People often ask me for suggestions about how to learn English. As for it, everyone is different. I’ll share some of my experience. I once took a school year English course in Wuhan University, but I mostly learned English on my own.

One thing I can tell you is that, once you’ve started learning, you should try to think in English as much as you can. If you see something when you’re riding your bike or walking down the street, just think about “How would I say them in English”? At first, it might be with simple words or phrases, but later you should think about longer phrases and sentences. Now I’m in America, and for most of the time, I would think in English and speak it directly. It’s amazing how much this helps.

For several years after I started learning, I was often afraid of talking with others in English because I didn’t want to make mistakes. Finally I got it over. And while traveling in America, I’d try to hang out with friends who couldn’t speak Chinese, so that I’d have no choice but to speak English. After that, my English started improving much more quickly.

Besides, it may be a good idea to ask your American friends to look at the way you’re writing, and give you some suggestions for improvement.

Do you want to be happier? Well, you can do something about it. Some psychologists（心理学家）believe that 10% of your happiness is due to life conditions and 40% is the result of your own choices. Your own choices include how you manage your time at school, your relationships, your friends, your activities and your health. So you have a lot of control over how happy you feel. 【小题1】 Here are some tips on how to do that.

Surround yourself with positive people. Spend time with positive people and your ideas will become active. On the other hand, good friends will encourage, support, and lift you up when you’re down. 【小题2】 That’s also true for the people that we work with .

Don’t try to be perfect. Remember that nothing can ever be perfect. 【小题3】 Instead think about what you already have. Think about what you’ve already done. Think of where you are today as a step towards tomorrow. Don’t try to be perfect, just try to do things well with excellence.

Focus on now. Don’t think about all the things that can go wrong, like failing at school or your friend leaving you. Thinking like this only results in worry and stress, which is a waste of time and energy. 【小题4】 Just worry about making today great, because the best way to be happy is just to enjoy each day.

Compare yourself to yourself, not to other people. There will always be someone smarter, or richer, or better looking or more successful than you. There will always be someone with a bigger house and a bigger boat than you. Someone will always have more. Rather, look at what you have got and who you are, accept and value that. Work toward being a better one than you were last month or last year. 【小题5】 And you will feel a lot happier with, and about yourself.