Monday, 27 January 2014

Learning Journey Reflection Updated.

After so many years of learning English, I finally found I would need to be working hard and improve on my English writing skills.  Since I was young, teacher has taught me about all the English grammars, word forms, verb forms, tenses, sentence structure etc. Nevertheless, my English writing is still consider very week along my academic study path.

My life totally changed in 2004, it was the year that I was sent to a new environment to receive the local education and every lesson was taught in English except the Chinese lesson once a week. I remembered during the first three months in my secondary school that I rarely understood what the teachers were talking about; it was like a strange world for me. Whenever teacher asked me about something, like handing homework or answering any questions on the white board, I needed my Chinese neighbor to translate for me. However, soon after about three months, I realized that I can understand most of the English, since then I tired to communicate with others but not practiced so much on writing.

During the last year in my secondary study, I was preparing for the ‘O’ level examination; my friends and I formed a small group of four people to study together. It was proved to be a wrong strategy after I received my ‘O’ level results; which lead I failed my English and got other subjects either A or B. It gave me a huge impact in that time and the world seemed to be grey in colour. Luckily, I managed to get a place at Republic Polytechnic, I became an engineering student, and my course was renewable energy engineering.  During the three years study in poly, I found I was able to get good results in most of the Understanding Test, which called UT, and most facilitators in RP gave me relative good daily grades, which they judged according to our daily performance in class. In the last semester, I was doing my attachment with one manufacturing company in woodlands, I learnt many useful knowledge about manufacturing machines and processes, I also involved in Quality Control department to use different machine for different products.
After I finished the company’s attachment, I was ready for graduation. Luckily, I was successfully accepted by both NUS and NTU by using my local diploma results. I was so happy that no word could describe me. After a few days, I received the offer letters, only then I noticed there is a QET test for me, suddenly I felt a sense of nervous because I knew that I might fail this test and attend extra classes. I started to panic and searched online all the tips for the test, and then I noticed it was not really about the tips but the use of the English language. I did bought a book to read other people’s essay and tried to practice on my own. Nevertheless, it was nearly impossible to improve my English writing very much in such a short period.  Hence, I needed to face the reality, which was that I needed to go for extra English lessons.


Now I feel very proud that I have been enrolled in ES1102 class, I found a great facilitator who can inspire me to learn English well in both writing and speaking.  I believe with the help of my facilitator, my English will be much better after the twelve weeks learning journey.

6 comments:

  1. Content and organisation:
    Bai Yu, thank you for sharing your English learning experience with me. I enjoyed reading your blog. You are obviously a very capable student. You can do anything with hardwork and determination. I am so pleased you managed to get the results that you deserved. The best way to learn about one's weaknesses is through feedback, so please make sure you ask for help. I am always very happy to help you improve on your English. Make the most of the people and resources available to you, ok? Ask me for help :-)

    Overall, this is a coherent piece of writing, and you described your learning experience well. You also successfully linked from past, present and future plans--great job. From now on, it is very important for you to start paying attention to the ideas you link together in sentences.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Language:
      1. Missing article in this sentence: I finally found myself need: 'need' is a noun in this sentence.

      2. ...my English writing + skills?

      3. Pay attention to singular/plural nouns: just one teacher + has?, home works,

      4. You wrote about a past experience and reported events in the past. Pay attention to the use of tenses: past/present tenses and perfect tenses. Examples:
      -My life has totally changed in 2004, it was the year that i had been sent to a new environment to receive the local...
      -I remember during the first three months in my secondary school that I rarely understand; it is like a strange world for me.
      - Whenever teacher ask me about something, like handing home works or answer any questions on the white board, I always need my Chinese neighbor to translate for me.
      -However, soon after about three months, I realize that I can understand most of the English, since then I always try to communicate with others but not practice so much on writing.
      - It has proven to be a wrong strategy after I received my ‘O’ level results; which I failed my English and got other subjects either A or B.
      -It gives me a huge impact in that time and the world seems to be grey in colour. Luckily, I was manage to get a place at Republic Polytechnic, I was becoming an engineering student, and my course is renewable energy engineering.
      - I have learning many useful knowledge about manufacturing machines and processes, I also involved in Quality Control department to use different machine for different products.
      - After a few days, I have received the offer letters, only then I notice there is a QET test for me, suddenly I feel a sense of nervous because I know I might fail this test and attend extra classes.
      -Now I feel very proud that I have been enrolled in ES1102 class, I found a great facilitator whom can inspire me to learn English well in both writing and speaking.
      -I start to panic and search online all the tips for the test, and then I notice it is not really about the tips but the use of the English language. I did bought a book to read other people’s essay and try to practice on my own.

      5. Do you know how to use relative pronouns 'which' in a sentence? Think about the connection of ideas in this sentence. The first sentence is about using the wrong strategy and the latter part is about failing English. What is the link?
      It has proven to be a wrong strategy after I received my ‘O’ level results; which I failed my English and got other subjects either A or B.

      Delete
  2. 6. Think about the connection of ideas in these sentences.
    - Luckily, I was manage to get a place at Republic Polytechnic, I was becoming an engineering student, and my course is renewable energy engineering.
    -During the three years study in poly, I found myself was able to get good results in most of the Understanding Test which called UT and most facilitators in RP will give me relative good daily grades which they will judge according to our daily performance in class.
    -In the last semester, I was doing my attachment with one manufacturing company in woodlands, I have learning many useful knowledge about manufacturing machines and processes, I also involved in Quality Control department to use different machine for different products.
    After a few days, I have received the offer letters, only then I notice there is a QET test for me, suddenly I feel a sense of nervous because I know I might fail this test and attend extra classes.

    7. In this sentence, 'I found myself was able to get good results' is the subject of the sentence. 'Myself' belongs in the object position, so what do you think should replace 'myself'?
    - During the three years study in poly, I found myself was able to get good results...

    8. Think about how you should fix sentence fragments:
    After I finished the company’s attachment and ready for graduation. I was successfully accepted by both NUS and NTU using my local diploma results.

    9. Do you know the difference between who and whom?
    -Now I feel very proud that I have been enrolled in ES1102 class, I found a great facilitator whom can inspire me to learn English well in both writing and speaking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After so many years of learning English, I finally found I would need to be working hard and improve on my English writing skills. Since I was young, teacher has taught me about all the English grammars, word forms, verb forms, tenses, sentence structure etc. Nevertheless, my English writing is still consider very week along my academic study path.

      My life totally changed in 2004, it was the year that I was sent to a new environment to receive the local education and every lesson was taught in English except the Chinese lesson once a week. I remembered during the first three months in my secondary school that I rarely understood what the teachers were talking about; it was like a strange world for me. Whenever teacher asked me about something, like handing homework or answering any questions on the white board, I needed my Chinese neighbor to translate for me. However, soon after about three months, I realized that I can understand most of the English, since then I tired to communicate with others but not practiced so much on writing.

      During the last year in my secondary study, I was preparing for the ‘O’ level examination; my friends and I formed a small group of four people to study together. It was proved to be a wrong strategy after I received my ‘O’ level results; which lead I failed my English and got other subjects either A or B. It gave me a huge impact in that time and the world seemed to be grey in colour. Luckily, I managed to get a place at Republic Polytechnic, I became an engineering student, and my course was renewable energy engineering. During the three years study in poly, I found I was able to get good results in most of the Understanding Test, which called UT, and most facilitators in RP gave me relative good daily grades, which they judged according to our daily performance in class. In the last semester, I was doing my attachment with one manufacturing company in woodlands, I learnt many useful knowledge about manufacturing machines and processes, I also involved in Quality Control department to use different machine for different products.
      After I finished the company’s attachment, I was ready for graduation. Luckily, I was successfully accepted by both NUS and NTU by using my local diploma results. I was so happy that no word could describe me. After a few days, I received the offer letters, only then I noticed there is a QET test for me, suddenly I felt a sense of nervous because I knew that I might fail this test and attend extra classes. I started to panic and searched online all the tips for the test, and then I noticed it was not really about the tips but the use of the English language. I did bought a book to read other people’s essay and tried to practice on my own. Nevertheless, it was nearly impossible to improve my English writing very much in such a short period. Hence, I needed to face the reality, which was that I needed to go for extra English lessons.

      Now I feel very proud that I have been enrolled in ES1102 class, I found a great facilitator who can inspire me to learn English well in both writing and speaking. I believe with the help of my facilitator, my English will be much better after the twelve weeks learning journey.

      Delete
  3. Bai Yu
    Great job on the corrections! See my feedback below in brackets:
    After so many years of learning English, I finally found I would need to (CORRECT) be working hard and improve on my English writing skills (CORRECT). Since I was young, teacher (CORRECT) has taught me about all the English grammars, word forms, verb forms, tenses, sentence structure etc. Nevertheless, my English writing is still consider very week along my academic study path.

    My life totally changed in 2004, it was the year that I was sent (CORRECT) to a new environment to receive the local education and every lesson was taught in English except the Chinese lesson once a week. I remembered (YOU STILL REMEMBER NOW. SO IT SHOULD BE REMEMBER) during the first three months in my secondary school that I rarely understood (CORRECT) what the teachers were talking about (CORRECT); it was (CORRECT) like a strange world for me. Whenever teacher asked me (CORRECT) about something, like handing homework or answering any questions on the white board, I needed (CORRECT) my Chinese neighbor to translate for me. However, soon after about three months, I realized (CORRECT) that I can (PAST TENSE HERE…COULD. THE REST OF THE PARAGRAPH IS IN PAST TENSE) understand most of the English, since then I tired to communicate with others but not practiced so much on writing.

    During the last year in my secondary study, I was preparing for the ‘O’ level examination; my friends and I formed a small group of four people to study together. It was proved (CORRECT. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHY PRESENT PERFECT TENSE SHOULD NOT BE USED HERE. PAY ATTENTION TO THE VERB TENSE PRESENTATION) to be a wrong strategy after I received my ‘O’ level results; which lead I failed my English and got other subjects either A or B (WORD ORDER OF THE LAST PART IS NOT CORRECT. IT READS BETTER AS 'WHICH I FAILED BUT GOT EITHER A OR B FOR OTHER SUBJECTS'). It gave (CORRECT) me a huge impact in that time and the world seemed (CORRECT) to be grey in colour. Luckily, I managed (CORRECT) to get a place at Republic Polytechnic, I became (CORRECT) an engineering student, and my course was renewable energy engineering. During the three years study in poly, I found I was able (CORRECT--EXCELLECT) to get good results in most of the Understanding Test, which called UT, and most facilitators in RP gave me relative good daily grades, which they judged according to our daily performance in class. In the last semester, I was doing my attachment with one manufacturing company in woodlands, I learnt (CORRECT) many (KNOWLEDGE IS AN UNCOUNTABLE NOUN, SO USE 'A LOT OF'+…KNOWLEDGE) useful knowledge about manufacturing machines and processes, I WAS(PASSIVE VOICE) also involved in THE Quality Control department to use different machine for different products.

    ReplyDelete
  4. After I finished the company’s attachment, I was ready for graduation (CORRECT). Luckily, I was successfully accepted by both NUS and NTU by using my local diploma results. I was so happy that no word could describe me. After a few days, I received the offer letters, only then I noticed there is (WAS/WOULD BE) a QET test for me, suddenly I felt(CORRECT) a sense of nervousNESS because I knew (CORRECT) that I might fail this test and attend extra classes. I started to panic and searched online all the tips for the test, and then I noticed it was not really about the tips but the use of the English language. I did bought (DID BUY / BOUGHT) a book to read other people’s essay and tried to practice on my own. Nevertheless, it was nearly impossible to improve my English writing very much in such a short period. Hence, I needed to face the reality, which was that I needed to go for extra English lessons.

    Now I feel very proud that I have been enrolled in ES1102 class, I HAVE found (USE PRES PERF TENSE HERE INSTEAD OF PAST--THINK ABOUT WHY) a great facilitator who can inspire me to learn English well in both writing and speaking. I believe with the help of my facilitator, my English will be much better after the twelve weeks learning journey.
    MISTY: GREAT JOB IN CORRECTING THE TENSES. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHY YOU MADE THE CORRECTIONS, OK?

    ReplyDelete