literacy essay.docx

7/27/2019 LITERACY ESSAY.docx

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Melissa Meza

Professor Ludlow-Mattson

English 114

24 October 2013

My English Endeavour

I learned how to write in the English language when I was almost five years old. At that

time my parents only knew a slight amount of English and my brother, who is only two-and-a-

half years older than me, was still very young and unable to teach me a lot about writing in that

language. He could only teach me how to speak from what he had learned at school, so I learned

how to speak English by listening to him speak in English to me and by looking at illustrated

cards that contained the English words above the subjects being portrayed. I also learned how to

speak some English by attending pre-school. I do not recall learning much other than speaking

English because it was similar to a day care center where we had more than plenty of time to

play with our peers and most, if not all of them, spoke Spanish. I did not learn how to write in

English at home because it was a secondary language. My primary language was Spanish. Both

of my parents, who are Mexican immigrants, were only able to teach my brother and I how to

speak and write in Spanish because that was the only language that they knew.

I did not learn how to write in English until I entered kindergarten. I attended a bilingual

school whose primary goal was to teach Hispanic students how to speak and write proper

English and excel as bilingual students. I distinctly remember that my primary motivation upon

first entering school was to learn how to write in English. I wanted to know how to express


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myself by writing in that language because I was aware that it was necessary in order to earn

good grades and to succeed in school. I knew that I would make my parents exceptionally proud

by acquiring and learning that language because it would open up many great opportunities for

me in the future, which is what they have always desired for both my brother and I. During my

childhood and to this day my parents have repetitively told my brother and I that they want us to

take advantage of every opportunity that we are offered and that we should always try our best in

school in order to accomplish all of our goals and to become successful individuals. It was why I

realized at an early age that I had to fully acquire the language in order to succeed in this

country, which not only meant speaking English, but being able to know how to write it properly

as well.

I clearly remember that my kindergarten teacher began emphasizing that we would learn

how to write the fundamentals of proper English throughout the course of that school year, which

included how and when to capitalize letters, end sentences, and how to spell words correctly. I

recall doing various activities in which she wrote words and phrases on the white boards

repeatedly and as a class we would review what the words meant. After going over the meanings

of each of the words and the phrases various times, the teacher would have each student write the

words and phrases on their own. I always paid a great amount of attention to these lessons

because I wanted to learn how to write without having to be assisted by others as soon as

possible. I was like a child who really wanted a prize that the teacher was giving away, but in my

case, the prize was learning how to write properly in a language that I had yet not fully acquired.

Whenever I returned home, I would continue to practice writing the words and phrases that we

had gone over in class that day until I memorized what they meant and how to spell them

correctly.


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I practiced how to write a lot during my own time at home because I really wanted to

write correctly without the assistance of others. Throughout certain days of every-other-week,

my teacher would have our class write journal entries about random subjects. During most of the

school year I would blank out and not know how to write many words correctly, capitalize

letters, or even when to end a sentence when we were given these assignments. These instances

made me feel like a complete failure and greatly decreased my confidence as I observed other

students writing with what seemed to be with no struggles at all. There were also instances in

which my teacher would call on me to answer questions about how to spell certain English words

and I did not know the correct answers. During those instances I felt very ignorant and ridiculed.

As a result, when I returned home from school, I would read picture books that my parents had

bought for both my brother and myself and I would then copy all of the books content on my

own. Eventually, as the school year progressed I began to fully understand when to capitalize

letters and when to end sentences. I even began to practice my writing during my lunch times

because I began to enjoy writing and I was excited that I was finally learning how to write proper

English. I also continued to practice my writing in English because I did not want to feel left

behind when we discussed about our writings as a class as I had felt in other instances.

Throughout the rest of the school year I continued to copy the contents of children picture

books at home whenever I had an opportunity. I recall copying the contents of books such as

Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Very Hungry Caterpillar,and various other books written by Dr.

Seuss. I was motivated to continue to improve my writing because I did not want to feel ignorant

or incapable of writing proper English as I had felt when I was unable to answer questions in

front of my class, which was extremely humiliating. I wanted be assured that I was capable of

doing something good with my life and that I was capable succeeding. I knew that I was capable


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of writing English as long as I had determination, which is why I continued to practice my

writing every day during and after school. I even had a notebook that was full of journal entries

about random subjects that I had created on my own time.

By the end of my kindergarten school year I learned how to write proper English. I

learned how to spell more words correctly, when to capitalize letters and when to end sentences

as well as when to place commas within them. However, I knew that I could do more in order to

further improve my writing. By the beginning of my first grade school year I began to copy the

contents ofJunie B. Jones books because they also contained some illustrations, but much more

writing than other children picture books. By then, I felt much more confident in my writing and

I had greater self-esteem. I was less self-conscious about feeling intellectually inferior to my

peers. Even my first grade teacher told my parents that I had wonderful writing because I

constantly wrote using proper grammar for my young age.

I continued to copy the context of many books and even chapter books up to when I was

in the fourth grade. I began to write down many chapters of books such as those ofThe Serious

of Unfortunate Events and other chapter books whose titles I do not remember written by Sharon

Creech. Ultimately, this method of copying the content of books, from children to chapter books,

not only helped me learn how to write a lot, but it also helped me improve my writing skills.

Even though I can clearly recall becoming very frustrated at times, doing such procedure helped

me identify proper grammar techniques such as when to add a colon or semi-colon to a sentence,

how to write a dialogue within my writing, etc. Now, when I work on any writing assignments or

writing on my own I feel much more confident about my work and I have a greater self-esteem

about both my intellectual and writing potentiality. I know that I am making my family proud by


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continuing to attempt do my best in school despite the impediments I had when I first entered

school as a child, when I did not completely comprehend the English language.

Despite all of the struggles and moments of frustrations where I felt ignorant and

incapable of reaching success that I had to endure in order to learn how to write in the English

language, I have now grown to enjoy writing. In fact, I like to write a lot. English has become

my second favorite subject in school ever since I learned how to write proper English. Even

many of my teachers, including my favorite high school teachers, have said that I am a good

writer. Now that I am older and just began college, I am considering getting a minor in

journalism. I think that I have a great potential in order to succeed in this career, which would be

secondary to my nursing career, because I am always able to put forth my best effort whenever I

write anything, which includes doing writing assignments and even when I write random journal

entries at home. My experience of learning how to write in English became important to me not

only because I acquired and learned how to write and read better in the primary language of this

country, but it has also defined who I am and what I want do in my future. Recalling upon my

experience has further motivated me to want to get a second major in a career that involves

writing. It has also reminded me that I am capable of doing what I truly desire and accomplishing

my goals as long as I work hard for it even if there are struggles along the way. I am glad that I

had to endure all of the struggles that I did in order to learn how to write in English because

looking back at it, it is those struggles that have allowed me to appreciate the English language

and that have motivated me to work hard for everything that I want in life in order to become a

successful individual.

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