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'96 | SIE @ SIT

Saturday, 10 September 2016

My English Journey

As I was born in an all Chinese-speaking family, my early childhood was filled with struggles conversing and writing in English. I often felt too shy to speak in front of unfamiliar people, afraid that I would embarrass myself. My English compositions met with marks not higher than 70 as my grammar was poor and I had trouble sentence-synthesising. In some way or other, the loss of self-confidence led to my stagnating social circle alongside my peers which flourished.

One day while walking home, I spotted my classmate in an English tuition class. I realised I was not the only one who had issues with English. Then it struck me that others were addressing their problems while I was wallowing in self-pity.

I felt encouraged and searched for ways to improve my English. I also spent extra effort reviewing English corrections from past exercises and I made sure I cleared any doubts. Reading English newspapers and listening to English radio channels gradually found its way into my daily routine. I opened up to my friends and tried to speak to them in English as much as possible.

All in all, I am proud to have overcome my struggles with English and achieved much more than just my grades. Language is an important aspect of communication, whereby the latter plays a huge role in both our lives and workplace. It is also essential that we are able to deliver ourselves effectively in English as it is a widely-spoken language around the world.

Edited on 6th October 2016 @ 0117.
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4 comments:

  1. Zainab15 September 2016 at 10:34

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Zainab17 September 2016 at 21:02

    Reflection is complete and coherent - clearly stating steps taken to improve your command in the language. I can totally relate with you on your struggles with English since I'm from an all Malay-speaking family. Your reflection is also mature as you understood your shortcomings and decided to find ways to improve yourself instead of dismissing your struggles. Definitely well written, Kaylin! :)

    However, there are some minor errors:

    1) In some way or other
    >>> (wrong choice of word) In some way or another

    2) ...self-confidence led to my stagnating social circle alongside my peers which flourished
    >>> (wrong word form) ...self-confidence led to my stagnating social circle in contrast to my peers' which flourished

    Overall, I enjoyed your writing! Let's improve ourselves in English together! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brad Blackstone21 September 2016 at 15:36

    This is a clear, concise and self-critical reflection, Kaylin. Like Zainab, I feel you were able to communicate a sense of developing self awareness and maturity through the description of your evolving attitude toward English study.

    There are a few areas that you might consider revising:

    1) Born in an all Chinese-speaking family, my early childhood was filled with struggles conversing and writing in English. >>> (dangling modifier... we discussed this error type in class!)

    2) I realise I was not the only one who had issues with English. >>> (verb tense)

    3) Then it struck me to realise others... >>> Then it struck me that others...

    4) I spurred on to finding ways to improve my English. >>>
    (wrong word/phrase)

    5) listening to English newspapers >>> ?

    Thanks for your continuing effort!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brad Blackstone4 October 2016 at 13:07

    This has not yet been edited?

    ReplyDelete

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