英语这东西，两年学不会就算了罢

想在社群里推荐书籍，却也特别头疼：春节前突然想，既然是个“以升级为乐”的社群，既然目标是把大家都变成“学习机器”，为啥学个外语这点破事儿都搞不定？！

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/QMg7MBrAkZxDpZIq9G3aMQ

If You Can't Learn English in Two Years, Forget It

> By Li Xiaolai · 2016-02-24 · [Original link](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/QMg7MBrAkZxDpZIq9G3aMQ) (Chinese)
> Our translation from the Chinese original.

I want to recommend books in the community, but it's also a particular headache:

> 1. Among Chinese books, non-fiction books worth recommending are extremely few;
> 2. The quality of the writing in translations is really unbearable to look at, and they even especially get in the way...
> 3. Most people say "my English is too poor, I can't handle the originals"...

Before the Spring Festival it suddenly occurred to me: since this is a community that "takes pleasure in upgrading," since the goal is to turn everyone into "learning machines," why can't we even get this trifling business of learning a foreign language done?!

Within half a year I'll definitely find a way to open a course in the community called If You Can't Learn It in Two Years, Forget It (《两年学不会就算了》) —— and what it's about is English.

To be honest, there's no need at all to go take a class; this trifling business should be gotten done quickly on your own.

---

Either learn it, or learn something else. Studying for a long time and not being able to use it is too great a loss.

Jews firmly believe in many very simple business principles, so much so that thousands of years later they far surpass the other peoples on Earth in business, and one of them is:

> **Never, ever lose your capital.**

Spending time, spending energy, and spending a lot of money too, and still not being able to learn English: that's "losing your capital," and what's more it's taking a big loss with a very high "opportunity cost."

How did learning a foreign language become a hurdle that so many people can't get over?

> [Because most people believe they can't learn it.](http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAxNzI4MTMwMw==&mid=402386214&idx=1&sn=a78eb0ce73e0480713b28b25b7c07060&scene=21#wechat_redirect)

In the community New Life —— Seven Years Is a Lifetime (《新生 —— 七年就是一辈子》), I recommend that every member put English to use in this lifetime. Note: "use," not "learn."

In fact you finished learning it long ago; you just don't dare use it.

> - Can you look things up in an English dictionary? Yes —— you could in primary school.
> - Do you know basic grammar? Yes —— you finished learning it in junior high.

This is the "**minimum necessary knowledge**" for using English. Learning anything is the same: once you've got the minimum necessary knowledge down, you should put it to use —— use it without the slightest hesitation.

What is **"minimum necessary knowledge"**? This is the ultimate trick of learning:

Any skill has a small amount of necessary knowledge points; as long as you learn them, you can start using that skill. Only by using it can you "accumulate mileage," only by using it can you polish technique, only by using it can you change your life through [practice](http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAxNzI4MTMwMw==&mid=401310327&idx=1&sn=a90987fcf7289d82666a2afa27f5df94&scene=21#wechat_redirect).

To learn any skill, you have to find a way to locate the **"minimum necessary knowledge."**

> - The minimum necessary knowledge for lifelong learning is: "how to read" and "how to choose books"?
> - The minimum necessary knowledge for learning English (or any foreign language) is actually just one word: "use"; a bit more: "how to look things up in a dictionary" and "how to look things up in a grammar book."
> - Chinese people learning English like to memorize vocabulary books, but always neglect the minimum necessary skill for expanding vocabulary: "making sentences."
> - Learning to drive: on safety, the minimum necessary knowledge is also actually just one word: "slow."

Even in fields you'd never expect, the principle is exactly the same... Readers with strong curiosity can take a look at "[Squeeze and There'll Always Be Some](http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAxNzI4MTMwMw==&mid=210678304&idx=1&sn=e4f46f8ba31ba9b87e3ab9f5b045f190&scene=21#wechat_redirect)" (《挤挤都会有的》).

How do you start using English? Very simple.

**Spend a month or two gnawing through your first original-language book.**

Any book will do, any book at all. Buying books on Amazon is too easy; pick a book you like, preferably one whose translation you've already read long ago. This point is quite important, because in the process, without my having to stress it, you'll discover what a hindrance reading translations is... ([Buy the Kindle e-book; it can be converted to epub format and stored on your computer, where full-text search is more convenient.](http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAxNzI4MTMwMw==&mid=401727843&idx=1&sn=a92f8a621d2c3329b5f339ef6d2d48cf&scene=21#wechat_redirect))

**The requirement is that every new word must be looked up in the dictionary; don't guess the meaning of any word.** Each word has many meanings; after reading them one by one, try each in the sentence and see which definition best fits the meaning of the sentence (relate it to the context). Sometimes even if there seem to be no new words, if the meaning of the sentence doesn't make smooth sense, you should look them up one by one too.

> "We find that people get fatigued or depleted after a **taxing** task only when they believe that willpower is a limited resource, but not when they believe it's not so limited," says Dweck.
> [Translator's note: this quotation is in English in the original; it is a quotation of the psychologist Carol Dweck, not Li Xiaolai's words, and is left as written.]

For example, "taxing" in the sentence above certainly shouldn't mean "collecting taxes," or the sentence wouldn't make sense. What to do? Look up tax, and sure enough there's a sense I didn't know before (I'm just using the dictionary built into Mac OS X):

［图］

Yes, that's it.

**If you know every word and still can't make out the meaning of the sentence, you've probably run into a grammar point you hadn't mastered before; search for the function word in a grammar book** —— so-called "function words" are words you can find in the index pages of a grammar book, such as that, as, which, and so on...

If you still can't understand it, post the context and in the future ask in the community; someone will always help explain it to you. (It'll still be a while before the community app goes live. Internal testing starts in early March, and it'll still be a while before it can be stable...)

Also, if you find reading books too dull (actually, as someone who takes pleasure in upgrading, you really shouldn't feel that way), then handle films the same way. Every film can be done like this —— with Google you can always find the subtitle file for any film; print it out and treat the film's lines as a book; likewise, don't let a single word slip by, and that's it.

**The second, parallel method is reading aloud a lot.**

Once you've gnawed through your first original-language book, the hardest part is completely over; what remains is to keep reading new original-language books...

It's the same in any country (not only our China): language classes have always existed in name only, at least in most cases. Learning a language well has always relied on the same thing:

> **Volume of reading.**

The more you read, the more formidable your command of language. Whether [speed of comprehension](http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAxNzI4MTMwMw==&mid=401497000&idx=1&sn=6e39c9be8ee88f627c96a8dafcaf84c2&scene=21#wechat_redirect), ability to comprehend, or ability to express, in essence all are accumulated by volume of reading; there's no other way.

Then why does this point say not "reading a lot" but **"reading aloud a lot"**? Chapter four of Everyone Can Use English (《人人都能用英语》) is about the benefits of reading aloud; look at its outline and you'll naturally understand:

> 1. The oldest and most effective way of training
> 2. Reading aloud helps improve the ability to understand written language
> 3. Reading-aloud training subtly improves reading-comprehension speed
> 4. No need to practise listening specially; reading aloud is enough
> 5. Reading-aloud training can improve memory for language
> 6. Reading-aloud training can improve the ability to express
> 7. Reading-aloud training can improve the ability to recognize patterns in language

However, I suggest readers read that whole book carefully; you can finish it in an afternoon.

**Anyway, read aloud for at least thirty minutes a day, and that's it.**

**One hard requirement is to "use English" for more than two hours every day.**

Three hours is better, four hours best... Reading news, watching films, watching American TV series, reading originals, looking things up in the dictionary, reading aloud: all count.

**Absolutely no bullshit like "I'm too old..."** It's precisely when you're older that you should learn all the more! At least think about the next generation a little, won't you?

Find an afternoon and read Everyone Can Use English once; you'll certainly get a lot of inspiration —— that book is exactly for "inspiring."

> http://zhibimo.com/read/xiaolai/everyone-can-use-english/index.html

**That's it; the principles are clear; go get it done yourself.**

---

Take one step after another, and gradually you become an oddity in the crowd; gradually you become a minority in the crowd. Many times, people's attitude toward growth and success is really "Lord Ye's love of dragons" [Translator's note: 叶公好龙, from an ancient fable about Lord Ye, who professed to love dragons but was terrified when a real one appeared] —— growth and success are both the dragons of legend, and when the dragon really flies out, Lord Ye is frightened to death.

The important significance of the Seven Years (《七年》) community is that it lets members experience, and not just hear, what I keep chanting over and over like the monk Tang Seng:

> **Believe me, you are not alone.**

Don't be afraid, really don't be afraid; you're not the only one like this.

---

Long-press the QR code above, save it to your album, scan it with Alipay, pay **2777** yuan and you can join the group. Before March 1, 2016, the Alipay "fee group" is still used as the sign-up channel. (Try not to chat idly in the group...)

For those who join directly, the first year's fee is **2777** yuan, and after that **2555** yuan/year; those recommended into the group by an existing member should report their recommender after joining, and after verification **222** points will be returned to the new member's account; that is, for new members with a recommender, the first year's fee is effectively **2555** yuan/year (points will be processed all together when the APP launches on March 1, 2016).

**Before joining, please think carefully, please take responsibility for your own decision**; please think carefully, please think carefully, please think carefully... because **after joining the group there is no further chance of a refund.**

We plan to start using our own self-developed APP on March 1, 2016. This date may be brought forward, and postponement isn't ruled out either, but the first official version will go live by March 31, 2016 at the latest. Before that there may be one or two internal test versions. The development team has gone into closed development.

After we start using our own APP, all the sign-up groups will be merged. The existing Alipay group is used only for sign-up; any important notices will be published on the official account.

> - Idle chat in the group is not encouraged;
> - No advertising;
> - No spreading pirated books;
> - [Discussion allowed, arguing not allowed](http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAxNzI4MTMwMw==&mid=401232868&idx=1&sn=409a658e2642422cc2151fb02997add4&scene=21#wechat_redirect);
> - Chatting is allowed daily between 18:00 and 21:00; at other times try not to chat idly; everyone's time is limited, so try not to disturb everyone; otherwise points may be deducted.

**Important**

Friends who have already signed up to join, please manually copy and paste this address into your browser to view the **Seven Years Readers' Notice, continuously updated post** (articles already pushed on the WeChat official account can't be updated, so an unpushed preview address is used here...); be sure to read it carefully:

> **http://t.cn/R49x1u2**