Subjects

What is your favorite subject, many people have asked me before while I was growing up. From just introducing myself in English and then in German, I have always told people I feel comfortable with the language of Mathematics. And then they would also asked me, "What is your least favorite subject?" I would answer English.

I am not biased towards the English language, but growing up, I never learned the structure of any plain English sentence. I grew up in America and has never even left the country itself. As an ESL student, I was treated fairly different, as someone dumb and could not speak or understand English. And when I thought about it, at the age of three I did speak and understand English fairly well than most ESL students. In Kindergarten, I remember being the first one who could accomplish reading any type of books in my hand. After the teacher thought I was too competence for ESL, I was transfers to a regular class in first grade, feeling like any regular students learning at a regular pace.

The teachers and school taught me how to spell words, which came in handy. They also taught me what noun and adjectives were. I never was too soft on adjectives as I was with noun. They taught noun so well, I remember noun defines a "person, place, thing, or idea." Teachers repeated the definition of nouns more than one hundreds time. And those were the three things I learn about English in my elementary school years.

And off I go to middle school, for the next three years, I learn nothing about English, but remember only how to compose poems. Even then, I did not know anything about the structure of a sentence. When we did have actually papers, I would have a conference with my teachers after each draft, but all they did was correct my grammar for me. After that, they told me to rewrite what they had and the paper would be fine. Another thing I learn in English classes were how to conduct research papers using MLA format and having a bibliography.

During my middle school years, I enjoyed writing stories that would soothed my mind and make me feel like a different person. This was a writing activity I did during my three years at Urban Middle School. But as a person who is quiet and shy, I never showed them to a teacher or distanced peer to edit it. Instead I gave it to friends, some would edit it for me while others just want to read them.

Finally, High School years came, the first two years I had to conduct many research papers. I usually received A's on my paper, making me feel good that my English is well and comfortable as others. But my view on my own English changed when I was a junior. I finally had a teacher who could say it straight to my face about what I needed to improve on. Luckily, she did not see me as a ESL/ELL students like many of my other teachers. I felt like she was not showing me any pity. She would not just plainly correct my paper for me, but point out what I had to correct on my own. She even told me what grade she would give me if it was not a draft, and when I heard the letter grade: D, my heart skipped a beat. At that moment of time, I knew for certain that I must learn how to write clearly in English.

In the end, my papers improved more, I became more in depths in my explanation in my papers, regardless if it is an anecdote, research, observation, or many different types of paper. Even now, I still do not know the structure of any English sentence. I feel dumb for admitting the truth, but I still cannot identify the subject of a sentence, my commas rules are not good. If anyone reads my blogs, they can tell that all my commas are in the wrong position and should know how it should be corrected. Until now, I still think should I have blame myself for not wanting to learn the English myself, or my teachers who pitied me and did not try to reached me with the English language.