Chapter 13: English Lv1, Obtained Trait: Language Intuition Mastery
Han Xiaolan was still dressed in a trench coat today. She walked into the classroom, placed her handbag and water cup on the podium, and told everyone to take out the English exercise books they had previously received.
"We'll continue going over the problems this class. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions."
Unlike the key high schools in the city, Dongping No. 1 High School, despite holding the top position among county high schools, still lagged significantly in educational resources. Therefore, English classes were not conducted entirely in English.
Xu Ming looked at the exercise book spread open on his desk and realized that nearly half of the problems in the back hadn't been completed.
Recalling his previous life, before entering university, he had indeed struggled significantly with English, having a serious academic imbalance.
A slight feeling of shame welled up in his heart.
"I still need to drill these problems," he muttered to himself, deciding to do the English problems while listening to the lecture.
Unlike subjects like Math and Physics, which focused on formulas, when facing actual English National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) problems, he could only rely on the vocabulary and grammar knowledge he possessed.
It was difficult to guarantee absolute accuracy.
To become the Gaokao Top Scorer and secure the school and county bonuses, he needed to score near-perfect marks in every subject.
In such a situation, for core subjects like English and Chinese, not doing enough problems to develop a "feel" for them would definitely not suffice.
Just like that.
As time passed minute by minute, his English Subject Experience Points finally began to rise.
[Through diligent study, your [English] proficiency has increased, gaining 2 Experience Points.]
[Through diligent study, your [English] level has been raised to Lv1.]
[You have obtained the Entry – [Language Intuition Mastery].]
[Entry: Language Intuition Mastery]
[Effect: Your foreign language intuition ability has been significantly enhanced.]
"This is... my English subject level has increased?"
Xu Ming's attention for the entire class had primarily been on the exercise book. He had forgotten that his English Subject Experience Points were close to the upgrade requirement, only reacting when he noticed the sudden panel information.
He paused briefly, then quickly checked the newly drawn Entry.
"It's actually Language Intuition Mastery."
When the Entry name and effect jumped into his sight, he was instantly overjoyed. It was like receiving a pillow just when he was sleepy – a perfectly timed solution.
As someone who had passed the CET-6 (College English Test Band 6) in university in his previous life, he knew very well what Language Intuition Mastery represented.
Whether in high school or university, it could be said to be an advanced ability in foreign language learning.
Simply put.
Language intuition is an intuitive perception and instinctive reaction to a foreign language.
For example, upon hearing or seeing a sentence, even without analyzing its structure, one can feel whether it is grammatically correct.
Especially when doing problems, one can quickly pinpoint the most logically sound answer based on the overall 'flow' of the context. Even when encountering unfamiliar or rare words, or complex sentence structures, one can accurately infer their meaning by combining them with the full text, thereby speeding up problem-solving while increasing accuracy.
Often, only a minority of people possess a high level of language intuition.
Even without diligent study, they can still easily achieve high scores.
If one wished to cultivate it later in life, it would require extensive reading and listening, accumulating over a long period.
When he took the CET-4 and CET-6 exams, he had spent a considerable amount of effort and time to overcome his English weakness.
"This is truly great. With my language intuition enhanced, I no longer have to worry about written expression or listening comprehension."
After a brief thought, Xu Ming first controlled his excited emotions, calmed down, and immediately looked down at the written expression problem he hadn't yet tackled.
"Assume you are Li Hua."
"Your British friend Bob is coming to Yanjing to study Chinese. He wrote asking for your help in recommending a rental place. Please reply to him based on the following information."
...
With the ability of Language Intuition Mastery, English writing would have more natural sentence structure connections, accurately select words that fit the context and emotional tone, and avoid errors and awkward collocations.
Ensuring correct grammar usage.
After Xu Ming silently read through the subsequent conditional information, familiar words and phrases quickly appeared in his mind, and he completed their arrangement and combination to form a long article.
With almost no pause in his writing, he wrote out word after word.
"Dear Bob,"
"I'm glad to hear you're coming to Yanjing..."
In less than five minutes, he completed an English article of no less than 100 words.
The content was complete, the structure clear, and there were no grammatical errors.
"This written expression is pretty much full-score level," Xu Ming mused, examining his masterpiece with immense satisfaction.
But just as he was feeling pleased, his English teacher's voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Xu Ming."
"Could you translate this reading comprehension passage for everyone?"
Hearing this, he quickly looked up, only to see his English teacher, Han Xiaolan, standing beside his desk at some unknown point, looking at him with an encouraging expression.
Han Xiaolan had been quite satisfied with Xu Ming's study attitude these past few days.
Every time she came for the English morning self-study session, he was diligently memorizing vocabulary.
However, during regular class, he would switch to studying Math and Physics, which inevitably made her feel a sense of pity.
After all, in her impression, Xu Ming's English was relatively weak compared to other subjects.
He should really be spending more time reviewing it.
However, Wang Qingtao had specifically mentioned to her not to interfere with Xu Ming's personal study arrangements.
So, she couldn't force Xu Ming to study English.
After class today, she happened to notice Xu Ming taking out his English exercise book, and she couldn't help but feel pleased.
So, just as she walked up to him, she specifically called on Xu Ming, intending to explain common mistakes he might make.
Under the gaze of the entire class, Xu Ming habitually stood up, but his face was as bewildered as could be.
Now, asking him to translate a reading comprehension passage was naturally a piece of cake.
Frankly, if his accuracy was below ninety-five percent, he would feel ashamed himself.
The crucial point was...
He needed to know which passage to translate.
He had been so focused on doing the written expression problem earlier that he hadn't paid attention to where the lecture had gotten to.
Li Wenhui in the front row couldn't help but crane his neck to look back.
As the class monitor and Xu Ming's roommate, he knew that Xu Ming's English scores were the weakest. Seeing the expression on Xu Ming's face, he secretly concluded that Xu Ming definitely wouldn't be able to translate it.
"That reading comprehension has so many obscure words. If you could translate it, everyone would get full marks."
Xu Ming naturally didn't care what others were thinking. Just as he was about to directly ask the English teacher, he suddenly saw Qian Hong, quick as a flash, swiftly swap his English exercise book with his own.
Seeing this, Xu Ming's expression immediately filled with confidence.
He picked up the exercise book and began to translate immediately.
"The Sahara Festival is a celebration of modern history, and this three-day event's dates vary each year."
...
Although there were some words he didn't recall, he quickly grasped the main idea and details of the article.
Combining context and linguistic patterns, he inferred the meanings of words and sentences.
He literally turned the English translation into a prose recitation.
As his speaking speed grew faster and faster, the English teacher's initial surprise turned into astonishment and delight, her eyes brightening considerably.
Even students with good English scores, like Chen Lu, couldn't help but cast their gazes his way.
Please collect and follow along. To those big shots with recommendation tickets and monthly passes, please cast one to show your support!
(End of this chapter)