My
English Language Learning Journey - ES1102
Before
I share with you about my English Language Learning Journey, I would like to
give you a brief introduction about myself. I was born in Korea, and have lived
there till I was 11 years old. Because of my father’s occupation, my family
moved to Japan and we lived there for about 4 years, and then we came to
Singapore for the same reason mentioned.
English
is one of the most commonly spoken language around the world and is arguably
the most useful language in various major areas such as business, research, or
even in politics.The importance of mastering English has been increasing and
this pressured many of the non-English speaking countries, Asian countries in
particular nowadays, to push their students to English classes, on top of their
normal curriculum. Korea and Japan, of course, were not the exceptions to this
change in education policy.
However, Korea and Japan are yet to be considered
as a multi-nation society like Singapore, and thus this makes the overall
environment less effective to learn the English, which is 2nd language
for them Korean and Japanese. People in Korea and Japan are effectively monolingual and they feel
very awkward to speak with other people in English (or any language that is not
their language). Even in the English
class I attended in Korea and Japan, the predominantly used language is their
own ones, and not English (except for greetings for some teachers). This could
be because students cannot follow the lesson should the language used in class is English, or teachers are not
confident to conduct the lesson in English (I have done the research for
English education in Japan for my project work, so I am quite sure about this.)
So, by the time I came to Singapore (when I
was secondary 2 then), the command of my English was as good as the nursery
kids in Singapore, and this caused me a big trouble to get into the school and
catch up with me peers. Desperate, I started to read the news, articles, and memorised
the new words to first improve my vocabulary. I gradually became used to the complicated
sentence structure often used in news, and some of the comprehension passage used in the
school examination. I was fortunate enough to pass in the entry exam at
St.Gabriel Secondary School, and started my school life in Singapore after a
few months I reached this English-speaking country, Singapore. I read a lot of
good writings (what we call a ‘model essay’) and tried to use the good phrases
and expressions used by the them.
This is just a mere summary of my English
Language Learning Journey. Though there were a lot of tear and sweat in the
process, I can confidently say that I put my best effort to learn English and
am willing to continue to challenge myself to do better.
[edited on 11/09/2014]
[edited on 11/09/2014]
I believe it must have been difficult in the beginning, where English is a foreign language to you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for shedding light on the situation over in Korea and Japan regarding the teaching of English.
I think it is commendable that you took initiative to improve English on your own instead of giving up. Singapore would surely be a better environment for you to hone your command of English, as compared to Japan.
My pleasure. Will look forward to sharing more with you guys in class next time. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteThank you for sharing a bit about your English learning journey, Yechan. This is a thoroughly enjoyable post, with interesting details from your life experience (and study). It's especially intriguing to me to learn about your schooling experience in Korea and Japan. You mention that English was not used in your English classes, except for 'greetings.' I'd like to hear more about that. What was the type of school you attended? How often was English taught? What was the focus? Did you have non-Korean/non-Japanese teachers there?
ReplyDeleteFor me the quality of a good essay can often be determined by the way it stimulates my interest. You've done that here. I look forward to learning more about your background.
As for language use, your English is very good. I guess you can thank the Singapore system for that!
There are a few minor issues in this post though.
1) ...this cause me a big trouble to get into the school and catch up with me peers. (verb tense)
2) some of the passage >>> ?
3) However, Korea and Japan are yet to be considered as a multi-nation society like Singapore, and thus this makes the overall environment less effective to learn the English, which is 2nd language for them. (Who's learning English? The environment? What is the referent for 'them'?)
4) I was fortunate enough to pass in the entry exam at St.Gabriel Secondary School and started my school life in Singapore, after a few months I reached this English-speaking country, Singapore. (comma splice/run on)
Let's talk about these.
Thank you so much for your comment and corrections! Glad to hear that you found my work a "thoroughly enjoyable" one!
DeleteI was in the local school (and was the only international student in my school) and the English was taught about 3~4 times a week, 1 hour per lesson (this may not be necessarily the same for all other schools in Japan, but generally this is the case for secondary schools).
Hi, Yechan,
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the environment is an important issue that may affect the outcome of language learning process. As for me, I came from a what to call National Type High School in Malaysia, thus we use Mandarin as our first language. Although the school implemented a Speak English Week to foster an English speaking environment, however it didn't seem to show any substantial changes. Compared to High Schools in Malaysia, (which they use English as their main communicating language), the margin between students who can speak fluent English and those who couldn't master it is relatively bigger in our school.
Hence its up to the student's personal intention to master the language itself, thus resulting in a wide distribution of different qualities of language learning outcomes.
I admit that I am one of those who didn't make their first step towards improving my English and I regretted for making this foolish mistake. So, that's all for my sharing and I guess the most important thing is to start now and in the meantime influence others. I told my pre-U juniors about the reality that mastering English is not just a choice nowadays, in fact its a must for all university students worldwide.
By the way, nice sharing. :)
Thanks for your comment, Jie Ling!
DeleteWe do note that the English is important, and as you mentioned, it is "not just a choice nowadays, in fact it's a must for all university students worldwide".
Offering the environment that will allow people to speak in English is important. I am in total agreement with this. But there is an ongoing argument whether English is not destroying the language of the minority which could be affected adversely due to the perpetually-increasing emphasis on the importance of English.
I hope the policymakers can find the solution so that a country will not be left behind, but at the same time, maintain their own language and culture.
Hey, by the way, I posted my comment on your blog but it cannot be seen! Did you delete? :(
Hey Yechan!
ReplyDeleteGreat to see a real Korean sharing his experiences back from home. I've always wondered how do Korean and Japanese learn English before this. I couldn't agree more that environment is all that matters!
Similarly, I respect you for not giving up on yourself in learning English, especially in a English-speaking country like Singapore. Your never-give-up attitude is something I truly admire!
Love,
Joan
Thanks Joan for your comment! Oh, my "never-give-up attitude" is probably just at a bare minimum level, considering some of you who really worked hard (according to their reflection written on their respective blog).
DeleteI look forward to sharing more with you next time!
Thanks
I really appreciate the way you have responded to all your peers, Yechan. Great effort at communication!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouraging message, Dr Blackstone! I will continue to work hard!
Delete