Everything
started only when I am back to Singapore.
Although
being a Singaporean, I grew up and studied in Malaysia. I had my education in a
Chinese Primary School and a Chinese Independent High School, which thus gives
rise to the reason I rarely spoke Chinese before I was 19. Every subject was
taught in Chinese, everybody speaks Chinese and actually speaking English will
most likely be treated as an alien there. Therefore, we did not have or to be
said that did not even want to even if we had chances to speak English.
When I was
back to Singapore in 19 for my further education, I faced my biggest ever
quandary. I did not expect such a profound English being used in lectures and
everyone has such a flair of English that I could not really get what is the
whole world trying to tell me. Then I decided not to let the disadvantage of
not mastering English to affect my journey to make friends and to convey my ideas
and thoughts coherently to others.
I told all
my friends whatever amusing reasons for your desire to speak Chinese with me, no,
please speak English. Of course, at the very beginning, it was very hard for me
to switch my mind from Chinese to English thus I kept stammering. I read online
articles that are written in English instead of Chinese articles and I put an
effort to make all my notes and my annotations in English. Various efforts I
tried to improve and could be said that I have exhausted all means to accelerate
my English learning journey.
Although I
am still not handling with English very well, but I do find a very different me
compared to 6 months ago, I can now carry out a conversation in English
confidently and I am confident that the other party can get the whole idea I am
trying to say. I will still be persistent and as enthusiastic as I can in
learning English, hoping that one day I am one of the people that have a flair
for English.
Hey Elaine, i enjoyed reading through your reflection, I thought that you gave a very detailed account of your English learning journey. It was engaging because you spoke about your life experiences and i found it admirable that despite challenges along the way, you remained positive towards learning the english language. You also used a couple of great vocabularies throughout. I felt however that you did have a few odd sentence structures in which perhaps you could have improved on. Overall a good job though :)
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine! I enjoyed reading your reflection as you injected a really personal touch into it. There were a few odd sentences in your reflection, but it is nothing major, as I could still understand your point. Overall, I think you did a good job as it was detailed and well organised. (:
ReplyDeleteHey Elaine!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your reflection and I can tell that you are really strong minded, which is highly laudable. Under the circumstances, your progress in the English language has been really impressive. I have doubts whether I will be able to do the same if I was you. I believe that if you maintain this positive attitude, you will definitely be able to achieve your goal. What makes it even better is that you will be effectively bilingual.
There are a few odd sentences, i.e the last sentence of the first paragraph. Some grammar mistakes here and there too. Try rewriting the paragraphs to see what you can improve on! (:
Good job!
Honestly, Elaine, I really like this post, despite the many language-based issues. As a reflection, it is honest, concise and yet comprehensive. You present lots of examples of how Chinese was the language you used before coming to Singapore. You also elaborate well on your feelings about using English once you realized that you needed it. What I like most though is how your enthusiasm shines through this post, for instance, when you state: "Then I decided not to let the disadvantage of not mastering English to affect my journey to make friends and to convey my ideas and thoughts coherently to others."
ReplyDeleteKeep that attitude up and you will be fine.
Here re a few areas that you might consider along the way:
1) problems with verb tense throughout essay
2) problems with capitalization
3) ...the reason I rarely spoke Chinese before I was 19. > you see the problem here...
4) Therefore, we did not have or to be said that did not even want to even if we had chances to speak English. > ?
5) back to Singapore in 19 > at 19
6) ...I could not really get what is the whole world trying to tell me. > I could not really get what the whole world WAS trying to tell me.
7) ...I told all my friends whatever amusing reasons for your desire to speak Chinese with me, no, please speak English. >
I told all my friends whatever amusing reasons they had in the desire to speak Chinese with me, "No, please speak English."
8) Of course, at the very beginning, it was very hard for me to switch my mind from Chinese to English thus I kept stammering. >
(run on sentence)
9) I read online articles that are written in English … > (example of tense error)
10) Various efforts I tried to improve and could be said that I have exhausted all means to accelerate my English learning journey. > ?
Let's talk about this sentence.
11) handling with English … > handling English
12) one of the people that have a flair for English…. > one of the people that HAS a flair for English.
Thanks for your (smiling) effort!