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?? it is very

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.