Before the term began, I had the idea of having typical English classes where students learned about composition and comprehension before finishing their own assignments. But I was mistaken; I ended up having the most extraordinary experience of my life thanks to the new ideas and instructional strategies that had an effect on my future career. At first, the lessons were more difficult and demanding, but I persevered and kept a positive outlook, which enabled me to effectively complete all of the English modules. My strongest learnings from the training were enhanced abilities in reading, writing, and literature analysis. I acquired a lot from the reading materials that were provided in the classroom, and learnt how to read and write. The books that we read in the classroom also helped me expound on my literature analysis skills.
One of the skills I gained from the English A1 class is comprehensive reading. Before I joined the class, I have always had difficulty of reading learning materials due to the fact that I am not a native English speaker. This problem affected me even in other courses which were taught in the same language. During the classes, students were given series of learning materials which they were to read and write reflections. During group discussions, every student was made to read sections of the assigned papers. The practice of reading together with daily mastering of at least 10 English words have greatly improved my reading skills as well as understanding of the language.
My knowledge in English writing has also improved over time with the help of the professor and my classmates. During our first week in class, students were provided with different reading materials. I got the opportunity to read through “St. Martin’s Guide to Writing” which taught me a lot of writing capabilities. First I discovered about different tenses and pronouns which I had problem differentiating before the course (Axelrod 35). Within three weeks, I had known when to use the present, simple, and past tenses as I used examples to address my friends. Another important concept I learnt from the book was essay writing. The only concept I knew prior to the course regarding writing was that essays should be written in paragraphs, and must have body, introduction, and conclusion. However, I got shocked to understand that details such as thesis statement and topic sentences. In order to present essay content clearly, one must address the thesis statement that presents the key content of the essay. I further learnt that a paragraph with specific topic sentence would direct the reader on the key points proposed. This knowledge has helped me in the organization of my essays in the classroom.
The course further made realize the need of proof reading and making grammatical corrections after writing an essay. “St. Martin’s Guide to Writing” illustrated that when writing an essay, one should write up at least 3 drafts (Axelrod 34-47). The first draft should constitute the rough ideas to be presented in the essay; this should be followed by a second draft with includes all the sections of the essay. The third draft, which can also be considered the final, should have a succinct essay with grammar and spelling written correctly. In addition, before presentation of an essay, very student must ensure that the work is plagiarism-free. I came to learn how one can ensure content originality by ensuring that authors from whom information is borrowed are correctly cited (Axelrod 40-51). I believe that this information will help me maintain original content even in the other subjects.
Furthermore, I acknowledge the effort made by my professor to make me understand the concept of literature analysis. Although I read literature books in high school, it was always difficult to understand the key contents as well as authors’ lessons to the readers. Through the English lessons, I have been guided on how to understand literature and how to identify the themes and character analysis. One of the books we have read is the Book of Unknown Americans by Christina Henríquez. The author narrates the experience of a Mexican family who has moved to Delaware to take their special needs child, Maribel, to the best school in the United States (Henríquez 7-33). The economic climate is not favorable, and in the end the family go back home when the father is shot by Garret. With the help of the professor and my classmates, I analyzed the book in different lenses including feminism, historical, and political lenses. I believe the exposure has improved my literature skills.
As I continue to learn, I hope to overcome all the challenges that may be associated with understanding the English lessons or materials. I feel that this course has so far improved my abilities in writing, reading, and literature analysis, but I still wish to gain more to advance the skills. The class has also improved my understanding of the other subjects since I am now able to grasp most of the English words that are used to teach. Furthermore, I believe that the lessons have contributed to my educational goals as I plan to major in English which requires a lot of intelligence in reading and writing. Overall, I hope to remain committed to become a better English student as I work towards developing my career.
Works Cited
Axelrod, Rise B. St. Martin's Guide to Writing. Place of publication not identified: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2015. Print.
Henríquez, Cristina. The Book of Unknown Americans: A Novel. , 2014. Internet resource.
