Learning to speak English was not very difficult for me. I used to speak English in School when I was in Nepal. Thus, I was completely comfortable with using English. I would speak English in school and speak my mother tongue at home. In Canada I did the same. However, I learnt quickly that I had a lot to do to improve my English vocabulary.
I noticed that my limited vocabulary often created problem because I was not able to find the right word to convey an idea sometimes. I started watching shows in English and I started to write small diary entries to improve it. Although I could not keep that going for a long time because I started school after I landed in Canada, I thought that learning and discovery period of my one helped me more. Usually back home when I would get stuck in the middle of a convo due to lack of words, I could easily say it in Nepali. But since Canadians only spoke English here, it was nerve wrecking to have to stop in middle of a conversation or a presentation. I could say it is a natural phenomenon for anyone speaking a language that is not his or her first language.
When I started my school in Canada, I witnessed my first failure. I knew how to read write, analyze, speak and do everything in English. But what I did not have that same kind of confident I had when I was back home. Many words were very new to me. Many phrases were hard to understand. To become comfortable speaking in English with a group, I began to interact more in English with other children from Nepali community. It helped my build my confidence. I even started working in a neighborhood coffee store so that I would get to interact with people and build confidence while speaking.
Read the following list and try and understand the difficulty of learning English...
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| Reading different and new type of books for school stressed me at first. My Written communication in English was very poor. |
I noticed that my limited vocabulary often created problem because I was not able to find the right word to convey an idea sometimes. I started watching shows in English and I started to write small diary entries to improve it. Although I could not keep that going for a long time because I started school after I landed in Canada, I thought that learning and discovery period of my one helped me more. Usually back home when I would get stuck in the middle of a convo due to lack of words, I could easily say it in Nepali. But since Canadians only spoke English here, it was nerve wrecking to have to stop in middle of a conversation or a presentation. I could say it is a natural phenomenon for anyone speaking a language that is not his or her first language.
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At times, I felt the same.
Completely alien to a thought.
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When I started my school in Canada, I witnessed my first failure. I knew how to read write, analyze, speak and do everything in English. But what I did not have that same kind of confident I had when I was back home. Many words were very new to me. Many phrases were hard to understand. To become comfortable speaking in English with a group, I began to interact more in English with other children from Nepali community. It helped my build my confidence. I even started working in a neighborhood coffee store so that I would get to interact with people and build confidence while speaking.
Read the following list and try and understand the difficulty of learning English...
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The garden was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his post in the desert.
7) Santa is ready to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
