Bonjour. Ciao. Hello. Those are all the ways I can say hello in the languages I know. Since my childhood, I have been exposed to languages, which has inspired my love for them and has prompted me to pursue a career in secondary foreign language education.
Since I was born, I heard Italian being spoken at my grandparent's house and my mom speaking Italian on the phone. Over time, I learned to tune it out as I heard rapid foreign words that I couldn't understand. Then came Kindergarten, where I began to take French. I had grown to love it, and continued with it all through middle school and in high school. My passion for languages began to emerge when I would see words in English and get excited because they have French origins. Also, in freshman year English class, we learned Latin and Greek roots and I was so excited because the romance languages stem from Latin. This encouraged me to take Italian in my sophomore year, with a little push from my mom because I was content with only knowing French. After two weeks, I had fallen in love with Italian. Having previously learned French and its grammar rules. learning Italian verb conjugations and grammar was a breeze and hearing Italian everyday at home allowed me to pick up the vocabulary instantly. But most importantly, learning new words in Italian was easy mostly because I could guess their meaning based upon their similarity to French. When I learned the word "facile" which means "easy" was the some in both languages but with different pronunciations, I was ecstatic. There are many more cases like that, which brings me so much joy because I think it's so fascinating.
After completing Italian I, I was given permission to skip to Italian 3, while simultaneously taking French 5. I had taken French 4 while taking Italian I, and I was eager to continue my studies of Italian and French. This year was amazing because I expanded my vocabulary immensely and learned to speak more fluently. I'm so glad I'm involved in languages, because they're truly a beautiful thing.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
Failure
Failure....a daunting word. I try to avoid failure at all costs, but one situation that comes to mind was the morning of the AP European history exam. The night before I was so nervous and I couldn't sleep, and the next morning I woke up with this knot in my stomach and an overwhelming sense of dread. I managed to eat a little bit of breakfast, got to school and started panicking. I remember I had a geometry field test first block( just what I needed, another test) and just wanted to get it over with. I forgot to fill in some blank, probably my student ID and got yelled at. Next thing you know, I broke down in tears in front of my entire class but tried to downplay it because I didn't want attention. In that moment, I've never felt more of a sense of failure to control my emotions and convincing myself that everything would be okay. I also felt upset because most of the kids going to take the AP test seemed perfectly chill. I thought that I wasn't capable of taking that test and I just felt incompetent.
It really bothers me that in this education system everyone is so competitive, and if you don't get the highest grades or take 5 AP classes you're labeled as, "regular." Granted, I take 2 AP classes and I feel that's enough. I just feel like everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and they shouldn't be disparaged because the kid next to you got a 98 on a test and you got a 70. I also hate the required classes that you have to take. Like I want to be a foreign language teacher, why the hell do I need economics to graduate, what am I gonna do with that? Examine the economy of France? I understand that it's important to be a well rounded student, but I wish there were more flexibility when choosing classes.
Anyway, I'm ranting. But the AP Euro test, I got into the testing room and realized I would be okay. And I told myself wherever my tear landed, I would pick that answer for the multiple choice. Taking that test also gave me strength and experience for my future AP tests. I was so much more calm this year for AP Lit and AP U.S, and I was confident I was ready and capable of taking those tests, and it was a great feeling.
Check out the link
http://www.wiscnews.com/news/local/education/article_f59d8008-5041-5397-878c-e6f711a267d1.html
It really bothers me that in this education system everyone is so competitive, and if you don't get the highest grades or take 5 AP classes you're labeled as, "regular." Granted, I take 2 AP classes and I feel that's enough. I just feel like everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and they shouldn't be disparaged because the kid next to you got a 98 on a test and you got a 70. I also hate the required classes that you have to take. Like I want to be a foreign language teacher, why the hell do I need economics to graduate, what am I gonna do with that? Examine the economy of France? I understand that it's important to be a well rounded student, but I wish there were more flexibility when choosing classes.
Anyway, I'm ranting. But the AP Euro test, I got into the testing room and realized I would be okay. And I told myself wherever my tear landed, I would pick that answer for the multiple choice. Taking that test also gave me strength and experience for my future AP tests. I was so much more calm this year for AP Lit and AP U.S, and I was confident I was ready and capable of taking those tests, and it was a great feeling.
Check out the link
http://www.wiscnews.com/news/local/education/article_f59d8008-5041-5397-878c-e6f711a267d1.html
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