English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
Explore my obstacles and their resolutions in learning English!
Me, my teachers, and my family
The teacher who read me a poem in English-Russian in kindergarten is also an important character
The poem in Russian-English
EFL: from early childhood to present day
Main theme of my Literacy Narrative is English as a foreign language. I first heard and saw English in preschool class when I was 5 years old. But the first English lessons started in high school. I had a bad experience with this. I started studying English intensively only after I moved to the United States for about two years. My study of English continues to this day.
EFL in Belarus and the United States
The main events take place in three cities. I saw English first in Mogilev, Belarus, where I was born and grew up. Then I tried to learn English on my own in Minsk, Belarus. I moved to New York, USA, where English became a necessity for me.
These cities are marked on the map below. You can click on the pins to see photos of the cities and follow the links to Wikipedia, clicking on the photo, and read about them.
Settings
Frustration learning English
When I was a child I desired to know more about English, but later circumstances made the process of learning English very difficult. More information about this is shown in the next chapter.
Important English-learning moments
01 / 05
1
Where I saw English first
I’m Yuliya, from Belarus. My native languages are Russian and Belarusian. As a child, I remember my mother and daycare workers only teaching me Russian and Belarusian letters and words from children's books. Belarusian has an almost identical alphabet to Russian, but has several unique letters. At that time, I didn't think there were other languages. By the age of five, I could read and write simple words. But one day my teacher began to read a strange poem to my preschool class. I recognized some of the words but not all of them. The poem was in two mixed languages: Russian and English. For instance, she said the English word "forest," and of course, I didn't understand until she showed me a picture of “forest.” It was very interesting to listen to this entire poem and guess the meanings of the English words. I instantly memorized the first lines: Vozle forest chudnyj house / V nyom zhivyot malyshka mouse.
I constantly recited a small passage of this poem at home to my relatives. I still clearly remember it. Sometimes I recite it to my two-year-old daughter, and I think she likes it as much as I once did. For me, individual English words were something magical. I imagined that somewhere far away people lived and spoke a different language and called things by different names. Then I thought about why there are a variety of languages. Why don't people all over the world speak the same language? Nevertheless, I was interested in learning even more English words.
2
First English lessons in high school
Unfortunately, in school, I could not study English until the eight grade. I could only take Russian and Belarusian... In eighth grade my first English teacher was very good. Her lessons were interesting and exciting. We learned the alphabet, the pronunciation of different sounds, the first simple grammar rules of English, and basic vocabulary. But unfortunately, she left our school. We didn't have English for half a year until a new teacher came. Our new teacher started teaching us more difficult English topics, hoping that we had already learned the easier ones. But our class missed a lot of English teaching material because the school had spent a lot of time looking for the right teacher. We quickly tried to catch up with the school curriculum, but nothing was clear. The second teacher soon changed to a third. She was very strict, making us memorize long texts and new vocabulary. During this time, I really wanted to go back and learn the basic rules of English. For me, the experience of learning English at my school had been inconsistent. Because many things were not clear to me, my interest in the English language began to fade.
3
Experience of learning English at my university in Belarus
Once in university, I took a specific English class that covered the technical terms of my specialty. We translated texts and tried to memorize these new terms. However, this class did not give me much understanding of the structure of English.
4
My failed attempts at learning English on my own
After university, I tried to learn English on my own or through courses in my country, but I had no motivation to practice. It is more effective to learn a new language from an early age and to study more consistently.
5
Learning English in the United States
Circumstances arose that caused me to move to the United States. I started learning English here at immigrant schools. I really liked these schools. I ended up immersed in the English language, where teachers were born with an innate knowledge of English, as I was with my knowledge of Russian. I began to understand many of the rules that I did not understand in my country. I did not understand speaking English at all in Belarus, whereas here I am beginning to understand the meaning of some songs, and I can watch films in English. It makes me very happy.
Never give up
I had many obstacles in learning English in Belarus. This is described in the "Main events" chapter above.
Belarus
Learning English became interesting for me again and makes me feel more comfortable living in the U.S. because I began to understand a new language. Learning English has also become a necessity for me because I want to get a good job in the U.S.: I need to communicate with my daughter's teachers and with doctors. From the moment I moved to the U.S., I hardly spoke any English. I constantly asked my husband to speak to someone instead of me in English. This began to annoy me, however, because my husband would sometimes ask my questions in a way that I might not have asked them myself. Then I would often get answers I wasn’t expecting. Because of such situations, I found the motivation to learn English.
United States of America
Learning any language is complex and takes time to learn its nuances and irregularities. I want to learn how best to improve my English in the future because I believe it is never too late to learn.
