Hi guys! This is my first time blogging and I am so excited! I am a Singaporean. To me English is not an unfamiliar language to me. Bilingualism is a key feature of Singapore’s education system. The main medium of instruction in school is English, but all students learn an official Mother Tongue Language. (MOE, 2012)
Since I was in Kindergarten, I had started to learn English alphabet and basic words. After calculation, I have studied 16 years of English!! It is amazing right? I came from a Chinese speaking family, I speak in Chinese most of time (even with my friends). I am afraid to speak in English as my pronunciation is not accurate. Although, my English teacher always encourage us to speaking in English, I am reluctant to do so. I don’t like the feeling of embarrassment when my friends laughed at my pronunciation.
I did pretty well for my English language for my O-Level. I scored B4. I was very satisfied as it was a huge improvement compare to my preliminary exam. In Ngee Ann polytechnic, I also did pretty well for my English-related modules. I have gotten Aces for all of them. Well, I didn’t do very well for my QET, and I need to an additional English module (ES1102). Actually, I did felt a bit disappointed at first. But after my “positive” thinking, I got an additional free module to help me improve in my English standard! Why not?
I am looking forward to attend our next lesson! Nice to meet all of you :)
Thanks very much, Cheng Hwok, for this detailed post. We readers get a clear impression from this short essay about your background. I'm also happy to learn about your positive attitude. (We can see that in class as well in your enthusiasm.)
ReplyDeleteKeep that attitude and any problems that you still have with academic English skills will soon be history.
Now let's address a few language key issues from the post:
1) Hi guys! This is my first time blogging and I am so excited! > (The tone here is conversational. Is that adequate/appropriate for an assignment like this?)
2) To me English is not an unfamiliar language to me. > (some redundancy)
3) (MOE, 2012) > No need in a case like this for a citation, when you are stating the obvious.
4) Since I was in Kindergarten…. > (capitalization)
5) Since I was in Kindergarten, I had started to learn English alphabet and basic words. (verb tense)
6) ...16 years of English!! It is amazing right? > (level of formality?)
7) I came from a Chinese speaking family, I speak in Chinese most of time (even with my friends). > (verb tense inconsistency/run on sentence)
8) Although, my English teacher always encourage us to speaking in English…. > ?
9) I don’t like the feeling of embarrassment when my friends laughed at my pronunciation. > (verb tense)
10) ...it was a huge improvement compare to my preliminary exam…. > (word form)
11) I have gotten Aces for all of them. > (verb form)
12) Ngee Ann polytechnic ? (capitalization)
I really appreciate your willingness to approach Es1102 with an open, positive mind. I also look forward to reading more of your work.
Mr Brad Blackstone, your feedback is so detail! I really appreciated it, Thank you so much.
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