ALBA'S LANGUAGE LEARNING EXPERIENCES

LANGUAGE BIOGRAPHY

MY LANGUAGE LEARNING AIMS

I have always loved English since I love travelling and it is the language that allows you to communicate with people all over the world. Due to this passion, I decided I wanted to become an English teacher hence my language aims are pretty straightforward, I want to be competent in English to the level of proficiency so that I can offer the best of English language experience to my students.

MY LANGUAGE LEARNING HISTORY

I started learning English at school at the age of 4 and ever since I have been immersed in the language not only at school but also outside of school since I have English friends. Before entering university I took the CAE exam and the fact that I passed it encouraged me even more to continue my studies in English. I have always been passionate about English language and this is the main reason why I decided to study English Philology at university.

Besides, I studied Valencian at school and today I have the C1 certificate, or Mitjà, and I am currently taking a course known as capacitació which is something necessary for teachers to work in Valencia.

I have always loved languages so during my Secondary Education I also studied French and Italian and even though I don't speak them as well as English because I don't have the chance to practise them as much I can say that I am able to keep a conversation in both of these languages.

MY MOST SIGNIFICANT LINGUISTIC AND INTERCULTURAL EXPERIENCES 

As I have previously mentioned, I have always had a special passion and interest for English since I

have very good English friends, thus linguistic and intercultural experiences have always been present and have had a strong influence on me.

Later on, when I was at university I decided to go to London for my Erasmus and it was an incredible experience which I will always remember. Besides, there I met some amazing people with whom I still keep in touch and see, at least, once a year.

Moreover, even though I find Valencian a very interesting language not only because of its history but also because it represents the cultural identity of its citizens, I have to say that I have never been that close to Valencian since non of my parents speak it given that they were born in Madrid but moved to Valencia before I was born. Luckily, I have many Valencian speaking friends with whom I practise my Valencian since I plan to get the C2 certificate.

When it comes to talking about my experience with French and Italian, I am able to keep a conversation in both languages but not with the same fluency as in English since I have to think of the words and the structures I want to use. I believe this is basically due to the fact that I don't have the opportunity to practise these language as often as English or Valencian.

MY CURRENT LANGUAGE LEARNING PRIORITIES

At this moment, one of my main priorities is to become completely fluent in English, at a C2 level hence I have to work in improving my pronunciation as well as learning more vocabulary and expressions to be able to achieve this purpose. 

DOSSIER

In this section, you will find all the certificates that prove a certain level in the different languages I have mentioned. 

LANGUAGE PASSPORT

AITANA'S LANGUAGE LEARNING EXPERIENCES

LANGUAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.     My language learning aims

My learning aims regarding English language have been increasing over time. Generally, I enjoy learning languages because they enable me to communicate all over the world and I feel good when learning them. Moreover, I think it is really interesting to see how languages change every day. Particularly, I would like to be proficient in the use of English language because I want to feel English a native-like language for me and I want to become an English teacher in secondary education.

2.     My language learning history

For English language, I started studying English when I was a child at a language school. I really enjoyed these extra-lessons with my mates and I did quite good, I think that is the reason why I carried on studying English. I have studied English in a language school and school until the end of secondary education. I took the PET exam and I passed it. Then, I studied my diploma and I enrolled in ‘English Studies’ at university.

For other languages, in the case of Valencian, I consider myself as bilingual. It is not a native language for me but I learnt it at school when I was a child, since that point on, I have tried to speak it with friends and in public institutions as much as I can. I took ‘Grau Mitjà’ and I have passed it. In the case of French, I studied it at high-school and I took a A2 level exam, however I did not feel like studying it anymore. So, when I had the chance of choosing a minor language in my university degree, I choose German, I really enjoyed the lessons but, unfortunately, I did not take any exam, but I still think that I want to carry on studying it.

3.     My most significant linguistic and intercultural experiences

I had several intercultural experiences that have enhanced my interest for English language. The most significant one was my Erasmus in Sheffield (UK), I had the chance to experience how feels like living in the country. I learnt a lot about places, people, culture and language. I improved quite a lot because the experience really helped me out to do so. Also, I have travelled around Europe and I have been able to communicate in every country, it is really nice to meet people from different countries and share experiences in the same language. Furthermore, I have enrolled in a Youth Exchange in France last summer. I was able to live and share moments with young people from all around Europe, it was a great experience that, if I had a chance, I want to repeat for sure.

4.     My current language learning priorities

My main priority regarding English language is to feel English like Valencian, this is, it does not matter that I have learnt English by studying, but I really want to feel proficient in its use. I want to learn colloquial and everyday language in order to communicate fluently. Moreover, I would like to take the CPE exam and I want to carry on learning to become an English teacher.

DOSSIER

In this section, you will find all the certificates that prove a certain level in the different languages I have mentioned 

LANGUAGE PASSPORT

CELIA'S LANGUAGE LEARNING EXPERIENCES

LANGUAGE BIOGRAPHY

MY LANGUAGE LEARNING AIMS

As I want to become an English teacher in the future, I want to have a good command of the four skills in English language (reading, listening, speaking and writing). It is essential to master the English language if I want to teach it to my future pupils. Moreover, I want to master the English language to read its literature, as I love novels, as well as TV series. Finally, English is the most spoken language, so you need it to talk with people over the world.

MY LANGUAGE LEARNING HISTORY

I started learning English when I was 6 years old. My mother signed up me for a language school in my town. I attended this language school until I was 17 years old, because back then I was in Bachillerato and I wanted to focus on the course. I now thank my parents for the decision of writing down my name in that language school because, otherwise, I do not know what I would have studied in the University.

Furthermore, when I was in 1^st of Bachillerato, I obtained the C1 level of Valencian language in JQCV and, when I was at my second year in the University, I started to study German. However, I could only study it for one year, because on the next year I went to study abroad as an Erasmus student and I was not be able to continue studying German. This year, I have obtained the “capacitació”, which is a course that I need if I want to become a teacher, and in a month’s time, I am going to do the exam to obtain the C2 level of Valencian language.

MY MOST SIGNIFICANT LINGUISTIC AND INTERCULTURAL EXPERIENCES

My most significant linguistic and intercultural experience was, doubtlessly, my Erasmus year 2015-2016. I went to Sheffield, United Kingdom. The University there was incredible, and I discovered a lot of activities and societies that I do not have in the University of Valencia. The city of Sheffield is also amazing; it has a lot of parks and museums to visit. People there were also very nice to us, and I met a lot of incredible people I still have contact with. Thanks to that, I could improve quite a lot my level of English. I still remember when I first arrived there, that I could not understand anything in English because people spoke too fast but, at the end, I was able to understand and speak with them fluently.

In 2017 I enrolled in another Erasmus+ program. I went to Carcassone, France, for 10 days and it consisted on living with people from 7 different countries (France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Lithuania, Rumania and Greece) to get to know other cultures and talk about Environmental problems. Regarding Valencian language, it is my first language so I talk in Valencian everyday with my family and friends. Thus, I master it perfectly and this year I am going to do the C2 level exam.

MY CURRENT LANGUAGE LEARNING PRIORITIES

One of the main priorities is to speak fluently in English, and to acquire a more colloquial or informal vocabulary. I am used to speak and write in a more formal way, because I have learned English, mostly, in formal contexts (language schools, high school, University…). Thus, now it is turn to acquire a more informal register of the language.

DOSSIER

In this section, you will find all the certificates that prove a certain level in the different languages I have mentioned.

LANGUAGE PASSPORT

REBECA'S LANGUAGE LEARNING EXPERIENCES

LANGUAGE BIOGRAPHY


MY LANGUAGE LEARNING AIMS

Taking into account that I want to be an English teacher my language learning aims are quite simple. I want to be a competent user of this language because I want to teach it and in order to do so you need to be proficient. 

However, I have to say that when I started learning English my main aim was to be able to contact people from all over the world, learn about other cultures and open up my mind. 

MY LANGUAGE LEARNING HISTORY

I started learning English when I was 3 years old. At that time it was not compulsory to study English at school until students were in primary. For this reason, my parents decided to write down my name in a language school as they considered that learning English from an early age would be beneficial for me. Then, when I was in 4^thPrimary (I'm not really sure about the school year) I started learning this language at school too. However, I continued in the language school in order to reinforce my English and I have to say that nowadays I am still there because I want to pass my CPE exam.

Apart from that I also studied Valencian at school and last month I finished my “capacitació” course. Furthermore, when I was in high school I got my C1 certificate.

In high school I also studied French and at university I studied Italian but I have to say that I wasn't so interested in learning those languages and I just remember a few words of them.

MY MOST SIGNIFICANT LINGUISTIC AND INTERCULTURAL EXPERIENCES 

I have to say that linguistic and intercultural experiences have had a strong influence on my language command. When I was a teenager I loved playing computer games and I found really interesting the fact that English was a mean to contact people from other countries. That was the first time I saw English in a real context and from that moment onwards I started being more interested in learning that language. Then, I went on a trip to London and my interest in that language increased too.

Finally, in 2015 I did an Erasmus and it was a fantastic experience. I was able to use this language in my everyday life, make international friends and improve my English level.

When talking about Valencian I would say that the good thing about this language is that we are constantly in contact with it. It was when I started going to university that I met valencian speakers and I started using this language more often. My father's family is from Cuenca and my mother's from Teruel and as a consequence of that I don't have the opportunity to practise it at home but as I have already mention I use it in order to talk with some of my university friends.

Regarding Italian and French I have had a similar experience. Even though I have the A2 French Certificate I just remember a few words from that language and the same happens with my Italian. I would say that it happens because when I studied those languages I was not able to use them in real contexts and therefore I was not motivated.

MY CURRENT LANGUAGE PRIORITIES 

If we take a look to my English self-assessment checklist (C2 level) we can see my learning priorities. One of my main priorities is to learn more colloquial vocabulary and idiomatic expressions in order to fully understand everyday English and be able to use them in conversation.

Apart from that I would also like to enrich my vocabulary and use more complex words and expressions and improve my pronunciation.

DOSSIER

In this section, you would find all the certificates that prove a certain level in the different languages I have mentioned.

LANGUAGE PASSPORT

CAROLINA'S LANGUAGE LEARNING EXPERIENCES

LANGUAGE BIOGRAPHY

MY LANGUAGE LEARNING AIMS

I have always wanted to be a secondary English teacher so that might explain my aim in learning English which is to be proficient in the different skills that involve this language. As a teacher of a foreign language, I think it is important to have a good command of that language in order to help my students to successfully acquire and learn it.  

Furthermore, I have also another personal aim which is to be able to communicate with people around the world and to use it for travelling in order to learn about others’ cultures.

Regarding language skills, I would like to point out that for me all of them are important as a good command of them is needed to be proficient in a language. However, depending on the interest of the learner, there might be more important skills than others. In my case, as an English teacher, I think that the different language skills are relevant while for my personal fulfillment, speaking will be the most important one.

MY LANGUAGE LEARNING HISTORY 

I could say that I have been in contact with English language since I was born. As a little baby my mum always puts me the cartoons in that language as she is an English teacher and wanted me to learn it. However, it was not until I was 3 years old when I started to learn it in a formal environment. Even though it was not compulsory to study English until primary school, my mum taught my schoolmates and I English as she was also a teacher in that primary school. Furthermore, I also attended out-of-school English lessons as I did not want my mum to teach it to me at home. Then, when I was six year-olds, I started to learn it in primary school. From that moment until now, I have continued learning English language in formal and non-formal environments. Furthermore, I have studied English Studies at the Universitat de València and I am also doing a Master to become an English secondary teacher. 

Regarding other languages, I studied Valencian and Spanish from primary school to secondary school. Furthermore, I learnt French during primary school and German during my degree. 

Finally, I would like to point out that I have different certificates in these languages. 

MY MOST SIGNIFICANT LINGUISTIC AND INTERCULTURAL EXPERIENCES

Since I was a child, I have had the opportunity of taking part in many linguistic and intercultural experiences. When I was on primary school, I went on English summer camps both alone or with some friends. These experiences gave me the opportunity for the first time to be in contact with the English language and culture in real contexts. But it was not until I was on secondary school when I spent a month in a foreign country such as England or Ireland. At that places, I lived with a native family and I went to a language school. 

Furthermore, in 2011 I took part on an exchange with a secondary school in Pennsylvania (United States). This gave me the opportunity to live with an American family for three weeks and it was at that point when my interest in this language increased. But it was in 2015 when I lived the best experience in my life as I did my Erasmus in London. This gave me the opportunity to totally be immersed in the English language and culture. 

MY CURRENT LANGUAGE PRIORITIES

The document about my English self-assessment checklist (C2 level) shows which are my learning priorities. On the one hand, I would like to improve and increase my vocabulary, both formal and non-formal in order to be able to use them in different situations and contexts. On the other hand, I would like to improve my English pronunciation. 

DOSSIER

In this section, you would find all the certificates that prove a certain level in the different languages I have mentioned. 

LANGUAGE PASSPORT