I started to learn English when I was in elementary school. Together with my two friends, I had English classes with a private teacher. I lacked motivation and I learned very little. This stage was insignificant and could just as well have not happened at all.

I began to learn English in earnest when I went to high school. I was in the same class with Michal, but in different groups. I was in a group for students who were to learn English from scratch, and he was in a group for those who had already known some English. Very soon, my teacher noticed that my English was improving rapidly and he told me to join the group for the advanced learners. This was the worst thing that could have happened to me. My new teacher, who was Irish, didn.t speak Polish so I couldn.t understand her and I never knew what I was supposed to do. I was completely at a loss. My English didn.t improve at all. As a result, at the end of that year I was sent back to the group for beginners.

My stay with the advanced group made me realize what kind of learning strategies I should use in the future. I discovered that I cannot pick up a new language directly from foreigners. I started to learn hard again.

I translated into Polish all new words that appeared in my course-book. Before a test I would memorize dozens of words with their Polish equivalents. However, later I would never revise those words so I would soon forget most of them.

I knew that I should improve my learning techniques and I decided to ask for help from those who had the best results in our class, that is Michal. That wasn.t easy because in the second grade, they seemed to look down on girls. So after a few attempts to approach them I decided to give up. For two years I learned English using the method described above. My English was improving but I was still forgetting new words. Finally, in the fourth grade I got closer to Michal, who started to show me how to learn English more efficiently, which was a breakthrough in the whole process of my learning English.

Michal encouraged me to read books in English with monolingual dictionaries. Several months later, I began to write e-mail messages in English.

I have been using these techniques for four years, and in my opinion, I have achieved pretty good results.





6.

Which of the author.s English learning experiences was not worthy of notice?



A) In elementary school.

B) The first year in high school.

C) The second and third years in high school.

D) The fourth year in high school.



7.

Who taught the author English during the first year in high school?



A) A private teacher.

B) The English teacher teaching the group for beginners.

C) The English teacher teaching the advanced group.

D) Both B) and C).



8.

Of the following experiences, which one made the greatest suffering to the author?



A) She shared a private English teacher with her two friends.

B) She was moved to the advanced group in the first high school year.

C) She was sent back to the group for beginners.

D) She got Michal to help her in English.



9.

What did the author learn from her study in the advanced group?



A) She could not learn a new language quite well.

B) Learning strategies are of importance.

C) Native teachers are not suitable for her.

D) She had to ask for help from those who had the best results in her class.



10.

What is regarded as a milestone in the author.s process of English learning?



A) Michal began to teach her an efficient way of learning English.

B) She tried to read books in English.

C) She tried to use monolingual dictionaries.

D) She tried to write e-mail messages in English.

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