What I learned

Dear Mr. Bower,

My name is Katrin Wiesinger and I am from Spannberg in Lower Austria. My mother tongue is German, I study English and Austrian Sign Language and my Matrikel number is 1210373. As you can see from my Matrikel number, I started university in 2012. My teachers last year were Melissa Kercher in SUK1 and Fiona Begley in SUK2. My grades in SUK1 and 2 were not outstanding but I will do my best to improve them this year. In SUK1 I had a D and in SUK2 I was really happy to achieve a C.

As my grades were not the best, I knew that I had to work really hard for the FDE oral exam. I studied hard and finally got a one in all three languages, which was amazing for me. The FDE oral exam grades was my highest point in the first year. Unfortunately, I also had some low points. The low points were all the progress checks last year. Before the exams, I studied at home and did my best to prepare myself but I often failed or got a D. After the exam I was often frustrated and did not want to continue but then I motivated myself again and started studying for the next one. Frustration and disappointment but also hope and ambition marked my first year in English.

Although I was often frustrated, I think it would have been worse if I had not been to New Zealand in 2012. After I had finished school in June, I did an internship for six weeks at a school in Nelson. Living in an English-speaking country and working at a school helped me improve my English and become more self-confident in terms of talking to native speakers.

During my internship the teachers showed me some great resources to practice and improve my English. I am still using these sources. They recommended that I should listen to the BBC podcasts “Six Minutes English” and “The English We Speak”. A teacher even lend me one of her favourite books “Twenties Girl” by Sophie Kinsella. I loved it so much that I immediately bought another book written  by her in a New Zealand book store. I am still ordering her books and enjoy reading them.

In New Zealand I also started watching series and shows in English. My host mother was (and I presume still is) a huge fan of “The Big Bang Theory”. I had not heard of this series before but loved it from the beginning. During the summer, I watched four or five seasons – in English - because I hate the dubbed version. I also spent my summer reading various English books I bought online. Some of them were really interesting and the two books I liked most were “Me before you” by Jojo Moyes and “Tricks of the mind” by Derren Brown. (No paragraph!!) The second one, in particular, was great practice for  my English because it contained many, to me, unknown words. I learned and read about homeopathy, different placebo effects, faith healing and mind reading. While reading Browns book, I found out that he also produces TV shows and went on watching them on YouTube.

YouTube is a great source for watching online tutorials on English grammar but my favourite EFL website  is www.quickanddirtytips.com. I have bookmarked this website because Mignon Fogarty, the author of it, explains grammar, punctuation and vocabulary in a fun way. I use her website to inform myself and to study for exams because many of her tips are listed in the major No-No’s. To avoid these major No-No’s I bought an interesting book I really like and can definitely recommend. “Forbetter your English” by Eric T. Hansen. The author mentions all the typical mistakes German English learners tend to make. He also points out how important a monolingual dictionary is for language learners. My personal favourite is dictionary.cambridge.org.

I found out that he also produces TV shows and went on watching them on YouTube.

YouTube is a great source for watching online tutorials on English grammar but my favourite EFL website  is www.quickanddirtytips.com. I have bookmarked this website because Mignon Fogarty, the creator of it, explains grammar, punctuation and vocabulary in a fun way. I use her website to inform myself and to study for exams because many of her tips are listed in the major No-No’s. To avoid these major No-No’s I bought an interesting book I really like and can definitely recommend. “Forbetter your English” by Eric T. Hansen. The author mentions all the typical mistakes German English learners tend to make. He also points out how important a monolingual dictionary is for language learners. My personal favourite is dictionary.cambridge.org.

With the online dictionary, Eric T Hansens book, quickanddirtytips.com, the BBC podcasts and everything I learned in year 1, I think I am ready for a new and hopefully successful semester.

Yours sincerely,

Katrin Wiesinger

Comment:

When I wrote this homework I did my best to avoid common mistakes and major No-No’s. When I handed the letter in I thought that it was okay (not perfect – but okay and without tremendous mistakes). After I looked through the corrected version and the suggestions, I know now that my text wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. I had three major No-No’s in my text – they were all in one (!!!) paragraph (I am really embarrassed to admit this to you but it is true). And, what’s even worse: I was not aware that they were in there (If I had known it, I would have correct the mistakes). So, the most important thing I learned from this homework is, that I should proof-read my homework more seriously, that I should scan my next texts for major No-No’s (because they are not acceptable) and that I should look up everything (words, phrases) I am not a 100 per cent sure about.