Raquel Sinai Newcomer Award Winning Essay
By Emilly Pereira Lima
What I recommend to a foreign student is not to be afraid to ask questions, to have new experiences, to try, to talk, especially to make friends. If you want to learn English, you have to speak, because it is the easiest way to learn. Know that you will make mistakes, a lot of mistakes, but that is how we learn, by making mistakes. Having a friend is also very important so that they can help you and correct you in the right way, and share experiences. I have a funny story, I was in a mall with my friend and we wanted to drink sparkling water, but we didn’t know how to order it, I went up and started talking to the attendant and asked: “Do you have water gluglu?” We all laughed a lot. Soon after he came to ask me if it was sparkling water and I remembered the way he said it and said yes, it was very funny and I ended up learning a new word
Another tip is to watch movies and series in English. Although it is obvious, many people do not do this. This is good for practicing listening, getting your ears used to it, and it is very important for better understanding in a conversation. Something I like to do is watch children’s cartoons, because the language is clearer and simpler.
The third tip I will give you is to start listening to music in English. Find a singer that you really like. For example, I like Bruno Mars. I look at the lyrics and translate the words that I don’t know. Then I read them out loud while I sing. Then I put on the song and try to sing along.
And the last and most important tip is to live in the moment. Enjoy every second. Do everything you want. Even if we miss our families and want to go back, we can’t leave our old American dream behind. Life is a gift and a great opportunity that few people have. Throw yourself into this new phase, this adventure. You only live once. You will create many funny and entertaining stories to tell later.
(Read about the Relation Between Anxiety and Resilience below.)
Liu, Lu, and Yan studied the correlation between resilience: “i.e., self-regulation, empathy, and social skills” and success in language learning. These aspects of resilience were tested as an antidote to language learning anxiety. The participants, 863 Chinese students in their final year of high school, had been studying English as a foreign language for seven to twelve years. This was in preparation for the college entrance examination in which a high level of English skills are a necessity.
