First, I can happily announce that each week I have certainly done more than the 3.5-4 hours of independent work required for 2 extra credits. In the proposal I wrote that: "Since I'm studying for my Master's I need to do lots of independent reading at home anyway, and without this English course I couldn't even get any credits from that reading". This has been the case and I am happy that I have managed to tie all my courses together. This has paved way for deeper learning in each course.
What I did not know in the beginning of the course was the fact that I would not have enough time to page through every single beginner's guide book to conversation analysis (for example Jack Sidnell's
Conversation Analysis, An Introduction) since I had to read from three to five articles each week. Instead of writing a review on Sidnell's book, I wrote critiques about some of the academic articles I have read. I have found that habit extremely beneficial, not only for the English course but also when it comes to my thesis. For the audience, I am afraid, it must have been boring sometimes and I am sorry about that, but writing a short critique every time I read an article has been so useful that I think I am going to continue that after the course. Maybe not here in the blog but on my own computer just for the sake of learning.
I have watched many odd films during the semester and I have ended up writing about some of them here in the blog as well. So, I guess writing a critique, a review or a comment is the most natural way for me to act when it comes to different types of phenomena in this world. Maybe I should think about writing as a career instead of teaching. What do you think? I have been reading and watching the news in English but I have not written so much about it. One thing is for sure. Watching news makes me feel sad and I do not like to wallow in that kind of feeling! Maybe that is why I find it so hard to write about important things like the climate change or the financial crisis.
Like any other person I do watch funny clips from YouTube or TED sometimes. Another way of improving language skills is to do it at work. Even if we feel like we are situated at the edge of the Western world we do have many tourists and immigrants in Helsinki these days and when it comes to learning English, meeting these kinds of persons is perfect for practice. After the year I spent in Lisbon I have been missing some kind of international buddy group and during this autumn I luckily found one (or to be precise one of my friends did and she invited me to join this group). So I have been participating in some ESN events. Next week they are having a pre-Christmas party... I cannot imagine a better way of having fun and practising English!
In summary I see that English is a natural part of my normal week and I could not spend a week of my life without using it. What this reflection diary has created is the awareness of the importance of English in my daily routines. It makes me want to learn even more. I guess the next step could be for example living in an English speaking country. (Until now I have only lived in countries where they speak Finnish and Portuguese.) I would love to have a Brittish accent one day! Maybe I will start my learning during our Interrail trip next summer. I am quite sure by now that the first stop on our honeymoon is going to be London...
P.S. Oops! I almost forgot the Idiosyncratic dictionary! I must say it has been quite helpful too! You see, many terms in my area have not been translated into Finnish yet and it is good to think about how to describe them for the Finnish audience. Some of these translations might seem strange since I made them myself! Let me introduce to you my Idiosyncratic dictionary:
-Adjacency pair = vieruspari
-Change of state = aseman muutos
-Circumvent = kiertää
-Cogently = vakuuttavasti
-Counterpart = vastinpari
-Embedded corretions = piilotetut korjaukset
-Engine = moottori
-Epistemic = tietoa koskeva, episteeminen
-Epistemic gap = tiedollinen aukko
-Epistemic stance = episteeminen asennoituminen
-Epistemic status = episteeminen asema
-Excruciatingly = sietämättömästi, musertavasti
-First pair part = etujäsen
-Hedging = suojaus
-Insert expansion = välilaajennus
-Interjacent = välissä oleva
-Interchangeable = vaihdettava
-Juxtaposition = rinnastus
-Latency = viive, latenssi
-Longshoreman = ahtaaja
-Notwithstandig = huolimatta
-Overlapping = päällekkäinen, limittäinen
-Post expansion = jälkilaajennus
-Preference = preferenssi
-Pre-sequence = etiäinen
-Recipient design = vastaanottajan huomioiminen
-Rebuff = torjunta
-Sequence expansion = sekvenssin laajentuminen
-Second pair part = jälkijäsen
-Subsequently = myöhemmin
-Turn-taking organization = vuorottelujäsennys
-Transgress = rikkoa (määräystä)
-Transition-relevance place = siirtymän mahdollistava kohta
-Trigger = laukaista, käynnistää
-Utterance = lausahdus, äännähdys
-->And Englishmen say Finns have long words!
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