Well, the two weeks my niece stayed with me is coming to an end tomorrow. She will be departing to Hawaii tomorrow morning. The two weeks didn`t go by too fast, and we had some quality time together. We had a tea time, went to go get her hair cut, went to go see colleges, cooked, and she got to sit in on my lessons. This trip made me think of a few things. It was such a nice change to have someone speak and understand Japanese be with me, and supporting me with my business. It made my vision a lot broader, and helped me understand what I really want from my business.
Senior year in high school is such an odd age. I was looking back at when I was in senior year in high school. I never thought that I would change so much going to college, and experience working here and there. Even then when I graduated from undergrad I didn`t have much of a vision of what I wanted to do with my life. Non the less, I took the chance of coming over to America, and continuing with my education. One thing lead to another, and here I am teaching languages. One thing was for sure on this niece`s trip that I know that my niece will grow even more in her life after high school, and beyond that. I just hope that I got to be the informative, and mature aunt that I want to be.
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I went out to Thai food yesterday with my roommate and niece. The restaurant I went to was very decorated, and had a certain ambiance. We went right when it opened for dinner. We were the first ones there, which was good since they get pretty packed at dinner. The waitress was really nice. We ordered a lot of food. I had fresh spring rolls, and coconut soup. The food was delicious. I think there are cultures, and countries that people are drawn to and feel attracted to . For me these cultures are Thai and Philippines. The reason is that the people are nice. When I hear that someone has these culture in their background I immediately feel at ease, and relatable. I know that I can`t generalize though, but I hope this stays true to me. It`s not that I want to visit these countries, but I just love interacting with these people. I still have a lot to learn, but I wish I spoke these country`s languages. That might allow me to interact, and understand their culture a little better.
I was born in Japan to an American mother, and a Japanese dad. My first language was English, and my second language was Japanese. As I grew up in Japan I grew up speaking two languages, English and Japanese. My mother kept it so that my siblings and I would only speak English in the house. My mother and her friends started an English Saturday school for kids in the area that are international. When I was growing up this was the norm for me. My mom was more than strict in making my siblings and I learn and acquire English. In Japan at the time when I was in preschool and elementary school most of the people around me were Japanese, and most people did not speak English. Compared to this the school system seems to be more international now. A lot of colleges has special entrance slots for people from abroad, and transfer students from colleges abroad.
After looking back on my growth it puts into perspective why I am so sensitive to language, and education. I have heard that even in an international environment each one of us feels and understands bilingualism, and education differently. In my case I grew up very cognitive of my environment. It allowed me to become aware of culture, and system. From my growing up I got to experience two countries, and two systems. It wasn`t easy though. It took lots of dedication to identity and language to keep up my language, and be who I am. All of my siblings are bilingual as well. However, we all have our strong language, and live in different countries. In my case I believe in the word full-bilingual. It is where both languages are balanced, and strong. It took a lot of dedication to growing up bilingual. I believe bilingualism is something that comes natural to some, but to further develop this skill takes attention, and hard work. |
Erika SogaHere are some insights and comments on bilingualism, and language education. Archives
May 2024
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