Friday, 17 April 2015

portfolio-english language learning journey



Everything started only when I was back to Singapore.

In spite of being Singaporean I grew up and studied in Malaysia. I had my education in Chinese Primary School and a Chinese Independent High School, which thus gave rise to the reason I rarely spoke Chinese before I was 19. Every subject was taught in Chinese, everybody spoke Chinese and actually those who spoke English would most likely be treated as aliens there. Therefore, even though we wanted to learn or practice English, there were limited chances for us to do so.

At nineteen years old, I was back to Singapore for my higher education, and I faced my biggest problem ever. I did not expect such a high standard of English being used in lectures. Everyone spoke English so fast so that I could not really get what the whole world was trying to tell me. However,I decided not to let my limited command of English to affect my journey to make friends. I wanted to convey my ideas and thoughts coherently to other people.

I told all my friends, “Who, for whatever amusing reasons, wanted to speak Chinese with me that, “No, please speak English.”” Of course, it was very hard in the very beginning for me to switch my mind to think from Chinese to English. Thus I kept stammering. I read online articles that were written in English instead of Chinese  and I put in effort to make all my notes and my annotations in English. After Various efforts I made it could be said that I have exhausted all means to accelerate my English learning journey.

Although I still sometimes struggle with English, I do find myself very different from who I was six 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 those who have a flair for English.

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