Autobiographical Pictures by Diane Dai 2

My name is Diane. I am a college student from Taiwan; I major in English, it’s my only specialty. In the future, I will focus on English literature and know more about it. Although, I study in a Catholic university, I don’t have any religious beliefs.

Taiwanese education is very inflexible. Getting good grades is the main target for the students; it makes our brain absorb the knowledge passively. When I have an exam, I always try to get good grades. If I fail, I may be blue all day! All I care is having higher scores, I don’t care if the knowledge is in my head or not. This is bad; learning is not for testing but for using.

There are four children in my family; my parents are both teachers, one teaches English literature, the other is math. Inside my home, most of the things are books. We love to read; there are many kinds of books, science, literature, encyclopedia…etc. I think my home is already like a small library.

I am an introvert. I have problem with talking to strangers or people who I am not familiar with. I am not good at socializing with strangers, I have serious problem about that. My friends always say that they thought I was not easy to get close. I’m not a talkative person, but I’m pretty easygoing and a good listener.

Reading is my favorite, especially fantasy novels. There are so many authors’ imaginations; I can meet many things that don’t exist in the reality and visualize them in my mind. Fantasy novels lead me into many unreal worlds in order to escape from the reality. I like to experience the different types of the adventures through books. When I have free time, I usually use the internet to improve my English; I often browse the websites of BBC and CNN to learn English. There are a lot of practical articles and news that can learn knowledge and the use of the language.

When I was a child, my mom has already taught me simple English. She used poetry and stories to help me get interested in English. I became interested in English literature from that time. There is a lot of fun reading literary works; I can think what meanings authors are trying to let me know. A lot of meanings are contained in simple stories, poems and articles; I like to figure out the implication inside the articles.

After finish my college, I want to study abroad to get my master’s degree and PH.D. My ideal job is teacher; I wish I can be a professor in a university. Besides, being a teacher can still learn a lot of things, just like a student.