

Simon:            I got to meet many new friends. They're from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, so I learnt different things from them, particularly their cultures.

Yuanmei:        We visited a lot of famous places, and cities in Canada like Quebec and Montreal. We learnt a lot, like art , and we had some training camps as well.

Question 4: Did you experience any difficulties?

1.      Why didn't Phoenix have any difficulties when she was overseas?

Answer: Because the people she met were all very friendly and they helped her with any problems she may have had.

2.      Does Simon know anybody in Australia?

Answer: Yes, he has many friends from different cultural backgrounds.

3.      What was Yuanmei's biggest problem when she first arrived in Canada? How long did it take her to get used to it?

Answer: Communication problems. She found it difficult to understand what people said as they spoke very fast. It took her about a week to get used to it.

4.      What kind of personality does Emily have? How did it help her in Hawaii?

Answer: She's not shy and she's willing to speak and ask questions. Her outgoing personality meant she could get help easily when she needed it.

Question 5: Have there been any long-term benefits?

1.      Why does Phoenix want to go back to the UK one day?

Answer: b) She wants to see the people who have been nice to her.

2.      What did Simon gain most from the one-year programme?

Answer: b) He learnt to be more analytical.

3.      How did Emily become more mature than before?

Answer: a) She had to face challenges on her own and to become more independent.

4.      How has Yuanmei changed after the programme?

Answer: a) She learnt to believe in her own abilities more.