English is not my forte as I come from a Chinese-speaking family. For me, it was another subject we had to learn because it was compulsory for us since primary school. I had never given much thought to the language as all of us were trained to read, speak and write in English since young. I continued with this mindset until I started working full-time after my graduation from Singapore Polytechnic.
I took on the role of an Architectural Coordinator at a job site for a period of time and part of my job was to delegate tasks to foreign workers and one form of communications for us was through English. Even though we could only conversed in simple English, being able to get our points across was a huge satisfaction for me. It became an equal platform for us where we were able to understand and conversed with each other regardless of our nationalities and the languages we spoke. It was then that I realised the importance of learning English language.
English is the universal language that bridges the gap between different nationalities hence it is definitely of great importance for me to learn and use it properly.
Last updated on Friday, 11th September 2015, 12:10 am
Hello Yan Yan, I appreciate the fact that you supported and related your views on why English plays a vital role with specific past experiences. I also observe that there is a transition of your views on the English language, from it being a usual mandatory subject in school to how you feel it can aid in your communication and networking, and the satisfaction you gain from conveying your thoughts smoothly. Cheers! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Yan Yan, for this clear, concise reflection. Just like Hui Wen, I like the way you have connected your previous job experience with the importance that English plays in your life. That is a perfect illustration.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few areas in this short essay that you need to revisit:
1) ...we were able to understand and conversed with each other.... >>>
we were able to understand and converse with each other (Do you see the difference?)
2) English is the universal language that bridges the gap between different nationalities hence it is definitely of great importance for me to learn and use it properly. >>> (run on sentence _ comma splice) See https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/5/26/5
Overall, this is a good effort though. I look forward to reading more from you.
Hi ya yan, i can totally relate to your situation as i too came from a mandarin speaking community. To be able to communicate in this globalised world is an advantage, since statistic shows that 54.9 percent of internet content is in english and the 2nd place which is russian comes in at a mere 6.1%.
ReplyDeleteGreat article, looking forward to reading more from you