It is difficult to identify which is my strongest and my weakest ability in my second language, because there is a lot to learn and, eventhough there are some skills that are stronger than others, I should continue learning on those.
However, I can say that reading is my strongest ability. I don't have too much problems when reading and I can understand most of the texts that I read. On the other hand, I think that listening is my weakest skill, but only referring to recordings, because when I listen to someone talking or I am participating in a conversation, I do not have any problem to follow it and to express my opinions or to answer questions. But when I listen to a CD or watch a movie, there are some parts that I miss, or don't understand.
I think the reason for this is that I have problems when I am not facing the person who is talking, or that the person who I am listening to is not talking to me.
To improve this skill I should watch more movies in English and also pay special attention to the lyrics of the songs that I listen to, and try to understand the meaning of them.
Hi, Ma José
ResponderEliminarI think that fluency is the key word when we speak about how to develop our skills. I like modern songs but sometimes I can not understand the real meaning of the lyrics because they normally use words and expressions that are frequently used by teenagers and therefore they can understand better than we actually do.
Maria Jose, the same happens to me with listening. I feel that it is one of my strongest abilities. However, sometimes, when I listen to a CD or a recording I miss soem parts and I get lost. I wouldn´t say that listening is my strongest skill but it is one of the strongest. I think that sometimes it is difficult for us to listen to recordings and CDs because as we are not facing the person who speaks, we are not able to see his expressions and gestures. Because xpressions and movements are very important to understant what people say and what they are trying to mean,.
ResponderEliminarAs you said, listening is your weakest skill! You are lucky because with the Master program I think you have improved a lot. We are listening each class to different professors and classmates, which have different accents. That is the first step to start understanding songs and movies, because you are constantly involved with the language.
ResponderEliminarI agree with Alejandra, because in the Master where every subject is in English where our teachers have differente accents you can practice and improve your listening and a lot!
ResponderEliminar