Studying English through America culture

      It began on August 3rd, the day when this ESL class started. Studying about America culture and their language are the main reasons why I chose this class. I had studied my major in the MBA program and realized that I needed to improve my English so I decided to take this class. After 10 weeks, my English has actually improved significantly. Studying any language is not just about vocabulary and grammar, it’s also important to learn about the culture and tradition.

Out front of National Museum of America History

Revolution House

      I’ve learned many things from this class. Specifically, going on field trips was most helpful to me. During the time, I have seen with my own eyes gorgeous architecture and real life activities. For instance, my class went to the America History Museum on the National Mall in Washington D.C and it was in the third week after class began. I saw a lot of stuff such as the Original America Flag, the Philadelphia Gunboat, the Revolution House, the First Lady Gowns, also lots of information about war history while I was walking around in the Museum. After this trip, I have much more knowledge about America that maybe I wouldn’t know otherwise. It clearly allowed me to visualize where the American way came from. 

Viet Nam - America War

Viet Nam - America War

Philadelphia Gunboat

Hillary Clinton Gown 

The Star Spangled Banner

     Somehow, I couldn’t completely understand the meaning of idioms and word phrases on my own but with the teacher’s help it’s no longer a problem. Some common idioms have been given and discussed among the class like “I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place” which means you can’t choose between two difficult things or word phrases like “to strike a chord” – to say something that people are happy to hear, “at the push of a button” – it’s automatic, and etc… They have been using a lot on news and communication sometimes so learning them is a big step to understand America culture.

     Another interesting thing that I like is Ted Talk. It helped my listening by showing different kind of voices and from inspiring people who are really good at presenting. After that we had chances to discuss, sometimes we argued with many different opinions. One of the videos that we argued about the most is the animal rights through the “Chimps have feelings and thoughts. They should have rights” by Steven Wise. By discussing and arguing like that I and my class mates practiced a lot of speaking English to each other and were more comfortable with American way. That is something you can’t find it anywhere. Here is the video: 

     
     In conclusion, studying culture and tradition in this class have contributed a huge helpfulness to me. In fact, my English has been improved more than I ever expected by going on field trips, discussing idioms and arguing with my own opinions to other students. The good thing about the class is that we have been practicing in American way everyday since the day it started.