I have been in 520 Reading Course for one month, let me think about what I have done so far.
On the first day when I came to this class, I was curious about why there wasn't any iCAP students except I. I doubted that whether this class was not so popular among my peers. As I knew, many of them chose TOEFL reading classes, which could help them prepare for the TOEFL exam. I was no sure if the word "academic" had a magic on we teenagers. But after a few days, my misgivings disappeared. I could discuss freely on class, enjoy the wonderful and active atmosphere, and get to know each other. Most of the students in my class have already finished their undergraduate degrees, so I think their critical thinking skills are pretty good, the way they think about a question is more mature than mine. I have a humorous teacher, Eilidh. She always makes me laugh.
I'm a quiet boy in my class, because in my country, we students are more likely to receive knowledge passively than to show our opinion to others. Besides, I find the other students know more vocabularies than me. Like my good friend Bassam and Sung Hwa, they can express their opinion fluently. Sometimes I do not know how to express one thing in English.
However, I know this is a process in learning a different language, I have to practice more to overcome it.
Mentioning about the textbook, it's very interesting. It talks about many interesting and useful topics, which are both academic and modern. However, I found there are so many vocabularies which are new to me. I couldn't understand the passages totally. Every time I need to spend a long time to read the whole text and understand its main idea.
I have learnt some useful reading skills, like: reading in chunks, summarizing, paraphrasing, highlighting main ideas, and predicting what the author is going talking about by reading the whole paragraph within a short time. I also learnt some useful skills to make my expressions vivid, like: simile, metaphor, and so on.
In a word, so far so good. I hope I can gain more progress in the coming few weeks.
Typically, I 'd like to point out that if you are going to take the TOEFL or the IELTS examination in the coming year, you should not only focus on your study in ELI, but also put your mind in practising the exams. Since they are essential for us to apply for university, we should treat them cautiously. I heard that you must have special training before you take these examinations, otherwise you won't get a satisfied grade.
I hope this can help you. Thank you for reading.
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I am glad that you chose this class. I also think there is a good atmosphere in the class, and that is because of everyone in it- people like you! I really believe that whatever class you choose, how much you learn is up to you, as it depends on what you are prepared to invest in the class. I enjoy meeting new poeple from differnt countries and I appreciate that it takes time to get used to a new education system, such as the communicative approach that we use at the ELI. From your journal it certainly sounds like you are learning and are thinking about what you are doing in your classes. If I were you, I wouldn't worry at all about other students - everyone has strengths, including you!language learning takes time, and you need patience and hard work, both of which i am sure you have.
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