April English Practice Plan

For the first time in my life, I feel I am on track with reducing my accent! For the last two weeks, I have been reading posts on MYSJ, blogs of MYSJ goers, downloading and listening to podcasts about pronunciation, watching videos from youtube and blogs. I even bought a new headset to replace the crappy one Steve gave us. I am totally ready to embark on this exciting journey that I should have started 12 years (or even longer) ago.

With Xiao Qian's assignment for one lesson of 900 sentences each week, I will be finishing 15 sentences each week. With this pace, I will be done with 900 sentences in roughly a year (60 weeks to be exact). In the meanwhile, I don't want to stop NCE reading as I don't like the idea of giving it up at such an early stage, after having already benefited so much from just reading the first 4 passages. So my plan is to read NCE on my own, one or two passages each week. In addition, I am still looking for some non-textbook readings. Right now, I am not completely sure what materials to use. I might do some news reading (NPR hourly news, or CNN student news), mimic actress or talk show hostess (Annette Bening is one choice for actress. Terry Gross for talk show hostess, maybe?)
Why am I suddenly so motivated?
Because it is
1. A solution to my mid-life crisis. This is half-joking and half-serious. With Japan's devastating disaster in mid-March and my 37th birthday after that, I started thinking more about what I am living for and what will make me really really happy. I talked with my mitbbs friends about the first question. The conclusion is, it is easier to live on than to die by committing suicide. All cowards like me are still living. As to the latter question, I know I always have issues with my accent. After studying English for 26 years and living in the US for almost 12 years, it is ironic that I still don't feel comfortable with my spoken English. To be able to talk like a native speaker will make me really happy. In 2006, I tried with improving my English but gave up pretty quickly after I found a job and started working in a new environment.

2. A very good investment.
I was listening to Jason Hugo's Effortless English podcast the other day. His podcast program was not so great. What struck me was in one episode, he was talking about what's the best investment. I knew he was trying to sell his program, but after hearing the way he put it, I did feel picking up my English would be the best investment I can make for the coming three years. An improved, near-native spoken English would make me feel rich psychologically by boosting my self-confidence. It would be able to bring me better career opportunities if I decide to change my job and stop working from home when the kids are older.

Finding MYSJ was a blessing. I wish I knew this forum last time I wanted to work on my accent. Learning together with other English aficionados is a big help.