培訓機構衆生相 上英語培訓班有用嗎

Already a graduate student from Xi’an Jiaotong University, Huang Weiming, 24, a finance major, feels like he is preparing for another college entrance exam this summer vacation. Learning English vocabulary, attending lectures and doing endless tests has become a daily routine. Huang is hoping to improve his English by taking a GRE training class.

今年24歲的黃維銘畢業於西安交通大學金融專業，今年暑假他卻像複習高考一樣爲另一項考試做着準備：GRE；爲了提高英語水平，他參加了GRE考試訓練班，於是背單詞、聽講座、做沒完沒了的訓練題就成了他的日常生活。

Like Huang, for many, taking English training courses to pass the GRE, TOEFL and IELTS exams is the first step to fulfilling their dream of studying abroad. There were 43 TOEFL exam sessions in 2013, a new record, and the number of Chinese TOEFL exam takers reached 300,000, according to the New Oriental training institution.

像黃維銘一樣，還有很多人爲了完成自己的出國夢，都參加過GRE、託福或雅思考試的英語培訓課。根據新東方培訓機構的統計，2013年（全國）共進行了43場托福考試，考生人數累計達30萬人。

So demand for English training courses is increasing. But such courses focus on teaching participants test-taking skills. How effective they are in improving students’ grades still depends on their overall language level. Therefore, the key for test-takers to pass the exams is to improve their comprehensive English ability.

英語培訓課程的需求也因此日益增加。但是，這些課程都以教授考試技巧爲主，而提分仍然取決於學生整體的語言水平。歸根結底，想要通過這些考試，提高綜合英語能力纔是關鍵。

Even so, learning new test-taking skills can be helpful for some. For example, time management used to be a challenge for Huang. But on the course he learned the golden rule that each gap-filling task should be finished within one minute in order to complete the test.

儘管如此，瞭解最新的應試技巧還是會對考試有所幫助。例如，黃維銘一直很難合理安排考試時間，但是通過上課，他才知道有這樣的“黃金法則”：只有將完成每道聽力填空題的時間控制在一分鐘之內才能做完卷子。

Also, these courses introduce students to the test format and teach them specific tactics to tackle different types of questions. For the reading part, Huang used to read the passages from beginning to end without taking any notes. But after taking the course, he now knows how to quickly find the right answers by marking the key words. “My efficiency and accuracy have both improved”, he says.

同時，這些培訓課程還會向學生介紹考試形式，以及應對不同類型題目的解題技巧。過去黃維銘在做閱讀的時候總是會一口氣從頭讀到尾，從不做標記。但是，上了課之後，他學會了如何通過標註關鍵詞快速找到答案。他說，“（通過上課）我的答題效率和準確性都有所提高。”

“Our aim is to allow students to familiarize themselves with the exams in a short time,” Tang Wenxin, 22, a teacher at New Oriental, says. But to make full use of such courses, the importance of self-study can’t be ignored.

今年22歲的唐文新是新東方的一名老師，他說，“我們的目標是讓學生在短時間內熟悉考試。”但是，要想讓培訓課程取得最好的效果，自學仍然很重要。

Rather than test-taking skills, Zhang Yang, 23, a business administration major at Anhui Jianzhu University who once took a one-month TOEFL training course, says she benefited from the atmosphere most.

培訓班帶來的也許不只是考試技巧。就讀於安徽建築大學、23歲的張洋說，她曾參加過一個月的託福培訓班，而令她收穫最多的卻是其中的學習氛圍。

“My teachers and classmates gave me helpful advice on writing personal statements and resumes. I know more about the application procedure for foreign universities now,” she says.

張洋說，“老師和同學在寫個人陳述和簡歷方面給了我很多有用的建議，同時讓我對國外大學的申請流程也有了更多的瞭解。”

Most training courses, however, don’t cater to individual needs as there are too many students. Sun Siyu, 21, an English major at Beijing University of Technology, is taking an IELTS training course with 100 students. “I often find the grammar knowledge we are taught is not what I need,” she says.

但是，大部分的培訓課程因爲學生衆多，很難滿足個人的具體需要。21歲的孫思雨來自北京科技大學，她參加的雅思培訓班上一共有100名學生，她說，“我時常覺得老師教的語法知識我並不需要。”

Besides, the teachers constantly tell jokes to keep the students motivated, which affects the quality of the class. “Sometimes, we just laugh and laugh. There is not much valuable content,” Sun adds.

同時，老師們爲了吸引學生的注意常常會講一些笑話，從而影響課程質量。孫思雨說，“有時候，我們只是一直在笑，課上並沒有什麼有價值的內容。”

Even if some students master test-taking skills, they still can’t get satisfactory grades. Zhang’s TOEFL training class aims to help students get a score of 100, but she only got 89.

而且，一些同學即使掌握了考試技巧，仍然不能取得滿意的成績。張洋曾參加的託福培訓班的目標是讓每個學生都得100分（注：新托福考試滿分爲120分），而她卻只得了89分。

Wu Xia, 43, an English teacher at Tsinghua University, says that the key to getting good grades in the exams is to improve students’ comprehensive English ability. Test-taking skills only help students get more familiar with the exams and perform at their normal level.

今年43歲的吳霞是清華大學的一名英語教師，她說，提高綜合英語能力纔是在考試中取得好成績的關鍵，而掌握考試技巧只能幫助學生熟悉考試，能夠正常發揮。