Learning english as a second language has been heavy homework for me before I decided to go to new york. usually korean children learn english effectively when they are third grade. I remember that first meeting with alphabet. I was kindergarten boy trying to sing ABC song. since then i've been studying english over 15years, but still struggling.

When I landed on America, it was so unfamiliar that I was totally stunned. the sign of traffic, roads, buildings, people, even dogs walking street. I couldn't speak a word even though I was good at english subject and confident about it. because of new environment. the atmosphere of city took my breath away. it was cool to be there and also nervous to be there. I needed my breathing room. but suppose I am in korea, I couldn't get much experience to buy coffee using english. I thought that way to get confidence. right away I walked to the starbucks confidently and said 'i want to buy coffee'. at that time I didn't know the phrases to use in shops, and stores. but, 'start is half' I made impressive start.

First of all, Using melody and rhythms to memorize the words and basic sentence helped me to improve my english quickly than ever I practiced before because I have musical learning intelligence. whenever I face with problem to memorize some word, I made rhythmical sound that related with it. because it was the way easier than anything else for me. but, sometimes having this intelligence is bothersome. because I can be bothered by random noises anytime.

Second of all, Almost 90% of classmates were adults learners in language school in new york. I was 19 years old and youngest of our class. they all wanted to be here to learned english and so I did. they shared their opinion during the class and very enthusiastic compare to the classmates of high school. I very enjoyed working with them because of their passion. but they used to be independent so that can't controled by teacher. it was funny to see argument between teacher and student everyday.

Third, In korea, we have very limited type of teacher like explainer and few involver. meeting with enabler teacher in new york is the one part of success of learning second language. generally explainer is the science teacher type. they are very good at their subject and know how to explain about it but, actually they don't have enough ability to let students achieve successful understanding. i've seen many this kind of teachers but, they were not effective. because the lecture retention rate is too low that can be erased easily. on the otherhand, involver and enabler teachers are more effective than explainer. their teaching techniques are discussion groups and cooperative learning and experiential learning, teaching others. those techniques retention rates are higher than 75% that can't be erased easily. my teacher used to use teaching others technique. he let us lead each other to learn by doing. it was so effective that I still remember what we did clearly.

finally, using modern technique leads me to learn english quickly compared to the past. these days I can search english word that I don't know by cell phone. it wasn't imaginable 10years ago. when I was elementary school I should brought heavy books everyday because there were not enough devices for students for study. and due to the internet, we have much more discussions of social issues and world's problem. I think it's more educational than chalk and talk(traditional class). when I was studying new york, my class had a activity going shopping together or visit samsung's exhibition. I think those activities or internet are the advantage of modern class.

American Dream, anyone who want to bite a piece of apple can bite, I went to big apple for that. I tried to spend more time on speaking english. meet many people and visit many places. sometimes very scared of being exposed to english because my english was not perfect but, sometimes very proud of my english when I inform tourist. I was so surprised that the movie I couldn't understand at all become understandable and the book I couldn't read become readable after 2years of hard working. this 2years of learning is my successful story of learning second language but still have too much steps to get done. I think the most effective way of learning second language is experiencing living with it as I experienced.