4.2 Personal experience

Back in secondary school, when I was taught English, we used the grammar translation method. We didn't speak English in class, only when reading out texts or words. I don't really think I learned anything in English class. I was always good at English, so I didn't really bother learning. The only learning I did was learning words by heart for my test. Even though I liked English class, I didn't always appreciate the teachers. I didn't really notice how bad some teachers were at secondary school, but once I went to MBO, it hit me. I had a German teacher, who barely understood Dutch, let alone English. I also had a male teacher who did nothing but sit down and let us do the work he had prepared on the board. I think seeing those teachers and thinking I could do better, was a big motivation for me to become an English teacher. The one time where I thought that English class made sense, was at my last year of MBO. We got a new teacher and she only spoke English. She stood in front of the door and greeted everyone personally. She always encouraged us to speak English in class. This was because in my last year we had to types of English. Regular English and HBO English. You were able to choose that course if you had plans on going to HBO and to be prepared for HBO. I did learn about formal writing in secondary school, but in my last year at MBO, it was even more detailed and explained in a way that I understood. At secondary school, they didn't really pay much attention to it, except for when you had your final exams. We also practised a lot of listening and reading. Even though I had much explained to me at MBO, I still didn't really pay much attention or really felt like I learned a lot. I noticed this when I got to HBO. I have never understood a thing about the tenses. On tests I would answer the question by what felt/sounded right for me. I always got good grades by doing that, but when I opened my grammar book, I knew I had a lot more to learn. That was the first time I really paid attention to the explanation for tenses and other things. I also struggled with some things, which I have never experienced before.