- Two
years in the US
-
- I
would like to talk about my English learning history and my great
experiences in high school in the US. First, I would like to tell you
the reason why I started studying English. Secondly, I would like to
talk about how I developed my English. Thirdly, I would like to share my
great experiences in the US with you.
- First
of all, I did not like English at all when I was in high school.
Actually, I was not so interested in studying any subjects. Instead of
studying, I was interested in music. Maybe you wonder why such a boy
started studying English. The reason why I did it was that I really
wanted to go to the US. I especially liked American music, for example,
jazz, hip hop, and R&B. I thought it was the best way to live in the
U.S and go to school in the U.S. And I thought college or university is
better that language school. And I found out that TOEFL score was
necessary to get in college in the U.S. So, I started studying mainly
for TOEFL. The score that would allow me to enter a US college was too
high for me to get at that time. Even though I hated to study English, I
made up my mind to dedicate myself to studying it. This is the beginning
of my English learning history.
- Secondly,
I would like to tell you how I developed my poor English. It was really
simple. I was thinking about English every time and just studied harder
with imagining the future day that I would go to the U.S. I read many
passages. The beginning was really hard for me. I could not read even
one paragraph because of so many words that I couldn’t understand. I
was always carrying my dictionary. I became friends with my dictionary.
I practiced reading every day, and gradually my reading got better and
faster. Grammar was my favorite one. I paid full attention to the
lecture in school. Before I made up my mind to study English, I had not
been listening to English lecture in school at all. I had been sleeping
the whole time. But once I decided to study English, I changed myself
into a good student. I raised my hands every time I found something I
did not understand. Maybe my teacher got surprised at my change. I
talked with him about English a lot. We could have a good relationship
through English. Listening was hardest for me. I still feel it difficult
sometimes. I did not like to listen to the English recorded tape. That
exercise was kind of boring for me. So, my listening skills were not so
developed highly unfortunately. When I think about it, I feel I should
have tried more for listening. Although my listening was not good, my
grammar and my reading were not bad. I tried TOEFL many times. And
finally I made it to get the score 500 which was enough to go to
community college. My dream came true!
- Thirdly,
I would like to share my great learning experiences in the U.S. Even
though my dream came true, I was not happy at all at the beginning of
living in the US. The life in the US was much harder than I imagined. I
was shocked by how little I could understand what my host family said
and how difficult it was to tell what I wanted to say. The first three
months were really tough. I was negative about talking with someone. But
I was gradually getting to understand what they said after three months
passed. I listened to English from TV. And I tried to talk to people.
One day in school, I was walking in the music building, and I heard some
music from a room. I got close to the room and watched inside. They were
big jazz band. I was standing there for a moment. And one lady came to
me and said to me, “ Come here!” I could play the piano. I asked the
leader of the band if I can join the band. He said yes with a smile. I
will never forget the words that the lady gave me. And I will never
forget his smile too. Meeting the jazz band totally changed my life in
the US.
- I
made many friends in the jazz band. We often got together and played
some music. We went to many fun places like beach. I learned English
through music and many other fun things with them. This is my English
learning history. It is the most important thing for me to enjoy
English.