English majors feel that they can't learn much every time they attend self-study classes! Compared with science students, science students have a sense of accomplishment if they can solve a big problem or understand a principle, while English majors don't have that sense of accomplishment even if you read several articles and remember words several times! This is because linguistics itself is a process of "internalization", just like exercise. After a day or two, you won't see any effect, but after a long time, the effect will be remarkable! I graduated with a major in translation, and now I would like to make the following suggestions according to your situation:
(1) Be sure to lay a solid foundation. The foundation is not only reflected in how many words and texts are recited, but more importantly, it is used!
Listening: You must improve your listening through dictation. After four years, I think the only effective way to improve English is dictation. There are a lot of dictation materials online (most listening teachers will ask for dictation)! In addition, English movies are also an effective means to improve listening, paying attention to their authentic expressions, oral English and situational communication.
It is said that this link is a disadvantage for most English learners. English majors don't want to speak English (because they are shy and afraid that others will say that their spoken English is not good, which is not the case). This feeling is because we mechanically think that oral English ability is phonetic ability, which is a big mistake. Oral English ability is not only reflected in pronunciation, but more importantly, it is an exercise of logic and thinking. So we should overcome this illusion and speak out boldly. I suggest taking part in more English competitions, such as speech contest, dubbing contest, drama performance, English song contest, etc. (appropriate choice according to personal circumstances); Third, keep up with foreign teachers, which is very useful for improvement.
Reading: Reading quantity is one of the important indicators reflecting English learners' English learning achievement. Personally, I suggest you find your favorite type of English novels (about 4-8 books for four years in college, the more the better) and read them carefully. The following is my personal experience: I bought two books at that time, but they were both very thick. When I don't do my homework or have leisure time, I carry an English-Chinese dictionary+novel+notebook for self-study. Whenever I meet new words, I look them up and write them down in my notebook, especially the words I am interested in. After a long time, as long as I can finish reading one or two books, I don't have to memorize words for the TEM-8 exam, and I have accumulated them.
Writing: So far, I am very grateful to my English teacher in Grade Two. He asked us to keep a diary every day during the holiday. Although I didn't feel anything when I wrote it at that time, I wrote down every article carefully, and I didn't consciously feel something after writing it. Up to now, I feel that writing English compositions is much easier than writing Chinese compositions (saying so much means writing more things, but as long as you don't have to write them out completely, you should still read them. Reading more helps to accumulate writing materials and authentic expressions!
The first part is mainly necessary for English majors. Let's talk about translation in detail:
(2) As for translation, usually find some materials to translate, which can be your favorite materials, but don't just stare at what you like, because more translations don't meet your interests in the future. Personal experience: I have plenty of time to write papers in the next semester of my senior year, which is also very boring. After translating several papers for students of other majors, I suddenly broadened my mind and handled various clauses with ease, so I said, practice more! Of course, some theoretical things need to be accumulated, such as translation skills, especially the handling of long sentences and attributive clauses.
(3) Finally, let's talk about the feelings after four years in college as a whole: freshmen and sophomores must lay a solid foundation for intensive reading, and only with a solid foundation can we handle the translation of long and short sentences with ease. Junior and senior students pay attention to the accumulation of extensive reading, and constantly accumulate various materials to improve their comprehensive translation ability. Don't neglect English listening. For four years, I have to have dictation training at any time. You don't have to force yourself to memorize vocabulary books or anything. If you can solve the interesting new words you encounter in textbooks and reading, you certainly don't need to recite (memorizing vocabulary books has a feature: memorizing one unit and forgetting the last one, so you will fall into repetition again and again. Ironically, many people always stay in the first one or two units and the last one. . . . It is for this reason).
Finally, aside from the topic, as an English major, we must learn to teach ourselves regularly, endure loneliness and avoid the way of self-study on whim; English majors should be willing to pay for themselves! Tip: In addition to learning English well, we must remember that "English is just a tool". If you can develop one or two subjects and topics of interest on the basis of strong English, your future will be very promising!
Put it here for the time being: welcome questions!