We can see two remarkable moment about this new English experience and this enriching event:
I would like to show you some reflections on acquiring English and English Culture. They were written by ten students within an English Course that I led in Granada Association Press from the end of May to the end of June, in this year 2010.
The best was sharing learning experiences, again. I will allow you to read learners reflections written by them.
REFLECTING ON OUR LEARNING (Researches and opinions from Luisa, Ana, Sonia, Clemen, Teresa, Pedro, Elvira, Betty, Rosa and Paco)
Our considerations about English learning:
We started this course and then we started to increase our English knowledge.
Basically we were learning to get more opportunities in labor market.
In this course we were remembering and learning new language structures, vocabulary, verbs, verbs forms and common phrases.
We were very pleased with the knowledge that we were acquiring and if we continued studying English after the course, we would have good base for mastering and speaking English much better.
Our considerarions about English Culture:
Britain is full of culture and traditions along hundreds of years. British customs and traditions are famous all over the world. When people think of Britain they often think of people drinking tea, eating “fish and chips” and wearing bowler hats, but there is more and Britain means much more than just those things. We can refer English and British traditions in sport, music, food, royal events, etc.
Many places of London, such as Islington or Highgate, were once villages (small towns). At present, London is a growing city with a population of more than seven million people. People have come from all parts of the world to live there. They have brought with them different ways of living and colourful festivals. London is a multicultural city, as it has been since Roman times. Now about a quarter of inhabitants in the capital are members of ethnic minorities.
Britain is a tea-drinking nation. Every day they drink 165 million cups of tea and around 144 thousand tons of tea are imported every year.
Tea in Britain is traditionally brewed in a warmed china teapot, adding one spoonful of tea per person and one for the pot. Most Britons like their tea strong and dark, but with milk.
(Written by Teresa and Pedro)
Researching about English Culture:
The UK is situated north-west of the European continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. Some people think men in Great Bretain wear suits and bowler hats, but it is very unusual these days to see anyone wearing a bowler hat. In Scotland the national dress is a
kilt.
Beefeaters and Yeomen of the Guard are very important because they look after their queen and her jewels. Some people say this is the nearest thing to their national costume.
Different countries where
English has official status or this language is widely spoken. Traditionally English people speak
English language. In addition, English has become the international language of business, science, communication, aviation, and diplomacy. Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language. At the moment English is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after
Mandarin Chinese and
Spanish.
1
United States251,388,301
2
India125,344,736
3
Nigeria79,000,000
4
United Kingdom59,600,000
5
Philippines48,800,000
6
Canada25,246,220
7
Australia18,172,989
(Written by Clemen y Elvira)
More reflections about English:
1. It is a universal language. Generally, people around the world use this language to communicate, in jobs relations, in business trips, and holidays.
2. We have trouble with English language because its pronunciation is difficult for us, and it doesn’t follow rules and we would like speaking well.
3. Betty’s learning:
At present I´m learning to use verbs, and pronunciation. I had wrong habits.
Rosa’s learning:
At the moment, I’m learning to pronunciate words and this course helps me to refresh my English knowledge and I have learned more things with songs and films. They helped me to develop my ear with English.
4. We can defence ourselves in a job, in a conversation, and we can understand English news for example, and if we travel abroad, too.
(Written by Betty y Rosa)
Analysing and investigating English Language and Culture:
About learning English:
I like studying English because I think it is necessary to find a job at the moment.
Besides, it is interesting to use a second language .
Sometimes, it seems boring but then when you are knowing more grammar you like very much.
I have learned more vocabulary and especially I have learned to speak in public and it is important because I am a bit shy. On the other hand, I have remembered all that I had learned when I was jounger.
I hope to be able to study English in another course or another similar situation because I like it very much.
About researching English:
British people are generally quite shy and they don’t make friends easily with strangers; they spend less money on clothes than people from other European countries; many British people wear suites to the office but at the weekend they prefer to wear jeans and T-shirts.
British people speak English but they speak another languages such as Gaelic ,Welsh, Mandarin, Cantonese, etc.
Apart from that we can say that there are many different religions in Britain today.
We have known in our investigation that British people prefer drink coffee to tea, fruit juices, beer, etc. Respect to food, they like eating donuts, eggs, bacon, etc. for breakfast; for lunch they usually eat chips, soup, fried eggs, roast beef, stew, etc.
In their free time, English people play a lot of sport: hockey, American football,
rugby, cricket, etc; but they like playing other kind of games: hiking, chess, snooker, cards, cinema, in- line skating, camping, etc.
(Written by Sonia and Paco)
I hope you enjoyed these findings. I will show you more experiences in English later.
