2 . I moved here three years ago, and because of my business, I needed to fly both to China and the United States often. When I traveled alone, I felt lonely because I didn’t speak English well. I made a decision that I had to learn English well.

I came to Rita Colina’s class at the Chinese Community Center in Houston. Before the class, I always walked away when I met any foreigner. It’s completely different now. I try to communicate with Americans in English by myself. Now I like to talk to foreigners. Not only the life becomes more flexible, but also I really love to live here.

I learn English in four ways:

First of all, I listen to what the teacher teaches in class. Then I keep speaking during the class.

Second, I do my homework right away when I get home. I memorize at least five vocabulary words every day.

Third, I listen to American radio stations, and I watch the TV news and other American programs with my family every day. I ask them whatever I don’t know.

Finally, I go to American stores as often as possible so I will have more chances to learn more new words, and find any chance to talk to Americans in English.

Anyway, the most important thing is not to be afraid to open your mouth. It doesn’t matter even though you speak incorrectly. It’s the key, you know.

Many Chinese people want to improve their English in different ways. Last year, twenty-four young singers     1     part in a competition by singing English songs.

Jiang Mei, the winner of the women’s group said that studying English helped     2     win the prize. Six months earlier, she felt her English was not good enough, so she spent     3     time learning English.

Sometimes this kind of     4     encourages people to speak English. Many people agree that they make     5     progress after learning English songs. Other ways like watching English movies and reading English books are good for learning English,     6    .

Many students learn English     7     using it often. Liu Li thinks the best way to learn new words is to read English magazines. However, Wei Ming doesn’t agree with her. He has     8     English for six years. He thinks remembering grammar is a great way. He said, “Four years ago, I found grammar was hard, so I took lots of grammar     9     in every class. Then I started to make sentences using the grammar I learned. It is amazing     10     much this helped. Now I enjoy learning English.”

Learning to take notes in class is important. Note-taking is a(n) _______ that can help you do well in all your schoolwork. You need to prepare a _______ for each subject so that you can find everything _______ when a test comes. If your teacher writes notes on the blackboard, that’s great. You can copy them or write down the most _______ points of all in class. _______ your teacher doesn’t like to write anything down on the blackboard, you will have to write down something important that is said again and again by him. If you can’t _______ what the teacher is saying, don’t be afraid to ask your teacher to _______ what you miss. Of course, you may ask him after class. In your free time, you may _______ your notes with others’. Maybe you can find some mistakes in your notes. It can be good for your learning. After class or before tests, review the most important and useful _______ in your notes, and you will ________ less time reviewing and get better grades. Your notes are a good study record and taking notes is one of the best ways to improve your grades.

I often hear some students say English is difficult, and they can’t learn ________ well. But English is very easy for me. I’m good at it, and I’m very glad ________ you something about how I study English.

First, I think ________ interest in English is very important. When I began to learn English, my teacher often taught us ________ an active way. It made me become interested in it, I worked hard at it and often got very good marks. The harder I did in it, the ________ I learned it. As a result, I could do better and better in it.

Second, you’d better have good ways to learn it, such as ________ to the teacher carefully, speaking bravely and reading aloud every day. What’s more, you should practice again and again. I also have a good habit. Whenever I have a problem, I will ask my ________ for help. It really helps me a lot.

Besides, I often read stories, jokes and easy novels in English and also listen to English songs and watch movies. A movie ________ Zootopia is really funny. From them I learn English is not only interesting, but also useful. Reading helps me to ________ what I have learned and improve my English a lot. ________ I think doing more reading is also an important way to learn English well.

Of course, if you want to get good marks in an exam, it’s necessary for you to do some exercises. I hope my ways can help you.

In learning English, one should first pay     1     to listening and speaking. It is the groundwork(基础工作) of reading and writing. You’d better     2     your best to speak while you do much listening. Don’t be afraid of     3     mistakes, but be careful not to let them     4     you from improving your English. While you are doing this, a good way is to keep     5     diary, write notes or letters. Then if you can ask some others to go through     6     you have written and tell you where there is a mistake. Many     7     in your speaking will be easily found when you write.

    8     you want to improve your speaking, the     9     important thing is to choose something interesting to read. It mustn’t be difficult for you. When you are reading in this way, don’t stop to look     10     the words if you can guess their meanings when they have nothing important to do with the sentence. You can do that some other time.

Everyone wants to be successful in life. As a ninth-grade student, you must be thirsty ________ success at school. However, it is difficult to learn all lessons well. Here is some advice.

First, be sure to make up your mind ________ hard. It is smart of you to do your best in your studies. In that way, you may have a chance to enjoy success that belongs to you. After all ________ there is a will, there is a way.

Second, it is necessary for you to have ________ good study habit. While studying, make sure to pay attention to it. After you finish your study, don’t forget to find ________ for fun in order to help you relax as well.

Third, you should try to learn every subject well. If you are weak in a subject, you need to try to do ________ in it. You should often remind ________ why you need to study.

Finally, you had better take notes in class because you cannot remember ________. These notes will be helpful for you to review or remember what you ________. If you forget some points, you can go over them. As a saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If you follow the advice above ________ take action right away, your success is just around the corner.

10 . When you are learning English, reading can 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.

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. But you don’t have to write them while you are reading the passage. First, try to guess the meanings. When you finish the passage, try to remember them.

Try to read regularly（定期地）. For example, read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes every day is better than two hours every Sunday. Fix a time to read and keep to it. For example, you could read for fifteen minutes when you go to bed, or when you get up or at lunchtime.

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 in reading it. You can also read newspapers. There are many English newspapers in China and there’s something interesting in them.