Life of a Blogger: Languages

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on September 18, 2014 | 9 Comments


lifeofablogger

See the full list of topics HERE.

Last week’s topic: Where were you 13 years ago?

This week’s topic: Languages

Well, I speak English, obviously. XD

Spanish

I used to be really good at Spanish, too! (I say used to be because I haven’t thought about it since High School and I’ve since become totally rusty…) I took 3 years of it in High School, and I loved it. I got straight A’s in the class and the teacher rocked!

Funny story…

I hated my Spanish teacher at first. Señora Welbaum. I had her for Study Hall before I had her in Spanish, and she was strict. You HAD to do school work and nothing else. No sleeping. No listening to music. It was terrible!! I thought she was mean and crabby and I couldn’t stand her. We didn’t get along very well in the beginning of my first year of Spanish. I don’t know why I remember this so well, but one day I accidentally cursed out loud and she was standing right there. I’ll never forget the way she whipped around and glared at me like I had just murdered her firstborn! I felt like a total ass, and I apologized.

As time went on, something changed. While she was strict, she turned out to be an amazing teacher. I actually learned in her class. I excelled. Somewhere along the line, we developed a pretty good relationship and I ended up being the teacher’s pet by the time I got to my third year.

On Senior Awards day, she went up to the podium to give her Language award to one special senior. When she started off with “This student and I didn’t always see eye to eye” I knew. And I loved her for it. I was so incredibly honored to receive her award! I don’t have many accomplishments like that, but it’s one I cherish. She ended up being one of the best teachers I ever had.

photo-6

Fast forward 8 years and I’ve forgotten nearly everything. It’s sad, really. I haven’t had any cause to use it, so the knowledge has faded away over time. I can still pick out words in conversation (as long as they’re not talking too fast), and I can put together very simple sentences if I try really hard. Sometimes I like to read Spanish things to see how many words I can remember!

French

I took 2 semesters of French in college. Unlike with Spanish, the teacher was awful. He was one of those “here’s the assignment, figure it out on your own” teachers. You had to teach yourself in that class.

Needless to say, nothing stuck. I remember absolutely nothing!

Japanese

I’ve picked up on some Japanese words and phrases simply from watching so much anime. In Pacific Rim when Mako says, “Sensei, aishitemasu” with zero subtitles, I think I was the only person in the whole theater who actually understood. XD

I only know a handful of words, though. (And forget about symbols…other than “dragon” because I have it tattooed on my body!) I don’t know nearly as much as I would like to. Actually, I would LOVE to take a Japanese course. I think the language is beautiful!

Next week’s topic: Clothing

Your turn! Make your own post telling everyone about languages and link up :)

Jessi (Geo)

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9 responses to “Life of a Blogger: Languages

  1. It’s the same with me and Spanish – never really put it to use, so it faded :( Four years wasted! At least you had a really good teacher. We had TWO, and they both sucked. Pretty sure one kept alcohol hidden under his desk, and the other was a pervert. >.<

  2. Stephanie H.

    I grew up in a family that was mostly German descent. My grandfather had been fluent growing up, but had lost a lot of it over the years. I knew a few words and then took four years in high school. I’ve lost most of it, but would say I’m still near the polite level. I spent time 6 weeks in Europe right after I graduated college. Most of it was in the Netherlands (Dutch is similar to German). I was amazed how much of it came back at that time, even after four years.

    Flash forward and I currently work for a school district where over 90% of the students speak some degree of September Spanish. I’m trying to learn, but it’s been difficult. One problem has been that despite only remembering a small amount of German, I keep experiencing language conflict. Ill try to think of how to say something in Spanish and come up t the German translation instead. This even happens with simple terms like thank you, hello, etc. I was excited, though, recently when I was in a meeting with parents and a translator and the translator explained something to the parent and asked me if I needed it in English. For one of the first times I had actually followed what she said!

  3. My God, when I was child I attempted to teach myself Swahili and Japanese. I don’t know where Swahili came from but I know Japanese stemmed from watch too much anime and too many dramas. Like you , I didn’t care too much about my high school language learning at first. I didn’t hate my teacher, but she was taken advantage of lot by other students because she was so small and soft spoken so I didn’t feel like I learned anything. Four years later I had a BA in French and Francophone Studies. O.o In University I took some classes in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

    …I guess I really like languages! :)

    Amber Elise @Du Livre

  4. I have a similar story about one of my Spanish teachers! Mine was also strict (at most times) but that’s not why I hated her. I’ve always liked my teachers while I was in their classes, but my Spanish 2 teacher became the first and only teacher I couldn’t stand in all the years I’ve gone to school. Unlike your teacher, mine wasn’t a good teacher. Most of my fellow students walked away from her classes without learning much of anything. It was so frustrating because I’m really interested in learning languages and I wanted to get more out of the class than I did. We had an Awards of Excellence night at my school instead of Senior Awards day and I also got an award from my Spanish teacher. Actually, she couldn’t make it to the the awards night, so the teacher I had for Spanish 1 and AP Comp–who was, ironically, the best teacher I ever had–was the one that handed me the award (the memory behind that award will always make me laugh).

    Sometimes I like to read Spanish things to see how much I remember too! It’s fun. :)

  5. Aw that award story is great!

    I’ve always loved the idea of being fluent in another language (or two) but languages just aren’t my thing. I see them as just memorizing a bunch of words and tenses and I HATE it. Nothing sticks with me. :(

  6. I’m replying late i know but that’s so cool Jessi!! I had no idea you were such a Spanish boss in time gone by! :) Im taking Italian at the community college nearby, which is th language I’ve always wanted to learn since childhood and freaking loving it!! Like you i have an awesome teacher who make it so fun and i’m not so bad at it either. ;)

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