My Language Autobiography Essay, Research Paper
The Early Days- I was born in Maidstone hospital and have lived in the village of
Staplehurst all my life. My family name, Johnson, has a self-explanatory meaning. It simply
means, son of John. ????? My mother?s mother is half
welsh and was brought up in Wales. My mother used to spend her summers in Wales
visiting relatives. My mother had a large welsh influence in her. She would
often use welsh words in bringing me up. I therefore also have a welsh
influence in my language ?My Father lived with his parents
on the Shetland Islands. He moved to Essex when he was a boy. When I was
younger, and I used to visit my granny and granddad in Essex, my siblings and I
used to have a lot of trouble understanding what my granny was saying, as she
had a very thick Scottish accent. My dad, when noticing the vacant expression
on my face, would repeat what she had said. We used to make jokes about it in
our family. We often laughed at her unique mannerisms. ???? I was an early talker;
my very first words were ?dad dad?. I would take in what other people around
me, and copy it as best I could. My favourite nursery rhyme for my mother to
sing to me was The Grand Old Duke of York. As these were quite advanced words,
I used to join in, but by simply singing; ?oh the jiggi jiggi jog?. Another
example of my awareness of language is, at the end of a family meal, my brother
and sisters would ask; ?can I get down please?? I would join in by asking ?det
det down?? ?????? I had a lot of encouragement from my
family to talk early. Not just to talk but I was also introduced to reading
early on, my brother and sisters would often read books to me. Primary School
Age- ????? At school, I was a very confident young
girl. I would always volunteer to reading in front of the class. I was also
very chatty. I was enthusiastic to learning, reading and writing. My confidence
enabled me to speak out early and learn from mistakes. I was always willing to
try things. ??? ? The meaning of words intrigued me right from
the beginning of school. At the age of six, I had a heated discussion with my
teacher. She was teaching opposites, and I got stuck. I stopped working to ask
her; ?what is the opposite of black?? Mrs Gundry explained by saying that black
was very very dark, and the opposite of dark is light. So she asked me what a
light colour was. I answered white. But still I was not satisfied. I could not
accept that black and white were opposite because they were simply colours. I
then asked; ?if colours have opposites, what is the opposite of red then?? I
was keen to learn this, as it seemed a strange concept to me. She was stuck on
this, and sent me to the headmaster for talking back. ????? As I said before,
I was introduced to reading early on, and had an instant love of reading. I
always went to the library to my mother to borrow books. I would love
completing the library?s children?s reading schemes. The author Roald Dahl was
definitely my favourite – and probably still is.? His amazing use of language inspired and intrigued me. I still
have a large collection of his books today. My favourite of his books is
?Matilda?. It reminds me of my love of reading. I had always wanted to be like
Matilda, to be as bright and as special as her. Matilda had amazing brainpower
and could move inanimate objects with the use of her brain, by simply wishing
them to move. As a child, I
would spend considerable amounts of time staring at my pens, trying to move
them. I was disappointed with myself when I didn?t achieve my ambition. I was very
conscious of my use of English, and if I was told I had made a mistake, I was
keen to correct it. An example of this is when I received my year three report.
For English, my teacher had written; ?should widen her vocabulary?. When my
mother read this to me, I replied; ?what does vocabulary mean?
funny to look back on, but at the time I was truly interested in correcting my
mistake. My older brothers
and sisters had a large influence on my use of language. My mother informed me-when
I was asking her about my early words and such- that I used to use words very
much beyond my age, without actually knowing what they meant, simply because I
had heard my older siblings using them. In the playground
I was introduced to childish rhymes and swear words. We used to play pat-a-cake
games, which were accompanied by rhymes or songs. As a confident and
able girl, at primary school, I was willing to show off what I could do. I was
often taking part in assemblies and plays. In year two, I was the main part in
?Plop the Barn Owl?, and in year five, I was one of a few in the year who took
part in the year six junior play; ?Evacuees? Secondary School
Age- My first secondary
school was Angley school. As the catchment area was similar to my primary
school, there was not much change in language. The atmosphere was more relaxed
though; there was less focus on academic activities.? At the age of 12,
I joined the Kent County Junior Choir (KCJC). I met many new people, from
around Kent, with a variety of accents. I learned how to adapt how I spoke
around them, so I fitted in better. I delighted in singing. I found it an
incredible way of expressing language, like poetry. My subsequent
secondary school was Cranbrook School, and because if it?s Saturday school, I
had to give up KCJC, as their rehearsals were on Saturday mornings. Cranbrook school?s
use of language was very different to my previous school. It was much more
formal than Angley. There were also a lot more academically able children; I
lost some confidence, as I learned that I was not top of the class in anything
anymore. Foreign Language- I always wanted to
speak many languages. Because of the many accents I was brought up with, I was
keen to use them, and explore others. I often put on accents, just for fun.
When I started learning French in year six, I was very enthusiastic to learn. I
would practise all the vocabulary we were taught. Also, the older members of my
family used to speak French when they didn?t want me to know what they were saying.
I always wanted t join in, I felt left out. When I studied French in later
years, especially year eight, I became over-confident, and stopped paying
attention. When I came to Cranbrook in year nine, it was quite a surprise. The
reality dawned that I wasn?t the only one who was good at languages, as a
result of this, I didn?t feel as confident joining in lessons as I had before. I now am very keen
on the German language,. I enjoy it very much, and find the links between
languages fascinating Comedy Language- I was brought up
with a lot of comedy. My family were always making jokes, and I developed a
good sense of humour quite early on. I was always the one who had to explain
the joke.? We were also big fans of
comedians and comedy acts. These artists resulted in me earning the humour of
accents. It brought me aware of many accents, and also silly, mocking voices.
The following artists- Eddie Izzard, Rik Mayall and the Monty Python- largely
influence me. Future Language- ????? Language over the next fifty years- I
think that in the future, people should make more of an effort in learning
foreign languages. Many people today are ignorant; if they go abroad, they
expect the local residents to make the effort to break the language barrier. I see people around
the world uniting in language, to use international difference as an advantage,
not a barrier. ???????????? My use of language-? I would like to be fluent in another
language. Also, I would like to keep my use of language correct, not to let it
slip, as I have seen others around me do so. Language is a precious gift, and
we mustn?t waste it.