My goals for 2018 Many people set up goals at the beginning of each year. Unfortunately, most never achieve them. This is a common problem, especially among young people. Including you and me. So, today I’ll to talk to you about my personal story about setting goals. When I was a child all I wanted to do was to play soccer and watch cartoons. I used to spend long hours practicing how to kick the ball. And I spent hundreds of hours watching TV. I'd say I was pretty much a normal happy kid. My only job was to get good grades at school, which I did very well. But, everything changed in my teens. I became a very serious person. I was constantly worried about my own health, my lack of knowledge about how to earn money, how to pick up girls and an extreme fear of the future which caused me a lot of anxiety. By that time, I started to set up goals to build a better future for me and my family. I started by writing down my goals: 1. Become an engineer. 2. Learn English and French. 3. Buy a new house with lots of trees. 4. Travel the world. ...And I wanted to achieve that before age 35. Little did I know about life, mental illnesses and broken hearts. Long story short, I'm 32 and I haven't travelled the world yet. My French is so so, my major is in philosophy and I live with my grandma. But, I've learned that the joy is not in achieving your goals but in the process. I've also learned to set up more specific, achievable goals each year. So, my goals for 2018 are: 1. Learn to speak French fluently. 2. Write essays in English to improve my writing skills (at least once a week) 3. Apply for a higher position in my company. I think these are more attainable goals. Most importantly, I'm focused on enjoying the process right now.

About my journey learning English My love for English started when I was a child. I remember dad teaching me the greetings when I was 5. Fast forward 10 years, I enrolled in an English class. Where the teacher used to speak Spanish most of the time. I used to spend my summer vacations at this academy. I met a lot of people. But, after 2 years of classes, I wasn’t able to keep a basic conversation. Obviously, I wasn't going to give up. I paid undivided attention to my teachers at school and I managed to get very good grades. I was the best student in the English course. But, by the age of 17, after all those years of study, I wasn’t able to speak. One day, I went to a book store and bought a copy of a method for learning English. I went through it with excitement. I finished the book in two months. And, I learned a lot of useful phrases. Which, gave me the confidence to write short stories. The method the author proposes is rather simple. First, you have to learn the words in English that are similar to your mother tongue. They are called cognates. There is a list of 100 words that are written the same in Spanish but pronounced differently. Then, there is a list of the most common verbs and a lot of examples and stories. The idea is to learn the words in context. There is also a list of prepositions with pictures, and again more short stories. At the end of the book there are fixed phrases that the author recommends to memorize. And a blank page where you are supposed to write your goals for learning English. After that, I decided to memorize song lyrics and record myself speaking. Then, I got a scholarship to study in Honduras, where I met many Americans. After my graduation, I went to Nicaragua to work as a school teacher. The principal was American, and he used to invite brigades from the US to work in the community. I told him I spoke English and soon I was working as a translator. Back in my country, I applied for a bilingual position but I got rejected 3 times. So, I decided to take my English to the next level. I started to listen to podcasts in English every day. I did this for 6 months, then I reapplied and got the job. I worked for Hotels.com as a customer service rep. for one year and a half. And, now I teach English at an English academy. Also, I will start working for Microsoft next week helping US customers. I know my English is not perfect. However, I feel confident speaking now. And, I know I can get whatever I want in life if I set my mind to do it.

I can speak English! Last night, I was chatting with a friend of mine from Ecuador. He knows I study English and that I like to help others improve their language skills. Perhaps, because of that, he started to talk about English classes. My friend has never studied English. He has zero knowledge. But, for some reason he told me he spoke English. I was curious to know more about it. So, I started to ask him questions in English. As you might imagine he didn't reply back. 20 minutes later he wrote something in English that didn't make sense. I tried to correct his mistakes but, he told me he didn’t have time for an English class. I didn't understand his behavior. And, I've been thinking about it since this morning. In my opinion, he’s a childish person, pretending to know something he doesn’t. On top of that, he doesn't want to be corrected. He doesn't speak English and that's fine with me. But, this attitude coming from a 40 years old man is not normal. I know it's good to believe in ourselves. For example, I repeat to myself every day that I can speak English like a native. So, maybe, he's doing the same thing now. Who knows! I'm still trying to discover it.

Is it Grammar so necessary? Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the role grammar plays in the language learning process. First, I'd like to say that I like grammar. In fact I'm the kind of person who reads grammar books just for fun. I started to study Spanish grammar when I was 17 years old. And, I find it very interesting. However, after working at an English academy for one month. I've been asking myself if teaching grammar is really so important. Yesterday, we received the visit of a call center company in our academy. They wanted to interview the advanced students to offer them a job. We had everything prepared. The students were motivated. But, none of the students was able to pass the job interview. None! There were 17 advanced students and each of them failed the interview. It was so disappointing. In this academy, they emphasize the importance of grammar so much. At the begging I didn't teach any grammar rule. Because, I don't think it's important when you already have a good comprehension of the language. I think you can learn the structure of a language by listening to interesting audios and reading your favorite books. I'm working as a teacher assistant and I'm doing my best to help the students. I study every day and try to understand the students’ necessities. But, honestly, I’m worried about them. I'd like the principal to understand that we can learn a language the natural way. Just like we learnt our own native language. By listening to our parents and teachers. I speak Spanish perfectly without knowing the grammar rules. I speak French at a basic level now, and I have no idea of how the grammar works. I just listen to interesting podcasts and read my favorite books in French. So, I feel kind of disappointed today. I have to give 2 classes tomorrow morning following the academy grammar method. On top of that, I’m not getting paid yet, because I’m supposed to be in the training period. But, seeing yesterday bad results, I'm thinking about looking for a different place to work. Actually, I just sent my resume to a bigger academy located in a different city. And I got an interview at Google for a customer service position. So, next week I'll have to take a decision. I need to decide whether or not to continue with this traditional academy.

My first English class Today I gave my first English class. I applied for a teaching position at a language academy this morning and they asked me to teach the advanced English class! Can you believe it? I had to give a 2 hours English class without any preparation! I didn't have any teaching experience until today. My major is in Philosophy so I’m more used to writing. However, I’ve always wanted to become an English teacher for no reason in particular. I entered the room and saw three guys sitting on a couch. This is a new academy so they have just a few students. My first class was about to start and I had nothing to say. So I talked about motivation and success in life. We had a great time speaking English today and I enjoyed being with those students. In the middle of the class two more students joined. So, I had five students and we continued the class for one more hour. I was applying for a position, and this was the test. I did my best and I hope they call me with good news. I'm no one special but those students made me feel important. They were asking so many questions about me. And they treated me like a real teacher. So, I think I found my new passion and hopefully a new job.

I didn't know I spoke French I haven't been working for the last 2 weeks because I got sick. Honestly, I didn’t want to quit my previous job because I liked it. But, I decided to stay at home for one week to recover. Even though I notified my supervisor, when I got back to work I was told I had been laid off. Yesterday morning, I applied for a new job. I woke up early to practice the interview questions and watched a motivational video. When I got to the building there were around 20 people applying for the position. I walked up to the receptionist and handed him my resume. Then, I sat down next to a guy who seemed very confident. I started to talk to him in English, because the description said they were looking for people with an advanced English level. My new friend and I were waiting in the lobby for over 2 hours. We were talking in English all the time. This helped me relax. All of the sudden this guy said a word in French and I made a comment about France. We engaged in an interesting conversation about France, culture, and art. I don’t know why, but he started to speak in French. So, we continued the conversation in that language. We spoke in French for over 20 minutes then the recruiter called his name and he left. Now, I meditate about that event. And I've come to the conclusion that the human brain is powerful and beautiful. I've been watching videos in French for the last 2 years just for fun. At the beginning I used to watch videos with the subtitles. And most of the time I didn't understand the speaker. But, I've always found French beautiful and romantic. So, I didn't care if I only understood 10% of the words. French is like music for me. Over time I've been able to understand more and more. Nowadays, I'm able to watch a 30 min. video on You tube and understand 80- 95 % of the words, depending on the topic. I see this activity as a hobby. I listen to music in French too and follow 2 French teachers on Facebook. I also read articles and do my best to get the message. But, I never speak French. In fact, yesterday was my first time. I think I was able to keep a fluent conversation because I felt relax. My new friend made me feel confident and because of that I didn't care if I made mistakes. I'm sure I made a lot. But, we had a great time speaking French. It was like a dream for me; but it really happened. I tried to speak in French this morning and I wasn't able to form a logical phrase. Now I regard that event as a miracle.

Living with Fear in my Hometown. I've lived in San Salvador most of my life. San Salvador is a small city located in a small country in the center of the American continent. We've got a nice weather most of the year. Like most of the countries, there are pros and cons about living here. One of the worst things is the gang bands. These are groups of young people, most of them teenagers, who live out of crime. They use drugs and weapons and their main target is small businesses. I've done everything to avoid problems with these people. From studying at home to giving away food and money to their members. On day I had to go visit my grandma because she was feeling sick. It was a normal day. I remember it was 10:00 AM in the morning. I didn't want to take the bus, so I walked all the way to her house. I stopped in a small store to get some snacks. All of the sudden, three guys appeared and started to ask me questions. I didn't want problems so I decided to smile at them and answer all of their questions. Suddenly, one of them pulled out a gun and started to wave it on my face. I thought they were gonna kill me, so I started to pray in silence. They dragged me to a lonely place, and I saw people shut their doors and windows. Everybody knew something bad was about to happen. In the end, I managed to convince them I wasn't doing anything bad. I begged them for my life and they eventually let me go. That day I had to go back home with several bruises and a pain in my leg. I haven't seen my grandma for the last year or so. Because I'm afraid to go to that place and find these people again. I've also been robbed 4 or 5 times in my lifetime. I've seen dead bodies on the street and heard gunshots near my house. For all of these, I prefer to stay at home on weekends. And I live in fear even in my own house. I still don't understand why all of that started. Many people say it's because of the past war. But, even sociologists have a hard time trying to explain the reasons of all this violence. I think life would be better if we could just get along well with everybody. If we could feel compassion for others.

A negative mindset can affect your success in life I come from a dysfunctional family, and I didn’t have the support and love of my parents. They were always arguing over the smallest things. As a result, I became a shy and lonely kid. I remember that I used to spend most of my time locked in my room drawing eyes or trees. When I was 17 years old my father passed away due to cancer. That would change my life forever. I became a bitter person, and I was always complaining about the lack of money and food in my house. Eventually, I moved to my grandma’s house, but I didn’t change my negative attitude. I couldn’t see the beautiful things I had because of my limited vision. I got a scholarship at the university and decided to study informatics engineering. Everything seemed to be OK, but once again my negative thoughts and my negative attitude destroyed all my dreams. I even had an appointment with the psychologist on Mondays because I didn’t have friends in college. Long story short, I dropped out college because I thought it was pointless to learn how to use out of date programs. I used to argue with my teachers about the lack of opportunities in the country. And I used to criticize the educational system because I found it antiquated. There I was, complaining about everything. I even developed acne and it affected my skin terribly. This made me even more bitter and depressive. All this because of my negative mindset. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of books. Especially, books that have to do with psychology and physics. I’ve discovered that most of my failures in life happened because I attracted them. We are what we think about all day long. And we create our own reality based on our vision of the world. So, it’s our responsibility to have a positive mentality to avoid failing in our jobs, careers, romantic relationships and in life in general.