I Don't Own The Music
Do you remember your first time studying English in school? Was it a second language for you or your first? Did you already know how to speak the language, when you started or was it hard because you had no clue on what was happening? What type of school where you in, have you actually gained something from studying English in school. What if you didn't? Did you learn it yourself, or are you using Google to translate what I am writing? Just think about it for a minute, before you start reading.
I still remember when I went to the entrance exams to Komeetta School, when I was about to finish kindergarten. I had to take a Finnish test and an English test, to see where both of my languages were at. Of course, at this point, grammar was not the main point of the test, but to see if I actually knew English enough to succeed in the English class. When I finally did make it to the school, we started like any other school, and when we had English lessons we went through grammar, and also read books. I had myself already read books before, but when I started reading in Komeetta I started from level zero because I didn't know how to write the word "all". But through my time in primary school, I got a really good base for the English language, and it helped me transition to middle school. The only problem that ended up occurring was then the lack of grammar studying when I got older so in fifth and sixth grade. From there onwards, we've concentrated on everything else, which would be really hard for someone who doesn't have the base, which you get from an English school.
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| "Today's lesson went really well. We did trot and canter work on circles. The horse was really nice and relaxed to ride, and moved well throughout his whole body." |
From what I have heard, from my friends who have gone to a pure Finnish school, they usually start learning English only in fourth grade. Which makes the learning of the language harder, even though now they hear English nearly everywhere they go, but it doesn't really help if they don't know what it means. And they never really get the base, that they would need to transition away from a Finnish school, in middle school since they haven't had enough time to study the grammar, and it takes them a lot longer to learn English. So then when they end up going to middle school, they still continue with the grammar, even though they should already know the basic grammar and be able to speak and write English. In most Finnish schools at least in Espoo and Helsinki, they have to do a National English test, which does affect their English grade. The test they have to take is quite hard, and most of my friends who did it, barely passed and I myself got a good grade, just because the teacher made mistakes while marking. So why should the schools make students take a test, which they will most likely fail, just because of their lack of knowledge?
I have friends who have now for high school decided to transfer into a Finnish school for many different reasons. They don't only have a problem with learning the terms in Finnish for their lessons, but also "downgrading" their English skills to match the level where the rest of the class is. I remember listening to my friends’ say how their grades have dropped sometimes, just because they have a wider vocabulary than what even the teacher has. Since they know more words, they'd rather use the fancier words that they know instead of using the words that they are learning. Since the teacher doesn't know the word, or they are not "allowed" to know the specific word yet it is marked wrong. But is this right towards the students that know more, or should the English lessons step up their game, and let the students who know more use their knowledge.
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| "During today's lesson we did a lot of work on circles, trying to get the horse to flex, and we also did some leg yield.At the end, we cantered for a while, which went well, even though I was a little nervous at the beginning." |
I don't really know what to say about this except that the idea of Finnish people not knowing how to speak English in high school horrifies me. I'm just sort of scared that the people who don't know how to speak English will be stuck working in Finland since not knowing English closes a lot of doors. But you can see how much it actually affects your future, especially if you don't know how to speak English. It wouldn't take that much effort to just start teaching English in first grade. Or would it? But not knowing English well enough does close doors for many people, and how many of the Finns are stuck in Finland just because they didn't learn English in first grade. Finland is quite a small country, how long do you think you can progress in your work, till you realise that you need English.
Finns who understood everything that I wrote, be proud of yourself and leave a comment on your personal experience of studying English in Finland.
