May 2016
Well, this semester I've had a great opportunity to improve my speaking skills because I started to teach adults. I had to speak, I just had to, there was no possibility to escape :-). It was probably the hardest time of my life, I could see the reality of my speaking and it was something you wouldn't like to see :-). I am really great for the opportunity, there is a long way in front of me I have to follow but every long journey starts at its beginning. Of course I am much better at speaking but it is still the worst part of my English. I have to stay strong and be patient and we will see. I think that this activities are closely connected also with "spoken production" so in this semester I'm not going to evaluate the section of my portfolio called "Spoken Production".
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May 2016
Reflection and comparison with the 3rd semester
It would be a shame not try to compare this activity with the 3rd semester because even if it is still the worst part of my English I have made a great progress with my spoken interaction or production.
When I started to teach adults on my own (March 2016) I was really very nervous which didn't help me to be good when speaking English, of course. There are twelve students in my classroom from the age of 22 to 45 and they are more critical than children. At the very beginning of my teaching I wanted to speak English as much as possible but by the time I found it almost impossible. As I was nervous during the teaching it was more difficult to speak English because I couldn't find words to express myself properly. I told myself "It will be OK Libor, after a week or two you will speak much better." I was so naive. It's a long process. Nowadays I can feel that I am much better at speaking than I was three months ago and I've made a big progress but it's going to be a long journey to speak, let's say, fluently and confidently. On the other hand, when I compare it with the 3rd semester I am really much better and self-confident when speaking. I remember that in the 3rd semester I knew many words but I wasn't able to use them in spoken English. It is different now, I have still these problems but during my teaching I slowly learn how to transform my "passive vocabulary" into "active vocabulary".
I've also found out that when I am tired (sometimes I slept only about for 4 hours and then go to teach) I am not able to speak English for a long time and I can't find vacabulary which I normaly know so it is really fundamental to be rested in order to stay positive and be able to find the words I need to expressing myself properly in English. Moreover, now I know more than ever that the only way how to speak in English is to speak, speak and speak - loudly, of course.
I wanted to record myself when teaching and use the record for this portfolio but unfortunately some students didn't like the idea to be recorded. I've made at least a video with my younger daughter where you can see about 15 minutes of my teaching :-). I've seen it twice and it is really strange to see myself in the video.
Here is the video: onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=70D44E517E6CF6C!12527&authkey=!AAlfYBupHnle56Q&ithint=folder%2cmp4
