After all the time we had spent together, on that day I discovered something about her I didn’t know.
Yesterday I called one of my dearest friends and we talked about our school. Her name will not be mentioned, instead I will use “Beth” as nickname (which is the name of her favorite tv series character: The Queen’s Gambit).
We both study languages at school Ettore Majorana in Rho and yesterday in our video call we talked about the languages we study, mainly about English. She told me she had been studying English since the elementary school, and in middle school she studied both English and French. Now we both study German and Spanish (besides of English). She admitted that the languages she is fond of are English and Spanish, which are also the languages in which she is really good at. The main reason behind it is because she listens to English and Spanish songs all the time, and from her perspective she perceives these languages simpler.
But soon after that we focused our attention mainly on the English language and I asked her about every aspect of it.
I asked her if she liked it, and Beth revealed that studying the grammatical structures is quite boring. On the other hand, she keeps studying it because her goal in life is to speak English fluently and she makes an effort everyday to improve her skills.
Moreover, she told me that the best way for her to learn English properly (but also other languages) is to introduce in your everyday-life as much English as you can.
For example, she listens to tons of English singers and podcasts. But also she suggested watching films in a foreign language and at the beginning you can use the subtitles in that same language to understand the meaning better. She recommended not avoiding Italian subtitles because you don’t focus on the words in English in the background.
We chatted a lot on the films we like when she made me realize this thing: I usually watch fantasy and science- fiction films and I find them very difficult to understand. She agreed with me on the fact that this kind of films are challenging, as we don’t know scientific vocabulary in our native language, too. So we came to the conclusion that we should start watching films that deal with simpler topics, for example romantic films or comedies. I’m not fond of this kind of genres but I should definitely give it a go!
Then we spoke about our school experience in Ettore Majorana. We both admit the best method to learn English at school is the speaking part, which is also the least easy part to improve.
Practicing the language, you learn new vocabulary, fluency, the application of all the grammatical rules and how to improvise if you don’t know some words. But you have to practice a lot to master this ability. Luckily, in our school we speak a lot with the native teacher who is very nice. She also highlights our mistakes to be better the next time.
Beth is advantaged because she practices her skills more or less everyday. Her brother’s girlfriend is Greek and they have to speak English to communicate. In fact, they have become close friends and they always talk about their problems and find support in each other, which I find awesome.
But sometimes even in Italy we have the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with foreign people. Last year, Beth and I went to eat together in a Japanese restaurant. After leaving the restaurant we met a guy. He wasn’t Italian and he asked us for the way to the train station. Beth managed to explain him where it was and passed the test. I was very proud of her!
But, going back to what I was saying, also the listening part is very important. When you travel you have to understand people are saying and this is very hard, too. In her opinion, The problem is mainly the spoken language and the slang. Indeed, when she listens to rap songs she can’t understand properly because of slang or because of the speed. But it is something on which you can work on practicing with the activities at school and at home while watching tv series on the sofa.
In conclusion, learning a language or even more has its complications, but if you dedicate yourself you can always easily achieve your goals. And Beth is the perfect example