Do you need to leave China to improve your English? 提升英语水平需要出国吗？

Hey everyone! First I’d like to say thanks for all of the comments and upvotes!
大家好！收到这么多评论和赞，首先要向大家表示感谢！

Today I want to talk about a topic that I feel is very important to many of my Chinese friends. Do you really need to go overseas to improve your English?
今天我主要想跟大家聊聊一个现代中国人都很关注的问题。想学好英语一定要出国吗？

Going overseas to study is not just for the super-rich anymore. More and more it’s becoming a part of middle-class Chinese life. But I’ve heard so many people worry about not having enough money to send their children, or not enough time to go themselves.
出国留学现在已经不再是有钱人才能做的事了。越来越多的中产阶级家庭都可以支付得起留学费用。但是我还是听说很多人有很多担心，比如送孩子出国资金不够，或者是自己想出国又没时间等等。

I want to tell you that you don’t need to go overseas to improve your English. You’ve got all the resources you need at home!
我想告诉大家的是，其实学好英语并不需要出国。实际上，你足不出户，但已经坐拥了所有资源。

For example, I have a very good friend in Shanghai. He can speak English. Not particularly fluently, but he can speak it. He would love to go to America to improve his English, but he can’t take that much time off of work.
举个例子，我有一个好朋友，他在上海。他会讲英语。虽然说得不是很流利，但是他还是会说英语。他很想去美国提升自己的英语水平，但他还得工作，没有那么多时间。

Now, what’s interesting is that this same friend has already been to America! He lived there for 3 years and his English didn’t improve one bit! Why? Because he spent all of his time in Chinatown! And now he wants to go back. Will this time be different? I doubt it!
但是有趣的是，这位朋友实际上已经去过美国了。他曾经在美国住了三年，但他的英语水平没有一点长进！那是为什么呢？因为他所有时间都花在了唐人街上。现在他又想再回去美国。那这次结果就会不同吗？我认为并不见得。

On the other hand, I have many friends in China who have never been overseas, and they speak amazing English. They have taken advantage of all of the resources available to a modern Chinese student: the internet, TV, and of course Western people who live in China. They watch English media, and speak English whenever they can. Don’t forget that in a city like Shanghai there are literally millions of English speakers!
另一方面，我有很多朋友在中国，他们也从未出过国，但他们的英语说得很棒。他们利用了现代社会的各种资源：网络、电视、当然还有来中国的外国人。他们会看英语媒体节目，一有机会就练习英语。而且别忘了，在上海这样的城市，说英语的人不会少于几百万。

What happens when Chinese students go overseas? Like my friend, they meet other Chinese! Do you think they speak English to each other? It’s the same with foreigners in China. Why bother to learn Chinese when all of your friends speak English?
但那些出国的中国学生怎么样了呢？就像我朋友一样，他们会去找其他中国人玩！你真的认为他们彼此之间会讲英语吗？这就像在中国的外国人一样。如果你所有的朋友都说英语，干嘛还要费劲学汉语呢?

I understand that China is a huge country, and not every Chinese person has the same resources that a person living in a 1st tier city has. Also, I don’t want to tell anyone not to go overseas because there are lots of other great reasons to go.
我知道中国很大，在一线城市里的这些资源不是所有中国人都能获得。并且，我也不会劝大家不要出国，因为毕竟出国还是有很多其他好处的。

You don’t need a passport or a visa to study English. You just need to want to study it.
所以，学英语不需要办护照办签证，只需要你的一颗想学习的心！