What is language for? Some people seem to think it’s for practicing grammar rules and learning lists of words—the longer the lists, the better. That’s wrong. Language is for the exchange ( 交流 ) of ideas and information. It’s meaningless knowing all about a language if you can’t use it freely. Many students I have met know hundreds of grammar rules, but they can’t speak correctly or fluently ( 流利地 ). They are afraid of making mistakes. One shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes when speaking a foreign language. Native speaking make mistakes and break rules, too. Bernard Saw once wrote, “Foreigners often speak English too correctly.” But the mistakes that native speakers make are different from those that Chinese students make. They’re English mistakes in the English language. And if enough native speakers break a rule, it is no longer a rule. What used to be wrong becomes right. People not only make history, they also make language. But a people can only make its own language. It can’t make another people’s language. So Chinese students should pay attention to grammar, but they shouldn’t overdo ( 做过头 ) it. They should put communication ( 交际 ) first.