Author: SS

There are no shortcuts to learning. So, in fact, a lot of people in the world never stop learning. Likewise, I am still studying English as my second language. When I began to learn English, I was a middle school student.  For over 10 years, I have met a different styles of teachers and learned English in various ways. Depending on my age and necessary skill, effective learning method was so different.

As a beginner, I started memorizing vocabulary. Like most Korean middle schools, my first English teacher was an explainer and involver. Nearly she conveyed the meaning of words and information in Korean language. Also she focused on phonology and lexis in particular. Sometimes, to add some interest, she began a lesson with guessing game like title lock scrabble and crossword. It was not only able to lead on to entertaining class, but effective to memorize the spelling of the word. However, in every single class, she gave a tough assignment included dozens of words. Until next time, I had to memorize words as many as I could. It was directly linked to my school records. At that time, I didn’t know the reason why I had to do the homework which is mere navy’s work. Just for my high mark I did it, but now I aware that knowing a lot of vocabulary become the foundation of reading and speaking skill for English studying.

During high school days, the purpose of English learning was for getting a high grade from test and Korea SAT to enter high-ranked university in Korea. So almost every teacher was an explainer and focused on receptive skills like reading and listening. With a listening test, my class began. I just listened to tape recordings of conversations and checked the right answer. And then, teacher spent most of time translating English into Korean and explaining grammar rules. It was totally GTM method. I was busy taking notes and listening to the teacher. After memorizing and understanding grammar rules, I found antonyms and synonyms for words of sentence. Even though I could not understand her interpretation, I just learned the grammar rules and sentence of English textbook by heart. Thanks to this continuous training, I made rapid progress in English reading skill. Meanwhile, I think this is the reason why most Korean students are good at reading and understanding but cannot communicate with English at all. It was the same with me. My speaking skill was poor at that point.

Finally when I became a college student, I realized that I should improve my conversational English. I thought that studying environment for second language learners is crucial . So I chose to take a year off from my college and went to England for language training. When i was abroad, English acquisition was easy and natural. Unlike Korean education, British teacher was enabler type, who guides students to fully concentrate on their studies. The teacher gave us different subjects and different methods of studying. Mostly, in class, we made several groups and discussed freely. During that time, he monitored our performance and made a note of our errors for feedback. Besid es, I had to made presentations in front of my classmates. GLT method was effective to improve my speaking skill. Through games, role play and field trips, I could have plenty of opportunities to communicate in English. Through various activities, I could make many foreign friends and it was also a great help to use English after school. 

To conclude, whether passive method or active method, the whole experience was of much benefit to me. However, if I had learned English in only one way, I would have failed. I think that the improvement of language skill is not proportional to ‘how long you have been learning it’, but rather that ‘how effectively you study with various method and what kind of teacher’. Therefore a good teacher should successfully apply different methods according to the need.