I've never been very good in English. My "peak proficiency" in English was during my JC & University days where i had to write essays. After graduation, my standard dropped steadily. During my studies in Japan I had to brush up a little because i was teaching English. Once that ended, I'm back to square one.
My friends & I had discussed this issue before ~ it seems that I'm not alone. We're speaking more Singlish than before. And we can't even express ourselves well in English w/o tripping over words. After my 2 weeks trip in Japan where i read books to kill time, I didn't touch any more books until last Saturday...
Last thursday I went for a proficiency test set by the school who's offering the "Certificate in Teaching English as Foreign Language" course that I'm keen to take up. I'm shocked by my proficiency. I passed the grammer section (35/40pts) but barely made it for vocabulary (11/20pts). The teacher told me "Read more books!!".
On Saturday i went to the National Library at Orchard. I was at a loss. I didn't know what books to borrow. I used to read novels, but recently i've very short attention span for novels, so went to the magazine section. Hardly any magazines were available for loan (all display copies only). I went back to the books section again. There was a trolley of books (just returned books) crowded with people. I joined in the crowd and managed to grab 4 books.
Just done with one novel last nite ~ "Just Like Heaven" from the movie of the same title. Not too bad. I liked the part where the guy recalled his late mother's last words to him & her letter to him. The contents were very meaningful. I had wanted to watch the movie, but after reading the book, i think i'd save the trip.
Hmm.... which of the ther 3 books shall i start on today?
And I've another problem ~ I need to improve my Japanese proficiency in order to communicate better with my bf & his family. So I read Japanese comics, write emails in Japanese & watch Japanese dramas. However this causes confusion ~ I find myself forming sentences in English using Japanese grammer! *faints*
Like dat how??
1 comment:
Hey Hey Princess! ^_^
So glad to read that you are back on track with life (in general)! Although you've certainly stumbled onto a real language 'dilemma' right now... heh. ;)
What I would suggest would be for you to try picking a category/subject matter (e.g. racial segregation) and pick some acclaimed works of fiction related to the subject (you can try searching on Amazon, Google, Yahoo! and dmoz.org to start off) and then go beg/borrow/steal the books from your local library/used/new book stores!
Try to write a review after you finished each book. Write about how you feel in regards to the characters, their motivations, historical accuracy (if applicable), the structure of the plot - comment on the flow and any holes that you might have noticed... Once you have written a 3-5 page summary, give it to a friend/teacher/colleague who you believe is fluent or well-versed in the English language (Queen's or otherwise) and see his/her reaction. The idea is that the reader should be able to get an idea of the book YOU've read... and learn enough about it to discuss/debate matters related to the subject it covers.
Don't forget to write the review using the appropriate MLA/APA format (your choice) for a sense of formality and cohesiveness! I'm just basing this on some of the assignments and review papers I did over the past 2 years... I found that writing on subject matter you believe in, or have strong opinions on, tend to be more fun and helps keep your mind active while writing! My most recent course was Comparative Studies 101, and my instructor covered 6 very different books about racial stereotypes and cultural differences - from Vietnamese to the Native Americans, we discussed matters that were important to the characters, and in some way, important to us (the writers). It was great fun to write about and discuss our readings in class. I understand you won't have the opportunity to talk more about it in a open classroom environment, but it would be good if you can gather a few friends, maybe hold a IM chat session to talk about your reading.
Hope you have better luck in your "English brush-up session/self-study!"
Ganbareeee! ^o^
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