Blog 6: English Language Challenges

 

I like the English platform, the way it approaches learning in the three courses I have had, it has served me a lot, without a doubt it has given me tools to strengthen learning. Personally, in terms of evaluations, I do not like blogs very much, I am not comfortable with the format having virtual and remote classes, perhaps the program should move to other formats, such as videos, which I liked a lot, I feel that I learned a lot , because one not only has to prepare, speak well, slowly and modulated, but also one sees how the various attempts are left, until the best version turns out.

What I definitely need to improve in my English is to reach an advanced level, applied to what the social sciences are, which is the area where I want to work and which serves me for many courses, since much of the bibliography is in English. I still find it difficult to read a text or a work fluently, that makes these readings very slow and it is difficult for me to advance in the development of the courses. Another aspect that I think I should develop is to find a way of thinking integrally in English, rather than exercising a mechanical translation, it is to have a mental structure that allows me to think in English, which makes me able to speak, write and read everything that have in that language. I plan to improve this in 2021 by taking a slightly more personalized course with someone who knows the language and is from a career related to the one I take (like sociology) or that is political science. I really feel necessary to have a mental structure that allows me to think in English, since in the future I will be able to write an article, make a presentation, or read a complete book like one in Spanish.

Outside of class, the use that I have given the most to both the practice and reinforcement of English is twitter. I really like twitter and many accounts that I follow on topics that have particularly interested me this year were largely in English: everything that It has been the development of the pandemic (discoveries about the disease, treatments, and the development of the vaccine) and the recent presidential election in the United States (previous polls, results by states, Trump's reaction). Without a doubt, twitter is a tool that has helped me to develop my level of English.