Professor Joshua Belknap | Co Req ML | Fall 2023

9/11/23: Education Narrative: Introductory Paragraph

Today we will brainstorm and discuss ideas for: Introductory paragraph of education narrative. Hook? Thesis? Discuss Education Narrative, Outline structure, submitted outlines, read education narrative model, annotate, vocabulary, sentence structure (break into pairs to discuss ideas and language choices).

Workshopping the genre, by working on paragraph-level composing (starting introductory paragraph draft of education narrative: hook, setting/context, introduction of theme), sentence structure model examples from the genre type…

Pair up and read your introductory Education Narrative paragraph to your partner. After you read aloud, swap paragraphs and annotate each other’s work, providing suggesions. Provide feedback to each other (suggestions for clarity, understanding, organization, grammar).

27 Comments

  1. Daria

    How to effectively engage your brain in language learning.

    In this narrative, I aim to share my personal journey of mastering two different languages.

    It all began during the pandemic when I found myself isolated on an island in the Philippines, surrounded by Chinese colleagues who didn’t speak English. Determined to make the most of my time, I set a goal for myself that year: to learn a new language. Surprisingly, I chose to dive into English instead of Chinese! ( haha) The second instance occurred in Italy, where once again, I was immersed in an environment where English wasn’t the dominant language. This time, the urgency to learn was palpable; even ordering a simple drink necessitated mastering the phrase “aqua naturale.”

    • Daria

      (Prehistory: I am from Ukraine, and our education system (like in other countries as well) is not the best one, so when I graduated from school, I only knew basic words and numbers in English.)

      The Philippines was the third country where I had lived by that time, and I didn’t speak English when I arrived. Before that, I lived in Cambodia, which was quite amusing because neither my colleagues nor I spoke English at work. Instead, we communicated in the Khmer language, while I could speak Russian or Ukrainian. We relied on body language, and somehow, it worked out.

      When I moved to the Philippines and decided to learn English, I began searching for methods to achieve my goal. The first step in learning a new language is to immerse yourself in it. You should surround yourself with it. Listen to music in English, watch your favorite movies and TV shows, and communicate with native speakers as much as possible (communication is key, haha). Once you have a good grasp, start reading books, beginning with something simple, and as your vocabulary grows, you can progress to more challenging texts. This way, step by step, you create an environment for yourself in the new language where you have no choice but to learn.

      Additionally, a significant part of my learning journey involved using the Duolingo application, which helped me stay consistent.

  2. Diana Grande

    My educational experience with English has always had me feel fix feelings. There would be times where i hated it because I had trouble reading or how any time i was reading something words would feel like they disappear and flow around the air. I wouldn’t be able to comprehend what it was that I just read for 30 minutes straight. Teachers would always inspire me to read more as I would get motivated and I time came to go home, everyday for 45 minutes my parents would make me read.

    Although for 45 minutes all I heard was words coming out of my mouth but never understood the story, half the time I would just get sleepy. Looking back at it I didn’t have the help that I needed to become a better reader, as they say if you become a great reader you become a greater writer. As when I got to High school I met new people which soon became my friends, there was a girl out of the group who one day started to talk about hoe many books she read over winter break, I would always listen and the way she expressed herself about books seemed amazing to me.

    I’ve always wondered to myself how someone can be so happy over a book? Soon she began to grab my interest on books that she kept mentioning, she told me “here’s my book, read it and let me know what you think” it took me a while to pick it up and begin to actually read this book, i opened the first page and took a deep breath. The book “Ugly Love” by Colleen Hoover I began to read and word by word, page after page when suddenly I start off to have butterflies in my stomach, then you would hear laughs or smirks.. then tears. This took had me feeling a lot of emotions and I read so much that I didn’t even pay attention I saw I finished the book within 1 day.

    I slowly started to begin my collection of books and learned that it’s all about genre of books that you enjoy to read, mines would be romance now I don’t even remember how many books I’ve read but i remember each story and how they’re all better than watching Netflix.

  3. Jguarango21

    Imagine going to school in a South American country at the age of 10 and only knowing English. Having lost almost everything in the U.S.  made us take the decision to go to Ecuador to start a new life. This project will present topics about adapting to a new educational system, language barriers, making friends, learning how to take school seriously, and defining my future.  My only option was to accept these events and move on with them.

    Understanding that Spanish prevailed in that country I had to learn Spanish. An example was me being told to write a sentence using one verb in Spanish. One of the hardest tasks I´ve ever come across from. Yes, I received help from the professor, but it was minimal. Here is where I understood that this would be a long journey.  

    How about making friends, leaving my previous friends behind without a way to communicate with them meant losing them. Being an asocial awkward kid and not knowing what they could have an interest in or if they had whatever I had in the U.S. here in South America.

     

     

    • Fernando

      Is good to have new challenges in your life and learning new things. It can be hard but you will learn from that, get to know different people, learn a new language, and it would be better for your future because you’re facing a different culture, and you will learn new things.

  4. Jimin Yoon

    Behind our school was a ravine in the middle of 4 mountains, and people lived there. Our school was on top of a mountain, and we could see mountains with, trees, and houses. It was called (Montaa Cambray), The mountain was right behind us, and we were studying algebra when a loud boom terrified us. The teacher yelled everyone down the desk, everyone thought it was a bomb. However, after some minutes everyone came out of their classrooms and saw half of the mountain gone. Everyone was confused, and after realizing what had happened it went into chaos, some people screaming, and some running. It was a disaster after our principal came and called everyone to the soccer field. We were sent home, and going home everyone came out of their houses, sounds of ambulances, and policies. 

  5. Fairlay

    Life is full of ups and downs, it’s up to you to stay strong throughout them. So I was born in  the US, specifically in New York. Right before my first birthday, I went to Ivory Coast. I stayed there until 2013, when I came back to the US. After a year in the US, I went back to Ivory Coast and stayed there again until finally in 2018 I came back and I have been here ever since. Because of this, I speak both French and english. This journey brought me to some very different experiences and Although it was full of ups and downs in both Ivory Coast and the US, I was able to stay strong and adapt to the changes that I was forced to face. it was full of ups and downs in both Ivory Coast and the US, I was able to stay strong and adapt to the changes that I was forced to face.

  6. Dave Desrivieres

    When the entire natural climate seems to be changing, what is the point of life? An earthquake may have catastrophic consequences. In all of the humanities, the infrastructure of educational systems experienced a significant loss of resources. As a result, these unfortunate events are important because they have had a big effect on the entire economy, resources and the environment.

  7. Engel Medrano

    The first thing that I ever struggled with while moving to the United States, specifically New York was making new friends. Coming to New York had a big impact in my life because It’s the American dream; I really expected to make friends right away. Coming from a Caribbean country or culture (Dominican Republic) a country where people are always outside or outgoing and friendly, I expected New York to be the same or even better. As a young and being a kid I really expected New York to be like the movies. Once here I noticed the similarity of my culture. Everyone or most people were always outside but everyone was so kept to themselves (minding their business) but not as I pictured it. It was rough to get adapted at first in the way that everything around is different but my surroundings made it homely. 

    • Anja Rrasa

      I think you should get into more detail about what the American dream is, so the audience has a clear idea of what it is. You can also get into detail how New York is in the movies. I like how you found similarities in your culture in New York. Instead of saying everyone you can just say most people. I like that your surroundings made you feel at home.

  8. Dave Desrivieres

    When the entire natural climate seems to be changing, what is the point of life? An earthquake may have catastrophic consequences. In all of the humanities, the infrastructure of educational systems experienced a significant loss of resources. As a result, these unfortunate events are important because they have had a big effect on the entire economy, resources and  the environment.

  9. Dave Desrivieres

    When the entire natural climate seems to be changing, what is the point of life? An earthquake may have catastrophic consequences. In all of the humanities, the infrastructure of educational systems experienced a significant loss of resources. As a result, these unfortunate events are important because they have had a big effect on the entire economy, resources and the environment.

  10. Anja Rrasa

    Growing up I have learned that school is not just about textbooks and homework, but it is also a place where friendships are formed, it is a place where we discover what makes us excited and motivated to pursue our future goals. In my home country Albania, we are assigned English classes since 3rd grade. My grandparents had been living in the United States since 1999, they had put my family and I for visa so one day we would be living together again. So that is what motivated me to do good in my English class. I would watch YouTube videos in English, and I would try to speak it often with my classmates. I had taken some private lessons which helped me advance my English and made me more confident when speaking it.  

    • Engel Medrano (gigi)

      I really like where your story is going and I could relate to everything you are saying also! I feel like your should not change anything, I already want to read your story and girl I am not a reader

  11. marylin

    As years goes by we’ve come to a realization of how the main importance of multilingual language can have an impact on our daily lives in way that it’s related towards our own culture and commutation in social interactions. Throughout my language experience esspically living and born in the United States has been one those events where I’ve realized and been grateful regarding my ability to commiucate more than one language as it has been a huge part of my education able to comprehend with others. Moreover, dispite me being born in the US and known for its common use language in the world “English”, one of my first languages is actually Spanish, as I grew up with my parents as they came from a Spanish speaking country, one of them only knew Spanish since its their native language and a little bit of English. Throughout my youngerself, my parents thought of me being able to speak more than one language that can really come in hand in situations such as commicating and for future purposes, as they’ve mentioned they didn’t want me growing up as the child who grew only knew one language and more of embracing another language.

    • Akobir

      Sounds interesting!

      I would like to know a little more about your story

      Excellent writing!

  12. xin chen

    “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. In our life, there’s always fear,challenges, and struggling. However, people learn from those challenges, all struggles people face will become a precious lesson in their life. The most effective thing in my education is during my senior year in high school. It changes my educational ambition that I’ve been looking for for my early six-seven years.

    • Fairlay

      I really like the Hook. Its long and tells me about what you will be writing about,

    • marylin

      The introduction and quote used is very captivating by far I’m curious to know your high school experience.

    • Dave Desrivieres

      Why is this so true? because people must face these challenges in life in order to understand things through the lens of success. All I’m saying is that I support your approach to overcome these challenges in your academic career, and I genuinely believe that you are proud of yourself since you now understand how to grow from them and achieve more success. Point great interest!

  13. Emely

    The language follows us wherever we want to go, since many of us come from foreign countries. When we arrive and face the reality of a new culture and language, our process of adapting to life in the new place becomes complicated. The fact that we cannot communicate properly makes us feel worthless and uncomfortable as we cannot express ourselves properly to people. Over time I was able to advance in my learning to help my family in the process of stopping feeling less and not knowing how to communicate. Speaking with Native Americans has helped me improve the language. Butt the language barriers, making friends, and trying to improve in school made ir a little big hard.

    A year ago when I was in my CLIP classes, it was difficult in the way the teacher explained and my understanding of English. No Hera very good, imagine being in a class where you only feel that you test present but you understand nothing… it was a challenge to which I had to adapt to be able to move forward with my goals, learning everything in general from a new language is a difficult and long process. Makes you feel depressed or moody since you can’t understand others.

    In addition, not losing the motivation of fitting into this culture and improving in everyday life and depending on myself is the best feeling that I have to see, although I lack a journey to learn I have been improving it

  14. Fernando

    Education in the US is different from my country. I’m from the Dominican Republic and whatever you want to be you can’t do it there or if you do it, it’s not the same. I like architecture, and in my country I could do it but it’s not the same, just not about the money but the opportunity to grow and become good at what you are doing. It’s good to think about what you like and what place you are in, in Dominican Republic what’s good is that it has a lot of land and it would be good if you like something that has to do with it. Here in New York it’s better for me because I like architecture and it’s better studying that here. Knowing where you are and if you can do it there it’s good to know that. 

    • Jguarango21

      I would like to save a couple of details and try to make certain points “mysterious” and state what your main idea is. Other than that it seems like an interesting work.

  15. Huy Duong

    Do you like someone force you to study and make you like a robot to follow their directions ? Thats how the education that im have been suffered through my childhood in my country . But I totally understand that , cause thats how our country maintains the way of studying this whole time. I kind of get used to the education . But when i fifteen , i moved to America , everything changed , the language , the way people dress in school , the new kind of study and how we greet each other . Most important , i cannot understand the meaning of the word , and cannot hear what my teacher says . Mostly because of my lack of vocabulary in English. 

    In order to improve my English , i have to spent 2 years , to reading book , watch movie and go to office hours 5 days a week. During that time i feel ashamed causes I didn’t know English , I cannot talk with anyone because of myself and my English . The worse is i cannot tell with anyone even my mom , cause im afraid she’s gonna worry and find the way that’s I can fit in the environment. After one and half years , i joined the club for immigrants in our school . It totally changed my life , many friends inside have the same situation as i am.

  16. Md Azizur

    A life-changing adventure

    This is Md Azizur Rahman. I was born and raised in Bangladesh in a conservative family. There are a lot of restrictions. I have 6 brothers and sisters and I am the youngest one. Basically, my sisters were the first teachers in my house before I joined the school. When I began the journey of school. I found some friends. I built a good relationship with them. Some of them were very close or I would say, my bosom friend. They always sit close to me or next to me. We played together when our tiffin time. It’s sort of like we grew up together in school. 

    As far as I remember when I was in standard 5 or 6 And then certainly my father died during a heart attack in the hospital. That time crucial moment began. My mother worked in a government organization. So her earning was not enough to support our family members properly. So my school has gone too wild. We didn’t get more opportunities to get better colleges. So my life turned into a certain path which has no goal at that moment. 

    So I had to do something myself, I struggled to start finding a job to support myself. And somehow I finished high school. After that, I had to stop my education. 

    I was busy with my job and the moment came that we got a chance to get to America with the help of my elder brother. When I reached this country I really had a hard time understanding the American language mostly their way of talking, pronunciation, and all that stuff, cause my country’s English is extremely different from here. I would say our education system is too different. But I have to learn it anyway. So I’m still struggling with my English. And also worked hard in my job. After a couple of years, I didn’t find any joy, goal, or innovation. So I decided to join study again. So took admissions in the city tech to reach and pursue my goal in Computer information systems.

  17. Akobir

    Have you ever felt out of place? Feel like you don’t belong there?

    “Put yourself in an uncomfortable position” As an adult, I am aware of how effective this strategy is, but at the age of seven, I was unable to relate. 

    At that early age, I and my parents moved to Russia, and I started my educational journey there. With zero knowledge of language, I started school. I struggled with the language and couldn’t communicate either with the teacher or with students. I felt useless because I was numb but wanted to be like other kids and be able to communicate, write, and read. Four years in, I became better at language and moved back to my home country. Picked up a bit of English and moved to the US after spending five years in Uzbekistan. At the age of 15, I started learning my fourth language and surprisingly it was easier to acquire than Russian. Through all those struggles and hardships I’m still standing just like Elton John, feeling like a true survivor..

  18. Brinny Cruz

    I had  a profound event when I moved to the United States. Everything I was used to changed in the USA. When I was young everyone talked about how wonderful New York was and they only described the best of it: Life is better, they said, the schools are incredible… So when I was young I had the idea that everything was going to be better and easy. In part they were true that New York is beautiful and you have incredible opportunities, but it is not easy as they told me. I had to learn a new language and get used to a new type of learning. I had a hard time learning English at school and being a shy person didn’t help me much. I tried to learn but for a while I felt that no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t. After a while I moved and changed schools but this time it was a bilingual high school and all the teachers spoke Spanish and that helped me a lot more and over time I improved a little.

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