Never stop learning

안녕하세요? 어떻게 지내셨어요? 저는 그저 그래요. How was your week? I’m going to prepare a cup of tea for me. I found writing more relaxing if I have a nice cup of tea.

Well, last week, I went to the “Magic Meeting,” and it was amazing. I had a great time, and I bought some things for my niece, Ambar. On Sunday, I couldn’t attend Ambar’s birthday, so I bought a gift for her.

She loved it. She already has a Harry Potter pillow that I bought for her last year. She is going to be a Potterhead, or she won’t inherit all my fortune.

Today, I started the second level in the Korean course. I was sad because only eight people passed from level 1B to second. In the second level, there are thirty-seven people. Most of them are from level 1ª, and there are some students who are taking the course again. Re-taking the course will not be possible from now on. Only 20 students will pass to the third level.  Welcome to the Hunger Games everybody!

This week, I also passed one of my two finals (August finals). Oral 4 is now part of my past. I really had fun preparing that final. I had to read some tales and passages, but I also had the opportunity to talk about something I really love: English and its teaching.

If you know me really well, you are aware of my love for that subject. It’s the only subject I really enjoyed during my time in the prof. “English and its teaching” was the only reason I didn’t drop the prof years ago. I connected with this subject on another level.

You are going to say that I am a selfish person. And I’m not going to apologize for that. I’m not going to talk about how this subject helped me to understand my students. That’s why I’m not going to talk about methods and approaches. I hate learning about methods, and all that stuff. I know it’s necessary, but it’s boring.  

EAIT helped me to realize how my brain works, when I’m learning another language. Now, that I’m learning Korean, I’m aware of the stages, and functions Willis, Pinker, Krashen, and Chomsky talked about. Sometimes, I found myself correcting a sentence and I say, “Oh, transfer.”

Now, I am a more responsible student, because I know about these concepts. I can even anticipate some errors, when I’m writing in Korean. It’s amazing to know about overgeneralization, misinformation, and transfer. It is also important to know about the silent period, the effect plateau, and the critical period hypothesis.  

You have no idea how much knowing all this has helped me to become a better student. It’s not that I didn’t know this subject was important, but studying another language really puts the things into perspective.

I think it’s nice to reflect on the things we have learned. I truly believe that if you really want to spread the love for another language, you have to feel it first. You have to go deeper into the language and keep on learning.

It’s like Brian Herbert says, “The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.”

That’s all folks!

 See you next week.