How I Honed my English: From the Author's Experience

There is no standard formula on how to be fluent in English, but there are necessary requirementsto be one, the optimism and the love for the language. Let this be an opportunity to share a personal experience on how the author had slowly honed her skill in L2. This doesn't mean that she is an expert on the subject but rather it is her hope to inspire others to do some of the things she did. Learning is a continuous process so this means unending quest for knowledge especially in terms of English proficiency.

The writer has this attraction to the language as early as in her elementary years. Compared to other disciplines, she spent most of her time trying to mimic her teachers' pronunciation. She loved listening to stories, poems, and essays in English. This love moved her to read and read stories in English, fairy tales, folktales, adventures and many others. She was amazed with the different character in the stories she read. She would even share what she read to her friends. She also developed admiration for her English teachers. She told herself that when she grew up, she will be like them. From elementary to high school, she had exposure of the language through the different English reading materials which she read. Understanding the L2 was still a little difficult but she can follow what the teacher was saying.

When she started college, she could not speak fluently yet but can compose a "good" paragraph. She often would use the words she knew from the things she had read. Majoring in English was a good decision for the opportunity to be exposed to the language was there. Her teachers in the major subjects played a crucial role in the fulfillment of her dream, to be a fluent speaker. She pays tribute the icons of her alma mater in the English Discipline. She could vividly remember the days when they would encourage her and her classmates to argue on some points they are teaching. Looking back, those were the says when the author shed her inhibition in using the language. Those were the days she was optimistic. Those were the times she believed in herself. Not only that, everytime she and her classmates were together, they would speak in English, just to make a difference in the whole campus becaue we were English majors. They were supossed to be the best in the language.

One personal habit which really helped her hone her proficiecny in L2 was the hobby of reading pocketbooks. She was able to read 5 a day to the point of not eating and sleeping. For her, it also paid off. She was able to speak the language when she was teaching for the first time. She had a wide range of vocabulary courtesy of the stories and pocketbooks she read. Teaching English among high school students was not that difficult. I t was fun. She was able to relate well because she saw herself in them.

Since then, reading was a part of routine before going to bed. She read diffirent papers, books, magazines, any reading materials as long as they are in English. She talked with some friends in English regardless of what they think of her. All these things were not wasted, it helped her shape into a better speaker of the English language.

So don't give up. You too can become a good speaker. Keep up the enthusiasm and the love for English. Master it!