My experience learning english at university

Learning a language isn’t the same that learning about theory or any kind of forma knowledge, because unlike those subjects, language has a special reason with human faculty of reason. Briefly, we could say that we don’t think about language but on it. For all that, I think learning English couldn’t be an experience based simply in memorize words, modals and all that stuff but learning English implies singing on it, joking on it, feeling it; “know how” use English means a constant exercise of making naturally use it on our minds.

In the university I have had different stages on my learning process. First of all, I came here knowing very few or nothing about English. As a matter of fact, even though I understood written English quite a lot talking and listening was an impossible work for me. I think high school English method had some responsibility on it, because all class work, tests, etc. didn’t encourage those skills.

Then, I could recognize is a kind of diffuse “second stage” that matches with my second and third years at university. In my opinion it was when I practiced as best I can my thinking about importance of experience and practice in learning English. In that process was very useful do funny English spoken activities, like watch TV series, listening/singing music, and reading funny stuff on internet. To a certain extent I got some new skills that I hadn’t before studying English at university, for example, I got some practice differentiating between British and American accents.

In the present, the third stage I’ve lost some practice in order to improve my “thinking on english” because of I didn’t have enough time for doing English spoken activities. For that reason I could say that this year has been a backing down on this skills but a certain advance in another skills like writing or reading on English. However, I think this is very different write or reading alone and quietly that facing a real conversation or resolving daily troubles in another language.

To sum up, as my practice keep swinging between doing a lot and doing nothing for learning English I think I’m not going to get enough skills in order to be able to facing the real life in a language that wouldn’t be Spanish. Learning English requires practices and more practice, and as while as I couldn’t do this (for every reason) I won’t get the skill of “thinking on it”. In my opinion, that is the difference between beginner English students from English-speaking people.