12. Sara, Textile Art and Design / University of Art & Design Helsinki
Kaleidoscope reflection

Needs:
Reading is important to me just now, I have to read articles, websites and text books about textile design and also the history and tradition of textile- I need more ´textile vocabulary´ for example weaving and other textile techniques, colours, design and materials vocabulary- I also have to activate link words and other this kind of vocabulary- it is difficult to me to speak up in unknown groups in finnish and in english it is even more difficult
Skills:
I think it is quite easy to me to understand spoken language, but it takes a lot of time to say something or answer questions- I have noticed that intensive course and other same ´language-bath´ -periods like travelling or guests who are speaking english helps my speaking - I have to write new words or see them before I can remember and use them actively- reading academic text books or specialized articles is slow and if there are a lot of words that I can’t understand I will frustrated and get tired and leave it- I think writing isn’t difficult to me, but I need a lot of time and a dictionary- reading childrens’ books helps me to learn language and ´basic´ structures
Motivation:
Language studying is very interesting when I can focus on my own interests - I have noticed that when I can do something else than only ´learn language´, for example learning about textiles and adding knowledge of my own profession using English I´m much more motivated - a fresh start or a new way of learning is really important to me!- I have bad school experiences, for example I had to read English texts and memorice vocabularies which didn’t interest me not at all- I’m very interested about textile tradition and history in England and I would like to get to know about it more- there are some very interesting English cases of product or production like Harris tweed, Barbour and textiles and wallpapers of William Morris
Personality:
I don’t worry so much about making mistakes- before using the language I would like to think about things for myself and I also have to see new words or structures before I can remember and learn- I have recognized that I always hurry to finish my english sentences or my turn to speak, today I try to remember that it isn’t so important to say so fast something and I really can speak english more slowly than finnish- I’m shy in front of groups, especially if I don’t know the people before or the situation is new - it is very important that I’m feeling comfortable and the situation is safe, if I’m getting nonrelaxed or tired, I’m unable to say anything- yes it really helps me to remember and understand new words if I see them written down, it also helps me to recall forgotten words- I like to learn language by using it and I learn best when I for example see something really intresting in a museum and I have to notice new things and find out them by using english
Learning background:
I have never thought of myself as a language learner and I haven´t recognized before that I actually have learnt a lot of english outside school- I have some bad experiences from language classes at school, for example concerning my pronunciation, understanding and word-tests- I have also good memories: my swedish teacher was very nice person and she gave the possibility to ask questions and make mistakes and after that she always gave motivating feedback