English has been the language
that is commonly used in all parts of the world for communication. This has
solved communication problems like language barrier. I grew up in a
non-English speaking family, thus my command of the language was naturally weak.
The only person that allowed me to practice English outside of school was the conversation I have with my
father. He would give me feedback and suggestion whenever I had problem with
the language. To polish up on the language, I began reading newspaper. It was a
short journey. The reading was dull and uninteresting and eventually, I gave
up.
When I entered Polytechnic, I realized
the importance of English and I regretted not trying my best in understanding
it. Every module required a final report writing at the end of the learning journey but, writing a report was not my forte. With a limited range of vocabulary, I
did not fare well in report writing.
English plays a crucial role in education. All academic module uses English. In order for us to excel in our academic study, we need to first understand the language used.
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ReplyDeleteHi Daniel, maybe you can try to watch your favourite movies with subtitles. With subtitles you'll understand better what is happening in the movie and it helps you to both understand and improve your English vocabulary and grammar. If you don't understand what a word or expression means, pause the movie and watch the part again or look the word/expression up in a dictionary.
ReplyDeleteI am also quite weak in report writing. Let's work harder together
Hi Daniel, building up vocabulary takes time. So let’s work hard together to build up our vocabulary so that we can not only converse better but also be able to use it for more purposes. A good suggestion is to read more newspaper articles and novel where they usually use a wider range of styles and words to portrait their ideas and feelings and we can learn from them easily.
ReplyDeleteI think many of us do have the problem of doing a proper report writing so I think the best way is to read online materials to get to know how usually people writes the different type of report. So let’s do our part together and write a better report together. Shall we?
Hi Daniel, I too faced difficulties with report writing during my polytechnic days and i agree reading the newspaper is pretty dull. For me I find reading online articles far more interesting. For example, reading product reviews on the things I am planning to buy or anything that interest me at the moment I can read more about it online on my phone. I also frequent youtube, listening to people speak English can help too and since there is so much stuff on youtube it is always easy to find stuff I like.
ReplyDeleteI find these methods helpful in improving my English and if you have found better ways, do share. :D
Thanks for this honest and self critical reflection, Daniel. You describe your journey in a way that makes it easy for us readers to understand that your impatience with reading and English study led to your current situation. I admire the fact that your dad tried to help you. But if you found reading boring, then it is little wonder that you didn't learn in that regard. What's good is that it is not too late for you. Even now you can develop your skills. The key is to develop **interests**, and then to pursue those with passion, both through reading and online videos, etc. I can see that your blogging group members are giving similar advice.
ReplyDeleteHere are some areas of this short essay that you might consider to increase your awareness of English language conventions:
1) Growing up in a non-English speaking family, my command of the language was naturally weak. >>> (dangling modifier) Who grew up, your command?
2) The only person that allows me to practice English outside of school was the conversation I have with my father. >>> (verb tense & structure issue)
The only person that allowED me to practice English outside of school was my father.
3) most of the module / Majority of the academic module >>> (plurality?)
4) While most of the module required a final report and writing a report was not my forte. >>> (fragment) see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/620/1/
5) in our academic >>> (wrong form) in our academic study
Let's work on these.