Very tentative 4th try at the prompt: Tell us about a personal quality or experience that is important to you, how does it relate to the person you are.
Note: I'm thinking of cutting out the stuff in red because I can only write about 450 words on this one, but am quite fond of them. Please let me know what you think.
I'm also afraid that my focus when from all my experiences in languages in general to Spanish. Maybe it's better if I kind laundry list my experience with each language?
Suggestions and edits are appreciated.
Thank you.
Dove, Dů, Donde, Saan, Doko, Where
Survival one-oh-one for when I travel, I thought.
I was constantly surrounded by languages. Japanese, English, Spanish Tagalog, Hindi, Italian, and French were some of the ones I was familiar with, since I had friends and family of these nationalities teach me a phrase or two during social events. Maybe my love of languages was innate, as my mother was once an ambassador's representative in the Philippines and can converse in roughly seven languages.
Being raised partially in Japan and America, as well as having a cultural loving Filipino mother made for a multilingual home. I also had close friends who speak Spanish, Hindi, Italian, and French, so I made myself familiar with a few of their phrases during social events. I even found a passing interest in Latin.
I had survived just fine visiting the various countries of Europe, I even picked up some German from a friendly bartender in Switzerland. While enjoying my virgin appletini, I sat entranced by his tales of travels, learning nine languages by the age of twenty-four so that he could do odd jobs to support his family and kids. I laugh as I remember the uproar I caused amongst the teachers, losing track of time and running back frantically to the hotel at midnight.
I was proud in my lingual abilities. I had a pocket full of phrases for almost all the countries I held interest in. When I became a Junior the following year, however, that confidence came crashing.
I got a C in Spanish level four.
For someone who despised Bs, I was shell shocked. The vocabulary was right and the grammar was decent, yet my teacher continually docked me off for the little articles and accents even the natural born Spanish speakers made. From using flash cards to Spanish for Dummies, I religiously studied to fill the scattered gaps in my knowledge to no avail. Those Cs kept on appearing, with occasional spurts of Bs, I despaired that she only counted a few verbal and written tests in our grade, rather than crediting any of the meticulously checked homework I did. I obsessed over that class and soon neglected my presidential duties as book club president, and stopped going to debate practices entirely. It was nearly impossible to get an A from her.
Then one day, I helped out on the Halloween arts and crafts night at the city library. A little kid stood before me, lost on what to do despite my attempts to show him how to construct a q-tip skeleton on paper. I was equally as puzzled until I head a voice fire off in Spanish across the room, delving into a fast paced instruction on how to construct a pumpkin shaped masked to a parent.
Oh. He doesn't speak English. I realized.
I was baffled, how do I explain how to make a skeleton out of q-tips and glue to a five year old? Hesitant, I looked around. "Do you want to put on little hands?" my partner asked a little girl while pointing at the skeleton.
Taking a breath, I tried softly, "Quieres poner las manitas?", and to my surprise the boy nodded his head. I learned from then on, that simplicity is the key.
Languages are more than mere words structured in grammatical rules. They allow us to truly understand each other by providing invaluable means to rely our feelings and thoughts. Now I practice Spanish like I practice Japanese. I watch soap operas.
Der Frieden, La Paix, Paz, Pace, Heiwa, Peace
I aim to be multilingual.
Note: I'm thinking of cutting out the stuff in red because I can only write about 450 words on this one, but am quite fond of them. Please let me know what you think.
I'm also afraid that my focus when from all my experiences in languages in general to Spanish. Maybe it's better if I kind laundry list my experience with each language?
Suggestions and edits are appreciated.
Thank you.
Dove, Dů, Donde, Saan, Doko, Where
Survival one-oh-one for when I travel, I thought.
I was constantly surrounded by languages. Japanese, English, Spanish Tagalog, Hindi, Italian, and French were some of the ones I was familiar with, since I had friends and family of these nationalities teach me a phrase or two during social events. Maybe my love of languages was innate, as my mother was once an ambassador's representative in the Philippines and can converse in roughly seven languages.
Being raised partially in Japan and America, as well as having a cultural loving Filipino mother made for a multilingual home. I also had close friends who speak Spanish, Hindi, Italian, and French, so I made myself familiar with a few of their phrases during social events. I even found a passing interest in Latin.
I had survived just fine visiting the various countries of Europe, I even picked up some German from a friendly bartender in Switzerland. While enjoying my virgin appletini, I sat entranced by his tales of travels, learning nine languages by the age of twenty-four so that he could do odd jobs to support his family and kids. I laugh as I remember the uproar I caused amongst the teachers, losing track of time and running back frantically to the hotel at midnight.
I was proud in my lingual abilities. I had a pocket full of phrases for almost all the countries I held interest in. When I became a Junior the following year, however, that confidence came crashing.
I got a C in Spanish level four.
For someone who despised Bs, I was shell shocked. The vocabulary was right and the grammar was decent, yet my teacher continually docked me off for the little articles and accents even the natural born Spanish speakers made. From using flash cards to Spanish for Dummies, I religiously studied to fill the scattered gaps in my knowledge to no avail. Those Cs kept on appearing, with occasional spurts of Bs, I despaired that she only counted a few verbal and written tests in our grade, rather than crediting any of the meticulously checked homework I did. I obsessed over that class and soon neglected my presidential duties as book club president, and stopped going to debate practices entirely. It was nearly impossible to get an A from her.
Then one day, I helped out on the Halloween arts and crafts night at the city library. A little kid stood before me, lost on what to do despite my attempts to show him how to construct a q-tip skeleton on paper. I was equally as puzzled until I head a voice fire off in Spanish across the room, delving into a fast paced instruction on how to construct a pumpkin shaped masked to a parent.
Oh. He doesn't speak English. I realized.
I was baffled, how do I explain how to make a skeleton out of q-tips and glue to a five year old? Hesitant, I looked around. "Do you want to put on little hands?" my partner asked a little girl while pointing at the skeleton.
Taking a breath, I tried softly, "Quieres poner las manitas?", and to my surprise the boy nodded his head. I learned from then on, that simplicity is the key.
Languages are more than mere words structured in grammatical rules. They allow us to truly understand each other by providing invaluable means to rely our feelings and thoughts. Now I practice Spanish like I practice Japanese. I watch soap operas.
Der Frieden, La Paix, Paz, Pace, Heiwa, Peace
I aim to be multilingual.
