Cranbrook Schools Use Of Language example essay topic

The Early Days- I was born in Maidstone hospital and have lived in the village of Staple hurst all my life. My family name, Johnson, has a self-explanatory meaning. It simply means, son of John. My mothers 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 enthusiast i 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 Gun dry 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 childrens 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 didnt 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 its Saturday school, I had to give up KCJC, as their rehearsals were on Saturday mornings. Cranbrook schools 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 didnt 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 wasnt the only one who was good at languages, as a result of this, I didnt 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 mustnt waste it.