I stare down at this book with wonder. I ask myself "How can they understand this?" With all of the upside down question marks on the pages before my eyes, my throat began to dry with worry. I thought that my already tainted GPA was going to surely dwindle if I fail this class. For the first time in three years, I was going to take another foreign language class, Spanish 01. The memories of my middle school experience with learning a new language made me shudder. The French language class I took in middle school was not a very good class that made me motivated to learn any other languages.
A short little lady with deep wrinkles and a smile that looked so sinister walked into our classroom. When she opened her mouth surprise slapped me across the face. Her sinister smile melted into an angelic grin as she parted her lips to introduce herself as Ms. Maria Lopez. Like me, some students looked at learning a foreign language as impossible. I could not pronounce a single word from our lessons even the easiest words like fruit names had me totally confused. After our first three beginner lessons, it was time for our class to take a quiz. I took that quiz with anxiety pulsing out of my pores. When I saw the sheet, I went totally blank; I could hardly remember anything. I did remember that at the end of that quiz, I was highly disappointed in myself, but I was more upset at my grade. I knew I had failed, but my subconscious was praying for a flaw in the grading system that would have made my grade at least a passing one. I knew I could not allow myself to get deeper in to the semester with a failing quiz grade and no comprehension of the language. I knew that I achieve a higher grade and knowledge in my Spanish class without help.
I sucked in my ego, and walked up courageously to my teacher. I said, "Senorita` Lopez, I need your help. I do not understand most of what we went over in our class, and I apologize for coming to you late, but I can't fail your class, myself, and you as a teacher. She looked at me and stared right into my eyes. I promise you that the four seconds she stared at me were the longest four seconds of my life. I felt relief when she responded, "I would be glad to help you Tavia."
Ms. Lopez was firm on her commitment to help me. For the rest of the semester, I felt like I was apart of Spanish boot camp. I attended tutorial twice a week for two hours each tutorial session. In tutorial Ms. Lopez gave me worksheets after worksheets to make sure I completely comprehended each lesson that was given earlier in the day. She would do fun activities with me like play matching games with the flash cars she assigned me to make for homework. She also suggests inventive strategies to help me study like watching Dora the Explorer in the mornings before school. Ms. Lopez was a major factor in my success in her class. With her tutorials, her constant calling on me during class to ensure that I had her undivided attention and her strategic teaching skills, I excelled in her class. Taking Spanish with Ms. Lopez has helped me open my eyes to the wonders that this world has to offer. Taking Spanish challenged my comfort zone. I would think to my self why should we need a foreign language class? Being nieve, I did not open my eyes to see that our country is constantly changing. Now I know that her class has broadened my perception on the world and prepared me for the ever-growing cultural of America. With the help of my teacher Ms. Maria Lopez, taking a Spanish language course from her has gave me the encouragement to pursue learning other languages such as the Turkish Language and a West African language called Fula and of course the culture from which those languages derived from.
A short little lady with deep wrinkles and a smile that looked so sinister walked into our classroom. When she opened her mouth surprise slapped me across the face. Her sinister smile melted into an angelic grin as she parted her lips to introduce herself as Ms. Maria Lopez. Like me, some students looked at learning a foreign language as impossible. I could not pronounce a single word from our lessons even the easiest words like fruit names had me totally confused. After our first three beginner lessons, it was time for our class to take a quiz. I took that quiz with anxiety pulsing out of my pores. When I saw the sheet, I went totally blank; I could hardly remember anything. I did remember that at the end of that quiz, I was highly disappointed in myself, but I was more upset at my grade. I knew I had failed, but my subconscious was praying for a flaw in the grading system that would have made my grade at least a passing one. I knew I could not allow myself to get deeper in to the semester with a failing quiz grade and no comprehension of the language. I knew that I achieve a higher grade and knowledge in my Spanish class without help.
I sucked in my ego, and walked up courageously to my teacher. I said, "Senorita` Lopez, I need your help. I do not understand most of what we went over in our class, and I apologize for coming to you late, but I can't fail your class, myself, and you as a teacher. She looked at me and stared right into my eyes. I promise you that the four seconds she stared at me were the longest four seconds of my life. I felt relief when she responded, "I would be glad to help you Tavia."
Ms. Lopez was firm on her commitment to help me. For the rest of the semester, I felt like I was apart of Spanish boot camp. I attended tutorial twice a week for two hours each tutorial session. In tutorial Ms. Lopez gave me worksheets after worksheets to make sure I completely comprehended each lesson that was given earlier in the day. She would do fun activities with me like play matching games with the flash cars she assigned me to make for homework. She also suggests inventive strategies to help me study like watching Dora the Explorer in the mornings before school. Ms. Lopez was a major factor in my success in her class. With her tutorials, her constant calling on me during class to ensure that I had her undivided attention and her strategic teaching skills, I excelled in her class. Taking Spanish with Ms. Lopez has helped me open my eyes to the wonders that this world has to offer. Taking Spanish challenged my comfort zone. I would think to my self why should we need a foreign language class? Being nieve, I did not open my eyes to see that our country is constantly changing. Now I know that her class has broadened my perception on the world and prepared me for the ever-growing cultural of America. With the help of my teacher Ms. Maria Lopez, taking a Spanish language course from her has gave me the encouragement to pursue learning other languages such as the Turkish Language and a West African language called Fula and of course the culture from which those languages derived from.