Over the past few weeks, Susan and I have had the pleasure to meet so many wonderful students eager to get into the classroom and learn English, but one student, in particular, stood out for us. His name is Young Bong Yun and he is from Korea. Yun Young Bong has been with Loudoun Literacy for over 1 year and has been sharpening up his English skills with is tutor, Patrick Vroom. When talking with him, he expressed so much gratitude towards Patrick and said, “Loudoun Literacy has helped him improve his English in the workplace and in social conversations.” He mentioned, with a smile on his face, “that he loves to talk to strangers so he can work on his English speaking skills.”
Yun Young Bong also mentioned that he wrote a piece about learning English and wished for us to share his writing with our volunteers, students, and community members. We are so thrilled to highlight his work and we are glad to mention that Yun Young Bong is now a student in Donna Cid’s Advanced English Class at Rust Library and he is continuing his English instruction with Patrick Vroom.
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Yun Young Bong’s Story
The school system did not help me to speak and understand. I was only taught reading skills. 2007 was my turning point. I bought a book; the title is “Don’t Study English Anymore.” The author studied in Germany. While there he got an idea how to study foreign language. When he came back to Korea he wrote a book for Koreans to study English. The basic concept is to study English just like your mother language.
The first step is to listen to tapes continuously for two hours until you fell comfortable. You keep repeating it two hours a day until you are comfortable listening to it. Then you have to dictate the tape. When you dictate it doesn’t matter if your spelling is wrong just write it down. Once you finish you have to read it aloud. While you are reading you check a dictionary for words you are not sure about. It has to be an English only dictionary! Write down any words you don’t know and also write down the definition. Read the meaning of these words aloud. Next step is to choose a movie you like and you watch the movie until you are comfortable. You dictate the script of the movie. Once that is done you act the movie out just like a play. Mimic the actors and actresses. Look for any unknown words in the dictionary like with the tape. Next choose an article from the newspaper or magazine. Read it aloud until you are comfortable to explain the article to your family and friends. Cover up the article and explain the article to yourself. Look up words in the dictionary like before.
I work at the airport so I have many chances to meet people who are native speakers. I try to find some strangers who will have small talk with me. I read the newspaper so I have some topics to talk about. You can meet people who speak all kinds of English. It’s very interesting because everyone has a different way to speak in English. I was too scared to make mistakes so I was afraid to talk to people. But if you do this practice for six months or a year you will feel better with talking. It’s very important you train yourself and get over your fear of talking with people. Once you start talking to people you will gain confidence. This helped me with both speaking and listening. You don’t want to miss any words from the speaker. You must concentrate to listen to the speaker. It helps make it easier.
I was always good at reading, vocabulary and grammar. That did not mean I could speak or understand fluently. To improve your speaking and listening I think you have to spend lots of time speaking out loud. I used a recorder to record my voice. Then I can tell if my pronunciation is right or wrong, if it is clear or not. That way you can correct your pronunciation. You can do this while doing your speaking with the movie and article exercises.
I think there are no shortcuts to master English. Keep on a steady path, speak aloud, have confidence and passion, and get over your fear. That’s the best way to master a foreign language. I think I have a problem with listening. It’s the most difficult part for me. I try to train my ear, and I use all the materials I can to get better. It’s my weakness so I give it extra attention. You must remember to find your weakness and work extra hard to improve.
Don’t every try to translate any English to your language. Just focus on the English for what it is. In my experience I don’t recommend to watch movies or TV with subtitles. You will focus more on reading than listening.
This method will help you in all four areas; speaking, listening, writing and reading. Speak out loud. I think in school they don’t teach you how to speak. Don’t think about grammar or the vocabulary, just speak aloud. That’s the number one thing. Get over your fear. Be consistent. Every single day you practice. Don’t skip. IT can be half an hour, one hour or two hours just be consistent. You have to look for words you don’t understand in an English dictionary. Never look for it in you own language, even it’s difficult and takes a long time. Remember no shortcuts. Finally try to think in English. Don’t translate what you see and hear in your head.
When I’m in Korea I study on YouTube. I look at “English with Jennifer.” I also look at breaking news English.com. It’s also a good place to find conversation pieces. For writing I keep a journal. To improve your writing skill it’s important to keep a journal. I hope these tips will help everyone to get better at English and I wish everyone luck.
Written by Yun Young Bong
Edited by Patrick Vroom
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