Comments on: The magic of English

By: Jasmine Gagarin

Jasmine Gagarin — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 13:20:12 +0000

Wow. I have never heard of him but his success story is inspiring. I agree that self-confidence is also important in learning English. Actually, not just in learning but mostly on the speaking part. A lot of foreign language learners are very afraid to even speak English (even though they understand it) because they are afraid of mistakes and afraid of being judged.
Oh and another thing, this post also helped me realize that English do have different roles in different places/communities! Thank you!

By: khan

khan — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:36:43 +0000

Hi Jenny

Very interesting post indeed and a wonderful analysis of how people become social heroes. You have been very insightful in the last paragraphs of your post which for me is the key, the ability to exploit the ignorance of the common ordinary people on the acquisition of languages and its interconnection with power. Usually such discourses come in a nationalistic packages and in our case: nationalism+ religious fervor, two dominant strategies used by people in power or those who aspire to become powerful.

Thanks for the post.

Khan

By: Trueman May

Trueman May — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:00:39 +0000

I think Mr. Lee’s success indeed is one of the best manifestations of the Chinese cliche to the effect that the times makes the man. The tens of millions need to learn English for whatever purposes. But then, they do not have a good way to make the learning process easy enough to gain confidence and keep their initial zeal. This general but urgent need in society thus makes it possible to set up the stage for the the man, like what is said of whom in the above article, has opened an era in China: the Era of the Craze for English, with his idiosyncratic way of starting the English learning journey and his charisma as an unprofession-turned-professional.
Due to my scanty knowledge about Mr. Lee and his Crazy English, I can’t say very much in comment of the man and his career. I only hope that those who are at the moment crazy about Crazy English can become finally crazy about English after they have fulfilled their initial purpose of following the Father of Crazy English.

Trueman Ma

By: Dariush Izadi

Dariush Izadi — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:03:33 +0000

Hi Jenny
Thanks for your great post!
I have always wanted to learn about Li Yang’s apparently “practical” method. At CME (the Center for Macquarie English), where I teach EAP courses, there are a lot of Chinese students who have been influenced by Li Yang “Crazy English”. They said his method begins with pronunciation. The moment the learners have learned how to pronounce, they begin to prepare short speeches. These speeches are often not prepared by themselves, but taken from a book or other sources.
Some of my students said they’d improved a lot using this method because according to them it gave them a sense of self and overcame some of the major challenges they faced in English! They even told me this method has gained a massive popularity among Chinese celebrities, whose dream is to achieve international fame some day!
Thanks to your excellent post, now I know who Li Yang is!

By: Meera-chan

Meera-chan — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:07:05 +0000

He is a real hero!! I am an English learner, and I admire people like him.
Thanks for the valuable post!