Writing Essay 1-05: My Language Learning History -and to be continued...-

Today, I will introduce my language learning history. To me, learning other languages is really fun, even though it never easy. It is because that every language contains its own rule like grammar, words, and so on. However, learning other language brings me exciting things in my life. I will talk about languages which I am learning now and have learned.

My mother tongue is of course Japanese as you know. And at KGU, I'm learning 2 foreign languages now; English and Korean. And when I was a freshman at KGU, I was taking Spanish instead of Korean. Firstly, I'm going to tell about my Japanese. I've been using Japanese since I was a kid, so it is really important for me. I think Japanese people must be able to use it perfectly because we are Japanese people and we have been using it since we were born. However, people who can use Japanese language correctly are getting decreasing I guess. I'm one of them I guess. Therefore, I'm taking Japanese linguistics class now, and I'm trying to understand correct Japanese. But I noticed that I can't know that in the class, so I will try to read a newspaper everyday. And I'm forgetting Kanji little by little, so reading new paper is good for me.

Secondly, let's talk about English. Most of people started learning English for 6 years from Junior high school, but most of them can't speak English well...no, they don't use and like it. But I'm not like them. I love English so much now, I can't understand it perfectly though. I also started learning it from junior high school, and I hated it till the beginning of junior at high school. Yes, I changed. I found a basketball DVD, and then I felt like "I want to be like them! I want to speak like them!" It was my origin to start learning English. Fortunately, I could go to New Zealand as a school trip. I couldn't speak English well, but after the trip, I studied English hard. That's why I'm here, KGU. Now, to improve my English skills, I'm trying many things. I often watch NBA and listen to music for listening, mail with 2 pen pals for writing and reading, and often talk with friends in English whenever and wherever we can for speaking. And I think English is really good tool to communicate with people around the world, because English is spoken as first common language in the world.

Thirdly, let's talk about Korean. Korean is interesting language. The letter looks like cipher. I think, we can't read it without study. Hey, can you read this?? "안녕" This means "Hello/Good morning/Good evening/Good bye", and the pronunciation is "an nyong". It's interesting, isn't it? I began to study Korean last summer, and I decide to take Korean class this year. Why? Because I like Korea and Korean drama, and some of exchange students are also interested in Korean. I don't think that Korean is not so important language in the world, but I'm sure it will help me somewhere or sometime.

Fourthly, let's talk about Spanish! Do you know that Spanish is spoken as second common language in the world? Yes, it's true. Many people speak Spanish. This is one of the reasons why I took Spanish last year. I can't take Spanish class this year because of required subject, Reading. But I'm want to take the class next year if I can. Spanish is difficult language for me because it has male and female noun, verbs change the style to correspond each the person and number. But I didn't give up last year because I tried to understand it again and again, and then I could understand Spanish a little. I don't study it right now, but I will study it during coming summer vacation on my own.

Those above are my language histories. I've studied 4 languages, and I'll continue studying them. It is because I like learning other languages. Actually, I'm interested in Finnish because I have one Finnish pen pal. And she is interested in Japanese. This means we can teach and learn Japanese and Finnish each other. Anyway, what I want to say is that I'm really glad to enter this university and department, and I want you to be interested in any languages even if the language is going to be useless, because I think the challenge is important and it will bring you something good in the future.

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