The important point is that I have no idea how high his native language learning ability was。He certainly had no opportunity，no environment for language learning。But just by the effort of hard work was he able to learn English。
So after all is said and done，I have to say that native ability is important。Environment or opportunity is also important。But hard work is essential。A person may have the highest natural ability for language learning，but if he does not work hard，he will not learn any second language。Likewise，a person may have little or no opportunity or environment for second language learning，but if she works hard，she will master the language。
Hard work is necessary，but it also has to be the right kind of hard work。We all know students who work hard for years to learn English，but have little to show for all their activity。Why？In my opinion，it is because 1）they do not understand the nature of language，and 2）they do not spend their language-learning energy in the right way。
Most people seem to think that language is reading and writing。Or perhaps studying grammar，learning vocabulary，and doing transla-tion will enable one to learn a language。Certainly，a student cannot ignore any of those things，especially because our Chinese education system tests for knowledge and skills in those areas。
However，most simply and most importantly，language is none of the above。Rather，language is an oral means of communication be-tween people。That means speaking and listening。It also means using the language in actual conversation，not just as a school subject to get a grade on。
So if language is an oral means of communication between people，what sort of“hard work”should one be doing to master it？I would suggest four principles。
Mimicking is the first rule。That means listening carefully to the way something is said，and then trying to say it as closely as possible to the way it sounded。Unfortunately，most people think they are mimicking，but they are not；they are just“reading”what they think they heard。Let me explain what I mean。
If a learner of English hears an American say，“What do you mean？”and tries to copy it，it does not come out sounding at all like the way the American said it。The American actually says something like，“Waddaya mean？”But the Chinese English learner tries to picture what those words look like on the printed page，and then reads them with his“mind’s eye。”As a result，he says“what do you mean，”not“waddaya mean。”He sounds like he’s reading a book，not talking！That is not mimicking。
In order to truly mimic，the learner concentrates on all the sounds she hears in a phrase，and simply tries to reproduce the sounds as closely as possible，without thinking about how the words are spelled。A good tool for this is one of those tape recorders where you can hear a phrase，record yourself copying it，and then listen to both the original and your recording to determine how closely you mimicked it。
The second principle is to learn language as a skill rather than as a school subject。All the other subjects-math，literature，science，politics，etc。-are“knowledge content”courses。The student ac-quires new information，learns to manage it，and then is said to have“learned”the subject。
Language is not learned like that。Of course，there is knowledge involved in the acquisition of language，but the learner is primarily developing a skill，which is a different way of learning。It is not so much learning about something as it is doing it。That means practice-speaking and listening-lots of it，and often。
I was 17 when I learned to drive a car。Before I ever did it，I knew all about how to drive。I knew all about steering wheels，gear shifts，clutches，brakes，and accelerators。For years I had watched other people drive。I had read about cars，about drivers and driving，and had passed the written examination which was about automobile systems and the rules of the road。
But I will never forget the first time I actually sat in the driver’s seat。I tried to do everything I knew about to make the car move，but there was no way I could make it go smoothly，I scared the driving instructor by almost hitting a few roadside things，and almost injured myself when I applied to brakes too hard and suddenly。It took weeks of daily practice before I developed the skill to make the car go smoothly and safely。Now，after many years of driving，I don’t even think about what I am doing，because I am highly skilled，I do it automatically，without thinking，and I can go safely down the highway at high speed，with myself and my passengers perfectly relaxed。
The principle is the same in language-learning。The student may have knowledge of grammar and vocabulary，but until he practices-listens and speaks-on a daily，skill-building schedule，he will not learn the language。There has to be a lot of practice，and often。