Mahesh - Week 2: A Creative Outlook
Mahesh - Week 2: A Creative Outlook
When I was younger than I could remember, in my first days of learning languages, my parents often repeated that childhood is the best time to learn languages; memory retention surrounding language becomes difficult otherwise. I took this advice to heart, and with my parents' encouragement, I chose to take French as a language in junior high school. This decision helped to shape my identity and cultural understanding of the world.
I remember the first time I walked into my French classroom in junior high; as a timid and nervous kid who did not know what to expect. Many can relate to feeling not ready for the challenges of the next step in the educational ladder. I did not fully understand the system of switching classes by subject every hour; I was intimidated by the French course. I felt I was in an uncharted land, territory I alone had to explore. Unlike my French class, I had prior knowledge of the concepts taught in my other classes.
I approached the classroom with no experience and an eagerness to learn; I thought the transition from elementary school to junior high would be smoother, but I recognized no one I knew in my class. I noticed that as time progressed, the lessons I would find simple today exhausted me. I did not feel comfortable asking questions to the teacher or to any of my classmates who seemed to understand the lessons easily. I relied on my work ethic and motivation to succeed in that class and continue my journey in the French language. I continued studying French through French 4 Honors, and I also completed AP French outside of school.
I competed in many French competitions and won fame at the national level in both the French language and culture. More than anything, I consider my journey in the French language to be a testament to the power of motivation in bringing success, no matter how difficult anything may seem at first glance. There is always something that motivates me to learn a foreign language.
Here is an interesting read for more information on possible motivators for learning another language:
Source: “Macron Called to Protect French.” languagemagazine.com, 7 July 2019, https://www.languagemagazine.com/2019/07/07/macron-called-to-protect-french/. Accessed 13 September 2023.
Hi Mahesh! I find your story really inspiring, especially because I felt the exact same way when I first started taking French as well. I can relate to the fearful, but also the eerily excited feeling attained when beginning an unusual course like a world language. The fear of the unknown and the eagerness to uncover it is a feeling many people can relate to beyond just world language, and I feel like you encapsulated that feeling perfectly in your blog. I noticed you used a lot of semicolons as well throughout the post. I felt that this helped with the flow and the pacing a lot. It also made it easier, in a way, to read. Overall, great post, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHi Mahesh! I find your story really intriguing, and can relate to it, even though I did not take French, I took Spanish instead. It is scary to first enter a class where you have absolutely no background knowledge on what will be taught. The description and vivid words you used allowed me to put myself in your shoes, and it gave a me a new perspective as I was reading your blog. I would like to congratulate you on all your accomplishments, and winning at a national level for the French language. It takes a lot of skill, talent, and dedication to go from being completely new to a language and then becoming fluent in it. Your journey that you described in your blog is inspirational, and it said a lot about your personality. I admire how motivated you are as a student, especially considering that you took AP French outside of school. Furthermore, your format and structure of your blog made it easy to understand the point that you were making!
ReplyDeleteHi Mahesh! I am very intrigued by your experience especially as I feel like all of us had an awkward moment during from elementary school to junior high. Instead of taking French, I took Spanish in eighth grade. I would say especially in eight grade it was very intimidating to try to learn a whole new language online, but I seemed to find a way of peace with it. For me, when I was first learning Spanish it felt to me like I was unlocking a whole new realm of communication. I was very impressed by the fact that you took AP French outside of school and becoming fluent in it, from someone also taking another language, what are some tips that a learner should to take into account?
ReplyDeleteHi Mahesh! I found your article to be very motivating indeed. I love how you the past few articles have been about your life and the passion toward achieving an identity to the languages you so dearly know. This time, you started by describing your first baby steps into the world of French class and the new students and later friends who you met along the way. In fact, I would like to say that I was along side you in this path. Though I did not take the French courses, I used to hear you discuss your day in these classes during our usual discussion at lunch time. It is fascinating to see how you truly felt about the whole ordeal and I truly feel that the achievements are well deserved. The continual description of the "uncharted territory" brings light into how you felt, not only something that is new, but also a hint of risks and possibilities. This analogy with many others such as "territory I alone had to explore," helped me investigate your thought process and experience over this wonderful piece of writing. Ultimately, this article had your story contained the underlying motivation factor to the importance of a foreign language and tied many important factors to create a great work. Congrats on your French awards and keep on reaching to a aspiring goal!
ReplyDeleteHi Mahesh! I really enjoy how you talk about how choosing French as a language to learn helped shape your identity and how it created a story in your life through the years of junior high. Learning a foreign language is a skill to have and requires dedication, and it makes me feel in awe that you still continued learning French and even excelled further in it by winning at the national level. I have never learned French before, but your post reminded me of my Spanish class, and how it was not easy for me as well but it took motivation and hard work in order to grasp the language. It’s definitely an area of new discovery and finding it as something that motivates you is definitely inspiring to know. Congratulations on your achievements in learning French!
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