English as a Second Language: My Journey
Follow my story of mastering English, from overcoming obstacles to celebrating successes, and discover the tips and strategies that worked for me.
Right now I am living in The Netherlands and I am speaking in English almost 24/7! I am also trying to learn Dutch using English as a base language. But English is not my native language! My native language is Bangla (Bengali). The main complication is that everything is different from English! Letters and everything.
Yes, I did get a basic English course as part of my regular studies, but it’s not mandatory anywhere in my country! The subject was an additional one; the rest of the courses were in my native language.
Right now my main focus is to master English so that I can also learn Dutch using it. Plus, mastering a global language has its own perks.
This is what I am doing right now or have done before:
- Watch lots of English movies, most of the times with subtitles on
- Watch Japanese anime with English subtitles
- Watch YouTube videos at 2x speed
- Listen to podcasts at 1.5x to 2x speed
- Listen to audiobooks at 1.2x to 2x speed
- Read any English book and write a summary afterward, even if it takes 6 months to finish the book
- Write lots of documents in English and spell-check them
- Write my blogs in English
- In 2024, rewrite all of my writing with ChatGPT and try to mark what’s missing
- Recently, I started to read philosophy books and poetry to understand the deeper meanings of words and feelings.