15 questions which pretty much summarise the last 14 years of learning English

1. What is your native language? 

My native language is Portuguese. No surprises so far.

2. How many years have you been studying English?

I have been studying English for 15 years, more or less, since first grade.

3. What is the purpose of your English studies?  What would you like to do with your English skills when you graduate?

I always found English very easy to learn and useful when reading, watching movies or series... In general, I like to access English-speaking cultures and their products directly, without translation needed. Actually, six levels of English are mandatory in my degree, so I could not choose to study English or to ignore it in higher education. It is and will be useful, obviously, but I think I already had a similar level when I started Communication and Culture (I did my CAE on my senior year). At least, now I feel more confident while communicating and speaking to an audience, which will be even more useful, because my future Master's is completely taught in English (in Catholic University), and if I become a university teacher or researcher.

4. What areas of English-speaking cultures interest you? What would you like to learn about in regard to English-speaking cultures?

Literature is my first interest, but I am quite curious about History, Politics and the Current Events section.

5. Have you ever traveled to an English-speaking country? If so which one? 

I have already travelled to and lived for 2 weeks in Newcastle during an Erasmus + program and briefly visited Alnwick and Edinburgh. - England and Scotland is my answer.

6. Do you plan on traveling to an English-speaking country in the future? If so which one?

I am planning on visiting Ireland this year. Also, I am waiting for an answer for a summer internship, for which I signed up to, giving priority to Canada, Australia and Macau.

7. Are you involved in any English-speaking communities locally or virtually (online)?

Not really. Just keeping in touch with an Irish friend and a Slovenian one.

8. What language skill do you feel is most difficult for you in English? Listening, Speaking, Reading, or Writing?

Speaking, definitely.

9. Is there a certain grammatical function (tense, part of speech) that you have difficulty with?

I cannot think of anything specific right now.

10. Do you like to read in English? If so what do you read? Do you have any reading suggestions for our class?

I really enjoy reading the original versions of books, not the translated ones, as I mentioned. I would suggest the book I am presenting on, In Cold Blood, but when it comes to a lighter prose I would go for One Day, by David Nicholls. These days, my favourite readings in English have been academic books and essays - for instance, Martha Nussbaum's Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. I also learnt to read in English, thanks to Harry Potter and The Princess Diaries.

11. Do you like to watch films or television shows in English? If so what do you watch?

Of course, with or without subtitles, everything is fine. Regarding movies, I mostly watch corny romantic comedies. Regarding series, I watch Modern Family, Sleepy Hollow (great historical insight, btw), Quantico and Devious Maids. Until they ended, I was a fan of Revenge and How I Met Your Mother.

12. How much time are you willing to dedicate to this class a week?

Apart from the classes, two hours.

13. How will you know this course has been a success for you? How motivated are you to achieve your goal?

I will know it, certainly, as long as I learn something new about the USA. All my English teachers ever since primary school, except for one who was a Portuguese emigrants' daughter in the US, came from whatever English-speaking country we might name (South Africa, Ireland, UK, etc etc). Finally, I feel like I will study the US properly or at least in better conditions.

14. How can you help your classmates learn?

I will try my best to engage in every class discussion or exercise and try to interpellate the others. As a future teacher myself, I guess this is one of the only ways to encourage classmates learning and participation. I'll leave the rest as their own job.

15. How can your instructor best help you learn?

The most important thing is to avoid boredom. I find 'action' as the keyword English classes need. We have been studying English for our whole lives and I feel almost none of my language classes surprises me anymore.

Besides, I seriously (and sometimes sadly) can relate to this meme:

Conclusion: I am now working with 100 seventh graders during my internship and I actually want to be a teacher... For fun. Oh my...