Key Points：

Many people know that reading aloud helps with learning English. But writing is just as important. Pick up a pen and write a word once. That can be more effective than reading it ten times out loud.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Try sounding out a word. The version that feels smooth and natural might be the closest to the correct pronunciation.

Background

I grew up in China in the 1980s. It was a tough time to learn English. There were no MP3s, no video tutorials, and no phonetics guides. So how did I learn phonetics and grammar?

Before I share my strange and messy learning journey, let’s go back to a summer more than thirty years ago. I had just finished primary school.

My first encounter with English

My mother took me to meet my first English teacher, Ms. Chen. That summer, I began learning English. After two weeks, I had learned over 400 high-frequency words. These were short vowel words and sight words.

How did I learn them? I listened to Ms. Chen read them aloud. Then I wrote them down on practice sheets. At that time, I didn’t learn phonetics. I memorized the sounds by heart.

Learning through translation

In the second month of summer, I found out that Ms. Chen wasn’t a school teacher. She was a translator hired by a factory to work with imported machines.

One day, she gave me two books. One was a thick Far East English-Chinese dictionary. The other was a German machine manual.

She said, “You don’t need to do regular homework anymore. Use this dictionary to look up the words you don’t know. Write the Chinese meaning below each word.”

How I guessed pronunciation

You might wonder—how could I do this? I had only learned English for two months. I knew a few hundred words. I hadn’t studied phonetics or grammar yet.

That’s the point of this blog.

Let’s talk about phonetics first. When I saw a new word and didn’t know how to say it, I used two methods.

First, I guessed the sound based on words I already knew. I tried different ways to pronounce it. Whichever version felt smooth and natural—I asked my teacher if it was correct.

Second, I looked up the word in the dictionary. I checked its phonetic symbols. Then I compared it with other words that had the same sounds.

Of course, using the dictionary was slow. So I usually guessed first. If my guess felt wrong, I checked the dictionary later.

For example, with the word sister: I used big to guess the first syllable. Then I compared the second syllable with father.

What about complex words?

I still used the guessing method my teacher taught me. I tried to break the word into syllables. Then I tested which version sounded more natural.

Take the word intriguing. I looked at the vowels and consonants. I guessed it had three syllables.

The first part matched in. The tr reminded me of tree. The i probably sounded like big. As for guing, I just tried to sound it out.

If I wasn’t sure, I checked the dictionary.

How I learned grammar

What about grammar?

I wrote the Chinese meaning under each new word. Then I compared the sentence order in English and Chinese. Through lots of reading, I started to see patterns.

In fact, most reading materials—even the ones we recommend today—don’t use very complex grammar. That’s why I could read C1-level English newspapers at age 13.

Even if I didn’t understand the whole sentence, I could find the key word—the verb. If I didn’t know the verb, I looked it up or guessed from context.

Pros and cons of this grammar method

You’ll notice that I learned grammar through my native language. Even now, I don’t like talking about grammar rules. I prefer using “language feeling” to understand sentences.

This method has a big advantage. If English isn’t your first language, it helps you start reading without memorizing grammar. But it also has a weakness. It doesn’t help much with writing. You’ll need extra practice for that.

So if you find some awkward sentences in my blog, I hope you’ll forgive me. Since graduation, I’ve focused on reading and teaching beginner-level English.

Back to phonetics

Reading aloud is important. But writing is just as powerful. Write a word once. It’s better than reading it ten times.

In today’s world, everyone has a phone. But if you can slow down and write out words and phonetic symbols, trust me—you’ll be surprised by how much you learn.

Don’t worry about getting it wrong. Try sounding out the word. The version that flows best might be the right one.

That’s my strange journey of learning English. If you enjoyed it, feel free to give it a like. And if you have your own story, I’d love to hear it.