Start Learning English as an Adult

Yesterday, my ESL teacher told us that people who start learning English at or over age 15 will never improve their speaking and pronunciation as well as native speakers; however, if they keep studying very hard, they can possibly improve their reading and writing skill better than native speaker. I know it is difficult to improve my speaking skill because I started learning English when I was 30, and I have been trying to improve my speaking skill since I moved to the U.S. 4 years ago, but I am still struggle to speak in English nonetheless. Even now Americans don't often understand what I'm saying when I speak to them. It's because I have pronunciation problems, and I lack English expressions in my vocabulary. In contrast, I have been able to realize that my reading and writing skill has been significantly improving. As I mentioned before, I couldn't read, write or speak in English at all four years ago. When I received mails at that time, I couldn't read it at all and could never figure out whether they were important mails or scam mails. When I had to sign, I never really understood what I was signing for. However, now I don't have these problems anymore. I can read and write in English, so the quality of my life has changed dramatically by becoming more literate. I know my reading and writing skill need to improve more, and I have a desire to improve these skill as equivalent to that of a well-educated American. Considering my current English skill, my goal is incredibly high but I am not talking about unrealistic things. My speaking is not good enough, and I might sound like a speaking impaired person from native speakers. That is why I want to be confident of my writing skill. I am glad that I started my blog because my blog gives me a chance to think about many things and improves my writing skill. My blog is going to celebrate its first anniversary in 20 days. :)





   Today's Vocabulary
・ lack : verb / 足りない、不足している、欠いている◆【用法】通例、be lackingの形をとる
     ex)You claim that I lack compassion for smokers, yet your compassion is very one-sided. 私には喫煙者への配慮が足らないと言うが、君の配慮は一方的過ぎるよ。
・ dramatically : adverb / 劇的に、著しく、飛躍的に
     ex) dramatically improve someone's life （人）の人生を劇的に改善する
     ex) dramatically improve symptoms 症状を劇的に改善する
・ equivalent to : 《be ～》～と同等である、～と等しい、～に相当する
     ex) One dollar is equivalent to 85 yen now. : 今1ドルは85円に当たる。
     ex)These documents are equivalent to endorsement by a licensed CPA here. : 当地ではこれらの書類は公認会計士による承認に匹敵します。
・ well-educated : adjective / 十分な［立派な］教育を受けた、教養のある、教育の行き届いた、仕込みがいい
     ex) I got well-educated and got a nice, respectable job.
     ex) According to a new study, wealthy, well-educated people can expect to live longer than those less fortunate.