English is my second language and I have been learning this language for the past three years. Considering the fact that I can write this article in English, I can say that I am quite proficient in this language. In this post, I’m going to talk about how learning this language has helped me in countless ways and made me a better person than I was.
Many of you may say that English is just a language and learning a language is not enough to do great things in life. But, before you make any judgments, let me tell you that right now I’m a professor of English in one of the most reputed institutions in Sweden. A couple of years back, I was jobless and I knew nothing about the world.
I was a shopkeeper in Vietnam and there was nothing exceptional about that if you ask me. One fine day, while I was going about my chores in my shop, a gentleman came up to me and asked something in American accent.
It went something like “ Woodya mind telling me the time?…”
I was at a loss at what this gentleman had asked me. I replied in my native language that I didn’t understand what he was trying to say. He seemed to understand me though. He replied in my native language. I went ahead and told him the time and sold him some goods too. However, there was something that had been etched on my mind that day. I noticed how that white American had talked to me so fluently in my language and how I couldn’t understand his language.
That was a trigger moment for me to start researching this new language that I knew nothing about. I started researching, reading and learning. At first, it seemed extremely difficult. But, I remained dedicated to my efforts and as they say good things start happening when you have a good intention, I came across a guide in my life.
He taught me how to read and write in English faster than I could learn from any textbook. He introduced me to a whole new world of English words and taught me tricks and tips to make learning more fun. I started watching shows and movies that helped me improve my English vocabulary. One of the shows that I loved watching all the time was “Wheel of Fortune”. I became so obsessed with the show that my guide gave me a new name – Wheel of Fortune phrase expert.
The reason for giving me this name was the fact that I could solve any question that was related to Wheel of Fortune phrase. I was happy that I was becoming good at this new language. But, at the point in time, I didn’t have the slightest idea that I was going to get this far and become a professor of English literature. You never know where time takes you. All you got to do is keep learning and have fun in the process.