Knowing what you want and....

Sitting next to me on my flight home from Changsha is a young man studiously reading an English dictionary as thick as a brick! I cant help but ask. Turned out he was on his way to Hong Kong to take the SAT test, a qualifier to study in the States and he was working on polishing up his English.

More interestingly, not only did he speak English fluently and some Cantonese, Owen Wu spoke with a maturity beyond his years (he is hardly 17) and exuded an air of confidence.

I asked where he learnt his English and Cantonese.

"Self-taught" he replied seriously.

"How?" I could not help asking once again.

"Determination. Step by step" was Owen's simple formula. Starting from the basics such as reading every day (he reads New York Times), saying the words out loud and even reading the dictionary!

"How about a conducive environment (环境)?"

And Owen offered his wisdom once more "环境 is important, but not the most important. No one at home or in my school speaks English or Cantonese. What's most important is knowing what you want to achieve and getting it done'.

From a 17 year old from Changsha? That's doubly impressive.