Over the century I’ve been learning English, my approach to it has changed a hundred times. In the beginning, I took classes, did tons of drills, recorded myself (ew), recorded myself as an assignment (ew, ew), and did a lot more stuff I’m sure you can relate to.
I’ve never talked about my language learning journey (sorry — is there another expression for “language learning journey”? It just makes me feel like I’m Christopher Columbus boarding some kind of ship in search of something I don’t even know where it is).
Where was I? Oh, yes, I was about to talk about my story as an English learner. I promise I won’t say “I want to improve my English skills.” Oops — I let it slip. Anyway, at the end of the day, that’s exactly what I want.
I never really excelled in my on-again, off-again English classes, but there were people who actually did, and they all had one thing in common: they achieved amazing proficiency in English while having fun — playing video games, watching stuff online or on streaming platforms, or having a foreign partner. I already had a Spanish partner at the time, and I’m terrible at video games — not a big fan of Netflix either — so I was left with just one option: having fun.
“Having fun” can be seen as the umbrella term for almost everything. Some people enjoy bursting pimples, others like collecting coasters, etc. You just have to do all those things you love, in English. In my case, that means writing nonsense. I won't say that all I did before making this decision was a waste of time, but as sure as I'm sitting on a Pilates ball right now that its pretty close. So here I am — still learning, still confused, but at least having fun.
I love this ! It feels very human indeed ! All we really want is just to have fun. What an excellent way to engage your language learning muscles. (P.s 'language learning journey' is spot on )
Thanks for sharing your language learning journey. Your personality comes out clear, and I smiled.
@bakerboy001, @T-Newfields, thank you for stopping by and leaving your corrections and comments. I really appreciate it.
We've heard so much about the "right" way to learn a language that it feels like that right way is actually mocking the whole thing.