Life Chatting Room: Special Guest On-line

Life Chatting Room: Special Guest On-line

I’m Alex Coyle. Today I’ll be talking to 007.007, hello! Thank you for coming in.

Thank you, Alex, for inviting 1 me.

Perhaps you could begin by introducing yourself…

My name is 007 and today I’m a guest of the most beautiful lady in China.

…and a charmer!

Yes, I really am, Alex, but most of all, I’m glad to meet you today.

Ling Ling Qi, that’s 007, right? How did you come to be called “007?”

When I arrived in China, nine years ago, I landed in Beijing, and I was bringing one of my new businesses to China and I went to deal with the Chinese government. In the other room, there were some other people, and I was talking away in English with my interpreter 2 and one of the people in the other room came in and said, “Excuse me, are you 007?” I said: “Pardon? 007?” and he said, my interpreter, “That’s James Bond 3.” I said, “Of course I’m James Bond. I’m a real Englishman 4, a pure Englishman,” and the name has stuck since that day.

What are the obstacles 5 facing a Chinese learner of English and how would you help them overcome them?

As you know, Alex, in my public speaking, I go ‘round the universities, I go ‘round the schools, giving lectures on my way of coaching English. The one thing that’s now very apparent 6 to me is a lot of the teaching 7 of English in this country is done, for passing an exam. The Chinese are very good at learning 8 things but what’s happening is they’re learning it to pass an exam. They’re learning the answer to a question. They don’t really understand what they’re actually saying.

Right, so it doesn’t help them to communicate?

Definitely 9 not: they can maybe say that one sentence, in their exam paper, but what good is it if you want to ask where the toilet is? No good!

So, how would you help a student to get past that stage, to a point where they ca really communicate in English?

OK. Let me ask you a simple question. Alex. You know when you like doing something, Alex? What do you like doing? Do you like shopping Alex, do you? What do you like doing?

Yes, yes, shopping, listening to music…

When you’re doing that, Alex, do you enjoy it?

Yeah.

And when you enjoy something, do you feel relaxed, and you take time doing it, and youspend it and you enjoy that time, while you’re doing that?

Of course.

Right, so that’s my revolutionary, new-wave theory. Even though it’s revolutionary, it’s simple! I find the only way to make students really understand is make it so much fun. So my students enjoy every word we learn, but they really do remember it.

So, 007, any final words for our Crazy English readers?

Yes! If you believe in your heart, in any thing you do, there is nothing in this world that can stop you. It’s others that influence you and there is another simple saying: If you mix your like with losers, you will lose. If you mix with successful people, you too will be successful.

Learn from your heart. Listen to 007, on my radio program. Listen to how I speak and Alex speaks as well. This is real English, pure English, and if you want to speak like us, then the only way is to learn the 007 way. So my advice is, listen to 007 every day.

Thanks, 007. If you want to hear more from 007, you can tune 10 into him at www.English Vod.net.