卢建中 东莞理工学院工商管理系中小企业管理（1）班

    Two years ago, I was a sophomore in college. I was gradually realizing the importance of English, and I really wanted to master it.

    But I worried about whether I could learn English well because my basic knowledge was so poor, even though I started learning it in grade four.

    You see, like most English learners in China, I was mute when I wanted to speak; I was deaf when I wanted to listen; and I was illiterate when I wanted to read and write in English.

    With encouragement from my parents, who said “Just do it,” I made a decision to learn the enigmatic language even though I knew the process would be hard.

    I have been studying it from scratch by practicing the phonetic symbol system, consulting a dictionary, memorizing new words, reciting texts, speaking, writing short articles, asking help from others, reading newspapers, making notes and so on.

    Gradually, my English has become better. I have already gained confidence in speaking English in front of people, even though I am so far from being able to communicate anything sophisticated.

    Recently, a friend told me: “I am quite ashamed of my lazy campus life. I cannot find a good job now. I really want to study a skill, but I am afraid it is too late.”

    I could not help telling him about my experience in English learning. Eventually, he accepted my suggestion: “It’s never too late if you want to do something. Just do it.”