Everyone’s bucket list, ‘English’

One of the bucket list of university students in Korea is to become a fluent conversationalist in English. Every year, the number of English course- not only language courses but also major courses- have been increasing gradually. All students are asked to submit internationally authorized English test certificate, such as IELTS(International English Language Testing System), TOEFL(Test of English as a Foreign Language) or TOEIC(Test of English for International Communication) as required for graduation, while most of domestic companies use the test score as an evaluation standard in hiring. Also, the student who gets high grade can grab an opportunity for a student exchange program in overseas. For these reasons, many students are obsessed with earning high marks on English scores and spend a lot of money and time just to learn English. However, ironically, this item in bucket list can not be easily removed.

English is an insuperable obstacle for students living in non-English-speaking country as like me. When I was junior, I attended pretty expensive private academies to apply one special exchange program and put a lot of my effort to learn English, but my English skill had not improved remarkably more than I expected. Finally, I had to give up good chances because of my lower grade.

Taking online course is the best way to learn English

After that, I started listening OCW(open course ware) lectures provided by top universities on YouTube, about two years ago. I was excited that I could take excellent courses from top universities in the world for free instead of going abroad. However, I could not understand lecture as a whole due to lack of English listening skills and following lecturer’s speaking without English subtitle made me frustrated. To fully digest one hour lecture, I had to spend more than half of the day. That time, I realized that I was a lame English learner who has learnt by rote. After that, I was determined to scrap old learning methods- memorizing words and solving questions in reading textbooks-, and adopt a new one- taking online courses on the web as followed my interests. There was no reason to take private lessons from a tutor or English private educational institute by constraint anymore.

Since the advent of MOOC, it has been natural that I was mesmerized by MOOC. I can sign up various courses provided in English language from world top universities and get certificates. It is an attracting news for those who have no chance to study abroad for financial reasons or others as like me. From there on, I considered myself as an international student studying in English speaking country and started taking MOOC courses. For one year, I have obtained 10 certificates related to subjects like humanities, music, programming, and English writing. Above all, I feel that my English has shown a significant improvement over the past one year. For now, I have no fear on listening native English speaker’s talks or lectures, researching resources written in English, and writing English academic essay. All of that could definitely be possible by MOOC.

How did MOOC improve my English

1. Listening | Short video clips with subtitles
   Most MOOC video lectures comprise of short clips under ten minutes with English subtitles. It is a great assistance for me to follow the speaker’s saying and understand lecture contents. Whenever I could not understand certain word or sentences, I watched selected segment repeatedly over and over again. Downloading subtitle files and reading it before listening lecture also helps me to catch up speaker’s saying. It makes me get used to listening formal English. A listening comprehension through MOOC has made rapid progress than ever before.
2. Reading | Enriched reading resources
   Besides, MOOC courses provide a collection of high-quality academic resources from textbooks, journals, newspapers to websites for learners. During course, If I wanted to know more about a specific topic, I would read recommended resources to deepen my knowledge. I did not need to worry what I had to read anymore.

3. Writing | Academic writing & Peer Review
Mostly, MOOC learners are required to submit assignments such as English essays or making video presentations. For non-English-speaking students, English writing & speaking is the biggest challenge. In my case, because I haven’t had many opportunities to write academic English writings in school days, writing assignment was too heavy burden on me. Therefore, from searching and reading resources to writing something, it usually took several days to a couple of weeks. However, because I could choose topic depending on my particular interest, writing was quite useful learning activity and less stressful work. Moreover, peer evaluation received for an assignment helped me to broaden my horizons. Reading articles with full of inspiration and brilliant ideas, written by students from various countries can be a great help too. For one year, I have written over 15 English essays and reviewed about 50 essays as taking MOOC courses.

4. Speaking | Video Presentation & Online Discussion

Speaking in English is the most difficult part for non-native English speaker. I did not have enough confidence to speak a foreign language in public. Couple of months ago, I had my first opportunity to have English presentation in a tech event which is usually attended by foreigners in Seoul. That time, I had just started Talk the Talk course from Future Learn. This course was the greatest guideline & tips for those who prepare a presentation as beginners. I highly appreciate the knowledge gained from this course so that I could deliver my first presentation successfully.

During that time, as taking this course, one of my friends created a Facebook group to share their speaking videos and practice daily. There are about 10 members from Australia, Taiwan, Pakistan, Korea and US. Even though I couldn’t have met, we encouraged each other with the compliments, tips and feedback. Sometimes, we practiced impromptu speech by using Google Hangout. Especially, my English native friends corrected wrong grammars and taught useful expressions to me. It was really exciting to meet global friends and study same course together at the same time.

English is a medium to share knowledge

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt through my MOOC learning journey, it would be “English is just a medium to share and expand knowledge”. Without MOOC, I would have lost in a variety of ways to learn English language and it would be taken much more time and money to achieve such milestone.

Recently, many Korean people around me ask the same question.

My English is too bad and I have no experienced on MOOC. Is it possible to take MOOC course?

I would like to give this answer.

There is no problem. However, think yourself as like a student who is studying at foreign university. If you pursue taking courses that are closer to what you’re interested in, your English skills will have improved dramatically before you know it.

There is no doubt that MOOC is the best free English learning program for me ever I have had.