Study "New Concept English" and chew on the text—New Concept English 3

Author: Pan Zhangxian, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: When using this book, students should thoroughly study the texts from both grammatical and semantic perspectives. Below, I will discuss the importance of these two aspects.
1. The Importance of Grammar for Chinese Learners of English
Currently, many learners of English neglect grammar. In reality, grammar is a shortcut for foreigners learning English, especially considering the specific circumstances of Chinese learners. English teaching in China is divided into two categories: college English and professional English teaching. Generally, those who study professional English achieve an ideal level of proficiency after graduation, while students of college English significantly lag behind. The reason is straightforward—college English offers 200 hours of instruction, whereas professional English provides 1,000 hours, and there is an initial proficiency gap between the two groups. If you refuse to face this reality, you cannot adopt practical methods, and without practical methods, you cannot achieve good results. Grammar is a language rule summarized to improve the efficiency of language learning. In a Chinese language environment, neglecting grammar when learning English is truly unwise. Therefore, when reading texts, students should always ask themselves: What role does this word play in the sentence? In the initial stages, they must force themselves to do this, especially when encountering difficult passages. As proficiency improves, particularly with simpler sentences, this step can be omitted. However, please note that even highly accomplished English professors must perform grammatical analysis when faced with complex sentences.
If students score below 8 in the CET-4 exam or below 10 in postgraduate entrance exams, the primary issue lies in their weak fundamental language skills and poor grasp of basic grammar and vocabulary. For such students, improving writing skills does not mean studying writing but rather focusing intensely on grammatical analysis of texts.
2. The Importance of Translation for Chinese Learners of English
Many students’ understanding of texts remains at a superficial level—just snippets of words. Some students are quite honest and ask, “Teacher, when reading English, do we use fragmented Chinese to understand it?” From my experience, during exams, due to time constraints, what is called reading comprehension largely relies on fragmented Chinese to interpret English. However, when reading intensive texts regularly, this approach is absolutely unacceptable. You must use precise, complete, and fluent Chinese to understand English—the essence of translation.
In China, English teaching places excessive emphasis on thinking in English while neglecting translation instruction. Yet the results have been unsatisfactory—how many have truly developed English thinking? Decades of practice by Chinese learners of English have proven that translation is the fastest way for non-majors to improve their English proficiency.
This book does not, like some similar books, arbitrarily showcase the authors’ own talents by patching together excessive extensions and elaborations. Currently, the main problem for Chinese students when reading texts is indigestion—the cure for indigestion is not to eat more but to eat less and chew more thoroughly. We believe that as long as students deeply study the texts themselves, understand and master them thoroughly, they will achieve the goal of learning English well. Many students’ reality is that they seem to have learned a lot but excel at nothing, understanding nothing in depth.
The explanation order of the texts in this book is divided into four steps:
1. Original Text
2. Translation
3. Analysis
4. Explanation
1. Original Text: The original text of the passage, arranged sentence by sentence.
2. Translation: For accurate understanding of the original text and fluent expression in Chinese, serving as a benchmark for whether you have truly read the text. If you encounter simple sentences, with your own effort, you can translate them to a level comparable to the book’s provided translation, in which case you may not need to look at the “Analysis” or “Explanation.” Therefore, in this book, the translation is directly placed after the original text. If you cannot translate it, it means you haven’t truly understood the text, so please read the “Analysis” and “Explanation” below.
3. Analysis: An analysis of the sentence structure of the original text.
4. Explanation: An explanation of the linguistic points in the original text, supplemented by grammatical analysis.
When using this book, individuals can choose one of the following four modes based on their situation: 1-2; 1-2-3; 1-2-4; 1-2-3-4.
The author of this book has pinpointed various habitual pronunciation errors that Chinese learners of English make and has arranged extensive targeted corrective exercises to transform Chinese-style pronunciation into American-style pronunciation, creating miracles—speaking beautiful American English in a Chinese environment.
This book focuses on authentic, idiomatic, and interesting, commonly used spoken English (beginner level). It allows you to express ideas vividly and clearly without rote memorization of complex grammar. In the past, Chinese learners studied muted English and couldn’t speak; now they can speak, but they run out of things to say after a few sentences. How to engage in in-depth conversations in English—this is the problem this book solves.
It seamlessly integrates English learning with life’s reflections, the study of life, and the appreciation of beautiful literature, creating a highly effective exam-oriented learning approach.
Walking into American films is like a child who has just learned to walk in the U.S. beginning a new life in a native English environment, making English learning easier, more enjoyable, and more natural. Some say watching one American film is equivalent to living in the U.S. for 10 days, and watching dozens of American films makes you an American expert who has lived in the U.S. for years.
Learning English through English-language films is undoubtedly the best method, but many people struggle to understand the dialogue. The explanation section of this series does not overlook any difficult points, helping you understand the films completely.