Angie has been studying English since she was six years old and she really likes studying it
because and also because she believes that it is very important to speak and master English, because wherever you go it is the most spoken language.
She feels quite at her own ease, when she wants to say something and she can’t, she tries to explain the concept in another way, with other words and with other expressions, trying to make herself understood in some way without using Italian.
In Angie’s opinion, the most important skill to develop is speaking, in order to be fluent you should speak a lot with a native speaker, because in that way you can practise and improve your pronunciation at the same time, and if you make some mistakes it doesn’t matter, because that’s how you learn too, from mistakes. She told me that unfortunately in her school programme they do not have the opportunity to practise with a native speaker such as we do in the linguistic programme.
She has always tried to watch original language films in the original language since secondary school, to improve her pronunciation a little and to keep practicing. Initially she watched the films with Italian subtitles, then she tried for a while she is trying to get used to watching them with English subtitles. She finds it very difficult to watch a film in English without subtitles, as she can’t follow the plot.
She also tried any apps to practice English, and she told me that she
once downloaded the DuoLinguo app, but just for fun and to get involved and know how
much she knew. She thinks that they are not very useful but for that something about words,
for example, can be learned.
Then we talked a little about music, and we realized that we both have a little trouble
understanding the meaning of foreign songs right away, and that it is very interesting to look
for the lyrics of the songs, because sometimes we think we have understood the meaning and maybe the singer says completely different things and sometimes you can learn some
different expressions.
My friend finds that another challenging skill to develop is writing. She has always been
in trouble with this skill, because actually it turns out just how you know English,
both from a grammatical point of view and from how you know how to use it. It is also very
difficult because in a writing task you have to vary the words and expressions, you
don’t have to be monotonous and also know how to change language, for example informal or formal. Furthermore, Angie is convinced that mastering grammar basics is crucial, because without it you would not be able to write sentences and maybe when you talk to someone you could be misunderstood.
By the way, experiences abroad are very important to improve the language, these experiences are the most needed to raise the level of the language, because only spending all the time and a lot of time talking always that language you will be able to learn well and think in that language, and be more fluent and confident. The only problem in her opinion is that if you are with other Italian students it easy to switch on was easier to find herself talking in Italian and therefore for her it is better maybe to take a summer courses study holiday alone speaking in English all the time.
Angie suggests, to those who are trying to learn a new language, that they should to always
keep practicing it and never give up, even when a person is alone they could
practice alone: do exercises, learn the lyrics of the songs, also she suggests having
conversations in front of the mirror, why not ?!