English

I have studied together with LINC and my instructor for more than two years. I'd like to share my thoughts and behavior change in this journey.

I began LINC Home study with Module 5. For the first half year, I thought it was easy to finish most of the exercises because they are multiple choice, filling in the blanks based on questions or hints. At first, I ignored the dialogue and pronunciation. I couldn’t hear clearly or repeat the dialogue, but I took it for granted and thought, "I am weak at it, so I do badly at it". I should have realised that the existence of dialogue was to offer me a chance to improve, not to build a wall to stop me. I knew I had a heavy accent in my pronunciation, but I didn't make the decision then to change it. Because old habits formed during my early age, even though I concentrated and paid attention, I can't do the pronunciation in right way. My stubbornness and panic has prevented me from progressing till now.

For nearly one year, my instructor tried her best to stress basic grammar in writing. She helped me understand verb tenses, correct sentence structure, and how to use punctuation in my homework. I am really grateful she persevered and never gave up on me.

When I move to Model 7, I was trapped in every part. I knew few new words, which made the understanding about listening and reading difficult. My weak foundation in grammar and pronunciation accumulated from previous modules prevented me from the learning the new grammar and pronunciation. I did less exercises and I spent the phone class time on sharing the stories happened around my neighbours, co-workers. We also changed views about COVID-19 and vaccines. When I felt ashamed about my English study, I picked up studying on the LINC website again. I had accepted I had problems in different levels, I tried to concentrate on the pronunciation exercises, and I reviewed the grammar and compared it with my memory to increase the cognition of what I was learning.

I didn't feel guilty that I had not graduated from LINC Home study. On the contrary, I cherish that I still have the chance to study here, and meet another interesting soul. I once took the LHS’s English program as an excuse that I have being working hard to integrate into a new cultural environment, but now I firmly believe I love this culture, and it deserves my great sincere efforts.