How not to lose English

Guofei Ma   Sunday, July 13, 2003, 19:05 GMT
My father's mother tongue is Shanghainese Chinese and he started learning English, Cantonese, and Mandarin Chinese in kindergaten. He can speak all four languges like a native (if you consider Cantonese, Shanghainese and Mandarin different enough to be individual languages, which I do).

My mother (whose native language is Mandarin), on the other hand, started learning English when she was in secondary school, and Cantonese and Shanghainese as an adult. She can speak none of these languages fluently.
xerxes   Sunday, July 13, 2003, 19:29 GMT
Guofei Ma
Your statement is absolutely true. Was this your case ? Did you learn English in kindergarten ?
xerxes   Sunday, July 13, 2003, 19:31 GMT
Sorry for doubleposting !
Erwan   Tuesday, July 15, 2003, 00:28 GMT
Minika
Are you going to take up your Egnlish classes are will you quite ?
Monika   Wednesday, July 16, 2003, 21:30 GMT
Erwan
I can't give up as a teacher. Giving up at the beginning of my teaching career would be a kind of defeat to me. I wanted to be a teacher and I will do my best to be a good one. Being a teacher gives me a lot of satisfaction and I hope that that will give enough power to my work which undoubtedly is not easy at all.
Tana   Friday, July 18, 2003, 13:26 GMT
Monika
Just enjoy your Summer holidays and do whatsever you like. That helps you to recharge your batteries for the next scool year.
Ashley   Friday, July 18, 2003, 13:52 GMT
Monika,
Just keep trying to speak english to other people, or just speak it to yourself, even though it sounds stupid it'd really help, good luck, if you keep reading in english, and talking in english, you'll be fine.

Ashley
Miguel   Friday, July 18, 2003, 16:56 GMT
What I'm doing in order not to lose the little I know is to watch american movies which help you not only in your understanding but also in your speaking
Monika   Sunday, July 20, 2003, 07:05 GMT

Thank you all for your intrest. Yes, I try to enjoy my summer holidays but as you just can't stop thinking thoroughly about your job and about what to do to be better and better in it I have made a resolution for the next school year. I'm going to attend a proficiency course in English. As I have no opportunity to use speaking English everyday and as I have noticed that without regular usage of English with all its grammar, expressions etc. I'm just losing it I think that such a course will refresh my English. But isn't it weird that a teacher of English requires a teacher of English and an English course?
chantal   Tuesday, July 22, 2003, 16:58 GMT
Monika
Good luck for the Proficiency course. There is nothing wrong with learning when you are a teacher. You need to update your knowledge and if you do so, you are a good teacher. If you think you have already learnt everything, then you stop to progress and I think this is not your case.
good luck
mike   Tuesday, July 22, 2003, 18:31 GMT
Monika

Where are you from in Poland? I'm Polish too and I used to be a teacher in gimnazjum. I've read all your messages and and came to realize - to my satisfaction I must admit - I wasn't the only one with similar problems - especially at the very begining. When I started teaching I thought the students would be interested in what I have to teach them but after the first class with the noisiest little devils imaginable I really considered quitting. There were moments when I wanted to run out of the classroom, get away from the cheeky imps and never come back. I would come back home after a day's work and get off to a long, sound sleep to forget the terrible tempestuous time at work. It was going on for some time but strangly enough there came a time when I stopped fighting and trying to change the world. I started working on myself and my attitude towards the pupils changed in no time at all. Shortly before I finally quit - I had to, not because I was forced to - I got enough experience to be in control of the class and students and I would no longer come back home miserable and sad. Now I'm considering trying my luck at some private language school. Would someone with or without experience tell me about chief differences between public and private education?
Guofei Ma   Wednesday, July 23, 2003, 02:12 GMT
Try to balance the number of American films you watch to the number of British films you watch. If they cannot be balanced, listening to BBC radio is a good idea.
abdillah   Thursday, July 24, 2003, 23:24 GMT
I think there are many ways to improve your English,first you should have a great desire to do so,also it's better to find a friend who want to make better his Enlish as you can make competition together,moreover watching English programmes like films hels you improving your English.I hope you will find the suitable solution for your problem.Good luck.
Vroobelek   Saturday, July 26, 2003, 18:14 GMT
Monika,

You said that you forget English words. Not a surprise if they're not repeated. Maybe you should try using the SuperMemo software? It is specifically designed *not to forget things* (not only words but also each piece of information you put in it).

You can either buy the "Advanced English" package, there are about 40000 words and expressions in it, or buy the "clean" SuperMemo and add new words by yourself.

Happy vacation! :)
Vroobelek