Blog 8: English Language Challenges

Well, this is hard to talk about. Mostly you don't make a big deal out of learning English. But I think that comes from the base you grow up on. In the two schools I went to, I never had any real incentive other than the embarrassment you get when you pronounce something wrong. So I don't like English as a college subject.

That doesn't mean I don't like English at all. Just that my experiences have never been good. I'm always very embarrassed and frustrated to have to speak "in public". So instead of enjoying it, I get too stressed out trying.

That only happens to me when I try to speak English, or the pressure of school/college. Because when I've had to write these blogs I'm not stressed at all. I actually like doing it. Plus it's helped me write better in English, I think haha.

Well, as you can tell, my weakness is speaking in English, because I find it very difficult to pronounce well, besides which I was never taught to do it well since I was a child, and when I look for how to do it alone I also get frustrated haha, because they speak very fast and I can't hear the pronunciation of the words well. I believe I will eventually learn, find online courses and do more of my part to make it happen. That's among my objectives haha.

In fact, I still try hard outside of class, I really like watching movies and series in English, sometimes with subtitles and sometimes without. I've been surprised at the times I see them without subtitles, because I've managed to understand everything they say and of course I manage to understand the plot of the film as well haha

I would have very much liked to have learned as a child, because I didn't have so many things to do and I could have given it the time it deserves and needs. But it's never too late.

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BONUS: I also think that the way English is taught in Chile should be changed. I remember that once a teacher made us write two paragraphs in English (at school) and we had never been told how to make sentences or simply write in English. And he gave the whole course a red note. I find that there is a lot of difference in how English is taught between the different schools, because there are friends who like English because of the way it was taught to them as a child, and my bad experience has made me very embarrassed to learn.