Why I Want To Study English Class

I began to study English in the first year of elementary school, in Italy. At that time I was only six years old and I do not remember how I studied in school. In middle school it was mandatory to learn two foreign languages. English was the first one, while the second one was either Spanish or German. I chose Spanish because it was closer to Italian, my first language. I had the same teacher for the English and Spanish classes, and as far as I can remember she did not speak in the target language. The way I was told to study and prepare was to complete grammar exercises in the book, as well as memorizing grammar rules. I remember doing oral and written tests in which I had to explain the rule in Italian (for instance, in English you use the present simple to talk about a recurring action), but I did not have to apply the rule to the language in order to communicate. For this reason, I believe …show more content…
I thought it was an amazing opportunity, and therefore I decided to better apply myself in the learning of the language. This external factor contributed to improve my English skills, specifically listening. I did not want to go abroad and be unable to speak with native speakers, therefore I became aware of the fact that I needed to personally take action and work to improve. I began to watch movies in English with Italian subtitles and this helped me in being a better listener. When I started my exchange year in 2008 I realized that I was not very good at speaking. I think this fact was unfortunate because I had been studying English for 10 years and I was not able to speak and use the language. Luckily, I became very good friend with two American girls and I remember asking questions about the use of English as well as to correct my grammar and pronunciation. These social strategies made me feel more confident about speaking and communicating in