Thursday, January 23, 2014

My English Language Learning Journey

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.

I am hopeful that through this module, I will be able to improve my writing skills and to be a more adept and confident writer.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Keyun, I find your post very interesting and I feel that I have broadened my mind in terms of general knowledge. I feel that your paragraphs transition smoothly and are concise.

    Two suggestions:

    I think "Growing up with a Mandarin speaking, my ability to converse in English is weak since young" could be

    "Growing up Mandarin-speaking, my ability to converse in english has been weak since young".

    and
    "My grammar has been one of my weakest area in English Language. I was told that I am careless when I come to grammar since young. It was only after reflection 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." could be

    My grammar has been one of my weakest areas in the 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 realized that most of the errors I made were not due to carelessness but my confusion with grammar usage. I only got my misconceptions cleared when I was in secondary 3."

    Sorry if I made any mistakes. Let's help each other out in this module so that we can improve together!

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  2. Hi Keyun! I enjoyed reading your post and knowing more about your English Language Learning Journey. There are good organisation of your paragraphs and they are easy to understand.

    However, I think "Although" and "But" shouldn't be used in the same sentence as which I see in this sentence, "Although I am still unable to communicate very well in perfect English, but with more confidence of speaking up and communicating in English, I know I will have more opportunities to improve through my daily conversation."

    I think you can replace the "but" with "however" or replacing "Although" with "In spite of the fact that" so to avoid the grammar mistake.

    Sorry if I made any mistakes! Let's work hard together to improve our English! :)

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    Replies
    1. Hey Li Ting! Thanks so much for your comments!

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  4. Thanks for your effort with this detailed reflection, Ke Yun. I appreciate your willingness to share. As we have already explained, there are a few language items here worth your consideration. Li Tiang and Esther have noted some of these. I'd be happy to discuss any questions you have.

    I look forward to reading more of your writing.

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