ENGLISH JOURNEY
DOREEN'S STORY
#SYMESTORIES #SUMMER2019
Why did I go to SYME? I just had one reason— I wanted to learn English. Before I came to SYME, I had studied in a cram school, but I just studied there for around half a year and I gave up. I couldn’t watch videos and learn English.
I wanted to learn English because I wanted to be an exchange student. That was my expectation since I was a freshman. I didn’t have to do it, but I wanted to try. I wanted to know how much I could do.
English was my big challenge. I didn’t like English. I think it began in junior high school when I had a strict tutor. I got a bad impression of it. In high school, I only passed the first semester. After that, I failed. I said to my teacher “don’t help me, just let me fail. I will go to make up class.” So I didn’t pay attention in English class and tests. Even so, if they didn’t have enough test paper, I would give them mine. When I took the college entrance exam, I couldn’t understand any questions. I guessed all of them. And it was no surprise, I got the lowest grade.
In my second summer vacation in university, I thought this was my last summer vacation. I must take time to learn English for the exchange program I wanted to go on. Even though I was not feeling well at that time, I still decided to go SYME.
“I like challenges. So I challenged myself to learn English.”
In the first two weeks of SYME, I remember that I just said “yes”, “no”, and “okay”. I couldn’t understand what everyone was doing, and I couldn’t understand or speak. I often wanted to say something, but no words would come out of my mouth. Afterwards, I got used to more through my roommate’s gestures. I became mischievous. My roommates said I was so different in the dorm compared to school. What motivated me to improve was that I wanted to be mischievous in school too. I memorized vocabulary to tease people. I made sentences for them. I used it. And then I naturally memorized it.
“I improved a lot in my second term. It was strange because I didn’t study hard like my first term.“
Why did I improve so much? The deep conversation is in my mind:
A teacher asked me: “What do you think about us (foreigners) speaking Chinese?”
I answered: “Cute”
She said: “Yes, that’s what we think about you speaking English.”
I was shocked. I never thought about that before. I was afraid of making mistakes and using incorrect grammar. But after this conversation, I gradually realized that language is for communication. Understanding each other is enough. Correct is important, but it is not the most important thing.
I have now finished this English learning journey. Recently, I can feel that if I don’t use it often, it will leave me. I can’t stop this from happening. But I can now accept that my English is not perfect. Even though I know I still have much to learn, it doesn’t make me afraid anymore, because I know what the purpose of English is for me. It is for communication.