Learning To Read And Write Has Been An Adventure For Me.

Literacy memories and events began at a young age for me, and while teachers and family members all impacted my opinions and preferences for reading, every book I read and writing assignment given to me helped me form my literacy story and come to enjoy reading. Many literacy moments came from when I was young, like my mom or dad reading to me before bed or teachers reading to me at school their favorite books. All of these memories were accompanied by everyone saying how great reading was, and for a while I didn’t believe them. I had so many forced experiences with reading that it was almost painful for me to pick up a book. But as time went on and the reading I was still forced to do intensified, a better relationship with reading and writing

Ever since a young age I’ve enjoyed reading. My mother even read to me while I was in the womb. When I started kindergarten I was so eager to learn how to read. After I learned how to read my reading level was always significantly higher than the others in my class. I was reading chapter books in first grade. Similarly I was very excited when I learned how to write. Ever since then I have enjoyed writing and do it in my free time. I have been told and

I believe that my literacy past has affected the reader and writer I am today. There is a lot I can talk about that has has an effect on me being the reader and writer I am today. One being the country and environment I lived in as a kid. In Gambia teachers don’t take reading seriously as they should. We as nursery students, focused more on learning how to spell and doing the math and also writing. We weren’t giving much books to read, maybe one or two books the whole semester. And because of that, I wasn’t a fond reader. Regardless of us not given books to read, we were giving many writing exercises so that really helped. My family however thought that reading is very important and because of that, they bought my siblings and I lots of book

I have acquired many literacy opportunities throughout my literacy life my parents, grandparents, and teachers ,I hold them very close to my heart because if it wasn’t for them pushing and encouraging me to read and write I wouldn’t be the literate person I am today. I bear a huge family so there are always many voices going through my head so it wasn’t long until I started speaking, as well as comprehending what all these strange words meant recognizing the words was very difficult before I started practicing them. My parents always encouraged me to read and write in a way no child can resist with toys and candy who could say no to that. Every chance they got to help me read they would read with me. I wasn’t forced to read on my own because I didn’t know how.

When I began attending school my primary language was Spanish. My parents did not speak English in the home and when I went to school I knew and understood a little bit of English. I believe that having an older sibling helped me understand English. She began school a year before I did and picked up English from school and at home would speak to me in English. My parents encouraged this in our home and saw the need to begin learning basic English. My sister did not have learning disabilities growing up and from what I remember she did not have a problem learning English. Academically

Some of my earliest memories of reading and writing took place in preschool. My former teacher, Mrs. Williams always made reading a fun and new experience which helped encourage us to read. I remember always being excited to read a new book as if I were embarking on a new adventure. My mother also encouraged me to read by reading to my brother and I at bedtime. She also gave us plenty of genres to choose from. Even though my dad did not reach much, my mom was very much interested in books about British crime mysteries. My brother, on the other hand, read anime’ comics and video game instruction pamphlets. Although reading has not been my strongest subject, the subject has always been part of my life.

Coming from a foreign country where english is a second language, I didn’t know how to communicate. How was I going understand the information in school? How will I create new friendships without speaking? All these questions plagued me. As I sat quietly everyday trying to avoid making a sound, hoping not to get called on to answer a question or speak out loud in the class, I was trying to make clear of what these people were saying. I realized that just sitting there and listening wouldn't help me better speak English; I had begun trying to speak english with my father so I can become more fluent. After months of dedication, I was understanding and speaking a language completely different to mine. That was by far the most difficult

My reading experience has had a lot of ups and downs. I was never an over-achiever in my language arts or reading classes, which has affected my passion for reading. A lot of my opinions about reading have changed even just since this summer. I don’t have any recollection of reading before kindergarten except for learning the letters. Kindergarten was a struggle for me, but after kindergarten to third grade. In third grade I peaked and absolutely loved reading and writing, but it faded in middle school and has been fading since then for me.

At first, speaking English was a bit difficult because I did not feel confident using it with others. The most advanced students sometimes made fun of my English. The students who spoke my own language made more fun of me than the ones who were fluent in English. The teasing by the students made me feel embarrassed and shy to speak the English language, giving me a fear of being made fun of or looked at differently. Practicing the English language with my own siblings and playing with the neighborhood kids who already managed the language gave me more confidence to speak English. Taking Spanish courses in school was also an advantage, which helped me to get better at my native language and kept me from losing it.

Not being good in English was one of many struggles that I faced at the beginning of my journey. I spent two years of my lifetime studying at an English language center. I had reading and writing class, listening and speaking, and grammar. I started from the basics. I didn’t know how to combine words to create a sentence or even the order of the alphabets. Step by step they taught me to many rules that could help me to learn. I began with making a sentence then a paragraph, and finally a whole essay. During that time I had the passion to read every word that I see. I started to listen to songs in English and tried to repeat that the singers said. I used to talk to my friends in English, even if they speak the same language that I speak. I was practicing all the time. Every time I go back home during my summer vacation, I bring some books that was written in English and read them everyday in order to keep my expertise in English

In my childhood I was not taught the fundamentals of proper writing. Nor was it influenced in my household to dedicate time for writing. My father owned his own business, therefore, I always saw him writing inventory and receipts. As for my mother, I can recall her writing down messages from phone calls. At school I found little to no growth in my writing. When I did face a task that required legible writing I would seek help from my friend Sandra. This class is by far the first English course I have taken were I could truly say lectures are broken down enough for me to develop satisfactory growth. I am still a developing writer, but I have made a lot of progress because of influences of my own desire to learn, Professor Anna C. Morrison, and

My literacy journey had begun earlier than most kids, according to my mother. I started reading in kindergarten, with help with the BOB books and the PBS show Between the Lions. I don’t know when I had started writing exactly, but I remember clearly writing short stories about my cat Stormy in 3rd grade. At that time we had to write weekly short stories, and I only ever wrote about my cat. In 4th grade, I had started exploring writing more; I would write plays for me and my friends to practice during recess. Most of them, I’m happy to say, were actually educational, so my teacher had even let my friends and I perform one about early-American settlers in front of our whole class.

A lot of incidents happened along the way of learning English as a second language and many of them are rather funny than made me in trouble. What I was doing was foolish and I had to change how I see my new world and Adapt to it. I had to force myself in order to start making new friends and learn more about the American culture. I had a lot of good neighbors who helped me pass that period of my life and made it a little easy a comfortable to speaking in English. They guided me and encouraged me to speak more and never be shy again from my language and accent. Yet, I am still working to enhance and improve my language capabilities to be much better in the future. I view this phase of me learning a new language is a work in progress instead of learning something from the beginning. I am keeping a note next to me all the time, and whenever I hear a word or phrase that I don’t know, I write it down and I keep repeating it again and again until it sticks in my mind I become confident when I use it.

Last week we wrote a blog and one of the questions was “How did you learn to read and write?”  I found this question interesting because I never had really thought about the moment when I actually learned how to read and write. My mom was the first person to expose me to reading and writing. A popular tactic she did to make sure I was staying engaged was to read aloud stories and make me follow along with her. My mom would read me many different stories like Tarzan, Bambi, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Lion King, The Jungle Book, and Hercules. whatever I wanted to listen and follow along with, she would read with me. This really helped with my want to read. The books contained a lot of adventure, which made it easy as a kid to follow along with. I became to gain an imagination and then all of a sudden reading was easier.

Reading and writing has always played a vital part in my life. From toddler to adult, pre-elementary to college, I’ve managed to sharpen both skills to my liking. However, even though it significantly helped, schooling was not what influenced me to continue developing those skills into talent. Many different things shaped and influenced my learning, and now reading and writing have become the safety net of my life. I know that even if I have nothing else in the future, I’ll still have my talent and knowledge. To ensure my success, I hope to further develop those skills so that I may fulfill my wishes.