 I am 18 years old. I'm from Monagwa, Nicaragua. When I started English, because in my country it's very important, and I like the English, it's good language. And how many years have you been studying English? Next time, one years. Oh, wow. Well, we're here in Seoul, South Korea at a seminar and I've come by the State Department for English teachers from across East Asia and the Pacific. And with me is Ben. Ben, why don't you introduce yourself? Okay, I'm Ben. I'm from China. I'm an English teacher. And I'm very glad that you mentioned that you love English. What do you love English? Oh, well, because my family is from the Atlantic Ocean and they also speak English more. How about that? I live in the Pacific Ocean. They don't speak English, only Spanish. And that is why I would like to speak English more. Do you find that... how has it been learning English? Do you feel it's been easy for you or difficult? Well, to speak, I think it's very easy for me. To write it is more difficult. Well, Ben, do you have any thoughts about... the speaking system comes easy, the writing not so easy? Yeah, of course. Speaking is always the easiest part. But don't worry, baby steps one step at a time. Today you're gonna... actually your English is good. So don't worry about that. Work on that. And you will learn how to write better. Do you read a lot? Do you read a lot in English? Sometimes when I have some time here. That's really important is you will, just by reading, high quality English texts. If you can go online on the internet and find books or newspapers, high quality reading materials, you will start absorbing the way English writing, good English writing, how it's written. And I think that's a piece of advice that English teachers often give. What do you think in terms of to improve his writing? Work on reading? Yes, work on reading, maybe a piece of news, maybe short novels, maybe some other stuff. Sometimes when you read like novels, it relates to your life. It's interesting and it will trigger you to read more. So for example, if you Google something called the Gutenberg project, what G-U-T-E-N-D-E-R-G, I believe project, you can find a list of like over 40,000 free ebooks that you might be able to read on your phone or on a computer. There are a lot of free ebooks. Often these are older books that are no longer under copyright. But classics. Exactly, classic books. And as Ben said, if the topic interests you, if it's about something important in your own life, you're going to want to read it and absorb the writing. Before you know it, you've already finished the book. That's right, before you know it, you've finished the book. And also I want to mention State of Department, they have a special website full of books also with audio. So it's an audio book. There you go. Okay, so what Ben's talking about is a website called the address is americanenglish.state.gov. So americanenglish.state.gov. And then our website, The Voice of America, VOA Learning English website. Also we have texts and audio, MP3s, and video, of course on our YouTube channel. It's the address is learningenglish.voanews.com. My name is Zay Ahmad Bakr. It's from Egypt. And my wife is from the United States. And after two months, I was coming in the United States, but I have not that English book. My English is not good. And tell us a little bit more about yourself. Yes, I am studying in a technology school. I want to learn my sense of more English. Because I want to be good. I want to be good in English. Because I tell you before, after one month or two months, I will be in the United States. And not anybody talk Arabic anymore. Everybody talk to me. It's Spanish and English. And I'm not that English good. Because it's a state. And I say, I want to do something. I say, I can do something, but this is not right. This is wrong. This is right. Can I make this? I have too much stuff. It's wrong in my mouth. I can't take it. How are you studying English? Like, at least I have a part here. At least, boy, I have a part here. But this is in Egypt. It's taking you in English for England. UK. There's no English here. So now, Ben, you're an English teacher. Do you have any advice about... He says he has problems with his mouth. You mean pronunciation and accent. Any advice? Yeah, sure. For me, I think your attitude matters. You know, you are working... You are calling to practice your English. This is really good. And right now, we have so many technology stuff like internet. So don't worry about British accent or American accent. You can always talk to America, right? Talk to them. Yeah, yeah. Do you use Skype much? Do you talk to friends or people? Yes, of course. Every day, I talk with my wife. My wife now is... I tend to keep coming back in the United States because she is brainless. And most situations in Egypt is not safe. And I tend to keep coming back. After I finish my job, I can't leave her. And most every day, I talk with she is internet. Before I call you now, I have to find out where she is and she is going to leave. Because now is like 11 o'clock in the United States now.