My writing experience in college was like no other. I was learning a new language, which means learning to read, write and speak English. Speaking and Reading English came with its own challenges but writing English was a lot more difficult. For me writing was one of the most challenging aspects of learning a new language.
I had learned how to write summaries, essays, and research papers in Spanish, in school in the Dominican Republic. Learning how to write in English required me to learn how to do it in a different language, learning the grammatical “rules” and overall rules of writing in English. Throughout the years I have practiced and learned as much as I could about writing English.
Before starting college I learned how to speak, read, and write in English. I took English classes at CELCIS (Center for English Language and Culture for International Students) which is a center at Western Michigan University in which you enroll to take English classes that prepares non- native speakers to study in American colleges and universities.In the English classes that I took at Western Michigan University my professors taught me how to write in English, they taught me how to write grammatically correct, how to write research papers following the correct structure and taught me how to use MLA and APA style. They taught me how use appropriate scholarly sources (such as peer review journals, etc) and cite them in a paper. I remember having many resources when writing such as books, websites (owl.com, etc) and my professor to refer to. Translation websites became very helpful when writing in English.
This is the link to CELCIS at Western Michigan University.
http://international.wmich.edu/content/view/2007/1404/
I remembered my first semester at CELCIS. And the classes that I was taking. I remembered taking three classes per day. One of this classes was Reading and Writing. And I also remembered the first research paper that I wrote. My professor assigned us the topic she wanted us to research, I was given "Steve Wozniak, Apple Computers". It was a difficult experience and took a lot of time to do but when it was complete (after many drafts) I felt a sense of accomplishment. Here are a few of the final draft of my first research paper in English.
I had learned how to write summaries, essays, and research papers in Spanish, in school in the Dominican Republic. Learning how to write in English required me to learn how to do it in a different language, learning the grammatical “rules” and overall rules of writing in English. Throughout the years I have practiced and learned as much as I could about writing English.
Before starting college I learned how to speak, read, and write in English. I took English classes at CELCIS (Center for English Language and Culture for International Students) which is a center at Western Michigan University in which you enroll to take English classes that prepares non- native speakers to study in American colleges and universities.In the English classes that I took at Western Michigan University my professors taught me how to write in English, they taught me how to write grammatically correct, how to write research papers following the correct structure and taught me how to use MLA and APA style. They taught me how use appropriate scholarly sources (such as peer review journals, etc) and cite them in a paper. I remember having many resources when writing such as books, websites (owl.com, etc) and my professor to refer to. Translation websites became very helpful when writing in English.
This is the link to CELCIS at Western Michigan University.
http://international.wmich.edu/content/view/2007/1404/
I remembered my first semester at CELCIS. And the classes that I was taking. I remembered taking three classes per day. One of this classes was Reading and Writing. And I also remembered the first research paper that I wrote. My professor assigned us the topic she wanted us to research, I was given "Steve Wozniak, Apple Computers". It was a difficult experience and took a lot of time to do but when it was complete (after many drafts) I felt a sense of accomplishment. Here are a few of the final draft of my first research paper in English.
Every semester, every class, every writing assignment is a learning opportunity and although I feel like I have learned a lot in the last four years but I know that there is always something more to learn, and I am willing to continue to learn it.
As teacher we must always remember that writing should be freeing, it should be an experience that our imagination can run wild. This video helps me remember that being a English or Spanish teacher rules should not overcome a child’s creativity.