This has been a semester that has engaged me in many instructive activities relating to my area of study. The project work has stimulated much interest in me to be reflective and to bring myself to daily activities with more focus and attention. The projects during this semester have been ones that have been opening my insight into my world helping to make sense of my experiences. From the projects, there is a consistent exercise of one’s ability to be reflective and trace the roots of my life. While a project, it has been some kind of probe that requires one to recollect events about one’s past, the encounters in life and issues about culture and to use the abilities one can master to descriptively elaborate on them in a meaningful manner. I would argue that more than being semester projects, they have been motivating self-rediscovery as I get to make more meaning out of issues about my life, heritage and culture that are plausible subjects of study.
It is of importance to reexamine the purpose of the projects according to my encounter of them. As an international student of a foreign second language, the project was meant to motivate me view my experiences as possible avenues through which I can develop my language abilities. Language is only developed when it is exercised in typical contexts out of the classroom. This is what the semester’s projects have tried to achieve. While the language is foreign, its use can be as domestic and personal as when used to articulate myself about my life encounters and culture. When applying English, a foreign language to personal and local issues, it becomes interesting and motivating as the learning outcomes meant to encourage use of vocabularies, construction of different types of sentences and use of various parts of speech such as adjectives are attempted. Being made to reflect on my journey in literacy and recapture the various persons involved in motivating me in literacy and expressing it in a paper that is written in this foreign language was such an intuitive experience that tested my English abilities so much. However, these projects were not a bed of roses. They were not entirely a walkover minding the fact that English is my second language. I had to overcome many challenges posed by the fact that I am Serbian bequeathed to a Croat culture.
The project was easy since it only entailed a reflection into certain issues about me, my background and culture. As opposed to having to focus on issues outside of ones experiences that would have caused more complications in studying, this one was more generative in ideas and was easier to achieve flow of thought and events as it only needed a flashback and focus on my life. This is not enough to, therefore, consider the project entirely easy since the assignment that requires me to reflect on my traditions and culture and describe them in a foreign language is difficult. There were some issues about tradition and culture which are difficult to term in a language that I am still mastering. Finding the correct words, use of appropriate adjectives to portray scenarios and still maintain flow and coherence was a challenge. However, these difficulties are the ones that tested my mastery of the English language and informed me of my weaknesses that I have to focus on improving. Due to this, I have been able to make significant changes from the originals in restructuring language, improving flow and use of appropriate length of sentences to describe issues. I can note a positive change in my paper structure ever since the semester begun.
There is much that I have learnt about the English language from this semester. This is especially about its practical use in project work. The language requires vastness in vocabulary and good knowledge of sentence use in order to be able to use it in writing. It is also a language that calls for consistent practice that can be learned from frequent reading of books that are written on various subjects. To be able to write in English, it is only important that one reads written works in the language in order to grow in its use and application.
On the whole, this semester’s projects have added to my appetite to study and know more of the language. I have been able to exercise my creative abilities to express various issues about myself, and this means that I now can relate the language to myself and my experiences. Through the project, the difficulties encountered have led to self-assessment of abilities and inabilities in order to tell the areas of improvement that I would need to develop on. Besides, the semester has offered a challenge to me not sit back and relax thinking I have learned enough of the language. The difficulties I had to overcome putting the project together have encouraged me to read more, learn and practice English consistently.
