My English Language

Anyone who studies Spanish will tell you it is an interesting foreign language. Not only because of the sound of it, pronunciations and the articulation but also because it is new to them. Spanish people do not study Spanish if they already know it. However, Spanish like other foreign languages has advantages and effects that are desirable and essential to a learner that one dare not ignore. Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the entire world. It has millions of native speakers and more in different continents.

My mother and father are native Spanish speakers; they came to America when they were in there 20s. My father learned English better than my mom because he worked in hotel resorts and restaurants as a server so

“English as a second language” is an essay composed by Lucy Honig. She talked about the protagonist Maria, who came from South America, Guatemala, endured obstacles due to lack of communication or language barrier. Despite the fact that she went to school at night, she would not be able to address her message fluently.

Both English and Spanish are spoken in Puerto Rico but the article said that Spanish is dominant. I think that because Puerto Rico belongs to United States that they automatically had a problem in 1898 when Spanish was the language of the education and of the culture. The United States authorities pushed Puerto Rico and English became the second official language of Puerto Rico.

My journey of learning English when I was a little girl. I heard another language other than mine spoken on the TV; then is when my fascination with languages began, especially English. It was the language spoken of some of my favorite cartoons that I watched at that time, so I began to listen to it carefully so I could understand what was said in them. When my older brother went to seventh grade, he started taking English classes in his school; it was the grade that students started learning English at that time. I got my hands on his English language Learning textbook and for the first time I could learn some English words from it and I would ask my brother sometimes about what he took in his classes. When it was my turn to go to seventh grade, I was very excited and I could not hide it. The English teacher had already known about my love for the language from my mother who works at the same school. She saw how much I was interested in English so she supported me with everything she could do for me to learn more.

Living a life walking on the language hyphen is demanding. And there are high expectations from all sides. There are critical comments no matter who it’s from. And there are judgments from onlookers.

Have you ever had to learn a completely new language that you had no idea even existed? My parents would only talk in Bosnian at home, so I learned that language from them. I had no idea that the English language was even a real thing, all I knew was Bosnian. When I first started kindergarten, I had no idea what people my age were saying to each other. I couldn’t make any friends back in kindergarten because I didn’t understand anybody. My parents honestly thought I was going to fail kindergarten, because I took so much longer than the rest of the kids in my class to figure out simple words and what they meant. For example, I didn’t know what an apple was. In Bosnian, an apple is called Jabuka (ya-boo-ka). There are some words in certain languages that sound similar, so it would be easier to recognize and learn. But there is no similarity in Bosnian words and English words. I learned the English language, as well as slang, from my teachers and friends, even though it was a long and slow process.

A language is essential in our lives because of its convenience to communicate with others. Learning them, however, is like trying to grasp something that is almost beyond one’s reach. Although I can fluently speak three languages and am even studying one more new language, I never considered this to be an easy process because it is very time-consuming and hard to fully understand. From this experience, it is safe to say that it is almost impossible to become proficient in languages in a short amount of time, while it sometimes depends on the learner’s age, effort, capabilities, and available time. This is a story of how I learned English.

Ever since kindergarten or even preschool, our school systems has always required English as a subject. Although there are many other subjects such as history, math, or even PE, I do not remember taking each of them every year in school. For example, in freshman year, history was not required and science was not major in fifth and sixth grade at my school. As a result of taking English every single year from preschool all the way to tenth grade, not only have I figured out that it is pretty important, but I also have an idea of how I am as an English student.

All the nations in the world are represented by the language that is spoken in their country. Each speaks a different language that sets them apart from the others. When the individuals were creating the barrier of which country is which. They defined each line by the language that was spoken in that area. Most individuals grow up speaking only one language, so if they brought to the United States at an older age, it would be more difficult for them to grasp the English language. Being forced to learn a whole new language is problematic for any individual because they will not feel accepted for who they are. They will most likely get frustrated with not learning it quickly, or feel ashamed for not understanding the people around them. All countries need to be able to “take ownership of their language” by defining their identities with whatever language they want to speak. They should not be forced to convert to a different language because they may be in another country. One can succeed by “taking this ownership” since it will give them their own identity that no one can take away from them.

There are thousands of diverse cultures around the globe that offer an abundance of valuable knowledge. One of the better approaches to studying their ways of life is through their languages. People often fail to realize just how embedded a culture is within its language. After my mother remarried, I was introduced to an entirely new world where my dad came from a small country named Morocco, located at the northeastern tip of Africa, and spoke a strange form of Arabic. I have always been fascinated by my step-father's language, and now I have the convenient opportunity to learn more about it for this paper.

English was and has been my weakest subject ever since I was introduced to it in Kindergarten, and until this day. I often understand concepts related to math and science, however, vocabulary, spelling, critical analysis, speaking, and reading are skills I find hard to master. In fact, some ideas seem to go through one ear, and out the other. I never understood English’s importance when I was a kid. I thought that grammar, vocabulary, spelling, etc. were not as important as math or science. I was unaware of how important English was when I was younger, causing me to not care much about reading, writing, or speaking. Now that I have a bit more experience in the real world, I understand that English is essential to lead on a successful life. This is due to the fact that English can help someone mentally, physically, and overtime, financially. Due to my late notice, I fell behind in English, which shows through my reading level, writing, and vocabulary. Despite the tough times and headaches that were forced upon me as an English student, I still remain diligent and put in massive amounts of effort into each assignment.

As a child I was born into a Spanish speaking family, which made my first language Spanish. I began with the similar syllables as most babies do mamà, papà, and so on. Both of my parents are from different parts of Mexico which exposed me to a Spanish speaking environment and very little writing. I wrote and read poorly in Spanish. However, the language spoken by my peers outside my home was another. Being raised in Pomona, CA my community and school practiced wo different dialects of English.

I have done my own internet searches and conducted my own personal research about which language is the best choice for my family to begin learning in addition to English. It is obvious that learning Spanish as a second language here in the United States is the most practical choice if we want to use our new found language on a daily basis. Experts suggest using the new target language daily if you hope to become bilingual, and I know we will use it every day in our community that has experienced marked Latino growth.

INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION This memorandum must be used together with the attached English FAL assessment rubrics for SECTIONS A, B and C. SECTION A: ESSAY QUESTION 1 Instructions to Markers: • • • • Candidates are required to write an essay of 250 to 300 words (1 to 1 ½ pages) on ONE topic only. Full credit must be given for the candidate’s own interpretation. Marking must be objective. Consider the background of the candidate and give credit for relevant