Teach English in China: Memorizing vs. Understanding: How to Think in English
Memorizing vs. Understanding.
To improve your Oral English, you must actually use it.
There are 3 extremely important articles that you should read before embarking on the journey of reading all these 'How to Improve Oral English Series'. They are:
This article may be copied for personal and/or non commercial use.
Chinese Students Conversational English Skills Topic.
What is the Difference between Memorizing and Understanding?
It has been said that Chinese Education is all about memorization. In the classroom, it is quite observable that students have an incredible ability to memorize all spoken presentations.
When I first started teaching in Hong Hu City, I was utterly amazed at the how well students could read from their textbooks. It was not long however, before I realised that they were not reading, but remembering.
Students could read a whole article in a textbook, but many could not read the article starting at any other place than at the beginning. This demonstrated two things to me. Firstly that they could not read, and secondly that they had been tricking their teachers into believing that they could read.
I often surprise Chinese students by my ability to sing Dao Lang songs. But you know, I have no idea what the words mean. I have just memorized them. I certainly can't read the words in Chinese, because I don't understand them. Just because you memorize something, does not mean that you understand it.
What do the words "Memorizing" and "Understanding" Mean?
Memorizing means: To learn by heart - To commit to Memory.
Understanding means: To grasp the meaning of something or to have thorough or technical acquaintance with or expertness in the practice of something. It also means to be thoroughly familiar with the character and propensities of something.
In booklet No.8 "Does it take skill to introduce yourself?", I speak about the need for preparation; the need to ask questions and find answers; the need to know what is expected in a spoken or written presentation.
I will mention that when people are not prepared, they lose track of what they are saying. But the same problem often arises for people who have memorized an oral presentation. It is so easy to lose your place and forget what you were about to say.
For people who only memorize their presentation, this can prove disastrous, because they cannot continue speaking. For people who understand the topic of their presentation, some momentary distraction that causes them to lose their place, is nothing more than an embarrassing irritation. It does not stop them from continuing to discuss their topic.
When speaking Publicly, the most important thing is to know and understand your topic. If you do this, you can even speak without any preparation time at all.
If you can only speak publically after memorizing something, then you face two problems. Firstly, it means that you can never take advantages of sudden opportunities, and secondly, when asked questions about what you have said, you may find yourself unable to enter into discussion, because you only know what you memorized.
Let me give you a very simple example of what can happen when you only memorize, and then you forget something.
It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you today our special Guest Professor John Smith!
As many of you will know, Professor Smith is a world renowned figure who teaches History at - at - er - at - er - er
In this example, the speaker has forgotten the name of the place in which the Professor Teaches, and because the speaker has only memorized this introduction, he/she cannot continue.
On the other hand, if you have developed the skill of public speaking, such a minor setback will not stop you from continuing. For Example:
It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you today our special Guest Professor John Smith!
As many of you will know, Professor Smith is a world renowned figure who teaches History at -(momentary lapse of memory) - a famous university in the United States.
We are grateful today for his time in addressing us etc
In this case, the speaker knew and understood what he/she had to do and say, and despite the slight pause, (which many people will not have noticed) continued the introduction with ease.
As I've said, to overcome such setbacks is a public speaking skill, but that does not detract from the fact, that Person No 1. could not continue unless the forgotten word was remembered. This is so because Person No. 1 relies on a consecutive series of individual words, while person no.2. relies on the broader picture (story - or series of facts).
By this is meant that person number two understands that as long as he/she does not stop talking (as did Person No.1), no one will know that the introduction that was given, was not the introduction that was planned.
Speaker number One relied on Memorization. Person Number Two relied upon "quick thinking skills". This is something that comes to play in Group Discussions.
Example Two:
Let us imagine that you have to stand and speak about Sightseeing in the United Kingdom, and that you wrote and memorized the following passage.
This passage is from "Challenge to Speak 2 (Student's Book) Page 17."
Sightseeing in the UK.
Travelling across Britain, visitors are struck by how green the countryside is all year round. The landscape is varied, from the flatlands in the south and east, to the hills and mountains of Scotland and Wales.
Despite having a high density of population in comparison with most European countries, there are huge tracts of quiet and unspoiled countryside. Centuries after the days of the industrial revolution, awareness of the importance of a clean and ecologically stable environment has grown, and the oft quoted "smog' of London is a thing of the past.
Problems and controversies still remain over pollution, but as we shall see later, there are now a large number of environmental groups ready to publicize such things and campaign for change.
Foreign visitors travelling around Britain then, will probably be surprised at the large areas of unspoiled countryside between the villages and towns. (***145 words.)
Another thing they will note is that in many of the towns and villages they pass through, they will come across many old historic buildings, which have been maintained with great pride.
The British it seems, have a strong sense of history and regard the preservation of such monuments as very important. They also like to remember those who have made significant contributions to British or international culture. (***213 words)
Footnote on:(*** 145 words) In Booklet No. 10: Why can't People Understand my words? : Remedial Therapy, we will discuss reading and speaking speed. When reading or speaking in public, you should not read or speak more than 160 words per minute.
The salient points in this article are:
Visitors are struck (surprised)
Green countryside all year
Flatlands of the south and east
Mountains of Scotland and Wales
High Density population
Huge tracts of quiet and unspoiled countryside
Industrial revolution
Awareness of clean environment
Past Smog of London
Pollution problems and controversies
Environmental groups and publicity campaigns
Foreign visitors
Unspoiled countryside between towns and villages
Old Historic buildings
Strong sense of History
Preservation of Monuments
A person who Only memorizes this passage, won't be able to finish it if they forget a key word or two, but a person who knows and understands the points around which they wrote their passage, will be able to skip one section or even two, if during the delivery of the monologue, they forget something. Furthermore, if you know and understand the points around which the passage was written, you can say everything needed to be said, without having memorized the prepared passage. For example:
Foreign visitors to the United Kingdom are often surprised by the fact that wherever you go, whether flatlands or mountains, whether toward the south east, or Scotland or Wales, the countryside is green all year. Because they have a sense of their own history, the British preserve their monuments and old buildings, many of which can be found in the quiet and unspoiled countryside. The Industrial Revolution brought with it many problems to do with pollution, but today people are more aware of the need to preserve the environment, and many groups run public awareness campaigns (sometimes controversially) to keep the country clean. Even High Density cities like London no longer have big smog problems, and foreign visitors are able to travel everywhere. 121 words
Let's see how the important points were linked together.
**Foreign visitors to the United Kingdom are often surprised by the fact that wherever you go, whether flatlands or mountains, whether toward the south east, or Scotland or Wales, the countryside is green all year.
[Visitors are struck (surprised)]
[Green countryside all year]
[Flatlands of the south and east]
[Mountains of Scotland and Wales]
Foreign visitors
**Because they have a sense of their own history, the British preserve their monuments and old buildings, many of which can be found in the quiet and unspoiled countryside.
Unspoiled countryside between towns and villages
Old Historic buildings
Strong sense of History
Preservation of Monuments
Huge tracts of quiet and unspoiled countryside
**The Industrial Revolution brought with it many problems with pollution, but today people are more aware of the need to preserve the environment, and many groups run public awareness campaigns (sometimes controversially) to keep the country clean.
Industrial revolution
Awareness of clean environment
Environmental groups and publicity campaigns
Pollution problems and controversies
**Even High Density cities like London no longer have big smog problems, and foreign visitors are able to travel everywhere
High Density population
Past Smog of London
When you know the things you want to say, then, if you do get stuck while speaking, it is always possible to state your points in a way that you did not prepare.
This does not mean that you do not try to memorize your text. The main point is that you know and understand what are the important points you need to convey to your audience.
When you write your own material, no one else knows the order in which you meant to say certain points. If you momentarily forget something, then let it be forgotten, and continue in your own new words, until you find your place again in the prepared presentation.
When you give a presentation, make sure that you know and understand what you have written. If you do this, it is less likely that you will forget your place.
================================================================ This article and/or photographs may be freely reprinted providing this box is included and all links within the article body are made/remain active. ?2003-2010 R.P.BenDedek.
About the publisher:
R.P.BenDedek is from Brisbane Australia and is the author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' at http://www.kingscalendar.com His academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
He writes photographic 'Stories from China' and social editorial commentaries, both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing newspaper columnist. He currently teaches Conversational English in China and in addition to his English Lessons at KingsCalendar, he has created specific sites for Students of English.
