Reflective Essay On English 101

Even though I never had any problems with English throughout high school, I was worried about how college would be like. I thought it would be completely different from high school, when in fact it is not. Personally, I think taking AELW 940 the first half of the semester prepared me well for English 101. Although, I learned a lot in AELW 940 I still had some things to learn and my essays reflected that during English 101. I had problems with comma splices, run on sentences and poor vocabulary. Since then, I started to read and write more on my own time. I feel this is the key that has helped me improve in my writing although it isn’t perfect yet.

Since I was not born in America, my first language is not English. For this reason, before starting to write any of my essays; I think about them in Spanish. I know that may sound silly but it’s just something I’m used to do after living 14 years in Colombia.
I know my essays lack vocabulary but it’s just something that doesn’t come easy to me. People have advised me to read books and watch movies this way my vocabulary expands. I know this will work but after the movie or the book ends, I forget about it. I don’t retain the vocabulary words for too long.my essays usually have lots of ‘although’, ’and’, ’for this reason’, and just basic vocabulary. For this reason, I need to keep improving My vocabulary has improved since my first essay in English 101 but it is still not where I want it to be.

I plan to ask my best friend to keep helping me with my English by using better vocabulary with me. This way, I am able to use the vocabulary I learn from the movies in my everyday life.

After English 101, I can tell that my essays have improved considerably. Although I still need to work on my vocabulary more, I know that I have improved on my run on sentences and on my comma splices. The feedback from my professors has also helped me improve with my essays