How English Broadened My Horizons

The Beginnings

It started with songs. My brother's fault: the only music he listened to was in English. I liked some of it and started to sing along simply repeating the sounds I was hearing, not having a clue of the meaning; but I was only a little girl! Then puberty happened and with it came the compulsive desire - no, not talking about boys here - to understand the world around me as much as I possibly could, songs included... I was lucky, 'cause I had English at school and I really took advantage of those lessons. The more I got into it, the easier it became to write down the song's lyrics - yep, no Internet back then! - and learn lots of vocabs and expressions.

Travelling Around

I live in Europe. There is a special train ticket for those who want to travel around Europe, specifically for young people, called InterRail Pass (there is an equivalent one for non-Europeans called Eurail Pass). After my diploma I got myself one and travelled like crazy for a month across lots of countries. English was my communication tool; without it I would have been lost on quite a few occasions.

Travelling around like that and speaking to so many different people from such a variety of places made a big impact on me. Went back home and started university but a feeling of restlessness never abandoned me and every summer I went travelling around as much as I could. I was hungry - in fact, ravenous is probably a better description - for exploration. Left uni and my epic started. After France and Portugal I ended up in England and made my home there for about ten years...

Fabulous England

England was great not only for work and for studying, but also because there is such a large number of people from around the world that you really have the opportunity to find out about cultures, lifestyles, interpretations of life directly from 'the horse's mouth' as they say (meaning directly from the 'natives'). Plus, I did have a really good time getting to know and appreciate the locals!

Horizons Still Moving

English gave me a lot, still does. I am using it now to communicate with you, to write on the Internet, to help my students reach out to the world with it, to watch films and videos from around the world, to follow news form around the world... So here you have it, my confession: I love English (and I think it loves me back!).

Along the way I've  picked up a few ideas for learning and practicing; check out my other hubs: How to Practice English with Songs, How to Practice English with Comics, How Your Attitude Affects Your English LEarning and more... And for lots of activities and resources, go visit Lovenglish Café!