I have been living LA eight months. As an English teacher and a learner,
I am still struggling for using English and my shy children are in the same boat.
I believe that they are late bloomer due to their personality. My second
child didn't know the alphabet, and sometime he still confuses "b" and "d".
My daughter learned English at the previous school, but her least favorite subject was English.
They had never read English books before. Their previous school emphasised
importance of extensive reading, so they always read Korean books and I didn't
force to them to read English book either. Although I am not a proponent of the
critical period hypothesis, I am amazed by their English development. They are
not talkative or actively involve the classroom activity, however, they are progressing.
They became enjoy Disney and Nick channel. In addition, they could write a
short paragraph without teacher's help.
Now, I realized that my English is more urgent than my children's.
What should I do? At first, I decided to read many books, so I went to second
hand book store with my children and bought as many as we wanted. Actually,
I went there several times before. I bought the grapes of the wrath last month.
I didn't finish yet. All I want is reading for pleasure. Therefore, I chose
famous stories (John Grisham) and romance (Daniel Steel). I hope even adult
learner can be a beneficiary of the extensive reading.
First of all, it suffices to say that you are highly motivated; that is a half way to learning. Second, you should integrate all the skills; reading, writing, listening, and speaking; and language system areas such as vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. However, specifically, reading and writing assignments that we have to do in our program are a very good way to improve your language, so by the end of the program, you language will be much sharper.
ReplyDeleteI think reading is critical to improving English and writing skills; however, I think that for English learners sometimes it can be overwhelming. The classics are always great to read, but I don't think they are necessary the best way to improve reading skills. It depends on many factors. The Grapes of Wrath is one of my favorite books. John Steinbeck also has other great books (also classics) that are not so long. For example, The Pearl and Of Mice and Men. Even though those are shorter, I think they are equally as enriching. I would say pick short, enjoyable books, short stories, or even articles about topics you are interested in, so that you keep the reading going and you don't get stuck on a big, thick book. Second hand stores are great for affordable books, and so are public libraries. Best wishes on your reading journey. :)
ReplyDeleteI sometimes feel the same way with my two year old. He mixes two languages so professionally that makes me laugh and worry at the same time. For example, number two sounds like “yergu” in Armenian. So, he pronounces it “twogu”. He does that with other words too. It was interesting to find out that his speech is a little late because of this phenomenon.
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