An Unpleasant Experience I experienced an unpleasant English competition this morning… Firstly, the listening part didn't have the questions printed in the test paper as usual. I didn't know whether to listen to or browse the choices, and kept changing my focus between them. The result was I managed neither. Secondly, when I first saw the composition topic I thought it was easy, yet I failed to convey my ideas in the end. I don't know what was wrong. Vaguely I think it was due to that I couldn't think in English. The reasoning patern, which contains points and examples orderly, is so unfamiliar to me. I can't think logically as an native speaker (or so I thought) do, but only in my mother tongue. Nevertheless it showed me my problem and pointed out a direction in my English learning. Though I feel disappointed, it was a worthy experience after all.

A Brief Self Introduction (This is both for friends on italki and in preparation for a coming English competition.) My name is Suki. I'm a senior middle school girl from Fujian, a southeast province of China. When it comes to self introduction, it strikes me that it can be hard for one to describe oneself, as we are changing little by little with time. As for me, I dreamed of becoming an illustrator several years ago. It is fascinating to create a new imaginative world with just pencils and paints out of the commonplace of life. Yet I didn't get the chance to fulfill it. Then I found language a substitution, as a foreign language sets a bridge between me and across the sea, and thus enlarged my world. Now I have a dream of majoring in a foreign language in college, meeting different people and enjoying every colours of life as much as I wished to paint on the canvas. Also give me some advice on structures or better choices of words, or other suggestions if you would like : ) Thanks a lot.

Having trouble communicating face to face When trying to answer a question in English, I find it often hard to link words together in a short time so that they make a coherent sentence or paragraph. I have to think for a while to fetch a right word to express my thoughts. So I feel nervous chatting face to face. What should I do to improve my fluency? Thanks a lot.

Free as A Goose It was a nice warm spring morning when I was shuffling from my dormitory to class. Birds were singing overhead as if congratulating to the coming clement days. New young leaves came out to join in the paeans, and the gentle breeze of this season stroked my face briskly.I watched a white shadow glide behind the school gate, but nothing alleviated my lethargy due to the lack of sleep last and many other nights before. I'd never expected this white creature to become a bold intruder shortly after, however, for I simply regarded it as one of the many sea birds from the vicinity. A large snow-white goose it was, actually, flying over a string of students, flapping its wings and finally descending gently to the centre of the campus. It didn't fear of human. Instead we were astonished at its sudden and perculiar intrusion. It just stood motionlessly where it had landed, as if glued to the ground, yet it looked like a king inspecting his territory solemnly, eyeing us all as pity and ignorant puny creatures. Instead of heading straight to the teaching building I remained there and had minutes of eye contact with it. What beautiful creature and what a gift in this delighting morning. As I was going to be late, I reluctantly moved backwards, still facing the goose, step by step in the direction of my classroom. When I ascended to the first floor, I took a glance at where it stood. Things got even more interesting. It was several steps away from its "invisible palace", still cool and pride, but I could see three or four dama in our school uniform chasing it lumberly. It was going to be caught! I held my breath for it. Somehow it finally sensed an atmosphere of tension and flapped several meters away uneasily, but this was already a considerable distance for its hunters, as running goes much slower then flying. The dama chuckled and kept sneaking near, so it cleverly flew up to a higher platform. This time our dama felt rather impotent, but nothing frustrated their mind to catch the unexpected walking feast. One of them tried to reach clumsily to the goose. The instance it flew vigilently up to the top of a tree, and the next second it soar into the sky handsomely, and finally left from where it had entered. What a soul of freedom. It goes to where it likes and has the ability to escape persecution and to leave when it likes. I've never seen a human being as free as this goose.

An Impossible Task This morning we had a special math test aiming to test students' abstract-thinking ability. One of the problems is to prove a formula, Sn=(a1+an)/2, using the methodology of number-shape combination, for example, the area formula of a trapezoid. The instant I recalled how my physics teacher had proved the displacement formula last year. I drew a trapezoid as she did, and I endeavoured to explain how the rectangles add up to a whole trapezoid. After minutes' hard work, I managed it and went on to the next question. After we handed in the paper, school was already over.I felt content for having finished most of the problems. Nothing was wrong, or at least I thought so, until a boy from the downstairs asked casually if we'd found there was a mistake in the problems - The formula given to be proved was wrong!!! It dropped an 'n'! I was fooled by the wrong formula from the beginning! God knows how I managed to prove it. At least this abdominable problem taught me a lesson: as long as you believe in it, nothing is impossible.

received a Girls' Day gift! It's been exactly a week since the Girls' Day (a special day for the girls to make wishes, and receive gifts according to their wishes), and I've totally forgot about (or rather dismissed) my whishes to receive a gift, until this afternoon. One of my classmates handed me a little black bag and told me someone had intended it to me, probably as a Girls'Day gift. I was overjoyed and cried out so loud when I opened the gift and saw BBC Sherlock's loooong face×, that all the class turned their curious eyes on me. The kind-hearted little angel was an anonymous girl, and this is all I know about her save a note she left under the cards printed with Sherlock and John's images. It said in the last,"Cheers to the doctor and the detective!!! " It's really a good day and I can even feel sunshine in the cold and cloudy weather outside. And I decided to return this kindness by pass it on. I planed to realize another girl's little wish.