An Unexpected Discovery

As someone born after 1995, I've been learning English since childhood and grew up being tormented by various English tests. From elementary school vocabulary dictations, middle school cloze tests, high school reading comprehension, to college CET-4 and CET-6 exams, I've taken pretty much every English test possible. However, whenever I encountered foreigners, it was like I was under a spell - my brain would freeze, my tongue would tie up, and I couldn't even manage basic greetings smoothly.

I remember once in the subway, a foreign tourist asked me how to get to Tiananmen Square, and I froze for what felt like forever, eventually resorting to gestures to give directions. At that moment, I felt like my decade-plus of English learning had been wasted. Then last year, I made what my parents considered a crazy decision - to go backpacking around the world alone for a month.

My thinking was simple: I had already quit my job, had enough savings, so why not see the world while I'm young? Little did I know that this trip would not only show me the world's wonders but also unexpectedly solve my English speaking problems that had troubled me for years.

Breakthrough Moment

I remember when I first landed in Sydney, feeling both excited and nervous. Excited to finally set foot on this dream destination, nervous about having to rely entirely on English for the next month. On the first morning, I walked into a cozy-looking coffee shop, planning to get a coffee to wake myself up.

Standing at the counter, my brain was racing, trying to organize my thoughts. Despite watching countless videos about ordering coffee in English, when it came to the actual moment, I was so nervous I stumbled even over the basic "I want." I could feel my face burning and my palms sweating.

The barista was a handsome guy with a small mustache, looking to be in his early thirties. He noticed my nervousness and patiently waited for me to finish my broken "I want a cup of latte." Then, he gave me a particularly warm smile and said, "Take your time, mate."

At that moment, I suddenly realized that the real language environment was so accepting and friendly. I had always been afraid of making mistakes and being laughed at, but in reality, most people are very understanding of non-native speakers' difficulties and won't judge you for grammatical errors or non-standard pronunciation.

This realization gave me tremendous encouragement. In the days that followed, I started initiating conversations with strangers, no longer so concerned about whether my pronunciation was standard or my grammar was correct. Gradually, I found that speaking English became more and more natural and fluent.

Language Progress

This month of travel brought language improvements far beyond my expectations. Before leaving, I took a TOEIC test, and the results weren't great, especially in listening where I only scored 350 points. But when I took the test again after returning home, my listening score had jumped to 500 points - an increase of 150 points!

This improvement wasn't just reflected in test scores but also in daily life. Previously, I had to watch English movies with bilingual subtitles, but now I can understand 80% of the dialogue. Sometimes when walking down the street, I can naturally understand what foreigners are saying. It's a particularly wonderful feeling, like suddenly opening a new window and being able to understand more voices in this world.

I found that I no longer needed to translate Chinese to English in my head when speaking English. Many times, I could think and express myself directly in English. For instance, in London, I met a lost Japanese couple, and I could naturally give them directions in English, even explaining which route was faster and which had better scenery.

What delighted me most was that I started to understand various English accents. You know, English isn't just standard British or American accents - there's Australian, New Zealand, Indian, and so on. I was quite worried about this issue at first, but in actual experience, adapting to various accents wasn't as difficult as I imagined once you listen and speak enough.

Learning Secrets

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

My biggest breakthrough during this trip was actively stepping out of my comfort zone. I chose to stay with locals through Airbnb instead of standardized chain hotels. This choice forced me to communicate with hosts in English, from simple greetings to deep conversations, creating opportunities to practice English every day.

One of my hosts was a retired English teacher who particularly enjoyed chatting with guests. Every morning during breakfast, she would ask me where I went the previous day and what interesting things I saw. At first, I could only answer with simple words, but she always patiently guided me, helping me find more accurate ways to express myself.

Once, when I wanted to say "this building is very beautiful," I said just that: "This building is very beautiful." She told me that native speakers tend to use words like "stunning," "gorgeous," or "magnificent" to describe impressive buildings. Through such daily conversations, my vocabulary expanded unconsciously.

Practice is King

The week I spent working on a farm in New Zealand was perhaps the most special experience of this trip. Through WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), I found a farm where I could work in exchange for accommodation. The farm owners were a couple in their sixties who ran an organic vegetable farm.

Working on the farm taught me many professional vocabulary words. Words like "irrigation," "fertilizer," "pesticide," "harvest," and so on. These words are now deeply etched in my mind because each word is connected to specific scenes and stories.

Getting up at 6 AM every morning, I had to help check the irrigation system to ensure all plants got enough water. The farm owners taught me how to judge soil moisture and adjust sprinkler angles. Through these practices, "irrigation" was no longer just a symbol in a textbook but became a word with warmth and stories.

In the evenings, the farm couple often invited me to have dinner together. At the dinner table, we would talk about our day's work, our cultures, and our understanding of agriculture. Although my expression wasn't very fluent, they always patiently listened to me finish and then responded. This relaxed atmosphere made me completely let go of my fear of making mistakes and start enjoying the process of communicating in English.

Specific Methods

Advance Preparation

Pre-departure preparation was actually very important. I downloaded the Dou Ban Dictionary and Hello Talk language learning app, which were both incredibly helpful during my travels. Dou Ban Dictionary not only lets you look up words but also provides many authentic example sentences, especially colloquial expressions. Hello Talk helped me meet many language partners, and we often had voice chats, which laid a foundation for the later travel.

I also prepared a small notebook specifically for recording new words and good expressions. Research shows that this kind of immediate recording method can increase vocabulary retention by about 40%. My recording method was simple: write the word or phrase on the left, and the context and usage scenario on the right. For example, when I learned "arvo" (slang for afternoon) in Australia, I wrote "See you this arvo! - Said by an Aussie guy when inviting me to go surfing in the afternoon."

Besides language tools, I also did some cultural homework. I researched basic etiquette and taboos of each country I was going to visit and learned about some local customs. These preparations helped me avoid many awkward moments later and made it easier to connect with locals.

Daily Accumulation

I set myself a rule: write at least 300 words of diary in English every day. It was indeed difficult at first, often getting stuck not knowing how to express something. But I told myself it was okay, just use Chinese for words I didn't know, just get the thoughts out first.

As time went on, my English writing ability improved noticeably. From initial chronological recording (Today I went to... Then I saw...), to later being able to describe feelings, record insights, and even try using some beautiful sentences to describe the scenery I saw. Now when I look back at these diaries, I can both relive the beautiful memories of travel and see my progress in language expression.

Besides writing diaries, I tried to create practice opportunities whenever possible. When visiting museums, I would choose English audio guides; when ordering at restaurants, I would chat more with the servers; when meeting dog walkers in parks, I would actively pet their dogs and chat with the owners. These seemingly ordinary conversations accumulated to produce magical effects.

Unexpected Gains

Cultural Perspective

Through this trip, I not only improved my language ability but more importantly gained new cultural perspectives. For example, in Britain, I discovered that "How are you?" is really just a greeting, people aren't actually asking how you've been recently. The first time someone asked me this, I seriously talked about my recent experiences, but their confused expression made me realize I had misunderstood.

In America, I learned to use "What's up?" as a greeting and discovered the high frequency of "awesome" and "cool" in daily conversation. In Australia, I found they like to abbreviate all words, like "breakfast" becoming "brekkie" and "mosquito" becoming "mozzie." These cultural differences made me realize that language isn't just a tool for communication but also a carrier of culture.

I also discovered that people from different countries have very different social distances. Americans tend to be more outgoing and like chatting with strangers; British people are relatively reserved and need some warm-up time before opening up; while Australians gave me the impression of being both friendly and casual, particularly easy to get along with.

Friend Circle

The most unexpected gain from this trip was meeting friends from all over the world. Now I have 15 pen pals from different countries on Instagram, and we often communicate in English, sharing our lives. This continuous language practice has made my English level continue to improve even after returning home, rather than regressing.

A French girl I met in London is now my best pen pal. English isn't her native language either, but we have no pressure communicating in English. We discuss food and culture from our respective countries and share interesting things from work and life. Through such exchanges, I discovered that English is no longer a hurdle I need to overcome but has become a bridge connecting the world.

During my travels, I also participated in some local social activities. For example, in Sydney, I attended a language exchange meetup where I met friends from Korea, Brazil, Spain, and other countries. Although we came from different cultural backgrounds and spoke different native languages, we could all communicate happily in English. This experience made me deeply appreciate the charm of language.

Practical Advice

Schedule Arrangement

Based on my experience, if you want to learn language through travel, timing arrangement is crucial. I suggest having at least two weeks, because language learning needs a process of adaptation and settling in. Research shows that language learning needs at least 10 days of continuous immersion to form muscle memory.

In my trip, I basically stayed 3-4 days in each place. This arrangement gave me enough time to deeply experience local life while not staying so long as to feel monotonous. I usually allocated time as: first day for adapting to the environment and familiarizing with surroundings, second day for visiting main attractions, third day for experiencing local life, fourth day for relaxing shopping or doing things I hadn't had time for.

I especially recommend everyone leave one "free day" in each place, don't schedule too tightly. Sometimes the best language learning opportunities come from unplanned encounters. For example, on my free day in Edinburgh, I met a very talkative elderly gentleman in a bookstore, and we chatted for an entire afternoon, from Scottish history to modern technology, and this conversation greatly exercised my speaking ability.

Communication Tips

During this trip, I summed up several practical communication tips. First, don't be afraid of making mistakes. Remember, native speakers are far more tolerant than we imagine. According to a survey, 90% of native English speakers say they care more about communication content than grammatical accuracy.

Second, learn to use simple words and sentences to express complex ideas. Don't feel you must use advanced vocabulary to show good English. Sometimes, accurately expressing with simple words is more important than using complex words incorrectly. For example, if I want to express "this scenery amazes me," rather than wracking my brain for a very advanced word, it's better to simply say "This view is amazing."

Third, make good use of body language and expressions. When words fail, appropriate body language can help expression. When I was in Italy, although I couldn't speak Italian, I could actually manage basic communication with locals through English plus exaggerated gestures.

Finally, learn to actively create communication opportunities. For example, chat with people next to you while queuing at coffee shops; actively help others take photos at tourist spots; find chances to chat with neighboring passengers on public transport. These are all good opportunities to practice speaking.

Future Outlook

This trip completely changed my understanding of language learning. I discovered that language learning shouldn't be confined to classrooms but should go out and be learned and used in real environments. After returning home, I started planning at least one language study trip per year.

My next goal is Spanish. I plan to stay in Spain for a month next year to experience the charm of another language. I believe through this immersive learning method, I can learn faster and better than taking classes in China.

Actually, language learning isn't so scary, the key is finding a method that suits you. Like my experience this time, combining learning with travel not only doubles the efficiency but also brings lots of happiness. Everyone can find their own way of language learning, the important thing is taking the first step and bravely stepping out of your comfort zone.

In this globalized era, mastering a foreign language is like having a key to open a new world. It not only helps us communicate with more people and understand different cultures but also makes our lives richer and more colorful. So, if you're also interested in language learning, why not try this method of combining travel and learning? I believe you'll also have unexpected gains.