Hi, I'm applying for SOAS master's degree but I'm not a native English speaker and I don't have friends who can proofread it so I need your help.
Please give me any advises on grammars, words or the logic of the essay.
it's SOP for SOAS language documentation and description, any (reasonable) correction would be appreciated.
Thank you.
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It was the second exhibition room of the manuscript museum located in the basement of Alexandria University, Egypt. As if someone nailed me to the ground, I could not move an inch but just stared at a thousand-year-old piece of papyrus. I cannot ever forget the feelings I had when I faced those faded sepia coloured pages of books in Latin and Arabic. It seemed that letters in the pages told me I should know that once there were people wanting to keep their thoughts, wisdom, and stories forever. I was wandering to decide my career at that time, but after I walked out of the museum, I knew my career would be something related to language.
Long before I travelled Egypt and witnessed how languages and stories live forever, my interest in languages was mainly focused on learning other languages, but in a little different way. Instead of memorizing words and grammar over and over to pass the exam, I watch dramas and movies to learn and use the actually used language, not knowing anything of school grammar. It was more appropriate for me to learn languages by observing the situation through screens. I have believed a language embraces its circumstances. If one wants to actually use the language, one has to know surroundings of the language, including listener's reactions towards certain expressions, time and space that the language is used in. About 10 years later I discovered that this idea was of pragmatists such as Mey, Levinson and Leech.
I have been also deeply fond of dialects for long time. Although I have used a standard dialect of Korean for my entire life, from time to time I used to speak some other dialects just because it fascinated me. I thought it was marvellous to have such unique identity in speaking. People who speak other dialects seemed to be distinctive as they kept one of their identities by speaking. For me, dialects have been something special, something unique that would never die out despite of predominant forced use of the standard language. This keen attention to dialects and their users became a foundation of my linguistic interest even before I knew.
In fact, linguistics was not the first choice when I had to decide what I would study in university. Even if I have had enthusiasm for language study for long time, I barely knew what linguistic is. It was after I watched a short TV documentary about dying languages that I felt studying linguistics should be my way. For 5 minutes I was completely captured by the story telling me about the last speakers of three different languages. It reminded me of my grandfather who passed away when I was 16. He was a hearing-impaired person, but even though we could not communicate by listening and speaking, in his own way he taught me how he saw the world and how I should see it. After he was gone, sadly I could not recall all he taught me. Everything he knew and his own way of life was just vanished. I wanted to keep such loss from happening again. More inspired by the fact that one language disappears approximately every two weeks, I determined to devote myself to linguistics, more exactly, language maintenance.
First linguistics subject that attracted me was historical comparative linguistics. I found greatly interesting that words have been changed in accordance with changes of other social factors. In addition, volunteering as a language and culture assistant for foreign students who wanted to learn Korean, I became confident of my opinion that a language is not independent variable from its context. Students I helped wanted to know why and how people use certain vocabularies in certain circumstances when they came across new words. I took courses such as conversation analysis, semiotics, pragmatics, and sociolinguistics to extent my ideas that using a language cannot be separated with users, societies, history, and other languages as well. It was truly a thrilling moment that I realized I have been a linguist for such long time.
The most valuable experience in university, related to my future career, was to gain an opportunity to participate in dialect investigation with XX University faculty. It was exactly what I wanted to do by studying linguistics. The investigation gave me priceless experience that I could taste what the actual language survey would be like. At the same time I began to appreciate the true importance of dialect preservation. I could not understand some of conversation that local people had. My colleague who was familiar with the dialect had to translate it. He seemed like Hermes to me, a messenger delivering the voice of Zeus. Without him I would not have conducted further investigation and analysis by myself. Likewise, without endangered language preservation, we would not know what the language users think, how they live. Thereafter I have settled to study language preservation with depth in graduate school.
Among many places, SOAS is the perfect choice for me. Firstly, it offers 'Language Documentation and Description' degree which exactly matches my goal. SOAS would teach me not only theoretical methods but also practical approach, giving a chance to experience the accumulated knowledge in language maintenance. More specifically, the Endangered Languages Academic Programme at SOAS has one of the biggest data in the area and world-leading level of language archive. With SOAS, such well-equipped institution, I will be an outstanding expert in Language Description and Documentation. Furthermore, the university is also renowned for anthropology. I suppose anthropological method is the most advantageous for language survey. It would make possible to investigate culture and history through the language in context by interviewing people and participating in the society. If educated by the exceptional curriculum of the department of anthropology combined with linguistics at SOAS, I would be honoured for the impeccable chance to study.
Studying linguistics, anthropology, law, and history for 5 years at three different universities, I have become receptive to other opinions, and it would help me to build a broad and firm foundation to continue study language maintenance. Moreover, I have developed myself to be indomitable and independent in any given circumstances through the experience that I won scholarships for almost 7 years when I suffered financial difficulty. With these fine features that I gained, I do not hesitate to choose my path to be a field linguist.
A language is a bowl containing thoughts, experiences, and customs. It naturally reveals those contents when it is used. It is one of the most important duties for humankind to preserve the contents so that the next generation would remember and hold dear the legacy. I have believed field linguists perform such valuable task by maintaining numerous languages that are endangered. It would be fulfilled to protect languages by field linguists possessing unperturbed dedication and affection for human cultures and spirits, and I am sure I would become one of them at SOAS.
I did not see much error within this well composed essay. Nicely done. Here are my thoughts that I saw that would need slight improvements.
Everything he knew and his own way of life was just "had" vanished. I wanted to keep such loss from happening again. More inspired by the fact that one language disappears approximately every two weeks, I "I am" determined to devote myself to linguistics, more exactly, language maintenance.
If "When" educated by the exceptional curriculum of the department of anthropology combined with linguistics at SOAS, I would be honoured "honored" for the impeccable chance to study.
Again, great essay, well done.
