Languages
Language is an integral part of our life and in my opinion really important and interesting topic.
When I was going to Romania for my EVS I was sure that by the end of the project I would be able to have conversation in Romanian, but reality isn’t so bright. After more than two month I know just some phrases and words. Now I understand that I need really a lot of time and motivation to learn a new language and at the same time I have to improve my English. But I hope that I will find a solution. For now I can just say that I had a real English learning experience and I would like share it.
When I was studying at school I had language classes but they were really useless. After University I just knew the alphabet and some basic grammar rules. My English would be the same now but I always really liked music and films. Also, I wanted to understand lyrics and watch films with no dubbing. But when I started to learn English I realized that it gives me a lot of other opportunities and freedoms. For me it is also a real pleasure to listen to people speaking English as in my opinion this language is beautiful and melodic.
I believe that when you know English (at a decent level) you can:
Travel a lot, it is usually possible to find people who can speak English in any country;
Meet new people and make friends all around the world;
Read books in English;
Watch British and Americans films and serials in with no dubbing ;
Take part in different international programs;
Find a good and well paid job;
Become well rounded and educated, since when you learn a new language you also learn about other culture and traditions.
For me, besides lessons at language courses these things were really helpful:
Podcasts in English. Particularly Luke’s English Podcast. It’s a really interesting, funny podcast of English teacher with a lot of useful information and really beautiful English accent.
Reading books in English. I started with adapt books for elementary level of English and last year I finally could read and enjoy Harry Potter in original.
Watch films in English. At first I started to watch films with Russian subtitles, then with English subtitles and then without subtitles at all. It was very difficult to force myself stop using subtitles but I think it’s important to do it even if can’t understand everything. At the end you could see a result.
Discussion clubs. In my native city we have weekly discussion clubs with native speakers of English. For me it was really helpful and interesting experience. We discussed different interesting and important topics in English and it’s really helped me to overcome language barrier and fear to speak in English.
Traveling. In my opinion tourism not really useful for improving language but different language courses abroad, trainings and international programs can be really helpful.
Now I still can not to say that I know English very well. Usually I can understand almost everything, I can watch films in English and read some books and articles, but I still have problems with speaking and grammar. But I know that learning language should be a life-long experience and I have a lot of opportunities to improve it in the future.
I would like to finish my article with a Czech proverb: “You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you only live once.”
