Learning the English language for me has been an interesting and challenging journey. I have gone through several cycles throughout the learning process and this has helped me realize a certain level of proficiency. However, learning English throughout the cycles came with a lot of challenges. There were problems as a result of my background in the Korean language, personal problems and the lack of interest in reading and writing that affected my learning. By analyzing my relationship to reading and writing, I hope to explore the challenges that anyone that learns English as a second language can face and to show that these challenges can be tackled through showing consistency, persistence, and passion in their learning.
My journey in reading and writing English began when I was in first grade. The main challenge that I experienced in my reading and writing English came from my background. I speak Korean and English was a second language. The shift from speaking Korean at home to reading and writing English in school was difficult. I went to an international school and had great teachers that helped me conquer the challenges of learning English as a second language. I was also curious about reading and writing English and this helped me navigate through the challenges at this time. I enjoyed reading several English short stories and I always tried to express myself in a few words in English.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
My passion and proficiency in English did not last for long as I encountered a challenge in Middle school that resulted in several difficulties with English I experience today. During middle school, I took a year from school due to personal reasons. Coming from a Korean family, this meant that I only spoke Korean and did not write or speak English for the entire year. When I got back to school, I realized that I had lost some of the previous English reading and writing skills that I had acquired. Most of my classmates were proficient in English compared to me. I had to work extremely hard to get my knowledge in English back. I would spend countless hours reading and writing in English but I often found that I still struggled. This impacted the passion that I had developed for English in elementary school since I started associating English with hard work and an undesirable subject.
Learning English in middle school also came with the challenge of using computer technology and its autocorrect feature. Ever since I entered middle school, I completed all my writing tasks and assignments on my computer. I believe that this did not help me with my attempts to improve my English. The autocorrect feature would correct all my mistakes and I never struggled to learn how to correct the mistakes by myself. I thus consistently made the same errors without really improving my English. The problem with using autocorrect became quite apparent when I had to undertake handwritten assignments. I found that I would misspell many words and this indicated that I was not improving with the spelling of some challenging English words.
I lost interest in literature and I did not take English in high school. I have thus not taken English for the past 2 years of high school. All the joy that I had when learning English in my primary school stopped ever since I joined secondary school. Apart from losing interest, I dreaded reading and writing texts in English. The result was that my proficiency in English decreased consistently. At the moment I feel somewhat distant with the English language because I have not practiced it for some time.
Reading and writing English was also difficult as I was speaking two languages at the same time and this resulted in lots of confusion. Speaking, reading, and writing English is only done in school and when at home I have to speak Korean. This made it difficult for me as I confused several phrases and words in both the English and Korean languages. In some instances, I had understood some words in English but could not translate them adequately to Korean. With a background in Korean, there were several words that were Korean but I could not really articulate them in English. This made me more confused and caused a great deal of difficulty.
While reading and writing English at the moment is still challenging, one of the things that has changed from my middle school and attitude has been my attitude. I currently feel passionate about improving my reading and written English. From the analysis of my background, I have observed that every time I put any effort towards learning the language, the outcomes have always been positive. I also feel that I have been able to conquer several challenges especially with my background in Korean. Even though I am not at the level of proficiency that I desire, the consistency and persistence I have shown with reading and writing English have made realize my current level of expertise. I thus hope to continue with my current passion and persistence so as to improve my reading and writing skills.
Future Goals
English is my second language and I have not yet mastered the English language to the proficiency and expertise I desire. I hope that by taking this course, I will be able to improve my ability to read and write English and realize a better level of proficiency. I hope that the expertise I acquire will assist me to solidify my reading and writing. It should make my writing better by learning about the different ways to express myself both in creative and analytical writing. I would also like to improve my reading skills by learning new vocabulary and being able to comprehend advanced English texts.
Learning English should be used to realize better outcomes with my grades and the future. At the moment, I expect that improving my English would have a direct effect on my grades. Most of the courses I take require reading and writing in English and succeeding in them requires a good grasp of the English language. In the long-term, I hope to improve my proficiency and expertise in English should provide the basic foundation for future success in my career. I expect to take a rather technical career and writing and reading English should be foundational for success in such a career.
In conclusion, learning English as a second language came with several challenges that were conquered through showing passion, consistency, and persistence. Even though I have not been as consistent as I expect, I have always strived to improve my reading and writing by showing hard work and persistence. This has made me conquer most of the challenges I have had with my Korean background and learning English as a second language. I expect that by taking this course, I will be able to improve my writing and reading skills to realize the level of proficiency I desire.
