Growing up in a Mandarin speaking family, my ability to converse
in English has been weak since young. Having low self-confidence on my ability to
communicate well in English and being fearful of ridiculing myself in public, I
dreaded talking to people in English and was afraid to speak in public. My confidence
of speaking English leaped after my experience of being a teacher during my
teaching internship after my A Level Examination. Although I am still unable to
communicate very well in perfect English, with more confidence of speaking
up and communicating in English, I know I will have more opportunities to
improve through my daily conversation.
My grammar has been one of my weakest area in English Language.
I was told that I am careless when it comes to grammar since I was young. It was only after
reflection that I realised that most of the errors I made is not due to carelessness
but my confusion with grammar usage. I only got my misconception cleared when I
was in Secondary 3.
A common feedback from my previous English tutor is that I
need improvement in my sentence structure and writing style. The only solution
I could think of to improve is to read model essays to learn and adopt their
writing style. However, no matter how hard I try, I find it a challenge to do
so.
