Zhong Yating, Class 11, Senior 1, Shenzhen Xin’an Middle School Instructed by Tang Ying “Everyone has a chance to be a top English student. Take action from now on!” My English teacher Tang is like the sun, shining on my heart that is afraid of failures. Tang has some attractive awards for the most active students. She guides us to read the book “The Keys to Highly Effective English Learning — 30 Strategies to Make English Learning Enjoyable and Highly Effective” which was written by Tang and Carol Griffiths, a world famous expert on language learning strategies. Then Tang asked us why a student’s English might be poor. She said it is possible that the student is lazy or lacks aptitude, but a lot of research has shown it is because that they don’t have effective language learning strategies. This is what I have thought and learned. Many people insist that studying English needs aptitude. However, Tang shared some success stories with us. In these stories, our schoolmates made great progress in their English learning after training with her highly effective English learning strategies and passed the National College Entrance Examination. It made me feel deeply moved. In addition, Tang asked us to discuss how English can help us in our daily life. “Please share your ideas in class. What is needed here is a person who has his or her own ideas and will be brave to express themselves,’’ said Tang. Now it is an honor for me to be her teaching assistant. She always encourages me and tells me some ways to study. For instance: Put your effort into learning and never give up, and you will be successful. As an old saying goes, “Constant dripping wears away the stone.” I am firmly convinced that I will make great progress with my effort. | 