When you work on something, you often have reasons or goals that show why you are working on that. I have decided to work on my English education to achieve three goals: increasing my vocabulary, understanding the basic structures of writing, and developing my listening skills.
Increasing my vocabulary is my first goal. One reason I want to achieve this goal is because by achieving this goal, I will be able to read and enjoy English books more easily. Without increasing my vocabulary, I can't let go of my dictionary while reading a book. Also, knowing plenty of vocabulary words enables you to understand the irony that is used in many English books, making you enjoy the book a lot more than reading the book without knowing the meaning of such phrases. Another reason why I want to achieve this goal is because by achieving this goal, I would be able to speak English more smoothly than before. If you have a large vocabulary, it will be easy to describe something to another person. Also, if I don't achieve this goal, I will continue to pause every time I can't remember a word while I'm talking. That will make the person who's listening to me feel uncomfortable. After achieving this goal, I should start to understand the basic structures of writing.
Understanding the basic structures of writing is my second goal. One reason I want to achieve this goal is because by achieving this goal, I would be able to express my opinions more clearly when writing essays or reports. When I write something, I always take time to think about the basic structure of that writing, and eventually I run out of time so I don't get to write what I really wanted to express. In other words, if I can understand the basic structures of writing, I will be able to take time in describing what I really want to say in that piece. Another reason I want to achieve this goal is because knowing the basic structure would enable me to write more amusing pieces. If I know the basic structure, I can start using interesting techniques to make my writing more amusing. While working on my writing skills, I should start developing my listening skills, too.
Developing my listening skills is the third goal I will set for myself. One reason I want to achieve this goal is because it will enable me to communicate smoothly when talking in English. Misunderstanding what the other person said and asking over and over makes the other person feel unpleasant, and it will make the conversation awkward. Also, if you can catch all of the information the other person said, it helps you to think up a good response, which makes the flow of the conversation smooth. Another reason I want to achieve it is because by achieving this goal, I will be able to enjoy English TV programs more than before. Sometimes I can't hear what the voice on the TV is saying, and I can't understand why the program is funny or interesting. It would be a waste to miss funny jokes or information that I might be interested in. Developing listening skills is a very important goal that I should really work on during my English education, since it has an important role in conveying information.
Improving my listening skills, understanding the basic compositions of writing and increasing my vocabulary are my three main goals for this year's English education. Reaching these goals will surely be great progress for me, and the knowledge I gain will be useful in my future; I hope that I can achieve my goals during this year's English education.
Child Research Net would like to thank the Doshisha International Junior/Senior High School and Haruko Kuwahata, student and author, for permitting reproduction of this article on the CRN web site.
