learning english

how i have been learning English

I started to like to learn English since my first contact with it, it was in fifth grade in my city, my teacher was José Eladio an excellent teacher in my opinion, I liked it so much, that I keep the book that we used among my favorite things but I never took a privite course, I only stidied at Public School because my mother did not have moneu to pay for one.
I gradueted at Puc- Paraná in Letras- Ingles, but there I learned litlle, but since then I have been sudying by myself. when I had time I read books , magazines an did grammar exercises at home to povide my knowledge, but now I do not have timeto do this anymore. My dedication is this course here at nap. I like this course a lot because it has been helping me very much my teachers are wonderful and my friends too. But I think that I know little to be a good teacher as I would like to be, I need to know much more, but my job is taking all my time and that is being very bad for me because I need to dedicate time in order to have a good result , but this course at Nap is all that I have to be a able learn , then I am going to effort into it, and try to provide , because my dream is really learn to listen, write, speak and read in English fluently.

regiane

I began to learn English when I was at Elementary School but didn`t think that was important for me, I studied only to move up a grade. Then I continued to study basic English in High School.
After some years I took the College entrance exam for languages because I would like to be a teacher. In those years I didn`t learn a lot of English, I learns more Literatures and Portuguese Grammar, during the course I worked as an English teacher for children at Dom Bosco Ahú and São José.During last year of this course I began to work at a multinacional tires company for five years, I stopped because I had my daughter.
So,after three years I returned to the joj marked and worked at some private companies and schools. Then I began to teach English at public schools in 2004 I passed the seletion process for State Secretarial for Education of Parana and I have taught there since then.
Four years ago I studied at Phil Yong`s English School for one year. I liked it very much but it was very expensive for me and it didn`t help me for grow in the state with points for up-and-coming.Then, I have studied at NAP since 2007, I like it very much because all my friends (classmates) are teachers and these courses are for teachers, mainly for State School teachers.I have had great teachers at NAP all the teachers know English very well.
The problem is that I don`t have time to dedicate myself to study. I would like to study more, speak, listen, read things in English more often.
I know a little English but it is enough for my students because they don`t have grounding in English and they don`t have interest in learning. By the way, all that I learn at NAP I try with them.
Finally, I love English, I want to learn more while there is a NAP I will continue study because I think very good this course.I want to travel abroad soon, to see, live, listen to English speaking people, I think it is a good way to complete the learning.

valmir

MY FIRST CONTACT WITH ENGLISH LANGUAGE WAS IN 1984. IN THIS YEAR I STUDIED ON 5TH GRADE OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. MY FIRST CLASS WAS ENGLISH WITH AN EXCELLENT TEACHER CALLLED PACIFICO. BEFOFE THIS I KNEM ONLY SOME WORDS LEARNT TROUGHT SONGS.
IN THIS FIRST ENGLISH CLASS I THOUGHT TO BE A LANGUAGES TEACHER. TEACHER PACIFICO WAS VERY TALENTED,STIFF , FRIENDLY AND HAD A DIFFERENT PROFILE OTHER TEACHERS OF TAHT SCHOOL. HE HAD A STRONG VOICE.
HE WAS MY TEACHER DURING THREE YEARS. ON THE HIGH SCHOOL I STUDIED WITH OTHER TEACHER, BUT SHE WASN'T GRADUATED, SHE WAS THERE BECAUSE THERE WEREN'T GRADUATED TEACHERS IN THE CITY ON THAT TIME.
IN 1996 I BEGAN MY COURSE OF LETTERS IN THE UNIVERSTY . I STUDIED IN FAFIPA - FACULDADE ESTADUAL DE EDUCAÇÃO, CIÊNCIAS E LETRAS DE PARANAVAÍ. THERE I STUDIED WITH THREE DIFFERENT TEACHERS. EACH ONE WITH A DIFFERENT METHOD OF LEARNING. I CONCLUDE MY COURSE IN 1999.
ONE YEAR LATER I STARTED TO TEACH IN CURITIBA. FOR TEN YEARS I HAVE TAUGHT FOR ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS. I ALREADY HAD TO FIGHT AGAINST RUDE PRINCIPAL IN SCHOOLS - PERSON THAT NOTICE THE IMPORTANCE OF FOREING LANGUAGES IN SCHOOLS. I HAD SERIOUS SITUATIONS OF INDISCILPINE IN MY CLASSES YET.
BUT I THINK THAT I GOT MORE EXPERIENCE IN MY WORK TODAY. NOW I AM STUDYING AT NAP AND I HAVE IMPROVED MY KNOWLEDGE.

ivanilda

I worked many years in a bank, after that I went away I bought a store, "which was a negative experience".
I began to study English at "elementary" school, it was a good teaching, the teacher was helpful and of teached well. In high school I had less English, therefore I don't remember well of the teachers and of the teaching. At the university, I thing that the teaching of English wasn't efficient, because I hadn't conversation. I took a course at "International house", but only for two years. After I began to give classes. I gave classes at a private school and in publics schools. I went the private when I bought the store. I teach Portuguese too. It is very difficult dedicate me only with the English, I like English, but I don't have much time. My experience is not relevant, but I have been learning English, I feel don't have time to dedicate myself. I like the course at the Federal university, but I have problems to do it, because there are several activities that I need to my life. The course help me very much. The teachers are helpful and patient. I have been learning English since that I started going to university. English was not a main subject, I studied Portuguese too at the university. I hadn't oportunity to study English very much. Therefore I learned English by myself and I could rarely study it. The reason is that I did not have enough time and I didn't practice it much, because at school I studied more grammar; English grammar was taught all the time; it went even more important than listening and speaking it. It was easy to pass English exams, but I couldn't speak sentences fluently or write them naturally. My speaking still is not good, because I have not practiced it, only in the course at the Federal university, but I still have difficulty to open my mouth because I am shy.

Telling my history as a learner of English

When I was a child I loved to listen to English songs, I was five years old when I listened Abba for the first time and I loved them after that I started to sing when I listened to English songs, of course I didn't understand the songs but this time was the first positive experience with English.

Later, at Elementary School and at High School, I was a very good English student because I started to show interest in order to improve my Ennglish. So, I decided to study Portuguese and English at University however I faced many difficulties I needed to start an English course to help me with my fluency too.

For this, I started to study at Fisk, I studied there for two years, but the course started to become expensive and I didn't finish the course that was very frustating for me.

At University I had many positive experiences with my classmates and my teachers these people have influenced my learning process as a learner and as a teacher. At University I had funny teachers, serious teachers, strict teachers and these characteristics I realized with my classmates too, maybe in the future we will be like our teachers.

The way I learned, learn, and the way I am going to learn the English language will probably be with me for all my life, the process of learning has changed my attitude every day because I find different ways of learning and teaching for different people in different environments.

This is the great aspect for us as English teachers: every day we can change our methods, our behaviours, our likes and deslikes in order to find us as teachers and to find each other as learners through the foreign language.

ENGLISH OR SPANISH ?

BIG DISCUSSIONS IN OUR SCHOOLS...THERE WILL BE A CHANGE ON THE SCHOOL GRADE. THE SEED SUGGESTS(OR ORDERS ?) THAT IN ONE OF DE LEVELS ( HIGH OR ELEMENTARY ) THE STUDENT MUST HAVE TO STUDY SPANISH LANGUAGE. THE GREAT PROBLEM IS . HOW ?
THERE AREN'T SPACE ON THE GRADE.
AT ONE OF THE SCHOOLS THAT I WORK THE TEACHERS DECIDED THAT SPANISH LANGUAGE WILL BE OFFERED ONLY ON THE CELIN . AND IN YOUR SCHOOL ? HOW IS THE SITUATION ?
I THINK THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM WILL BE A LITTLE DESORGANIZED BECAUSE SOME SCHOOLS STUDENTS WILL HAVE ENGLISH IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND SPANISH IN HIGH SCHOOL , ANOTHERS THE SITUATION IS DIFFERENT. AND IF THE STUDENT CHANGE OF SCHOOL ?

MY HISTORY AS A LEARNER OF ENGLISH

I have been studying English since I was nine years old. My mother believes that the best thing that parents can leave their children is the studies. Then, because of this I began to study very early (in 1990).

My first school was CEBEL, which doesn’t exist anymore. There I didn’t learn anything. And I don’t now why. Probably because I was very young and I didn’t know how important it was. When my teacher asked me a question, I never understood. I always answered it wrong. Later it went bankrupt – I can’t remember when this happened. Therefore my mother needed to choose another school.

After that I studied at Fisk. It was the first time that I learned something. But in my opinion I learned more grammar than to speak this language. However in this school I could travel abroad because they allowed companies to show their exchange programs to students’ parents all semesters. So as my father thought it was wonderful, he paid everything and I went to Florida, where I studied English for a month. It was the best experience in my life. This motivated me a lot. Because of that nowadays what I most want is to speak English fluently. At Fisk I finished the course. However I didn’t stop studying.

So I looked for another school – It was the first moment that I did that alone because it was the first time that my mother said I could choose an English School because I was eighteen years old, I was an adult and I was responsible enough to do that without her. Therefore I started to study English at Words, but I didn’t like there a lot because the teachers were very young, what made the classes not very serious. Maybe I was wrong or it was a problem with me. I don’t know what happened.

Nowadays I am here at NAP, where I have studied English for three years. Here it has been different because everyone has seen me as a professional colleague, not as a simple learner. And I have learned more than structures, for example. I have learned methodology, approaches, forms of assessment and other important things for a teacher.

Finally, I have learned English too at Brasílio Vicente de Castro School and at Potty Lazarotto School, where I have been an English teacher for six years. There I learn with my students something different everyday. Sometimes they ask me the meaning of a word that I didn’t know. In other moments they tell me something new which I didn’t know yet and that they had learned with another person in other places. It is wonderful, isn’t it? I love to be a teacher mainly because to be a teacher is not only to teach something to someone, to be a teacher is also to learn a lot of things with other people.

Learning Process

In my opinion we must be avaliated all the time, But shoud have practice class because when we have homework every week many times we don`t have time to do that very well, in my opinion this is a serious problem, Then a critria relevant will be analyze our participation , understanding, listening comprehension and oral valuation and also our effort in try do homework

Simpósio de Letra Tuiuti

I loved to be at Tuiuti on last Friday afternoon. I learned a lot. When I arrived there I wanted to come back to my house because there it was very hot, but when I started to hear people speak about learning and teaching English, it was wonderful . . . Congratulation!

Learning process

Some aspects should be taken into consideration when I am looking upon my own learning process are:
- how I'm pronouncing words;
- If I can understand when people talk to me;
- If people understand when I'm speaking;
- I know to use the language in appropriate settings, in other words, I know to use informal language in informal situations, for example.
One criteria should be used to analyze how I have been learning English this semester is:
- participation during the class because it is more important to talk to friends, to answer the exercises, to ask questions than to stay in the classroom listening what Leticia and Carmen have to speak us, in other words, when you interact with other people you learn more than when you are studying alone because "you are the sum of you plus another one" - I don't know how said this.

Practicing your English

Cheers!
Here follows a suggestion of a website where you can practice your English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/
Here you'll find plenty of interesting stuff. So, I hope you enjoy it and can make a good use of it.

WHAT TO DO . . .

All of us who work in a public school know the following fact:

A STUDENT HAS BEEN STUDYING IN FIFTH GRADE FOR THREE YEARS.

What would you do . . . you agree that this student goes to the next grade in next year even thought he\she has done anything . . . what is your opinion about it . . .

HOW CAN I MAKE MY STUDENTS SPEAK ENGLISH IN THE CLASS( 50 STUDENTS) ?

Many of us have the same problems in our public schools: classrooms with many students, many of them are rebel and disengaged. We always have the bureaucratic part (four or five different ways to test our students, correct this, catch up on grades and so on ....) of our work . Besides , two classes aren't enough to develop speaking activities

HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH FOR BIG GROUP?

We have many students in the classroom. So it is a diffcult task to have good results and do the students really learn English, because we don´t have enough time to listen and help them; only some students have acess to the technology to be able to improve their learning; they are heterogeneous and when we get to teach something to a student, we don't get teach the same information to other creating a big problem.

And you? What do you think about it? Give some suggestions to us.

Viviane, Ivanilda e Helena

First task

After getting familiar with this tool, visit this blog on teaching.

In this post the author writes about blogging in education. Among other things, she lists some reasons why she has started blogging and also some objectives she wants to accomplish with her students. Read the first two sections of her post and let's discuss if these reasons apply to us, both as learners and teachers of English.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Welcome!

Make yourselves at home in this blog!
This is a space we're using this semester to share our thoughts on education, English, ourselves and any other subject that comes to our minds. As a consequence, I hope we can all learn a lot about each other and about teaching as our experience with this tool progresses.