Today, an idea manifested between my cousin Mayra and me. Mayra and I are currently attending Colombo Americano and taking English classes as one of several subjects that is part of the current curriculum for our chosen career path of bilingual administrative assistant. After briefly confiding with one another concerning our current progress in English, we came to a joint decision to spend the entire day as Americans, communicating only in English as if we knew no Spanish and seeking activities throughout our city as American tourists. Although Mayra and I both studied English in high school, we both felt the importance of daily practice as an important accelerator to our ultimate objective.
10:07 AM – Jane talked on the phone with her cousin from the United States for 30 minutes in English only. Jane normally speaks with her Uncle once a week and requested to him to only communicate in English. Jane has traveled several times to the United States but envision expanding her traveling agenda to include more English speaking countries such as Europe and England.
10:34 AM – Mayra talked on the phone with friends and family from New York for 25 minutes in English only. These weekly conversations give her a telecommunication medium to reach out and interact with native English speakers. Mayra’s dream is to one day travel to the United States and other English speaking countries throughout Europe to experience the culinary and people of those countries.
1:30 PM – Jane and Mayra have lunch at an American based restaurant. The waiter was bilingual and we both insisted on communicating with him in English only. During our lunch, we shared our dreams and hopes for attending the school, but also our ambitions and inhibitions once our studies have concluded. Mayra’s hopes and dreams is to work in an English environment where she can continue to sharpen her English skills. Although her career search will begin in her home Country where she has ambitions for working for the Police, Army or any military forces, she is very much open to traveling abroad and would like to visit the U.S. to experience the language, culture and culinary. Jane wants to work in an English speaking country and see the school as the gateway to enhance her opportunities for improving her written and oral communication skills in English. In addition to the United States, she would like to travel to Europe and England and experience those cultures.
5:15 PM – Jane and Mayra stop at an internet cafe to chat on line with friends. Mayra signed up a year ago with a social network called “tagged”, an international chatting site where she has had the opportunities to meet people from various English speaking countries and uses this medium to enhance her English writing skills, grammar and pronunciations. Jane has been a member of windows live messenger and various other social networks and uses this as an opportunity to ask questions to become more educated and sharp on advance English concepts.
7:00 – Jane and Mayra sit outside at a table near a small disco where American music is being played. Both sing and follow the lyrics as they feel this is another medium to pick up not only more English words, but learn more about the culture as well.
8:00 PM – Jane and Mayra relax at home to their favorite television show friends. Mayra enjoys the show but pays more attention to the art of the English language. It wasn’t long ago, Mayra needed English subtitles to watch, but now fully understands what the plot and subject lines of the show are communicating. Jane enjoys the show and is able to pick up more hidden meanings in the comedy skits as a result of her time in the U.S. She is able to share these meanings with Mayra and both girls get a good laugh at the conclusion of the show.
9:00PM – Jane talks on the phone with her boyfriend from the U.S. In addition to regular everyday happenings in her life, she also uses this time to ask more advance questions on the English language. These daily conversations give access to another communication medium she can use to sharpen her skills.
9:20PM – Mayra talks with a classmate on her cell phone in English and shares her day’s experiences with Jane. Mayra feels by performing these exercises with her cousin, it gives her the confidence she will need in the future to interview with multinational companies.
10:45PM - Jane and Mayra reflected on their observations and social activities of the day and came to this conclusion; to learn English, true education is not limited to just a book, but taking advantages of the numerous resources that surrounds them, such as social media networking, radio mediums, telecommunication mediums, and various other social methods. Ultimately, what Jane and Mayra learned is their greatest desire is to obtain the skills that will open doors and leverage their employment opportunities to a wider, global and geographical base. This will afford them the ability to make intelligent decisions in employment opportunities based on choice and not just economic desperation.
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