Welcome to English Composition B2

English is a multi step process. I have studied English for about 12 years and I have completely fallen in love with all skills involved with the language. I began worrying about my English pronunciation, since I was a Honduran student in an American school, later I worried about reading, because classes would require me to do so. Speaking and listening developed naturally, I did not even notice how those developed. Writing, writing was a whole different world, writing developed along the other skills and I only had to polish it as I continued on my journey to learn proper English.

The purpose of this entry is to explain my English acquisition process in order to explain the methodology used in this course for English acquisition. Please allow me to share my experience as an English student.



 I was barely a child of only 12 years of age when I first started interacting with the English Language; many people believe this is the reason why I find English so amusing and such an interesting topic. I started studying in Los Angeles as a 7^th grader, completely lost in English, but really eager to begin with my journey. I remember going to classes really happy and motivated until the first day I was ashamed because of my Latin accent and pronunciation. I learned proper pronunciation of words is really important, even if you have a foreign accent, your accent is not what’s important, what matters is not how you sound to others, but rather how well you use words to communicate with others.

Reading, well reading became not only a skill for me, but a passion, reading had a special power over the way I looked at the English language. I first read in schools, because as I mentioned before, we had to, but later on I discovered you can also read for pleasure. Reading for pleasure has been my main aid in English acquisition. Reading has provided me with enough vocabulary to express myself thoroughly with others in many languages, it has taught me various ways to express the same idea differently, it has taught me to think in new ways, ways I could not even imagine before, reading has been my blessing in this language acquisition process.

I thought I had it down (common expression used to say something is done), but I was quite wrong, I still had to manage my writing skills. Writing, I have to admit, was a very difficult task because it is not only about spelling correctly, no, no, no. Writing is a process where all skills in English are required in order for it to work properly. Writing is an integration of skills where Syntax (Sentence formation) meets with grammar, and eloquence meets with tenses and vocabulary. Writing is a process that can only be improved by practice; practicing the different skills in English, writing can be enhanced highly.



English, as you see is a multi step process. English can of course be improved by studying, but its best practice is to use it. Writing will be applied in this class as a tool for communication, but it will be done through different steps and tasks where other skills in Language will be used first in order to shape the final writing outcome we will present as a class. This is Academic Composition; therefore we will work with various genres where our final goal will be to communicate successfully at a B2 academic level of English.

My best wishes in your composition process,

- Leonel Fuentes