How blogging helped me to pass my English proficiency exam

Initially, when I started writing blogs, I did not know what I am doing or did not have any idea how writing anything (any content) would help me to accomplish a few things in life. I still write because I love to write, it helps me to focus on certain things that establish consonance between my mind and my thoughts.

Being said that, I am not over the moon but still, this blogging journey, especially writing has brought out some significant changes in me. Something has really helped me to realize that this is the right time to pursue some online certification courses (Short-term). But before that, I did not know I will have to appear for an English proficiency exam.

Now at this point, somewhere deep down I really wanted to quit the idea of getting into academic commitments, even if it was a short-term (6 months) course. As I was so insecure about my academic performance. I knew that, once I get a bad score in the entry-level English proficiency exam, I won’t be able to rise again.

My educational background

Here, I would like to go back and talk about my school days. I did not get a chance to join any convent school where students could speak relatively fluent English language or might have been able to write a good English article/Essay from an early age back then. I was a student where my native language was a primary subject followed by foreign language English. Since spoken English has become an integral part of Indian society, it was mandatory to crack the English examination for better prospects. So here I can say, I knew the grammar part very well as it was the only thing that mattered those days in the examination instead of how to use it in daily life. After that, I did my diploma in Electronics and Telecommunication. That was technical education with very little exposure to promoting language skills.

Therefore, looking at my educational background “English” was not an Alien language for me but understanding the phrases of the “Oxford” English exam was a bit challenging and tricky.

As a result, my own insecurities were dragging me down into some unknown abyss where I could see myself sitting in Pajama and chilling out with no future plans. Believe me, the pressure was immense because this was happening after 17 years. Yes! I was preparing to appear for an examination after 17 years (Yes! That was a long time).

How Blogging helped me to pass the examination.

One thing everyone will agree is that writing is like a meditation. When you write, you train your mind to concentrate on a specific area (Topic) for a certain period. Believe me, this practice has bestowed a cosmic effect on me.

After enrollment, being a citizen of a non-English speaking country, I got automatically registered for an English course. It continued for 8 weeks and then proctored exam.

As it was an online platform, they did not have an online classes facility. It was a purely web-based platform, all about self-study, self-evaluation, and improving performance using our conscience, except the grading part.

Now everything was new for me including how to write a “Thesis & Abstract”. I wish could write an entire experience about my 8 weeks journey.

Anyways, I started my blogging journey in 2020, April. In the beginning, I knew about my writing hobby that I happened to realize in recent years and this was the perfect platform for me to express my mind. Since I did not know what to write, I started writing reviews. As I have mentioned earlier, writing is like a meditation, we train our mind to stay focused on one thing at a time.

Likewise, when I was writing assignments, I could see that blogging is helping me to think actively on certain topics of the assignment. I still don’t believe that it has increased my thinking capacity.

For Example, reading the stories of Anton Chekhov or Sherman Alexie and summarizing them in just 4-5 sentences. Now I knew that instructor is going to check and analyze students’ level of framing the story in brief. This task used to give me goosebumps. Usually, before making a final draft, we make changes and trim down the superfluous information into meaningful content. Subsequently, I could use the same logic while writing for assignments but still could end up writing a 6-7 sentence summary of the story. Not that bad, right!

Not just I’m getting better at expressing myself via blogging, but somehow it’s mending my persona to become a reader as well. Nowadays, my eyes usually get hooked on good articles. My hunger to gain advanced vocabulary is becoming insatiable. And so all credit goes to “Blogging”.

And therefore, I can say that this habit of writing is somehow transitioning my brain into someone who always thinks before writing or speaking. It works like medicine for my wandering thoughts. It might not be as a professional blogger, but deep down I know that now I can sum up my thoughts way better than what I used to do before starting to write “Blogs”.

In my opinion, every individual should start to write their feelings, at least once in a blue moon if not regular. Why I am saying this? Because I was the person who never tried to pen down my thoughts and never felt the necessity of writing on a piece of paper except in exams. And I strongly feel that writing words really gives meaning to your thoughts, so your personality. It could be in any language, not necessarily “English”.

So anyway, this was the blogging experience that has turned out to be an English auxiliary guide and is indeed reforming my life.

Thank you.

Namaste!

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