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| SIE2016 T05 - My English Language Journey
I grew up in a Chinese-speaking family. Therefore, I always have to struggle with English during my Primary and Secondary education. I still remember my classmates would be sitting at one corner, reading Enid Blyton’s storybooks. Her books were really popular among primary school students back then. Others could probably list a handful of her books, however for me, I could only list roughly 3 of her books. I just did not find reading as interesting and because of their good command of English, my classmates seem to always fluently converse in English. I remembered I really hated English because this was the only subject that I could never seem to score. And whenever we were required to submit compositions, I would always get the lowest mark or only a pass while others were scoring ‘A’s. On the other hand, i really love the Chinese language, maybe partly because of the environment that i grew up in, I love reading Chinese storybooks. I scored really well for the tests and exams, which is one of the factors that encourage me to do better and love the language more, unlike for English. Up till now, I still continue the practice of finish reading one Chinese storybook every month, be it the physical storybook or the e-books found online.
Surprisingly, I carried this “hate” for English as I moved on to my secondary school. However, the situation got better as I got to know new classmates and I was influenced to read more English books. I have to thank my literature teacher that taught me for my senior years as he introduced me to his favourite author, Stephen King. Well, the genre might be a little unsuitable for a student that was taking her O Levels, as he is well-known as a author of horror and suspense. I believe i would not be writing any horror or suspense compositions for my O Levels. Nonetheless, it was one of the few books that I have really enjoyed and up till now I can still remember the story plot. From then on, I started to read more books, mostly Stephen King’s and other young adult fiction storybooks as well. Even though my English did not improve tremendously throughout the years but it was indeed better than before.
With that, I believe that languages cannot be taught like how Math or Science are. It’s through reading and communication that will improve your language skills.
The limits of my language means the limits of my world. - Ludwig Wittgenstein
Serene :)
Edited: 11/09/2015 11:20pm
Edited: 11/09/2015 11:30pm
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3 Comments:
Thank you, Serene, for this forthright reflection. You provide a fairly detailed look into your past and your language experience. I can relate to your distaste for English, especially considering that Chinese (Mandarin?) was your language at home. You mention that you hated reading, so I wonder of this applied to Chinese as well. Did you read much in Mandarin? Do you now?
It's heartening to know that you were influenced by one teacher and by a love for Stephen King's novels. I wonder though why you state that King might not have been appropriate for an O Level student.
As far as your language use in this post, it is quote good though there are a few instances where you need to use past tense verbs rather than present tense since you are describing past events. Can you find those?
In any case, this is a good first effort. I look forward to learning more from you this term. :)
Hello Serene!
I am not good in my English language subject back in primary and secondary school days. even though I read a few of Enid Blyton’s books, my English language did not improve. Maybe because I was too lazy to search for the meanings in the dictionary when I discover new words, hence limiting my vocabulary.
what I like about your reflection post is your honest and detailed reflection. I also agree that we cannot master English language like how we can do it for science and math.
let's communicate more and improve our English language together !
love,
siti mardhiyyah
Hello Serene,
You mentioned that you were introduced to Stephen King by your literature teacher in your senior years. The fact that you had a literature teacher in your senior years means you must have read many many more books that others during those literature classes.
I didn't take literature as I could not sit down and read anything for more than an hour. And it was great that you took the subject, because I can definitely see that you do not have issues with speaking English with anyone in class. So keep reading those English and Chinese (it is hard to find young Singaporeans who do) books!
Sincerely,
Xue Yuan
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