Cultura The English Corner DIEGE ZARAGOZA 61 Ask yourself what you can do for your English In January 1961 John F. Kennedy delivered his inauguration address as president of the United States. It became one of the most famous political speeches in history. The most memorable section of the speech came towards the end, when Kennedy called on all Americans to commit themselves to service and sacrifice: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” It was a call to action for the public to do what is right for the greater good. In today’s article we will use that call to action by President Kennedy to focus on our individual responsibility as professional soldiers to achieve a level of English that allows us to carry out our tasks in a competent and efficient way. Learning a foreign language, and particularly learning English, is a priority for the Army. The Army supports learning English with a number of activities: functional and professional level courses year round at the Departamento de Idiomas de la EGE (Zaragoza) and the AGBS, task-oriented language training in the units, online courses and financial support to reimburse classes expenses and test fees. In addition, you can find advice and examples to help you prepare for the SLP test at El Rincón de los Idiomas, now available in the e-learning platform Campus Virtual Corporativo de Defensa. Also, the recently delivered app Idiomas en operaciones, accessible from your phone or tablet, will help you to cope with situations on the ground. However, these tools are useless without your individual effort and commitment. So, what can you do for your English Proficiency? Here are some ideas: Number one: to improve and sustain your proficiency in English you have to be in contact with the language. Simple, isn’t it? Number two: you will need to practice the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. All of them. The Internet offers a wide variety of possibilities to listen and read the news. Our recommendation is that you do it frequently. It is important that you use authentic materials. Learning how to speak and write fluently is more complicated. You may consider to prepare both skills with teacher assistance, since feedback about your performance is essential for improvement, but if that is not possible, try at least to acquire vocabulary and learn how to speak and write “the English way”
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