Truth told（1），I have never liked classrooms．For someone who now voluntarily spends a GREat deal of time in one this may seem an odd confession（2） so Ishall attempt to explain．
It's not really the classrooms themselves that I dislike，more the effect they can have on the people in them（3）．There is nothing quite as effective at turning a group of lively and intelligent people to sleep than（4） sitting them down behind a row of desks．
We concentrate education in schools and classrooms for the sake of efficiency．It simply wouldn't be practical to have learning in the places where we might eventually need it．There isn't time to study a language when we're visiting a country or attending a meeting and it would be extremely unwise．
The problem with classrooms is that we start to associate learning exclusively with the places where we're doing it（5）．
As soon as we walk out of the classroom we turn off，stop receiving and more often that not（6） forget ev- erything that has just been said．
Schools and other institutions don't make things any better by training teachers and students to switch on and off to a bell．
Anything not finished at this point is mentally set aside or possibly even discarded completely（7）．Worse still，some teachers will invent pointless activities to occupy the last few minutes of a lesson just so that it stretches to a required length．
There is no easy solution，but there is a lot to be said for trying to broaden our concept of education．It is incredibly limiting to think that we can only better ourselves by passively sitting and listening to teachers lecture．One way forward is to make a deliberate（8） effort to use what we are learning in the context of the outside world．
With languages this is easy．For better or worse，old cultural barriers are breaking down and languages， particularly English，are going global．In the modern world we are constantly bombarded with information that could help us to learn．
The inGREdients on packets offood and cosmetics are given in multiple languages，the lyrics of foreign pop songs usually are provided with the CD，and tourist attractions helpfully provide translations of their tour guides to read or listen to．
The Internet represents an almost infinite resource of foreign language material，with online radio and TV stations recently adding a new dimension．
Looking at things of interest to you will be far more productive than using textbook exercises set for a non-existent average．In school we are told what to learn and everybody is made to feel the same．
Outside we become individuals and should tailor（9） our learning to reflect this．Above all education should be relevant to our lives．If our classrooms cannot satisfy this demand then we must look to the world around us．
Notes：
1．truth told：to tell you the truth
2．confession：n．殉道行为
3．more．．．：修饰前半句的dislike，意为more dislike the effect of the classrooms
4．as effective．．．than：这是一种不正确的用法，正确形式为as effective ．．．as
5．to associate learning exclusively with the places where we're doing it：associate ．．．with，与……联系起来；exclusively，唯一地、排它地；the places where ．．．指教室；it指learning
6．more often than not：往往，多半
7．is mentally set aside or possibly even discarded completely：被搁置脑后，甚至有可能完全丢弃
8．deliberate：a．done on purpose；unhurried有意识的，不慌不忙的
9．tailor：v．（为适应某目的）作修改；适应特定需要
