Excluding my first language, I studied three languages: English, Spanish, and Japanese. I learned English in elementary school, Spanish in high school, and self-studied Japanese by watching movies. I did not enjoy the overall learning process of each language, but I liked to see how much I improved compared to the past.
When I learned other languages, I enjoyed when I could feel my language skills developing. For instance, when there are announcements in another language I recently learned, I feel satisfied when I understand what they say. There was one time when I fully understood what the subway announcement announced in Japanese when it was my third year of learning the language. Also, I liked it when I could understand Spanish series without subtitles. The most satisfying moment was when I could help someone else with the language I learned. When someone was lost in a subway station in Korea, I could help him in a language that I knew. However, I disliked how I needed to go through pressure to show my development. When I took Spanish as my high school second language, the expectations people had towards me regarding Spanish gave me pressure. When we watched Spanish movies, they expected me to understand and explain to them fully. Also, I was the only senior student taking Spanish 4 class in high school. Thus, there were expectations from other students that I should be better than them as I learned for a longer period of time.
As a person who knows four languages, I can confidently say that I am a slow but hard-working and ambitious learner. I usually take more time than others to learn one language. As previously mentioned, I was the only student in the Spanish 4 class in high school. The majority of the high school students finished their second language course in their junior year, but I needed an extra year. It took me a longer time than others to be satisfied with my Spanish skills. I not only take more time to learn but also I have high standards and expectations for myself in terms of learning a language. When I start learning a new language, I know that I will take more time and time compared to others, so I try to learn and have the best outcome by the end.
Based on my past language learning experiences, I learn the best when I utilize it in real life. After learning a phrase from the classes or by myself, I need to either hear what I learned or I need to utilize the phrase with someone else. In that way, I can fully understand when and where to use the phrase. Therefore, I believe I should expand my learning activities by continuously reaching out to people for the language. By continuously speaking, writing, reading, and hearing the language with someone else, I would be able to improve my skills quickly. Especially with native speakers who know the culture, slang, and idioms of the country, I would be able to improve my learning.
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