My English journey started in a rather similar way as compared to every other Singaporean out there, in one of those stress-free environment know as a kindergarten. The song that goes "A, B, C, D E F G..." will forever be etched into our memories and I am most certain that the so called "adults" we call ourselves today still use it. English was suppose to be a simple subject, compared to others such as Science and math. It was supposed to come easily if not naturally, especially in a country such a Singapore, where English is heavily regarded in the society.
I really liked reading even as a kid. It was like being in another world. Movies was never a thing for me. It restricted my imagination of what the author of the book is trying to depict. Or maybe the actresses hired to act as a heroine was just not good enough. However, these escapades from reality will serve no additional purpose in my life.
I still struggled with the language as a kid. Spelling was never about pronunciation but instead took up whatever little memory space I had then. Grammar was a gamble. The situation did not improve over the years as the subject only got tougher and the only thing I learnt was how to hate it more. PSLE, O' Levels, A' Levels, and now even in QET, my mastery of the language has never fail to disappoint me. Thankfully, each time there was just enough vigor, or maybe luck, for me to scrape through each of these hurdles.
Maybe forcing me to attend this module may further aid my mastery in this language. Who knows?
For now, I will just pray that I can once again scrape through another hurdle known as ES1102
Once again,
Thank You Spellcheck.
Thanks, Teck Yi, for briefly sharing some images and experiences from your past as you developed English language skills. I like the way you focus on bits from your schooling, from the ABC Song forward to the those other key acronyms: PSLE to QET. Where you seem to overgeneralize though is when you evoke the experience of 'every other Singaporean.' In my own experience in Singapore in general and with students in NUS, I can see amazing variation in the way people have been exposed to English and then developed the requisite skills. Even within the student body of ES1102 there are incredible differences. I have had engineering students, for example, just like you, who grew up listening to and speaking English at home, from the time they were born. One student in my class last term, a guy whose spoken English seemed to be every bit as good as mine but who also didn't clear the QET, mentioned how both his mom and dad always used English with him and his siblings. Like you he was also an avid reader, he said. Every weekend his parents took him to the library for reading session. The fellow's reading and writing was excellent; and then with a bit of hard work, and a positive attitude, he aced ES1102.
ReplyDeleteMy question to you is this: How will you and that guy compare for the committee when you're both applying for the same scholarship, or post-graduate program, or job?
I wonder how far scraping will take you.
That being said, I found a few language issue in this first post. Let's talk about these.
1) one of those stress-free environment > one of those stress-free environments
2) that the so called "adults" we call ourselves today > (verbose)
3) was suppose to be > (spelling)
4) ….a simple subject, compared to others such as Science and math. > (capitalization)
5) Movies was …. > (subject-verb agreement)
6) It restricted my imagination of what the author of the book is trying to depict. > (verb tense inconsistency)
7) ... the actresses hired to act as a heroine was…. > (problem?)
8) ...these escapades from reality …. > (meaning?)
9) Spelling was never about pronunciation but instead took up whatever little memory space I had then. > (huh?)
10) …has never fail…. > (verb form)
11) PSLE, O' Levels, A' Levels, and now even in QET, my mastery of the language has never fail to disappoint me. (sentence structure)
12) to scrape through each of these hurdles > (mixed metaphor / collocation)
13) Maybe forcing me to attend this module may further aid my mastery in this language. > (huh?) FoE and the NUS management 'forcing you' to take a course in academic writing won't result in anything, much less your 'mastery' of the skills addressed in ES1102. The only 'remedy' for your language deficiencies, and the only way you can further develop your academic skills is with an attitude shift, i.e. more mindfulness about your needs and what you must do to address those.
I look forward to working with you, Teck Yi.
Hi, Teck Yi, this is Limin. Your writing is quite impressive, and the language is humrous. After finishing reading, I think this kind of writing may not fail QET. Whatever you are in ES1102 with me now :). So good luck in the futher English study. The professor had already pointed out the grammar mistakes. Honestly, your writing is really better than mine/
ReplyDeleteHello Teck Yi, your learning journey is quite close to mine except for the reading portion. I see a lot of similarity between you and me, let's work hard together in es1102! I'm pretty sure this module will benefit us both in the long run.
ReplyDeleteHello Teck yi. While reading your learning journey I could totally relate it with mine. Don't worry you are not alone.Lets scrape through those hurdle together.
ReplyDelete