In China, the 12th month of the lunar calendar is called Layue. The month is full of interesting festivals and customs.

Laba Festival, which is on the 8th day of Layue, is the first festival in this month. From this day on, people begin to get ready for the Chinese New Year.

On Laba Festival, people eat hot Laba porridge. There are usually eight things in the porridge: rice, red beans, peas, dried lotus seeds, dates, and three different kinds of fruits and nuts. The porridge is not just good for your health, but a blessing for the coming of the Chinese New Year.

Laba porridge is not the only tasty food in Layue. Laba garlic (腊八蒜) is popular in the north. People begin to soak garlic in vinegar from that day on, and eat it with dumplings during the Chinese New Year. While in the south, people like making sausages.

Another major celebration before the Spring Festival is Xiaonian. It is usually on the 23rd or 24th day of the last lunar month. Traditionally it is an important day when people offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God who looks after the family.

Don’t forget to clean your home. This is also an important thing to do to prepare for the Chinese New Year. It means sweeping away the dust of the old year and welcoming a fresh start. Now, the last thing for you to do is to wait for the coming Spring Festival.

3 . In the United States, 16, 18 and 21 are very important ages in a person’s life. A person can do new things at each age to show that he or she is no longer a child. That means you are an adult.

After turning 16 in the United States, a person can be employed, get a driver’s license, and leave home. Many high school students learn to drive and get part-time jobs soon after celebrating their 16th birthday. At 18, people in the United States can vote and join the military (参军), but they are not allowed to go into nightclubs, to buy beer or wine until they are 21.

In many Latin American countries, a young woman’s 15th birthday is important. At this age, people think she is no longer a girl, but a woman. To mark this special day, families with 15-year-old daughters have a celebration called a quinceanera (成人礼). The young woman and her family will have a big party to which many guests are invited.

In Japan, boys and girls are thought to be adults at the age of 20. At this age, they are allowed to vote and drink beer or wine. The second Monday in January is a national holiday called the Coming-of-Age Day. On this day, 20-year-olds are invited to listen to speeches with their family. After that, many celebrate late into the night. In many countries, celebrations are always there, such as their 50th birthdays or the birth of their first child.

7 . Improving our English reading ability is helpful to learn English well. Reading is a fun thing to do in our free time and it’s also a good way to become a better student.

We can learn numbers of new words from reading. This can help us to have a bigger and richer vocabulary. Reading is one of the best ways to increase our vocabulary and improve our grammar in a nature and fun way.

If we read a lot, we will meet many new words that we would not often use in our daily life. Reading also helps improve our writing because new words can be used in our compositions.

Another good reason to read books is that the story can take our minds to new places and help us get more open-minded. We’d better read different stories. This will get our minds wide. When we read books, we have to think over the background and persons and think of new and exciting people and places.

In a word, books are our best friends. Especially the English books can bring us richer knowledge and more fun.

9 . In order to know a foreign language thoroughly（彻底地）, four things are necessary. Firstly, we must be able to understand the language when we hear it. Secondly, we must be able to speak it by ourselves correctly, with confidence and without hesitation（犹豫）. Thirdly, we must be able to read the language. Fourthly, we must be able to make up sentences that are grammatically correct. We must know how to put sentences into paragraphs in order to write a good letter or article.

There is no easy way to succeed in learning a foreign language. A good memory（记忆力）is of much help, but it is not enough to simply remember rules from a grammar book. It is no much use learning long words and their meanings by heart.

We must learn not only words but also the use of them in sentences. We must learn by using the language. “Learn through using” is a good piece of advice for people to study a new language. Practice is very important. We must practice speaking and writing the language whenever we can.

10 . Although English is widely spoken throughout the world, it brings some problems to Britain. In a recent survey, 62% of British people only speak English. They can’t learn other languages.

The British are well-known for not speaking foreign languages. A recent survey showed that the British are officially the worst language learners in Europe.

62% of the people surveyed cant speak any other language besides English. 38% speak at least one foreign language, 18% speak two and only 6% speak three or more.

This survey showed that English was the most widely spoken language. 51% of the European people can have a conversation in English.

Learning a foreign language is not popular at school in Britain. A study suggests that students think that it is more difficult to get good grades in language than in other subjects such as science or history. The British government is now looking for different ways to improve language learning at school.