Why Bother?: Foreign Language Classes

你好。こんにちは。¡Hola! Bonjour.

With two years required of the same foreign language to graduate from high school in California, how much of the language do these students actually retain as they move on to bigger things like college and a full-time job? Such a requirement seems unnecessary as most kids seem to ditch their foreign language as soon their quota is fulfilled. Personally, I do not believe students should have to take a foreign language in order receive their high school diplomas.

First off, I do understand why taking a foreign language is important in this day and age. In fact, there are hardly ever any disadvantages to learning a new language. One can gain deeper insight into a certain culture and communicate with a wider group of people. More importantly, as the economy is increasingly globalized, being a polyglot is definitely advantageous for corporate success. These students that were dedicated to becoming fluent in their foreign language will be at an advantage as it becomes easier to build relationships and increase financial success. Being bilingual can certainly increase pay by ten to fifteen percent for those entering the workforce in 2014. However, many high school students do not strive to become fluent with their given opportunity.

Unlike Europe, the United States is largely lagging behind in biliteracy, as “only about 15-20 percent of Americans consider themselves bilingual, compared to 56 percent of Europeans surveyed in 2006 by the European Commission” . Being in a country that is so monolingual, Nicholas Kristof sums up the situation best with his joke: “If someone who speaks three languages is trilingual, and a person who speaks languages is quadrilingual, what is a person called who speaks no foreign language at all? Answer: An American.” Despite having many states requiring high school students to take a foreign language to graduate, there is a chance that these students are not really taking in what they are learning. Since the classes are required, they could simply be taking the class for a grade; not to understand the culture or be able to communicate with others with their chosen language.

I’m not asking foreign language classes to be removed completely from the school system. I just think that the classes should be reserved for those that are actually interested in culture and want to learn a language. Being in Japanese class for three years now, and planning to continue on for four, I can say that this class has never been a waste of time for me as I find the language fascinating. On the other hand, a handful of my classmates are desperately struggling to pass and be able to finally complete their requirements (I have seen countless re-taking of Japanese class at all levels…). These classmates of mine could be taking other courses that they are motivated in, leading to better grades and strengthening of their talents that they might use in their future. Sadly, the high school system does not allow this until they have two years of a language in. In the end, they’ll just do what they have to do to get a good grade. What’s left is not full understanding of language and culture, but blurry memorization of a few basic conversational skills.

Moreover, there could even be students that want to learn a certain foreign language, but that specific course is not available in their high school. Most schools have Spanish, but what about Korean or Italian? Students should not have to go through at least two years of a language they are not interested in just at all to move on with their lives. Lesser common languages can be studied in college or separate classes from the high school, but this results in a waste of time. Most of what would be learned in the typical high school foreign language class would be tossed out the window to take in a new language that has more appeal. There is also a sense of superiority that Americans may feel; myself included. “Because much of the world is striving to learn English, Americans wonder why they should bother to learn other languages.” With the seemingly universality of the English language, motivation to learn any other languages continue to plummet.

With possible lack of motivation in students, lack of certain languages, and wasting of valuable time, there is not much glamorous about taking a second language as a requirement to graduate from high school. Foreign language classes should be a fun opportunity for students, not a boring course that is enforced.

With that, 再見, さようなら, Adiós, and Au revoir!

*This was my argumentative essay for my English class but since I really do feel strongly about this, I decided to share. It’s supposed to mimic opinion articles like those in the newspapers but I’m not sure I did I really good job of that haha.

 

 

Applying SOAPStone to the Performing Arts

SOAPStone is normally used to analyze reading and writing, but can this limit be expanded?

Being in the front ensemble (band stuff), we team up with the school’s drumline every winter to put out an indoor drumline show. In these shows, we try to tell a story through the music we play, our facial expressions, and the way drill is put out on the floor. This year’s show is called “Sit Down. Stand Up” and since I still have a difficult time trying to understand what this show is about (which is terrible since I’m the performer that’s supposed to convey emotion towards the audience and direct them how to feel), I’m going to give a shot at SOAPStoning this musical mess.

First off, I’ll talk about the musical elements in our show. For the most part, the music is based off Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring and several songs from Bon Iver. Bon Iver is an Indie Folk Band and Aaron Copland is a very well known American composer, credited for having a distinct American style of composition. This gives the music an interesting mix of modernity and folk.

Next is the show concept. Our instructor tells us this is a show about gaining confidence. Hence on one side we have a lonely sitting “statue” (in a weak, curled up position) and a tall, confident standing “statue.” Throughout the show, the performers slowly gain confidence as they discover themselves. Using boxes to elevate the players, the audience can easily visualize when we are in a depressed state or a confident on. Since the show is divided in movements, I will just say movement 1 is where we’re supposed to be melancholy, movement 2 is a playful sort of “self-actualization stage”, and movement 3 is where everyone has finally found confidence and we’re proud enough to show it off to the audience. Now for the SOAPStone analysis.

SPEAKER: This is tough since we don’t have a single narrator. However, I would say that the speaker is also all thirty of us performers, which may be a little odd since one would imagine us to be referred to as the speakers” then. This is not true as all of us are actually set on performing the same way to make the audience feel the exact emotions they should be feeling. Through our expressions and character of the music, we can be considered the voice that is heard. We start off sad but will slowly gain confidence as we “stand up.”

OCCASION: Well I know that my instructor thought of this concept during his trip to the Chicago Symphony, but I’m not sure if that can really apply to the occasion of the show itself. If anything, he recently got married and is just in a really feel good mood. The show is set in a way to demonstrate that even if you’re at a low point, you can gain confidence to be happy.

AUDIENCE: In a broad view, the audience is well, the audience in the stands. Or the judges that will be scoring us. On the other hand, this show could be focused on those who are going to rough times and could gain a confidence boosts, or to show that things will get better.

PURPOSE: To fulfill the audience’s need of wanting to watch a great show, but on a more serious note, to illustrate the gaining of confidence musically and visually.

SUBJECT: I’ll make this short and sweet, the subject is on gaining confidence.

TONE: I’ll divide the tones by movement (expressed both musically and facially). Whatever the tone of the music is in the movement should be the same tone towards the audience.  Movement 1 has a sullen tone and is very calm sounding, reflecting a melancholy and slow feel. Towards the end, we become a little more upbeat, a small boost of confidence if you will. Next is Movement 2, which has an energetic and playful tone. There’s a sense of discovery and the end crescendos as we seem to be growing louder and louder with pride. Lastly Movement 3 is filled with confidence. It’s very grandiose with cymbal crashes, rolls, and a company front. Meanwhile, everyone is standing tall with bright smiles and a regal look.

 

Well I tried, and I’m not sure if it’s too successful (maybe you just can’t apply SOAPStone to performing arts?).

If you’re interested, here’s a video of the show. We’re not quite done here, but it’s up to all the parts I have analyzed. Enjoy! Undefeated so far this season. 🙂

Sadly, the facial expressive part of this is too hard to see!

 

 

Age One Seven

Ahh, seventeen years old.The age just after the teenage prime of sixteen. The age just before the adult beginnings of eighteen. Just a few days ago, I became seventeen.

Now I don’t really feel any different, just a little sad that I’m becoming older and will soon have to face adult responsibilities. My sixteen-year old life wasn’t what I expected, or at least what I was built up to expect. I didn’t throw an extravagant sweet sixteen party, I didn’t gain any experience in the dating world, I didn’t get a part-time job, heck, I didn’t even bother getting my license (I will soon I swear!). Thus, I’m not really expecting being seventeen to be any different. Such is my uneventful life..(-＿- )ノ

However, my English class is currently reading The Great Gatsby and I realized something. James “Jimmy” Gatz was seventeen when he changed his name to Jay Gatsby and had his poor lifestyle turned around. After he meets Dan Cody at that age, he gets involved with his yachting company and learns the ways of the wealthy. He gains his motivation for becoming rich and sophisticated. Although a rather greedy goal, his motivation to improve and ability to dream are two of his most admirable characteristics. Moreover, Daisy was seventeen when she met Gatsby and fell in love. Maybe, just maybe, something this year can possible happen to change my life. Well odds are, probably not, but I’ll try to hold on to a dream like Gatsby (though I hope I don’t end up like him. DEAD. But being wealthy sounds nice…). Other than that, I have to say that none of the other characters have any qualities I would want. Even with Nick, being a trustworthy narrator and all, does not keep up with his statement of honesty early in the novel.

Meanwhile, I can try to think of the great things I’ll achieve as a seventeen year old. First off, it would be really cool if I pulled off some A’s on finals this week. That would be my first greatest achievement right there. Secondly, one thing I would love is to hone my art skills. Currently, I use my tumblr as an art blog but I haven’t got much recognition yet. If I gained some sort of popularity, some sort of following, by the time of I’m eighteen, I would be thrilled. But before that can happen, I have to start drawing everyday and posting more often. Developing a distinct art style would also be ideal. If I can just get over my shyness of sharing my artwork, that would probably help tons. But hey, for many artists, drawing is an expression of emotions that can be almost as private as writing a diary. To be or not to be; an artist that draws for themselves or an artist that draws for the pleasure of others? I’ll try to have this figured out at age one seven.

The End of Trick-or-Treating: Step into Adulthood?

It’s Halloween night and here I am, a slightly anti-social 16-year old girl, sitting in the peace of her home while indulging in the greatness of the internet.

I remember how when I younger, say my elementary glory days, Halloween was the best holiday next to Christmas.  We had the freedom to dress as anything or anyone we wanted; whether it be a superhero, a ghost, or heck– even a crayon. The icing on the cake was that no one could judge, and that was that. As I progressed onto middle school, the view on Halloween slightly changed. Friends either felt they were too old to pick up candy from door to door or tried to cling on to their youth; using short heights and baby faces to their advantages. Moreover, costumes were either the childish sort or the I-want-to-look-like-a-grown up. There was no in between. On one side you would see a fully clothed spooky witch, the other, the attempts of a barely developed girl being a ‘sexy’ witch. Of course, this still applies in high school. Sexy fairy, sexy vampire, sexy pirate, sexy carrot…if you can imagine it, I promise you it’s out there, or at least it will be. Yet, students who try to look mature in these costumes still try to sneak themselves in with little toddlers (or go to some rad party I don’t know, WASN’T INVITED) and such to snag a few bits of candy around the neighborhood. Now, I’m not exactly hating on these people. In fact, this is the first year I haven’t done that. Free candy is a pretty exciting thing when your parents don’t give you allowance to buy stuff (free stuff in general is pretty darn exciting…there’s no denying it). Anywho,  I guess I’ll be considering this end of trick-or-treating as my slow maturation into an adult, as I was forced by my family to transition from the trick-or-treater to the trick-or-treat-passer-outer. Maybe I’m just developing my candy passing out skills for the time when I own my own house. Plus, I got to see adorable children in their costumes and took note of the popularity of snickers, which I will be sure to get when I have to buy my own candy to hand out at Halloween (neighborhood kids will love me).

Truthfully, only about eight kids came by so I really know nothing.

In addition to the truth, I actually spent most of Halloween night watching a Taiwanese drama and bawling my eyes out. I looked pretty horrifying with all the tears and whatnot, so at least looking scary came easily today (runny mascara is a must when watching dramas).

Well, I truly hope you guys out there had a more eventful Halloween than I did. If you feel like it, tell me how it was or what age you stopped trick-or-treating!

Band and Waterworld

The most dedicated group I am part of for an abundance of my highschool career is FVRR.

FVRR is short for Fountain Valley Royal Regiment, which is the title for the marching band of my high school. This year’s field show is called “Waterworld (based on the 1995 hit movie),” and it’s a remake of the show the band did back in 1997, in honor of our retiring band director.

I have a few mixed feelings about this show. For one, the uniform is very out of the norm. There is no uniform that makes us look all the some, nor do we have to wear shakos (band hats if you will). Well the shakos aren’t too big of a deal for me since I’m in the front ensemble and play the marimba (big xylophone for those who don’t know what this is). However, the uniforms are just cut up sweatshirts that each member had to individually design by adding rope, shells, and rough looking holes. Being a creative person, this was a fun thing to do but the odd color scheme really threw me off sometimes. We’ve been dubbed pretty hobos if you need an idea of how this uniform is like. Nonetheless, this music is probably the most exciting I’ve played yet. Our last shows were rather dull, but this one really draws in the crowd with its oil drums and tribal look. Needless to say, this season has been the best in my marching band career so far and I’m looking forward to seeing how much we can push this year. There have been some rough spots and unappealing outfits but I know that can’t stop us from having a great show. I guess only time (and judges) can tell…at least I have indoor drumline to look forward to. 🙂