Self Assessment (Final Portfolio) - Essay Example

To put it simply, I must say that I lacked a direct human relationship with the language. However, after joining this class, in the course of time I have developed a genuine love and appreciation for the English language. My approach towards learning English language is no more, dry, but is marked by lot of emotion, enthusiasm and interest. One other important thing that I learned in this class is the importance of making mistakes, as far as the task of learning a language is concerned. In the initial stages I mostly got disheartened by the number of mistakes I made.

Sometimes I strongly felt that I will never be able to have a good grip over the English language. However, later on I realized that every time I made mistakes, I learned many new things, which improved my English a lot. So slowly I got over the fear of making mistakes. With the passage of time my writing skills began to improve. On the basis of the things I learned by making mistakes, I began correcting and improving my previous drafts. No wonder, these corrections made my drafts more grammatically correct and meaningful.

I realized that I could express my views and emotions in a much better way than before. I know I still have a lot to learn. But, now I take this challenge with much enthusiasm and hope. The most important thing that this class did for me was to allow for a direct exposure to the concepts of culture and identity by making us read the stories written by famous writers. This class also allowed me a chance to watch three international films. Both these experiences of reading stories and watching films helped me improve my communication skills and made me better at expressing and conveying my views and feelings.

Out of the three international films I watched, the film that impacted me most was the Iranian film The Color of Paradise. This film was about the story of a blind boy Mohammed, who is disliked and rejected by his father because of him being blind. His father felt that his blind son Mohammed would spoil his plans of getting a new wife and leading a happy and prosperous life. What particularly impressed me in this film was Muhammad’s ability to enjoy the beauties of nature, despite his being blind.

I was touched by his sadness and his belief in himself and God. I believe that all of us have a little Muhammad inside us. All of us may be not be blind. Still, many a times many of us are unable to convey to others what we think and feel due to many problems like not knowing a language or not knowing how to phrase what we intend to say. In that sense I identified with Muhammad. Watching this film encouraged me to improve my communication skills and my ability to interact with others. Out of the stories that we read, the one that interested me most was Bloomington, Fall 1971.

Though I found the story to be very interesting, the one thing that impressed me most was the mastery of the writer over the art of writing. This story showed to me how language can be used to communicate and convey the most deep seated emotions and feelings. This story made me respect the power of writing. It motivated me to work hard to improve my writing skills and to be able to communicate with others in a much better way. Overall, I must say that this class has led me on to a journey towards improvement and ambition.

Whatever I have learned in this class will surely make a good foundation for further improving my writing and communication ski