【推荐1】Ma Ruining has been studying English for a long time, but her teachers are not in the classroom—they’re in the palm（手掌）of her hands. Ma has several English learning apps（应用程序）. They are often for users who want to improve their English, from listening to speaking.

Although she’s tired from eight hours’ office work, she does not spend her free time just relaxing by watching TV drams like before.

She takes out her mobile phone and begins to practice her spoken English with an app called Liulishuo (“speaking fluently” in English). The app offers ways to people wanting to improve their spoken English.

A 10-second audio clip（音频片段）by native speakers is then played on the app as Ma starts her lesson. After that, the app asks her to imitate（模仿）the piece. The app then scores（打分）her performance on a scale（等级）from 1 to 100 and gives advice on how to make improvements.

“If you score more than 90, it means your pronunciation is good,” says Ma. She has been practicing English every day on the phone for the past six months.

“At first, I usually only got a score of 70 as I often mispronounced.” adds Ma, 26. “I graduated（毕业）two years ago, but I want to improve my spoken English to study or travel abroad some day in the future.”

English learning apps make it convenient for people to study English. So what English learning apps are you using now?

【推荐2】When you are learning English, listening, speaking and writing are important. But reading can also be very helpful. When you read, you can not only learn some new words, but also you can learn how to use these English words. When you read, it gives you a good example for writing. Here are some good reading tips.

Try to read at the "right level". Read something that you can more or less understand. If you need to stop every three words to use a dictionary, it is not interesting.

Try to increase the number of your new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, write them in your notebook. When you need them, first, you should try to guess their meanings as you read, then look them up in a dictionary. Try to remember them.

Try to read regularly. Read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes every day is better than two hours every Sunday.

Read what interests you. Choose a book or a magazine about a subject that you like, because you are going to spend time and money reading it. You can also read newspapers. There are many English newspapers in China. There is always something interesting in it.

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【推荐3】Reading for pleasure is the easiest way to become a better reader in English. It is also the most important way. Some students say they don’t want to read for pleasure. They say they want to use their time to learn the rules of the language and new words. They say that pleasure reading is too easy.

Many experts say pleasure reading is very important for learning English. Dr. Stephen Krashen, a famous expert on learning languages, says that pleasure reading helps you learn many important things about English.

Students learn more grammar and more words when they read for pleasure. They also learn more about good writing. Dr. Krashen tells us that pleasure reading helps each student in a different way. Each student needs to learn something different. Pleasure reading makes it possible for each student to learn what he or she needs.

Reading for pleasure is not the same as studying. When you read for pleasure, you choose your own books, and you don’t have to remember everything. There are no tests on your pleasure reading books. Pleasure reading will help you:

●learn how English speakers use English

●read faster in English

●find examples of good writing in English

●learn new words

●learn about the cultures of English speakers

【推荐2】On October 20, 1936, Zhong Nanshan was born in Nanjing Central Hospital. His parents called him "Nanshan" because the hospital where he was born in the south of Zhongshan of Nanjing. Zhong Nanshan loved sports and broke the national record of 400m hurdles(跨栏) with 54.4 seconds at the first national games in 1959.

In those days of fighting against SARS in 2003, he became a brave soldier. He thought it was a war for life with death. Zhong Nanshan, with his excellent medical skills and strong fighting action, became the hero in the people's hearts. On January 21, 2020, as a great team leader, he went to Wuhan with his team members in order to beat COVID-19 (新冠肺炎). Till now, many sick people have been cured (治愈). His family are well-known not only because Zhong Nanshan has got success in Chinese medicine, but also all his family are really good at sports. In 1956, Zhong Nanshan, who was in his third year of university, took part in the 400-metre race in the Beijing university sports meeting and won the gold medal. His whole family are basketball fans. Zhong Nanshan's wife, Li Shaofen, was the main player of the first Chinese Women's Basketball Team. After they got married, they had a son and daughter. His son, Zhong Weide, is now a doctor and the main player of the hospital basketball team. Her daughter, Zhong Weiyue, was an excellent swimmer in China and won the 100m Butterfly championship.

Zhong Nanshan is Chinese people's great hero, but he continues working hard and helps many sick people get well every week. "It's my habit", he said.

【推荐3】There are some famous buildings that everyone can recognize. When you see a picture of a sports stadium that reminds you of a bird’s nest, you probably know it is the Olympic stadium in Beijing. When you see a picture of a famous concert hall that reminds you of a sailing ship, you probably know it is the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Buildings like these are easily recognized everywhere in the world. They were designed to look like other things if people use their imaginations.

Other buildings do not need any imagination. They are made to look exactly like other things. Sometimes, these buildings are offices, restaurants, or even houses. Three buildings built in this way are actually museums. The shape of the building is clue to the objects people can see inside.

In Guizhou, China, people can visit the Meitan Tea Museum, built in the shape of a giant teapot. There is also a second building next door that is shaped like a huge tea cup. From far away, the nine-story teapot-shaped museum looks like some kinds of giant work of art. But as one gets closer, the windows make it clear that this is a building.      

People who are interested in guitars might want to visit the Guitar Museum in Tennessee, USA. The three-story building is shaped like a guitar lying on its side. Inside, visitors can see all kinds of guitars as well as learn about famous guitar players. 

One of the newest funny shaped museums is a pottery museum in Gyconggi, Korea and built in 2011 shaped just like a traditional Korean pot. Along with seeing exam pots and tools used for making pots in the museum, visitors can try to make their own pots.