When I was six my mother took me to my first English lesson.

That time it was not so

widespread to learn foreign languages, maybe it was just the beginning of the period when

young people, like my mother, understood the importance of learning English, as it was the

most popular foreign language in Ukraine, in order to provide their children with global

perspectives and a bright future.

I remembered that first lesson for all my life and actually at that very time I decided to

become an English teacher. In my opinion, it is quite an entertaining process to learn a new

language but the only important thing is that you do not have to make yourself do this. It has

to bring you pleasure.

For me, learning foreign language is not just an opportunity to speak but to think

wider and get to know more about other nationalities, their culture and style of life. However

it is also hard work, even though you have a great wish to know an additional language it is

not always a key to success as first of all you have to study well and put in a lot of time and

effort into studying. As the famous Ukrainian proverb goes «Rolling stone gathers no moss».

I was born in Ukraine. All members of my family are Ukrainians and Ukrainian has

been spoken by untold generations. My mother tongue is a very special language for me and I

love it with my heart. It can be said without any exaggeration that it is one of the most

beautiful languages in the world as it is very melodious and euphonious.

My school is the place where I was exposed to other languages, such as English and

German. I was lucky because my teachers loved these languages and tried to instill the love

to learn them. I have been learning English from the age of six and still continue. My

profession is also connected with this amazing language. As for German, I learnt it at school

for several years and then also at university. Unfortunately, I have poor knowledge of German

but I would like to learn it in future as this language appeals me in some way. So, as you see,

the circumstances under which I learnt these both languages were formal, although at school I
had to learn them but when I entered the university it was my personal wish to acquire

knowledge of these languages.

To my mind a language is not just a set of words and phrases that helps us to express

our thoughts and ideas. I believe that every language has its soul, maybe the soul of its people

and usually the person chooses to learn that language that is close in spirit, of course I will

not reject that sometimes there are other reasons for learning a language but if you want to

get pleasure from learning it you have to like it and in this case the process of learning will be

much more interesting and easier.

I assume that most people will agree that learning a new language is not an easy task

in terms that it is quite time-consuming and it is an intensive mental work and if you want to

achieve good results you have to study really hard and practice a lot. You have to immerse

yourself in the world of the language that you learn, expose yourself more to authentic

materials like audios, videos and original reading matter. To be honest, you can meet a lot of

different obstacles along this way of studying, like lack of motivation, feeling that you do not

know anything, a fear to talk etc. I have experienced all these issues. I still have some

weaknesses, the main is lack of confidence. When I am not sure if something is correct I feel

lost. I really feel ashamed when I make mistakes. however, from time to time I can say

something incorrect in my own native tongue but when I speak English I feel a kind of

responsibility. It is a pity but from time to time laziness hinders my studying, so discipline is

very important for me. I know my weak points and I’m trying to work on them because I feel

very rewarded when my knowledge of foreign language can help others. It inspires me and

inspiration encourages me to master my English. I am convinced that if you want to be a

good specialist then you have to constantly deepen your knowledge. My main belief is that

language learning should be related with real-life context as people learn a language to use it

in everyday life.
Tamila Khokhol

Tamila,

You wrote a nice piece. Try to reorganize your paragraphs making sure they do not include too many

different topics. Let me know if my feedback is clear.

Clear and thorough reflection on what is involved in being a language learner (10/10)

Clear and thorough discussion of your language background (heritage, languages learned,

circumstances) (24/25)

Clear and thorough discussion of attachment, (reasons for) challenges and successes, changes

(21/25)

Clear and thorough discussion of the influence of these experiences on perceptions of language

learning/teaching (21/25)

Language (vocabulary, grammar and punctuation; organization): (9/10)

Mechanics (formatting, spelling, indentation, capitalization, spacing) (5/5)

Grade: 90