A BIG thank you to Gabriela, a student of English here in Prague who has kindly volunteered to be the very first to write about her journey of learning English. I hope you’ll find it fascinating (and interesting to see that everyone has their challenges to overcome).
Guest post by Gabriela
I have to admit that I’m a typical product of the Czech educational system. In terms of language lessons it means that I studied grammar, grammar and grammar. I graduated from primary and secondary school almost without uttering a word in English. On the other hand I was perfectly skilled in present perfect clauses.
From today’s perspective, I was lucky that I wasn’t accepted to University just after my secondary education had finished. What did I do then? For one year I was devoted to English at a commercial language school and consequently passed FCE and the Basic English State Exam.
At University, I faced the reality regarding my English knowledge for the first time. During business English classes I realized that I barely understood when my classmates were speaking. All these guys spoke fluently with various accents as they had spent at least one year at some US high schools. These lessons were my nightmares. I counted every single minute that passed and I still survived without total humiliation.
As I didn’t want to be the everlasting outsider in English I decided to go abroad. In my fourth year at University I went to Canada for half a year. There I worked as a waitress. The feeling that I didn’t understand a word came back to me but somehow my English knowledge improved little by little. When I came back I had a feeling that if I’d met a foreigner there would be no need to pretend I didn’t speak English at all (which I did before!).
Still, my English wasn’t good enough. I found this out at my first job at an international company in Prague. I was struggling to write a simple business letter or email. And what’s more, seeing the ease with which my colleagues talked in English, I started to be embarrassed about my spoken English once again. This company made its employees prepare for BEC Higher, which I passed but with a great portion of luck.
My English inability pushed me to find a foreigner with whom I started one-to one classes. This guy was an Australian teacher, originally from the Caledonian School. The lessons helped a bit. Then I started to read books in English, watch films without dubbing, listen to the BBC. I also started to study ACCA, a special training program for auditors which contains 14 or 15 exams written fully in English.
Now I’m having one-to-one lessons with David, my best English teacher so far. I’m probably improving but the improvement is hard to measure. I’ll tell you in a couple of years.
English is my lifelong battle which I’ll probably never win. At least I’ll try to be a continuous fighter.
– Gabriela
David Sweetnam says
Hi Gabi
Thanks again for being my first guest writer.
I’d like others to do it as well, and to encourage people to share their stories (which includes me as a language learner as well).
Reading this – and reading those new books I mentioned to you – has given me some new ideas for my classes (more next time!).
I’m discovering more + more just how much motivation, positive energy, practice + commitment can play a big role in making progress. It’s only now for example that I’m beginning to get into Czech + feel good about my progress.
But one question for you:
Can you say more about the positive stories along the way? How did you feel on the plane back from Canada? When did you first feel that “yeah, I’m getting good at this!”
Or…when do you think you’ll sit back + think to yourself (with a wine in hand): “Yeah, I rock at English!”
David
Gabriela says
Hi David,
I’m looking forward to your other students’ stories so that we could share our tips and tricks in learning English.
To your question. I’m a type of person who’s hardly ever satisfied with himself or herself. Therefore, I can’t recall many positive feelings along the way. But here’s the one.
Almost two years ago I was travelling by train from Vienna to Prague. I bought a ticket in the business class coupe where besides me an older American pair was sitting. Like every Americans, these guys were very talkative and so we spent the whole journey in a lively discussion. They appreciated my English which made more confident and encouraged me to talk to them even more.
This was probably a bright moment in my English learning history when I thought…hmmm, I’m not that bad, indeed 🙂
Gabriela
David Sweetnam says
That’s a cool story, Gabi.
>>I’m a type of person who’s hardly ever satisfied with himself or herself.
So what can a teacher do when their student or client is not satisfied with their progress, or doesn’t seem to be as confident..?
On the one hand, it’s great to want to get better + better. However, if you are reluctant to fully express yourself, you may miss out on a few opportunities in life.
Btw quite a few people have told me they really liked your article 🙂 The next step is for me to encourage them to respond!
Francisco Javier says
Sorry to intrude but… why do you keep using the + sign ? Why don’t you say “plus” instead ?
“better + better” Why don’t you say “better and better” ?
It’s a bit annoying. Having said that, I must say I enjoy reading your posts.
David Sweetnam says
Lol. I like the plus sign.
Thanks for taking the time to look around this blog. I’ll be posting more once I have better internet access, which I hope will be any day now.
Best wishes
David