As members of Generation Y, most of us have always been using English as a first language, following on with our own Mother Tongue as second language. Learning English had definitely came from a long way but this journey never ends as it meant a daily routine for all of us.
I remembered how much I struggled back then in school as I felt I was not fluent in English. I never bothered to understand things like grammar etc. Everything that I wrote or said was based on my own way of interpreting English. It was frustrating when there were times I tried to explain my words to someone but there was difficulty getting the point across as I could not find the suitable words to fit in. Since primary school, my parents enrolled me in for two different English tuition classes to pull up my grades. They felt it was important for me to do well in a core subject.
Tuition had benefited me a lot in terms of ensuring that I'm able to keep up with my level of standard for the language and provided me another way of learning other than what was taught in school. Though many practice questions were provided, I was not able to do as well as I should because of my perspective towards English as a dry and difficult subject.
There was a point in time when I started writing extra essays as homework, picked up reading once in a while which I don't usually do so, for an independent way of self-learning. I'm glad it had helped me and made positive changes towards the way I used to look at English.
Tuition had benefited me a lot in terms of ensuring that I'm able to keep up with my level of standard for the language and provided me another way of learning other than what was taught in school. Though many practice questions were provided, I was not able to do as well as I should because of my perspective towards English as a dry and difficult subject.
There was a point in time when I started writing extra essays as homework, picked up reading once in a while which I don't usually do so, for an independent way of self-learning. I'm glad it had helped me and made positive changes towards the way I used to look at English.
Edited: 11/09/15, 22:08.
Edited: 16/09/15, 23:29.
Hi Pei Yan
ReplyDeleteHow did writing essays and reading books helped you in improving English?
What kind of books did you read?
Hi Kangyu! Writing essays helps me in thinking and to learn along the way on how to express my words better. Whereas reading books helps me in having ideas for narrative writings and I'm able to be exposed to new vocabularies and proper sentence structuring (for certain books). I used to read fiction books (eg. novels), but currently I'm hoping that I can read more of science fiction books.
DeleteHello Pei Yan,
ReplyDeleteI do not know what to reply you exactly. Based on my observation, you still have some grammatic issue in English like me. Using abbreviation in a blog is quite appropriate (so next time I also comment with abbreviation, yeah!). I can understand your feeling that English is dry. But we can always find a way to make it interesting or helpful in some ways. For example, people can treat the stories in the books as the fantastic Korean dramas and share with each other like after watching a good show. Of course, it is easy for me to say that but difficult to do, espeically when having time constraint as our greatest woe. For me, I hate story books, but I like to read English newspaper as it tells me the current issues I want to know. Hope you can find a way.....and most importantly, SHARE WITH ME!
Loves from
Hinnessy the Great
Hi Hinnessy! I do have to admit that when I'm reading books, I try my best to visualise the scenes with the story. Because of this, I always have a hard time to complete reading an entire book. I wished it was as easy as watching dramas too! Thank you for your comments, and hopefully we can find a way to learn English better!
DeleteHello Pei Yan,
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for your efforts in improving English through the essay writing and reading! I believe taking that first step to improving your English is really daunting.Besides,schools place a heavy emphasis on the Math and Sciences as compared to the Languages.And also,the mode of instruction in schools probably just didn't suit you.Perhaps,that's why you find English a dry and difficult subject.
Some minor things to nitpick on:
It will be better if you can include an example on how difficult it was to get your point across due to your poor command of English. Besides, You can further elaborate the impact of tuition, reading and essay writing has on your English grades! There are some minor grammatical errors in your reflections.
Lastly, thanks for sharing with us your English Learning Journey!
Cheers!
Hi Haiqing! Thank you for your comments. I will work on the grammatical errors!
DeleteI appreciate this honest, heart-felt reflection, Pei Yan. It speaks volumes to me of two things. One is that you have indeed accumulated lots of knowledge through the use and study of English. Your post is generally clear and concise. You are using English to communicate in a well focused manner at a good level.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I note is that, while you have been studying English since young, your writing shows many ***fossilized*** ‘errors.’ That is to say, you break many language conventions out of pure habit. See the list below:
1) As a Generation Y, English have always been a first language for most of us, following on with our own Mother Tongue as second language. >>> (dangling modifier) Who is from Generation Y? Not English!
Try this: As members of Generation Y, most of us have always been using English as a first language, following on with our own Mother Tongue as second language.
2) Learning English has definitely came from a long way but this journey never ends as it means a daily routine for all of us. >>> (wrong verb form)
3) I remembered how much I struggled back then in school as I felt I was not English smart at all. >>> (verb tense
4) Everything that I have wrote or said were based on my own way of interpretation of English. >>> (verb tense / wrong word form)
Try: Everything that I wrote or said was based on my own way of interpreting English.
5) Since primary school, my parents have enrolled me in for two different English tuition classes to pull up my grades. >>> (verb tense)
6) Tuition has benefited me a lot in terms of ensuring that I'm able to keep up with my level of standard for the language and provided me another way of learning other than what was taught in school. >>> (verb tense)
7) to do well as I should >>>> (collocation) to do as well as I should
8) There was a point in time I started writing extra essays as homework, picked up reading once in a while which I don't usually do so, for an independent way of self-learning. >>> (verb tense)
I look forward to working with you!
Hi! Thank you for the comments and I had made the necessary changes as mentioned. I'm still trying to improve my English and I do really hope this module will be able to help. I look forward to the future lessons!
Delete