Critical Literacy Narrative - Essay Example

As a Chinese person, learning English was not easy for me. First, I need to mention here that while one can find many people knowing English in the non-English countries, China is one such country where not many people know English. Even with the status of an international language, Chinese people are generally reluctant to learn English language and prefer to communicate with one another in the Chinese language both within China and outside. However, one cannot deny the importance of learning English language in the present age.

Today, when globalization has reached its peak, learning English has become more of a condition than a choice. So I had to learn English anyway. I started learning English in the school. We started over with learning letters, then vovals, words, pronunciations, poems, lines, passages, and short stories. As I progressed through various classes in school, learning English became more and more thorough and detailed. In high school, I learned writing letters and essays. The more I wrote, the better I got at speaking and writing English.

However, listening English and understanding native English people speak English was not easy for me because I had heard English being spoken in the Chinese accent in China. But I had to move over to the US for higher education. For this, developing competence in listening and understanding English in addition to other competencies was very important. I started developing competence in listening and understanding English in the British and American accent by watching Hollywood movies. I believe that Hollywood movies are a very good and informative source for people who want to learn English.

Not only are these movies in native English accents, but the language actors use is the one we use in everyday life. So I get to learn English the way it is spoken by the native people in everyday life. As I learned English more and more, I learned that there is not one, but many accents of native English; there is an American accent, a British accent, and an Australian accent to mention a few. The first movie that sparked a motivation in me to learn English was Titanic. I totally loved that movie, but at the time when it was released, I couldn’t understand and enjoy it fully because of my limited knowledge of English.

However, I was very motivated by the movie and wanted to learn English more in order to be able to enjoy such wonderful movies fully. I saw more English movies and over the passage of time, my competence in English language improved. The biggest challenge I experienced after moving to the US was understanding English in the native American accent. People found it hard to understand me and I found it hard to understand them. This complicated the matters for me manifolds as I not only faced the challenge of adjusting in the US, but also of understanding others and making myself understood.

In order to live happily in a native English country, learning English is a must. Even people who can speak English but not perfectly experience so many issues in the native English countries, what to talk of them who do not know English at all. “the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her” (Tan 506) are some of the difficulties commonly experienced