Finally, I will write my last journal. I felt that I learned a lot of things. First of all, I spent a good time with reading. I bought an English newspaper which was Gulf news and I read two long articles. I wrote a summary for the first one and I put headings for the second one. Also, I read a story which was “The History of the English Language” for “ Brigit Viney”. I like this book very much because I learned a lot of things about an English language. This book has reminded me to the first class of phonology. Dr. Keith gave us a short introduction about the history of the English language. When I read this book I remembered what our teacher gave us in his first class. In addition, I practiced the skimming skill by using http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/techniques/skimming/index .shtml. It is a really useful website. However, I felt that I had a big improvement with reading skill.
The second skill that I had practicing with is developing my vocabulary. I felt that I didn’t get a lot of words this time. In other words, I didn’t write any new words but when I heard any new. I thought about them and I used them. For example, I knew the word “absolutely” but I didn’t know how to use it. I started to repeat it day by day by trying to use it in sentences. Then, one day I was speaking with someone by phone in English and I found a good way to use this word.
My last skill that I would like to develop is speaking and pronunciation. I noticed that I really improved in this skill. Especially that I broke out my pauses. I started by recording my voice last weeks. But, in this time I just practiced by speaking during last two weeks while I prepared the activities for the National Day. It was really hard time because I have spoken with a lot of people and I used an English to speak with everyone. It was hard in the beginning but after a lot of practicing a felt that I can speak more fluent. Moreover, one of my friends taught me how to pronoun the sound “R”. I felt that I can say it as native speakers. Furthermore, I noticed that I was daring more than before. However, my speaking skill is really better than before. In general, I improved in all of these three skills and will keep in touch with my plans. However, I will plan for new skill too to start implementing for them. It was a really good assignment for us!
Ayesha,
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Week 9 - Journal 4
“What a nice independent learning week! “ Even there were a lot of assignments and projects; I did some practice for my English skills. This time I changed the routine by starting with reading skill. I borrowed new stories which are Emma and The Machine of the Time. I’ve chosen “Emma” story because I read before a story which was written by June Austen. It was a really nice and understandable story. I wrote a summary as usual but I made a few things too beside the summary. Firstly, I wrote the main ideas for the first chapter only because I didn’t want to spend much time in reading only. Especially, I almost focused in my plans in the weekend. In addition, I used this website http://www.magportal.com/c/edu/coll/ instead of www.plos.org because it was too complex to me and I felt bored because of the science topics. I’ve read in this website an article about education and college. It was really nice. However, I decided to paraphrase the article and I wrote it by my own words. It’s not written in my plans but I added it because I felt that my strategies are not enough. I felt satisfied about reading skill for this week because I added a new strategy which is paraphrasing the articles.
Furthermore, I stayed in touch with vocabularies as much as I can, even though I practiced what I have in my planner. When I see any words during my shopping or when I heard anyone speaks in English, I try to understand each word. For example, yesterday we went to Early Learning Center to observe thy toys and we had a short lecture about how the toy is important and what is the educational value of toys. I learned the word “durable” which means how solid this toy is and it cannot break off quickly. Then, I returned back to my home and I reviewed some words which related to explanation of toys, such as discover, develop and figure. Moreover, I noticed that I can participate with any discussion that related to human development and toys because of the amount of words that I have. Next time, I will start to memorize new vocabularies about specific topics because I noticed that I’m able to learn more and have more words when I focus in specific topic as what was happening with the topic that related to human development.
My third skill which becomes my favor one is speaking and pronunciation. As I decided last week, I sat with my family on Friday and we had a new topic for discussion which was about being late in our works and home. This topic made all of us enthusiastic to talk. I felt that this time I improved logically too because we’ve used many evidences to say that being late is not appropriate thing to do even in jobs or homes because we have to follow the rules as people who are parts of family or jobs. However, we made some mistakes but we corrected each other. Especially, the verb tenses and how to use the suitable vocabulary for the sentences. For example, I said that “late from the class is a really bad thing”. Then, my father corrected me and he said I should use the word lateness instead of late. In addition, I recorded my voice for 15 minutes when I speak about volunteering. I felt that I can speak a lot because I worked as a volunteer in students union which means that I have the experience. I noticed that I didn’t have the same pauses as before. But still little mistakes have been made. I will try to avoid them as much as I can during my practices. I felt that I did well this week which made me proud on myself.
Ayesha,
Furthermore, I stayed in touch with vocabularies as much as I can, even though I practiced what I have in my planner. When I see any words during my shopping or when I heard anyone speaks in English, I try to understand each word. For example, yesterday we went to Early Learning Center to observe thy toys and we had a short lecture about how the toy is important and what is the educational value of toys. I learned the word “durable” which means how solid this toy is and it cannot break off quickly. Then, I returned back to my home and I reviewed some words which related to explanation of toys, such as discover, develop and figure. Moreover, I noticed that I can participate with any discussion that related to human development and toys because of the amount of words that I have. Next time, I will start to memorize new vocabularies about specific topics because I noticed that I’m able to learn more and have more words when I focus in specific topic as what was happening with the topic that related to human development.
My third skill which becomes my favor one is speaking and pronunciation. As I decided last week, I sat with my family on Friday and we had a new topic for discussion which was about being late in our works and home. This topic made all of us enthusiastic to talk. I felt that this time I improved logically too because we’ve used many evidences to say that being late is not appropriate thing to do even in jobs or homes because we have to follow the rules as people who are parts of family or jobs. However, we made some mistakes but we corrected each other. Especially, the verb tenses and how to use the suitable vocabulary for the sentences. For example, I said that “late from the class is a really bad thing”. Then, my father corrected me and he said I should use the word lateness instead of late. In addition, I recorded my voice for 15 minutes when I speak about volunteering. I felt that I can speak a lot because I worked as a volunteer in students union which means that I have the experience. I noticed that I didn’t have the same pauses as before. But still little mistakes have been made. I will try to avoid them as much as I can during my practices. I felt that I did well this week which made me proud on myself.
Ayesha,
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Week 8 - Journal 3
Last week was really busy a week. I spent most of my time implementing my plans and doing my homework which is for other classes like sounds, academic reading and writing and human development project. In each of these Homework I found something that related to my plans. For instance, I found many new vocabulary words when I did my human development project, such as cognitive which is related to the mental and linguistic which is related to the language. However, I have done two things this week. Firstly, I have written ten words from what I learned in sentences. For example, I used “custody” in this sentence which is “Children who doesn’t have parents can stay in the custody center to have care”. Also, I practiced a filling gap exercises which is really useful. It was kind of fun and helpful at the same time.
In addition, I have focused more in reading this week. I bought Gulf newspaper to read it and started with headings and the bold titles. Then, I have read the articles which attracted me first. Also, I annotated these articles to make them easier. Then, I felt that was a good method in particular, with reading and I will do this plan next week because it worked with me. Moreover, I wrote three summaries this week. Each one took about 10 minutes. I noticed that I really improved in writing summaries because I didn’t spend much time in. However, I felt that I’m familiar with reading more than before. I changed my view about reading in English because I noticed my improvement. Especially, with skimming skills, putting headings, main ideas and paraphrasing the words. I felt that I’m more curious. For instance, if I see any books or newspaper that written in English, it’s really attracted my attention even if I didn’t understand what the meaning is.
Furthermore, speaking skill is one of the skills that I would like to improve. Last Friday, I stayed with my family after the launch time. Then, I asked them to share our ideas about any topic. My little sister who is in grade five suggested to talk about success. But, I told them that our discussion will be in English and this is our term. However, my father asked me to start talking. I gave them a little introduction about the real meaning of success and what should we do to be a successful people. It was really a great day because it was the first time we stay together and talk about something in English. My little brother said, that was a great idea and he needs to improve his English too. So, he will be the guide of the next Friday’s topic. I did well in last Friday even small errors and short pauses at the beginning persisted. Also, I have tried to use new vocabularies which I learned during the last two weeks. For example, I used “optimistic”, “flexibility” and “challenge” which related to the success. These words took my family’s attention. And I noticed that I can use a strong vocabulary when I speak. So, this activity was working a lot. However, it was a nice week with this great improvement!
In addition, I have focused more in reading this week. I bought Gulf newspaper to read it and started with headings and the bold titles. Then, I have read the articles which attracted me first. Also, I annotated these articles to make them easier. Then, I felt that was a good method in particular, with reading and I will do this plan next week because it worked with me. Moreover, I wrote three summaries this week. Each one took about 10 minutes. I noticed that I really improved in writing summaries because I didn’t spend much time in. However, I felt that I’m familiar with reading more than before. I changed my view about reading in English because I noticed my improvement. Especially, with skimming skills, putting headings, main ideas and paraphrasing the words. I felt that I’m more curious. For instance, if I see any books or newspaper that written in English, it’s really attracted my attention even if I didn’t understand what the meaning is.
Furthermore, speaking skill is one of the skills that I would like to improve. Last Friday, I stayed with my family after the launch time. Then, I asked them to share our ideas about any topic. My little sister who is in grade five suggested to talk about success. But, I told them that our discussion will be in English and this is our term. However, my father asked me to start talking. I gave them a little introduction about the real meaning of success and what should we do to be a successful people. It was really a great day because it was the first time we stay together and talk about something in English. My little brother said, that was a great idea and he needs to improve his English too. So, he will be the guide of the next Friday’s topic. I did well in last Friday even small errors and short pauses at the beginning persisted. Also, I have tried to use new vocabularies which I learned during the last two weeks. For example, I used “optimistic”, “flexibility” and “challenge” which related to the success. These words took my family’s attention. And I noticed that I can use a strong vocabulary when I speak. So, this activity was working a lot. However, it was a nice week with this great improvement!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Week 7 - Language Learning Journal 2
In this week, I felt better than last week because I understood what should I do and write in the journal. I started by memorizing five words from the Dictionary but in this time I didn’t follow the Alphabetical order. Because I thought about how long I will spend in A’s section which means I will not have various words. However, I had a look in the dictionary and catch the words that I didn’t know before. Then I wrote them in my notebook. Afterwards, I revised the five words that I learned last week and the new words as well. I asked my sister to test my spelling. I’ve got 8 out of 10 in the spelling test and I wrote the wrong words two times to save them in my mind so, I never forget them again. Spelling test inspired me about my true potentials. I realized that I really can memorize a lot of words but I cannot keep them in my mind, especially the spelling of these words. So, I have to make a regular revision each week for all of the words that I learned.
On the other hand, I started to record my voice and I felt that it’s difficult in the first time. It’s reminded me of the IELTS speaking test which was confusing. I have chosen two topics. One is about achieving success and the second one about money problems. I have spoken for 2 minutes only as a beginning but, I still made pauses and the words are coming difficulty. Then, I made another practice and spoke about values of the person, experiences, and hobbies for 6 minutes to increase my ability to speak more. I felt that I need to speak in English daily for at least 30 minutes because I noticed that I need to improve my speaking skill in English because speaking in college only is not enough! Last weekend, I found a friend who is a native speaker. She was so kind and I was interested in speaking with her. I spent 15 minutes chatting with her. After that, I felt that I can improve my speaking skill when I talk with different people about different topics because that will increase my ability to speak without being shy.
Reading skill is taking a part of my studying time. I found out a link that benefits me with skimming skill ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/techniques/skimming/index.shtml ). I thought that it is difficult skill. But, I had a quiz and I got 6 out 10 in it. I noticed that I can skim easily, get the main ideas very quickly and it helped me to add a few new words to my notebook, such as the meaning of apply is implementing and the meaning of big is huge. So, skimming texts helps me to have new phrases for some words that I know before. Moreover, I will keep up with skimming quizzes to be more than good. Besides, I have read a weekly newspaper which is emirates news. That helped me a lot because I felt that I’m familiar with this kind of reading.. However, I will stay in touch with every thing that I did in this week because it were pretty useful. By the way, it was an interesting week.
On the other hand, I started to record my voice and I felt that it’s difficult in the first time. It’s reminded me of the IELTS speaking test which was confusing. I have chosen two topics. One is about achieving success and the second one about money problems. I have spoken for 2 minutes only as a beginning but, I still made pauses and the words are coming difficulty. Then, I made another practice and spoke about values of the person, experiences, and hobbies for 6 minutes to increase my ability to speak more. I felt that I need to speak in English daily for at least 30 minutes because I noticed that I need to improve my speaking skill in English because speaking in college only is not enough! Last weekend, I found a friend who is a native speaker. She was so kind and I was interested in speaking with her. I spent 15 minutes chatting with her. After that, I felt that I can improve my speaking skill when I talk with different people about different topics because that will increase my ability to speak without being shy.
Reading skill is taking a part of my studying time. I found out a link that benefits me with skimming skill ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/techniques/skimming/index.shtml ). I thought that it is difficult skill. But, I had a quiz and I got 6 out 10 in it. I noticed that I can skim easily, get the main ideas very quickly and it helped me to add a few new words to my notebook, such as the meaning of apply is implementing and the meaning of big is huge. So, skimming texts helps me to have new phrases for some words that I know before. Moreover, I will keep up with skimming quizzes to be more than good. Besides, I have read a weekly newspaper which is emirates news. That helped me a lot because I felt that I’m familiar with this kind of reading.. However, I will stay in touch with every thing that I did in this week because it were pretty useful. By the way, it was an interesting week.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Week 6 - Language Learning Journal 1
Last week I was really pressured by a lot of homework and assignments, especially the application of Language Learning Plan which I started to apply. Before that, I thought that I couldn’t start and keep working for my plans. But actually, I have tried to mix between studying and some fun to be interesting and start hardly. I have studied for three skills which are vocabulary development, reading and speaking. I used the Oxford Word power Dictionary to memorize five words by the Alphabetical order with English and Arabic meanings but I skipped some words that I knew before. For example, I learned the word “aback” which means to surprise or shock somebody and I learned “abandon” which means to leave somebody or something that you are responsible for. And I tried to use them in sentences. I thought that I can memorize more words but I just wanted to be careful with these words and concentrated on them. Then, I felt bored when I studied from the Dictionary, so I moved to study from the Internet websites. For instance, I used http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/ which I found a lot of good vocabularies that I can use in speaking and writing. So, by this website I can catch two birds by one stone. In addition, I have practiced on http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/vocabulary which offers good words for special situations like people’s meeting, shopping, weather and personality description. I noticed that I knew a few things but there are extra sentences which are related to these situations that I did not know where I should use them. For example, I did not know the meaning of departure date but now I will try to use it when I speak and not forget. Besides, even I did not like reading but I have to increase my ability to read and the skills that are related to reading. I have read a very exciting novel which is Teacher man by Frank McCount. I wrote a short summary for this story in 20 minutes approximately. Maybe I didn’t spend much time because I like the story and it was really attractive and wonderful. However, I have discussed this novel with my friends who are in B.Ed two and compare between what they understood from the story and what I understood. And I found that we are similar to each other. I liked it because it was talk about teacher’s experience which will help me in my future’s career. However, I noticed that I can improve with memorizing five words every week with their meaning in Arabic and English and I will focus on these words only with having a spelling test for what I learned this week and next week. Also, I will start recording my voice during the speaking practice and I will keep reading the weekly newspaper and borrow a new story to read and write a summary for it. But I will avoid learning new vocabulary from different websites because it took a lot of time.
Ayesha,
Ayesha,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
