“You can’t study for language.” I
am sure many of you have heard this statement from your friends or even said it
yourself. I personally disagree with the above statement. Those people could
say that because they were good in English and they could express their ideas
in grammatically perfect sentences naturally. I, on the other hand, had to
prepare and use artificial means to pass English.
In secondary school, my way of
preparing for English papers was to memorise 2 perfectly edited essays word for
word. This means that all I need to do is to twig and link the essay that I memorised
to the question given during the exam day itself. It was the most effective way
for me because I did not have to worry about my tenses, grammar and vocabulary
which constitutes the most of my grades. This means that my English grades in
secondary school is a reflection of my creativity and not my language. When I headed
on to Junior college, I could not memorise essays word for word anymore because
we had to do argumentative essays instead of narrative. I could only memorise
case studies and hence I think that my GP grade was a true reflection of my
language. Getting a D for GP woke me up and it finally hit me that memorization
could only go this far.
I have always wanted to be a poet because I have a lot of stories and thoughts in my head but my
inability to express my thoughts in words stopped me from chasing this impossible
dream. I hope that ES1102 would open up a new journey for me and if possible,
bring me closer to my dream.
[Edited 04/09/14 11.57AM]
[Edited 04/09/14 11.57AM]
Interesting post, Xenia. You describe your prior experience succinctly, with a clear, concrete example (memorizing).
ReplyDeleteYes, memorization can only go so far. Personally, I favor 'use,' as in lots of practice. If you want to improve your reading, you need to read. The same is true for writing: write write write! (That's almost too obvious.)
By the way, your reflection is quite fluent, but there is some issue with your use of present tense verbs for situations in the past.
I look forward to reading more of your writing.
Totally! In secondary school, almost everyone seems pleased about language papers because they thought that it cannot be studied for. Thus, they would use the time to focus on other subjects.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the example given. It allowed me to understand the 'artificial means' you mentioned in paragraph one better.
I am sure that your dream would be within reach after you mastered everything that this module has to offer!
Yes! I remember saying that myself! However I do agree the statement, even though I used to memorize compositions as well. I still remember making a very awkward link between the topic and a composition I memorized during PSLE and my secondary school teacher said that some of my compositions are very similar. Similarly, I suffered in JC as well with the introduction of argumentative essays.
ReplyDeleteI love your ideas and examples in your reflection as I went through a similar experience and it was very close to heart. You also connected your personal method of learning to how well it worked and how far it worked. The organisation is great as well! Well written reflection. :)
Looking forward to your soon to be famous poems. :D
Posting on Darren's behalf:
ReplyDeleteHi Xenia, I have 3 points with regards to this:
1) I would change " I, on the other hand, had to prepare and use artificial means to pass English." into "On the other hand, I had to prepare..."
2) "In secondary school, my way of preparing for English papers is to memorise 2 perfectly edited essays word for word. " I think that it is safe to say that you had graduated from secondary school for quite a while now :) The present tenses should be changed into past tense"Is" into "was".
3) "but my inability to express my thoughts in words stopped me from chasing this impossible dream." Don't be so hard on yourself! I am very confident that after taking ES1102, this dream would be attainable.
In terms of sentence structure, I would change "in words stopped me.." into " in words had prevented me from..."
That's all I have to say for now :)
Darren
Hi Xenia!
ReplyDeleteYou wrote your reflection in such an honest way, admitting that you prepared for English using "artificial means". It was a very interesting reflection and I found myself eager to read more.
Your reflection had a good flow to it as it showed readers a clear timeline. You successfully analysed your strengths, weaknesses and indicated your plans for the future.
Thanks for your interesting reflection!
Diyanah
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