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Ivy
All my influences: Thank you!!
It started with a “hello”, I guess, which I am really thankful for and, almost as naturally, it went on to develop to be a passion of mine.
I like writing, thanks to my long-time
pen pal. Since I was in secondary two, I already started exchanging long e-mails in English with my friend on a weekly basis which, when I look back now, I believe was the foundation and threshold of my life-long English-learning. What I wrote then was certainly not counted perfect, but that did not matter at all, I knew - by trial and errors we learn. With the use of the English language becoming more frequent and familiar to me, so were my interest and confidence in it. I then found myself devoting more and more time into studying its usage at school. And that was when the journey began.I like grammar. I could not figure the order but my “unusual” passion for grammar led me on and my performance in grammar motivated me to go further and dig deeper. I paid extra attention during English classes and improvements started to be seen over time. Then
and 
cultures began to influence me and I was also keen on accepting and learning more about them. So I put more efforts into reading English newspaper and watching English channels and news everyday while increasing my familiarity with the language.It started with pure boredom when I began to madly go after American dramas, movies and shows, but it ended up having a profound impact on me and my English; not to mention my long-time passion for foreign music. All these essentially contributed to my early exposure to this lingua franca. These are, in my opinion, some of the most interesting and effective ways to learn English. As a source of interest can always be an impetus for a learner. With constant contact with the English language, not only did it stir my interest in pursuing higher English fluency, but I had also acquired a large bank of commonly-used vocabulary, collocations, phrases and sentence structures which had benefited me enormously in every aspect of my English. Certainly, these hobbies had also done wonders to my spoken English which had always been my weaker part.
To me, the formal education at school and the encouraging English-learning environment and atmosphere in our city were without a question the support of attaining higher proficiency in writing, listening and speech. There is always a harsh side to exams, but at the same time they are excellent chances for our own evaluation. It whether gives credits for the hard work we have put into or it pushes you to go further. And as I like to challenge myself, I used to look forward to having assessments because competition is a factor that drives people to excel as well. I did not only watch for leisure. Apart from news, I did some research and watched TV programmes like “The Pearl Report”, “Newsline”, “60 Minutes”, “Inside Story” and so on every week to work on my oral by following the subtitles. It helped and I had more words and ideas for the hot topics in town as well - that was exactly to kill two birds with one stone.
So, in my memory, I seemed to enjoy writing English, but I am sure that I resisted and avoided reading in all possible ways as I was not a person with patience. To finish a book, to me, was a difficult task and not until I was in secondary four I conquered my first Chinese novel, which was compulsory and English novel, “A Child Called It”, in secondary five. These were meaningful moments. Since then, I overcome my resistance towards books and gradually I read more and more. And it is true that people say: “A book holds a house of gold.” If you see yourself here, try to take the first step and you will find it as rewarding as I did.
After all, to master a language, just like to master any other professions, requires immense input of hard-work and an ever-learning attitude. I would not give up perfecting my language ability as I am, you are – we all are students forever. I also need to pay tribute to my Canadian cousins, who never get tired of “having to” talk to me; they definitely have a part in helping me to become an English major today.
The road to here has taken years, yet I have put myself on the right path or, at least, a path that I am happy with. With “languages” now supposedly being my expertise, I figure there is still much room for me to improve and improvements are what I am looking for always. To get immersed and to think in English is the sound way to master. But as long as I live, my way of learning will still keep evolving - just like the history of my learning of English I shared with all of you here.
!
!
! Cheers, Ivy
Image sources:
http://www.friendster.com/review.php?action=all&uid=2420997
http://www.alittleof.com/2007/04/60-minutes.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/charuca/2448685976/
http://cdbaby.com/cd/bittersweets06
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13181394@N07/1356970730/
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wanderlandcrim |
Latest page update: made by wanderlandcrim
, Oct 26 2008, 1:22 PM EDT
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| anne_berlin | Hi! | 0 | Dec 2 2008, 1:47 PM EST by anne_berlin | ||
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Thread started: Dec 2 2008, 1:47 PM EST
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Dear Ivy,
first of all, I need to tell you that I really like your writing style. Your text flows beautifully. I like the idea that as learners of English we keep changing our learning habits. You can start by cramming vocabuly and grammar into your head, but it surely takes some other measures to actually become fluent in English. Like you, I like to follow a variety of news programs as well as tv shows. Do you note down any new vocabulary you might encounter while watching TV? Greetings from Berlin, Anne |
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| writaholic | Hello! | 0 | Sep 23 2008, 11:24 AM EDT by writaholic | ||
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Thread started: Sep 23 2008, 11:24 AM EDT
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I've never thought that it all "started with a hello!" Isn't "hello" always the first thing come to our mind as we try to talk to someone?
As we first "met" English, English did say hello to us, while most of us actually did say hello in reply, a lot of people actually turned their back on English after the simple greeting. The people who had refuse to have further interaction with English, they could never have a real taste of English! What a pity!!!! I'm so glad that I'm studying English here, with all you girls who always "greet" and "interact with" English without hesitation! =) Anna@Writaholic |
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| wanderlandcrim | Re: Rachel | 0 | Sep 23 2008, 8:18 AM EDT by wanderlandcrim | ||
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Thread started: Sep 23 2008, 8:18 AM EDT
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I wonder if you read The Kite Runner (not the movie... which was lousy lousy lousy)? I cried like crazy.... so hard that my eyes swallowed... It's true!!! It's touching starting from the middle.... You may go read it if you feel like wanting to cry more :P
BTW, I've always heard of the famous Shopaholic series... But i never read them!! Since my history into books is not so long.. whats the book about? tell me sth!! And one more book i'd recommend which is more of a classic... called Of Mice and Men which I figure you may have heard of it. Thats a book for life! And it seems i am not so popular.... why isnt anyone giving me comments? *Tears* Hahaha just joking! Ivy |
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