English has never been my favorite
subject. In fact, it has always been my
least favorite subject. Going through
school, I often wondered why I needed to do so many English related tasks, and
in wondering, I learned to detest the subject without realizing its future
benefits. Why do I dislike English so
much? Is it such a dreadful thing to
learn? Isn't learning how to correctly
write and interpret the English language important? Well, no and yes.
No, English is not a dreadful thing to
learn. I suppose my dislike for the
subject has become greater through the eighteen some years that I have been
learning the different components of the English language. It wasn't actually learning how to speak
English that bothered me, my dislike for English began to form when I began
getting English education in a formal learning environment. That's when I remember elementary
school. I don't recall disliking English
then. It was more like I was learning
new things - things that I did not learn at home or in pre-school - like
reading, writing, and grammar. It felt
good to finally know how to read and write (and I suppose it felt good to have
knowledge of a little grammar too).
These were things that once I learned them, I was using them
everyday. Not only did I use the
knowledge to read a story in reading class or to do a writing assignment, but
to maybe read the newspaper and write a note to a friend as well.
However, then came junior high school. I believe this was when I began to really
dislike English classes. Not only was I
faced with the same long, boring
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grammar
assignments that I was exposed to in elementary school, but I also had to start
reading long (or what I thought was long back then) books on topics that didn't
really excite me. To top that off, I had
the first of a long line of crazy (well, maybe they weren't crazy, but they
sure seemed like it at the time) English teachers.
Why does it seem that most English teachers
have a screw loose somewhere? Is it just
a act, or is dementia a prerequisite to becoming an English teacher? My seventh grade English teacher, Mrs.
Garbarino, had this thing with being the chief and the class being the
Indians. Whatever she said, we were to
follow. Then came eighth grade. Ms. Spell my English teachers name that year
(kind of ironic: Ms. SPELL, ENGLISH teacher).
Ms. Spell had this obsession with Robert Redford. Every time someone knocked on the classroom
door, she would ask the class if it was Mr. Redford. Unfortunately for her, it never was and for
the remainder of the class period, Ms. Spell would discuss with the class her
obsession. In ninth grade, I had a Mr.
Hoest (pronounced "Host"). Mr.
Hoest was a pretty cool guy, except when it came to the topic of sex. He loved to discuss it, as well as do a bit
of innocent flirting with some of my female classmates. I will never forget the field day he had with
"Romeo and Juliet." Mr. Hoest
did have his share of flaws, but I must admit that he was probably my favorite
English teacher (getting an "A" or two might have something to do
with this). Tenth grade came along and
brought a Ms. West with it. Ms. West
liked to call everyone "sweet puttuty." That class became one that I could
blow-off. As a student in her class, I
was required to read some material.
Often in the class,
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people did not
have there reading or other assignments done.
If the whole class come out and said that they did not have enough time,
or that something was too hard, she would cave in and extend the deadline. The only problem with this flexible policy
was that it happened every time something was due. Most of the time, we could get Ms. West to
let us do anything. Sometimes she would
even just not require us to turn in assignments if others did not turn them
in. This all pretty much turned into a
waste of a year of English. Although I
did not learn much from the lady, I still enjoyed being in her class. For the remainder of my high school career, I
had somewhat normal English teachers, however, I will always remember English
teachers as being a little on the weird side.
Although it sounds as if these teachers may
have added a little spice to my learning process, they also took away from the
my learning and turned me off to English (as a subject). I suppose in the back of my mind, the
teachers I had caused me to place a stereotype on them, making me look at
English teachers as being in "la la land." Then I would wonder "why do I have to
learn so much about English (the subject).......to be in 'la la land'
too?" No thanks. English was additionally my worst
subject. It was my worst, because it was
my least liked. Ever since I began my
formal study of the English language, I did not like practicing grammar or
analyzing essays. If I was going to read
something, I wanted it to be because I wanted to read it, not because my grade
was dependent upon it.
Surprisingly, there were some instances where I
did enjoy writing in high school, just not in English class. Through high school, history had always been
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my favorite
subject. Around my junior year, writing
in history became just as common as writing in English class. For history, I wrote on topics that
interested
me. I did not always have prior knowledge of the
topic I discussed, but I would enjoy researching and learning about that topic,
so that writing on it was enjoyable.
During my junior year, I learned a lot about
writing. I was not only writing a lot
for History, but also for English. The
beauty of this situation was that I was taking both Advanced Placement English
and Advanced Placement History. This was
good because both of my A.P. teachers got together and decided to offer a
number of "dual credit" writing assignments. This would allow us to write a history paper
(the content) while fulfilling English requirements (the form), thus turning in
one paper for two assignments. This was
different from the past for two reasons: one, I love history and writing about
it came fairly easily; and two, by writing about history and than having the
opportunity to incorporate history with different styles of writing and
techniques helped me learn more about writing.
It also gave me the opportunity, in a way that I have never experienced,
to learn to write in a more effective way then in the past. I recognize that this was beneficial to my
English education, and was fortunate that I was able to learn and practice my
writing skills in such a manner.
Now that I am in college, I reflect back to
those days when I could not figure out why English was so important to
learn. English: speaking it, reading it,
and writing it are very important. Just
knowing how to do it won't hack it.
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One must be able
to do it well, and correctly too. Why is
being a good rhetorician so detrimental?
Let's take getting a job for example. When calling to inquire about the job, one
must be able to speak in a professional and educated manner. Then comes the important step of submitting a
cover letter and resume. Correct grammar,
punctuation, as well as being able to make a good impression through the
letter's copy is also important when it comes to first impressions. Once in the interview, knowing how to express
oneself through the verbal word becomes most important.
That's where reading comes in to play -
vocabulary knowledge and application. In
the job interview, one needs to be able to express themselves through an
educated vocabulary. This "educated
vocabulary" is acquired through a lot of reading. Not to mention the fact that a well rounded
vocabulary makes a very good impression.
For myself, I plan on attending law school, and
possibly becoming a lawyer. Strong
English skills are important here as well.
All of the correspondence to and from clients, as well as judges, other
lawyers, and businesses, as in any profession, needs to be written well. Then there is the litigation side. In a
courtroom, a lawyer only has so much time and so many opportunities to get his
point across. No time can be wasted on
poor speaking abilities. A lawyer must know what he needs to say, and deliver
it as effectively and efficiently as possible, using correct vocabulary,
grammar, and diction. Communication
skills in today's job market are a needed essential.
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I have been getting an education in the English
language for the last eighteen years. I
have enjoyed learning proper English, and I have absolutely hated it. Now as a freshman in college, I still dislike
the subject of English.
However, I do
recognize the importance of being able to read, interpret, speak, and write
correctly in society today.
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