Overall reflexion

I’ve changed a lot as a language learner through my internship experience. The change consisted in the achievement of my initial goals and of the strategies I used to do so. My language level has improved and I learned a few interesting facts about myself.

Goals

I was aiming to become as fluent in English as I am in French. Overall, I can’t really say that I achieved this goal because my French is still much better than my English. But this is because my French is almost perfect as I speak it since I’m 5 years old and I read a lot of books. I believe it is hard to learn perfectly English in a few months.  Maybe I aimed a little bit too high.

Nevertheless, I can honestly say that I communicate more easily than before, my accent has improved and sometimes, I even think or talk to myself in English! What helped to get better were the people I worked and interacted with as well as the confidence I feel within.

Strategies 

I really used every single one of the strategies I chose in the beginning: the mnemonic techniques, the low-inhibition approach, the guessing technique as well as the practicing and repeating methods. The one that worked out best for me was the guessing technique and the one that didn’t serve me much was the mnemonic one. It’s really constructive to know which strategy works best for you because it is something that can be used daily, when trying to understand a stranger who asks you information, for instance.

Language

I’ve noticed a significant change in my pronunciation and in my vocabulary, which is richer than it used to be. I’ve learned many words and expressions that I’ve never heard of before and that can enhance my conversations. The easiest part was the sentence structure, as I was already bilingual and as I’ve never had trouble with that. The harshest part was to actually improve my accent, as there are three other languages where it can feed on and change in the middle of a sentence.

Growth

I’ve learned that I’m a very adaptable person and that new environments stimulate me instead of scaring me. I’ve also learned that I need a career where I will be able to “move” more than in a library: I want something more challenging.

Now I see the Anglophone culture from a different eye: I used to believe that they were less friendly that the French speakers. I realized I was wrong: they simply don’t show as easily this friendly part of themselves and they are more reserved.

The internship 

I gained a great immersion experience, I met interesting people and I improved my English! I’m fully satisfied with my experience and I wouldn’t change anything.

Gratitude

I wrote Aude a card to thank her. Here’s how it goes:

Dear Aude,

Thank you so much for the marvelous internship
experience I had at your library!

You’ve truly been a great host. Your patience
and kindness were really appreciated and it’s been
a pleasure working with you.  

Sincerely,

Yévgeniya, your intern

The placement 

I would recommend it but not to anyone: it has to be a responsible person who enjoys tranquility… and books!

 

To conclude, I am really pleased with my internship experience and I’m happy with my newly-improved English.

Formal vs informal

In this blog post, I will show you two opposite examples of dialogues I've participated to/overheard during my internship: a formal one and an informal one.

The formal dialogue

As I interact with people mostly by telephone to remind them that their books are late, I have a formal script I use to keep in mind how my sentences must be structured and the specific words (or their synonyms) that I must use. Here’s a transcription of this script:

“Hi, this is a message for Mrs. /Mr. Smith.
I’m calling from the Atwater library. I wanted to remind you that your books/DVDs are overdue, they were due on _______.
Please call us to renew them or return them at your earliest convenience.
If you have any question, call Aude at _______. Thank you and have a nice day!”

Of course, if they answer, I adapt the script.

I've noticed that in a formal dialogue, it is required to use proper words or else it won’t sound professional at all. I think it’s even truer when the interaction is happening on the phone mostly with English-speaking seniors. I've learned that the titles “Sir” or “Mrs.” are indispensable and that you should always use terms such as “at your convenience” or “would you mind”, or else it might appear as if you “rush” the client… and clients don’t like to be rushed, even though their books are late!

To conclude the formal part, I will repeat it again: on the phone, when all that represents you and consequently the work place is your voice, one must be extremely careful with the chosen words and expressions as well as with the tone of voice.

The informal dialogue

I overheard colleagues talking to each other and it really made me see the difference between the formal and the informal dialogue. First of all, the tone changes: it is more relaxed and when people laugh, their eyes do as well. The words that are used also show that people are having a personal/everyday conversation. Expressions such as “screw up” or sentences like “It was, like, five bucks, so I was like “okay” are good examples. Here’s the conversation I've heard:

Colleague #1: Hey, I totally screwed up yesterday.

Colleague #2: Why, what’s up?

Colleague #1: My girlfriend wanted a Starbucks coffee and it was, like, five bucks, so I was like “okay” so I got my wallet out of my pocket and I realized I spent it yesterday with my mates! 

As for me, I've learned is that the word “like” should never be used when speaking in a formal manner because it isn't a proper form of speaking, unless it’s with your friends.

In conclusion, a simple word can make that a formal conversation becomes an informal one. One must be careful with words like “like” because this imaginary line that exists between formal and informal is easily crossed and sometimes, we don’t even notice.

My English: better than ever

I will now summarize my learning path at the library, talking about strategies, ways to improve your accent, etc.

Listening comprehension

I use various strategies to ensure that I truly understand the given instructions: for example, I use the guessing technique a lot. When I hear words that are unfamiliar to me, I try to use contextual clues, which is easy, because everything is library-related.

Also, the “communicate in whichever way possible” made my life a lot easier at the library: when I am unsure of the correct way to express myself, I mostly use gestures and various synonyms to get the message across. For example, when I as I was trying to remember the word “review”, I had a blank. I thought about the synonym “analysis” and the message got across!

About the accent

I have improved my accent greatly. Words like “convenience”, “award” or “overdue” sound a lot better when they come out of my mouth than they used to. For example, I learned that to pronounce “convenience” correctly, one must change the “e” that comes after the “v” for an “i”. I am not sure it can work for everyone but it did wonders for me! I've noticed that when I say a really long sentence in English, I no longer use the French or the Russian accent when pronouncing certain words. I learned not to fall into the same patterns and to pronounce these tricky words the right way, for example by changing the position of my mouth.

Fluency

My fluency has improved by the dozen, especially in the “professional” jargon. I used the “practice” strategy and my accent slowly began to change and finally improved in a very satisfying way.

Humor

I noticed that the English speakers have quite the same humor as the French speakers. Both tease a lot and tell jokes about controversial subjects, such as politics. I've also noticed that anglophones have the capacity to laugh at themselves and that they don't take teasing personal. I've seen various amusing situation but there wasn't one that I didn't understand. I guess this means I'm almost an anglophone now!

Accuracy

My main goal was to improve my English more than to actually learn it, so I chose accuracy over fluency. I wished to learn a more complicated type of English so I mainly was focused on learning specific words. Nevertheless, I have to say that my fluency got better. Now, I can effortlessly switch from French to English, or from Spanish to English without any difficulty, thanks to my hosts with whom I talk frequently during my internship hours. I also noticed that in English, you don't have to do any liaisons. In French, a lot of silent consonants at the end of a word are pronounced at the beginning of the following word. In English, however, this rule doesn't apply. The same goes for the subjunctive in English: it's almost nonexistent.

New words, expressions or structures

Where did you hear/see this language? What was the context? What does it mean? How will it be useful to you in the future?

I've heard the expression “I beg your pardon?”, which was said by a staff member to another one. It's a synonym of “Excuse me?” but it's a very polite form. It will be useful for my future when, for example, I'm doing a job interview and I don't understand a point or a question.

I've also heard the word “Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia” but that was just for fun: I asked a employee if he know any complicated words and that's what he told me!

Oh, it means “Fear of long word”! See you in my next blog post!