上课听不懂¶
What should I do if I can't understand the classes while studying in the UK?
As shown in the picture, your classmates may appear to be writing and drawing, but in reality, they are laughing hysterically.
What should I do if I can't understand the classes while studying in the UK?
The difficulty in understanding classes is often due to a combination of factors such as the teacher's accent, speaking speed, thought process, cultural background, and academic proficiency. It's not solely an issue of the English language itself.
Here are some suggestions to address this:
Listen to local accents through sources like radio and television, and practice mimicking their speech patterns. Try to grasp key words and phrases. In the UK, accents can vary between regions, such as English accents and Scottish accents. Additionally, different local areas may have their own distinct accents. It's somewhat similar to how we have standard Mandarin, Sichuan dialect, Cantonese, Minnan dialect in Fujian, Shanghainese, and various other minority languages. As an outsider, it can be challenging to understand if you haven't learned them before. Therefore, it's beneficial to listen to broadcasts, TV shows, etc., and read along to capture the meaning by identifying key words.
Prepare in advance. Typically, teachers upload materials like PowerPoint presentations and recommended reading lists on your student portal in advance. These materials also include a course schedule, which indicates the topics to be covered in each class, as well as the planned breaks throughout the semester. You can flip through the schedule in advance. Many students may not be aware of this, but this is a clever discovery by Ten Sheng Miao.
Preparing in advance involves looking up unfamiliar words and reviewing the recommended reading materials. If you have senior students, you can also seek their guidance and make necessary preparations beforehand.
Ask questions when you don't understand. Ten Sheng Miao believes this approach is the most practical of the three. It is advisable to raise your hand and ask questions during class if you come across something you don't understand. In most cases, teachers ask if anyone has questions during each class. If you feel shy or reluctant to ask questions on the spot, you can jot down the questions during the class and ask them after class. However, this has a major drawback as you'll notice that after class or at the end of the school day, many teachers are in a rush to leave and may not be readily available to answer questions. Alternatively, you can send an email to inquire, but that may take some time. Nevertheless, it's still a good approach. Besides asking teachers, you can also seek help from foreign students, other teachers, classmates, or even your boss. The key is to engage in more interaction and communication, which leads to better learning.
Ten Sheng Miao's classmates and friends like to call Ten Sheng Miao the "Ten Thousand Whys" because regardless of the topic, if Ten Sheng Miao doesn't understand something, Ten Sheng Miao likes to ask why. Of course, when I was younger and the internet wasn't as developed as it is now, I used to ask without thinking first. But now, Ten Sheng Miao searches online first, and if I still don't understand, I ask teachers and friends. Of course, Ten Sheng Miao not only searches online but also asks others because everyone has different ways of thinking, and the answers they provide may not be 100% correct or incorrect. That's where we need to apply critical thinking in our studies in the UK, and then put it into practice. The concept of cause and effect has existed since ancient times. So, does everything have a cause? Do all things with causes have effects? Can effects lead to causes?
So, for everything, you can start by asking yourself the 5W2H questions, including writing a paper, attending classes, being in a romantic relationship, having an argument, and so on:
(1) What - What is it? Is the other person stating facts or expressing personal opinions? Is it based on evidence or held with reservations?
(2) Why - Why did it happen? What caused it?
(3) Who - Who is involved?
(4) When - When did it happen?
(5) Where - Where did it happen? People may say different things or emphasize different aspects based on the location and circumstances they are in.
(6) How - How did it happen? In what manner or process?
(7) How much - To what extent? How much in terms of quantity, quality, and other relevant factors?
Ten Sheng Miao would like to remind you that many students tend to buy recording pens or similar devices to record their teachers' lectures. Ten Sheng Miao used to do the same and spent a considerable amount of money to purchase an excellent recording pen. However, after using it only once or twice, Ten Sheng Miao never used it again and ended up selling it to other students in a second-hand group. Therefore, it is not necessary to buy one, and recording is not recommended. Instead, Ten Sheng Miao suggests recording a short video that can be shared on social media or kept as a personal memento.
Four, take notes. During class, you can write down the content the teacher discusses, including what is written on the blackboard, and so on. Because you will later realize that the topics for your papers, presentations, and exam content are mostly expansions of what the teacher covered in class. Notes can be useful for future revisions and understanding of the course.
Five, English learning. Language and culture are vast and profound, even if we have been learning Chinese since childhood, we cannot fully grasp the essence of the Chinese language. However, through ample communication and learning, it will be sufficient. The same applies to English. Persist in learning, aim for fluent communication in spoken English, understanding of spoken news broadcasts, ability to write academic papers, and reading English books, magazines, and newspapers.
Six, consult corresponding Chinese resources. If you find that academic books or other materials in English are too difficult to understand, you can search for academic versions and books in Chinese and read them first. Afterward, you can revisit the English versions.