July 10th, Wednesday, Sunny
Today was super hot! I woke up with the sun already shining brightly through my window. Mom said it was 35 degrees! After breakfast, I finished my math homework first. It was a bit difficult, but I managed. In the afternoon, I read an English storybook called “The Little Prince”. I learned some new words like “unique” and “tame”. I tried to write them down in my new notebook—my special summer English diary. Dad said practice makes perfect. In the evening, we had watermelon. It was so cold and sweet, the best thing on a hot day. I helped mom clean the table. A simple, sweaty, but happy day.
July 18th, Thursday, Cloudy
My cousin Lily came to visit today! We haven’t seen each other since Spring Festival. She’s in eighth grade now. We played badminton in the park in the morning, but it was too hot, so we came home early. We watched an English movie together, “Toy Story”. We turned off the Chinese subtitles sometimes to test our listening. I could understand quite a lot! Lily taught me a useful phrase: “Hang in there!” It means don’t give up. We talked about our schools and teachers. I miss my classmates a little. I ate two ice creams today. Maybe too many.
July 25th, Thursday, Rainy
It rained all day! The weather finally cooled down. I stayed indoors. I decided to organize my English diary. I drew some small pictures next to my past entries—a sun for sunny days, a watermelon for that day, a badminton racket for the day with Lily. It looks more colorful now. I practiced writing a short paragraph about my family in English. I described my mom’s cooking and my dad’s loud laugh. It felt funny writing about them in another language. The sound of rain was peaceful. I listened to some English songs and learned the chorus of “Count on Me”. A perfect day for staying in.
August 5th, Monday, Sunny
Big day! Mom and I went to the city library. It’s huge and so quiet. I found the foreign language section. There were so many English books for kids and teens. I borrowed a graded reader called “Mystery in New York”. It’s a level 2 book. The librarian was nice and said I could try a higher level next time if this one is easy. I felt proud. I spent two hours there just reading. On the way back, we bought new pens. I got a blue one with silver stars. It will be my special pen for this diary. I wrote today’s entry with it. The ink flows smoothly.
August 15th, Thursday, Hot again
The heat is back. I stayed home and helped mom with some chores. Then I faced a challenge—writing a diary entry entirely in English without using my Chinese-English dictionary first. Here it goes: “Today is very hot. I water the plants in the morning. They look thirsty. I help mom fold clothes. My favorite T-shirt is the blue one. In the afternoon, I read my library book. The story is exciting. The detective is smart. I want to be a detective too. Evening time, we have noodles for dinner. I watch the news with my dad. I am tired but good.” Well, it’s short and simple, but I did it all by myself! Mom said the sentences are clear. Good progress.
August 28th, Wednesday, Breezy
Summer vacation is almost over. I flipped through the pages of this diary. It’s not full, but every page has a memory. My handwriting at the beginning looks a bit messy, now it’s a little neater. I see the new words I learned: unique, tame, detective, challenge, progress. I see notes about sunny days, rainy days, family time, and my little trips. This diary is like a map of my summer, written in my slowly-improving English. I’m a bit sad vacation is ending, but I’m also excited to see my friends and tell them about my “English diary project”. Maybe I’ll keep writing on weekends. Goodbye, my summer of English and ice cream! Tomorrow, I’ll pack my school bag.