CLUBS AND SOCIETIES

One of the best ways of learning English that I have experimented during my time in Ireland is the clubs and societies of the University of Limerick. Any student can access to any society and can choose between lots of different activities.

I am a member of the History Society, the OPC Society and the Intercultural Society. We have made trips, traditional nights out, dinners, meetings; I even gave a speech about my city in one occasion!

You meet a lot of people, not only Irish, but also French, Polish, German, etc. and it is a fabulous way to practice English while you enjoy other activities!

Here you are a picture of some students at Dollan's, a night we went out with the History Society to listen to live traditional Irish music. It was amazing!

VISUAL MEMORY

A curious aspect of our mind that helps us to learn and remember new things we see is the visual memory. We are able to place in our memory information that resembles objects, places, animals or people in sort of a mental image.

So, if you try to arrange your notes (vocabulary, expressions, etc) in a visual manner, you may be able to remember the information better, because you will associate it with the lesson you have to learn.

Anything that gives the students ease for getting the information quickly is important, that is why the disposition of the subject in a book, for example, is so essential.

THE PROCESS

Generally, when you learn a new language, you start studying some vocabulary, then you learn a few questions and answers by heart, without knowing anything about the grammar. Finally you study the rules you need to use the vocabulary correctly, from the easiest to the hardest ones and, if you want to acquire the level of a native speaker, you go on studying other vocabulary and expressions.

In my case, I remember studying the numbers, members of a family and food when I started to learn English. Afterwards, I knew some useful sentences, such as “My name is Angela, what’s your name?” I knew the meaning of all of them and I also knew how to pronounce them, but I did not know why they were constructed like that. In the following years, I learned some of the grammar rules, and that helped me a lot when writing and speaking. When I got to the university, I learned some other grammar rules, slang and sayings.

In any case and whatever method you use when studying, the most wonderful feeling you can have is experimenting your own progression. As every single thing you learn means a step forward in your acquisition of a language.

I love looking back and discover how many things I have learned. Maybe it is because when you began studying a new aspect of a language, you usually find it difficult. But once you have studied it deeply, you just keep it in mind and apply it in the future without any effort.

I would like to comment something else, as I find quite funny that when you learn a new language however old you are, you begin talking like a baby, saying just a few words and not very clearly. Then you speak like a child, using some sentences and questions and. Therefore, you make the same mistakes than a kid would make. The only difference is that in the case of the student, some of the mistakes could be due to the interferences of his/ her native language.

AUPAIR IN CORK

In the last entry I talked about my first visit to England. In this one, I would like you to know how my next trip went.

During my first year at college, I knew it would be more than necessary to spend some time abroad, and by that I did not mean a week away, as I did in London. It was absolutely essential that I had another experience of a different culture, so I started looking for anything that allowed me to travel abroad and go on learning.

I visited lots of websites, English agencies, I even asked my teachers in order to make the right choice. And since living in other country is synonym of spending money, I decided that working in the UK or Ireland could be a good idea.

So, I used the technology, and I logged onto an online agency where both families and au-pairs could get in touch with each other. After spending hours and hours, days and days seeking my right family, I found the perfect one for me!

It was a family of four: father, mother, and two children and they lived in Cork. We spent the following months talking almost every day. And the deal was: I would stay with them in August for four weeks, looking after their girls and helping with the housework, and for that, I would be paid a weekly amount of money.

Everything was nicely for the first ten days! But suddenly, the next day, after having lunch, the mother of the children told me not to go out for a walk with the girls, because she was free that afternoon and wanted to spend some time with them. When she came back, she left the baby alone in the car, outside and locked the 11-year-old girl in the bathroom, then, she told me…"Angie? I'd like to have a word with you!" Oh my God, I had never heard of that expression but it did not sound good at all!!!!

She started screaming and throwing anything she could get her hands on. Then she said to me that the situation could not go on in that way, and that it would be better if I left the house. I do not really know how much time she spent shouting at me, but it felt like it lasted forever! I am absolutely sure that this woman went mad. In fact, she looked like an extremely shy person, and a very good mother, always taking care not only of their children, but also of me.

I knew I had done everything she asked me to do, and I did it right, and that is why I did not understand why I was the only problem for that woman. But then I realized that she was truly insane, as she treated her own children in the same way.

Maybe it was because her husband had been away for a week and he would not be back before another two weeks, as he worked in the navy. Maybe she was depressed, or had a nervous problem, but what is for sure, is that she was crazy!

She forced me to stay in my bedroom and not to go out, also I could not go to the bathroom or have dinner! She told me to pack my belongings and although I could not sleep, I lied in my bed. And at 5 a.m. she came into my bedroom, woke me up and told me to go.

I had to take a taxi, go to the airport, and travel from Cork to London, then, from London to Spain. It took me around 15 hours but finally, I arrived safe and sound.

MORAL: I learned a lot of vocabulary about the house and kids, I visited another country and I learnt a lot of swearwords!! And, although it has nothing to do with my learning experience, this "adventure" also made me learn things about myself, as I did not know that I was able to manage myself in the way I did that day.

LONDON

The first time I travelled alone was on a trip to London. I went there with a friend to spend a week, in a sort of a holiday, and we were amazed just thinking about going on a trip on our own and visiting a different country. But, as a matter of fact, it was more than a week off.

Actually, it is incredible how much you can learn in only seven days. I was used to have lots and lots of vocabulary lists; however, you will not ever learn a word properly until you see it and use it in context.

Once I arrived there, I had to ask for two bus tickets to go from the airport to the city centre and return in a week. That was when I first heard about the "return ticket" and the "student return".

From that moment on, in every place I visited I learnt at least a new word or expression. "Mind the gap" at the tube, "flea-market" at Portobello Road or Camden (very different places, but both wonderful) and, simply, a "quarter pounder" at that well-known hamburger restaurant that I do not want to mention.

This fabulous trip was so useful! Not only did I learn a lot of English, but I also enjoyed myself in the meantime!

...HOW IT "ENDED"

...But, unfortunately, it was not that easy. I had to work really hard to get the marks needed to start my studies of Translation and Interpreting, but eventually, I got it! I was very happy when I went to my first class at university, although when I finished it, I was not that happy anymore… In fact, I had just realized how hard that degree was going to be. And it got even worse when I took my first “surprise exam” a few days later, because the teacher spent two hours just saying that there were a few people who did not reach the level they were expecting, so it would be better if they just left the degree and let the others go on learning.

Of course, I was one of those pupils…

The truth is that I had never attended extra classes of English, and I had never lived or travelled abroad. Therefore, the only knowledge of English I had was what I had learnt in high school. That is to say…practically nothing, because in Spain the level of English is really low.

What more can I say? Right after listening to those words, the first thing that came to my mind was giving up. However, after thinking about it seriously, I decided that I should give it a go and if finally I could not cope with it, then I could leave it.

So, I kept on going to classes and trying to do my homework. At the beginning, let us say the first weeks/months… I could not understand anything the teachers explained to us, reading the books we were supposed to read was almost an impossible task, but the worst was, with no doubt…SPEAKING. As I was absolutely incapable of saying anything else than "hello, my name is Angela and I am 20 years old"

It took me ages to acquire the average level, and it was quite hard. Nevertheless, one day, I do not know exactly when it was, I realized that I could understand everything the teachers said in the lectures, and completing my homework or reading was not as difficult as it used to be! And what is more, I was able to speak in class, give my opinion about some topics and do my oral presentations!

It does not mean that I was perfect at English at all, but I was starting to see everything clearly. In other words, I realized that if you have a goal, you have to struggle to get it. And now I know, that however hard it may be, if you work consciously, you will get everything you want.

As a conclusion, I can say that, although I still do not speak any of the languages I study very well, I have improved a lot since I started that day at university. And here I am today, living in a foreign country and speaking English every day. It may not be perfect, but it has supposed an incredibly improvement in my life.

HOW IT STARTED...

After already explaining the techniques I usually use when studying a new language, it is time I talked about how I began my studies of translation and interpreting.

To tell the truth, I have always been interested in different languages, and above all in English, but I had never thought about studying them after finishing high school. When I was a child I wanted to become a doctor, but since I discovered that blood makes me sick, I had to renounce this idea. Instead, I decided that taking up law studies would be a great idea, as my parents have always told me that I like to get my own way, so this would be the perfect career for me! But then, I realized that the real life of a solicitor is not as showed in television, so I lost interest. That is why I replaced this idea with a wish to be a psychologist. I kept this in mind until my psychology teacher advised me not to enrol in this degree, as it has no openings in Spain unless you are not a daddy's boy. At that moment there was just a month left to make the university entrance examination and I did not know what to do with my academic life.

So, during these 30 days I looked for information about all the different degrees I could choose, in order to make the right decision. But still, I was not sure of which one would suit me the most. That was not a very nice time, due to this huge indecision. However, one day an idea came to my mind…"what about studying languages?"…I liked languages and learning about different cultures! Moreover, I had never had any problem studying Catalan, English or French at school. That is why I started to investigate all the degrees that focus on languages. Among those, there were all the different philologies, teaching, translation and interpreting. So I looked through the programme of all of them and I was much more interested in translation and interpreting than in studying literature or just one language.

Once I made my decision I thought: "THAT'S IT", all I need to do is go on studying and time will tell...

WAYS OF LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE IV

The more well-know tactic to learn a new language is to use vocabulary lists. It may be useful and even funny if you know how to organize them. As I have already mentioned, you can use different colours to differ, for example, nouns from adjectives, singular from plural and verb conjugation or tenses.

In my particular experience, this technique is very useful when I have to study Arabic, since the same word can be written in more than ten different ways, depending on if it is singular or plural, masculine or feminine and the function in the sentence (subject, complement, etc.).

In Romanian, vocabulary lists are also very practical, as this language, despite of being very different from Arabic, shares some of the main difficulties.