My earliest
memory of learning the language was when I was eight years old. In an effort to teach my siblings and I the English Language, my parents would encourage us to
watch the news on Channel 5. We were told to pick out words we did not understand and to clarify them with our parents or search the meaning up ourselves. This was also applied when we were told to
read newspapers. The news were often interesting and it made reading and
learning fun at that age.
I enjoyed
reading and would read books in the library when I was younger. The genre did
not matter for me and I would enjoy comics and even non-fiction books in the
library. This allowed me to understand or infer words I hadn’t come across.
Even as I
grew older, I mainly learnt English through reading and listening. Due to my lack of confidence, I barely participated in conversations, both in English and in my mother tongue. This brought
up a problem as I barely practiced my spoken English. To speak well, I often
have to rehearse repeatedly or have the content prepared beforehand. This
includes normal conversations. If not, I would end up stuttering. It was a
problem that I face even until now.
I decided
to work on this problem by forcing myself to pause and think before I speak. I
also practiced speaking slowly if I needed to relay a long sentence. It allowed
time for me to think of a proper sentence and to pronounce them properly. Until
today, I still try my best to improve on my speaking skills through this
method.
284 words
Reviewed on 2 Oct 2016
Reviewed on 2 Oct 2016
Thank you, Fariza, for this detailed reflective post. I like the way you have discussed your experience with English chronologically, starting with your experience in your family during early childhood. I do have a few questions and comments though.
ReplyDeleteYou mention "we," for example. Who was that? It would be better to explain clearly.
Also, you mention that your parents encouraged you to watch the news, and that you would ask questions about words you didn't understand. Was that an explicit approach to helping you (and your siblings) on the part of your parents?
You also seem to imply that you didn't speak much English when you write that "I barely practiced my spoken English." Does that mean you mostly spoke Malay with family and friends?
There are a few minor language problems in this post. Most of the problems are in your use of verb tense usage. Let's review that. :)
Thank you for your comments! I will make sure to be more careful of my verb tense usage and to be more specific in my writing.
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