Language Learning History

Language Learning History

This is a paper which reflects my language learning background. My first experience with the English language was in primary school. I went to an international school, called ‘De Prinseschool’, because that was the best school in my hometown. At that school, the English language was of great importance, due to the many international students. My class consisted of numerous nationalities; Dutch, American, Chinese, Russian etc., whereby the school was obliged to implement an English learning program. ‘De Prinseschool’ was my second primary school and I started there in the fifth class. Ones a year we organized an event named ‘Lets Present’, where all students had to perform on stage. Some students sang, others danced or played an instrument. Everybody had to speak/sing in English during this day. Furthermore, all students had to do an exam ones a year. This exam was called the ‘Anglia Exam’ and showed at which level of English the students were. We had to know all the irregular verbs, the basic principles of the grammar and wordlists and we were trained for this exam during the whole year. Because of this exam, I created a good basis for the rest of my career. In the eighth class, I was appointed to follow a special English class for students who did well enough in Dutch class and were eager to improve their English language skills. In that special English class, the tutor, Mr. Ahmed, taught us the grammar rules of the language. It was not a lecture, but it was more like a practical; we had to practice a lot by doing grammar exercises. This special class contributed to my advanced basis of the English language.

 In secondary school, I had to follow an English course since the first class. In those classes we practiced a lot for improving our knowledge about the language. During classes, we were obliged to speak in English. There were a lot of speaking exercises, we watched English movies and series like ‘Little Britain’, we had to read many books and we had to write reports about those books. Furthermore, we practiced the grammar principles during almost every class. Every year, we had to do a presentation about one of the books, a movie, or cases we discussed in class. In graduating class, the final assignment consisted of a conversation between two students in front of two teachers. The conversation was about the books we had to read and we had to link all those books together. My grade was an eight.

Before I came to university, I thought the English classes would be more or less identical. However, since the start of this first year, I quite improved my knowledge about the English language, for instance my vocabulary. Besides that, I did not expect that the course would contain business aspects.

For the next three years, I hope to improve my vocabulary knowledge to more academic words. Because I am thinking about going abroad after my master, maybe to the United States. Then, it is necessary to have a broad vocabulary and business knowledge. But that thought of my future is left to remain unanswered for now.

Primaryschool "De Prinseschool"

Below you will find a funny video about the irregular verbs. In primary school I had to know all the irregular verbs by heart. However, I had to learn them by reading them and just saying it out loud. I think this is a better way of teaching the irregular verbs. They are so important, and I think if they are teached this way, students will remember them more often.