Example Of Essay On My Literacy Narrative

English

Norway, one of Scandinavia’s countries, boasts of its stable yet growing economy. In Norway, I feel so lucky because I have been endowed with a lot of opportunities, resources, encouragement, and most importantly, a privileged Norwegian family. In addition, Norway also maintains a strong relationship worldwide because majority of its people speaks English. As a result, many Norwegians like me study or work abroad during their life span. Like in many parts of the world, as in Norway, people who are proficient in English are often characterized as smart and knowledgeable. If I were to illustrate the Norwegian demographics of bilingual speakers, most people who live in cities speak more than one language; whereas, most people who inhabit rural areas speak only traditional Norwegian. Because of that, people born in the larger cities in Norway tend to travel abroad more often as compared to their counterpart. As I iterate, Norway’s good economy and location, as well as, globally collaborative education make life favorable for many Norwegians. Hence, I am particularly convinced that proficiency in the English language is extremely valuable in achieving success globally. The role of insightful literacy sponsors is indeed crucial to Norwegian’s future success, as evidenced by the person I am today.
Both my mother and father received their undergraduate diplomas abroad, which, I believe, gave them a different perspective of life. I believe that my parents’ global perspective helped me to gain insight into the importance of studying abroad, and that was the primary reason I decided to study abroad. They have been unique in the way of supporting me throughout my education and guiding me in the right direction. For instance, my mother was teaching me English words when I was a little boy. As a result, it did not take long until I learned to communicate with English speakers. Learning English at an early stage gave me the opportunity to travel and gain insight into different cultures around the globe. I believe that all of these experiences contributed to shaping my personality and my present world overview. My mother was convinced that teaching me English at an early age would make her son intelligent with opportunities of a global. Bilingual speakers tend to be more global-oriented, and I know my mother wanted her son to have a global perspective. She also found a traveling partner in me, because since I was a boy my mother and I have traveled a lot together.
For several decades until these present days, Norway keeps on emphasizing teaching English to Norwegian students. In retrospection, the generation immediately after the Second World War spoke English poorly; whereas, children today who started their English classes at six years of age until the end of their high school were more proficient. On my part, I have been very fortunate that I had attended several schools with different specializations. All my school experiences had given me a great deal of knowledge and language proficiency, which made all my dreams come true by studying abroad. By means of English and other international values, I was given the opportunity to study at Northeastern University. Without language competency and values, the outcome would be entirely different. In fact, besides studying English at elementary school, I also had spent many hours playing videogames with my friends every day after school and often late after bedtime. All of these videogames helped me improved not only my knowledge of English, but also other important skills (such as management, coordination). For example, since most of the games that I played were online, I often had to coordinate plans with people through online communication software similar to Skype. Moreover, while studying at elementary school, I also had the total confidence in reading, listening and writing English. I believe that without videogames I would have struggled more with English subjects at school. Hence, I consider videogames as one of my literacy sponsors because they have taught many things that were helpful in my life, such as the opportunity to learn English in an informal manner, thereby, as my ticket to studying abroad. Although videogames are a different kind of literacy sponsors, I look at them as a part of my youth, educational growth, and future career development. Compared to my other literacy sponsors, my videogames were one-way sponsors since they did not give me anything in return except fleeting delight, spent money, time and resources.
Matriculating into middle school was not an easy process because of the difference between the two systems. Thus, in the middle school each student had individual responsibilities and our schoolwork was graded. On the other hand, the Norwegian system of education varies substantially between public and private schools. In my previous school, I had the opportunity to interact with tutors directly and had free access to a lot of helpful resources, but this was not the case anymore. The resources available to me at elementary school were no longer my literacy sponsors, apart from my family support. However, I was lucky to have a very talented English professor during the first two years of the middle school. The professor was well-known for using several unique teaching techniques such as rhetoric and other key activities. First of all, he was very credible since he had a PhD and a profound academic background with diverse experiences. On top of that, his tutoring manner was very engaging and inspiring. As a result, the classes were very insightful, and his techniques made it easier to remember important statements. In the class, we also had many discussions, which made it possible for everyone to participate and question the teacher. As students of his class, we were able to think critically and most importantly question the book. Unlike most of the teachers at that time, instead of focusing just on the fundamentals he wanted us to dig deeper into our essays while writing. I discovered such writing techniques as analysis, research, identifying reliable source, etc. These techniques were highly valuable for me since they expanded my interaction with the English language and stimulated further learning. I was able to read in advanced English, get good grades, develop critical thinking and receive the privilege of knowing more of what the world is about what I am capable of doing. The professor’s aim was to develop intelligent and critical students. In my opinion, he did a very good job. As a result, in return, he gained a good reputation. He also received a prize “Teacher of The Year” during the time he was my teacher.
Furthermore, in high school, we had the choice between two levels of English. I took the most difficult level after much thought and reflective deliberations. First, the teacher was popular for her academic input. Second, the upper-level English courses were more challenging for me to improve more my English proficiency and to see how far I can go with them. Third, but not the least, many new students were in the program, and I wanted to befriend them. As I reminisce, I am glad I took the highest-level course as it made me the writer I am, today. For example, I learned to write research papers and other long analytical works. Specifically in detailed retrospect, the course was divided into two semesters where each semester was equivalent to one year. In the first semester, our class focused on international politics and human rights and four main projects were required: submission of two long analytical essays and two research papers. I quickly became familiar writing the papers, and I honed further my critical skills. Hence, during the first semester, developing analytical and research writing skills were my literacy sponsors because they helped me to matriculate into the second semester. The last semester of English was not like the previous one because it was connected with our Norwegian classes. Instead of writing research papers, more often we created oral presentations. Nevertheless, I remembered that in class, we also had a great deal of rhetoric analysis writings, which were a central part of the educational syllabus both in Norwegian and English classes. As a result, on our national exam in both English and Norwegian, we had to write a rhetorical analysis. In fact, rhetorical analysis was my favorite subject in both Norwegian and English writings because it was not so dry compared to the other topics. I studied rhetoric and made a template, which I have been using until these days for all my essays. In other words, the template has been a guide to me in writing my papers in a much more effective way. Indeed, the English course taught me many relevant and valuable skills, such as business writing, presentation skills, time management, and analytical skills. At Northeastern University, I had a great advantage because when our classes just started, I already had basic understanding of the majority of our subjects because I had taken an advanced English class in the high school. Without that English course, the path of my education would have been slightly different because before, I was not sure what course to take unlike these days. Precisely, while taking the course, I then decided to apply to Northeastern University. Thus, we make a crucial decision when we are already mature enough to make them; which means that our meaningful experiences are helping us to get ready for more of life’s ever-present surprises.
The fall semester of 2014, at Northeastern University, was probably the most insightful and the toughest semester in my life. As an American Classroom student, all my classes had one goal in common – to improve students’ academic English. My experience as an ACP student was very different from all the previous practices. In this semester, all of my classes went beyond what I expected. They thought me a lot of skills regarding literacy. Our professors constantly challenged me with new essays, quizzes, discussions, and presentations. At one point, I almost felt it was overwhelming. However, I am glad that I carried on with my studies throughout the semester, because it the experiences of this semester changed my perception and practice of schooling. This semester became my literacy sponsor because it opened the door for getting a degree at Northeastern University. Of course, it would not be possible without my parents’ moral and financial support. However, I believe this program was a valuable literacy sponsor since it resulted in matriculation into the university. After completing this program, I feel more confident and proficient in the English language. The program opened a new world for me. I have to admit that without it I would not be ready for the university.
The previously mentioned experiences illustrate how my literacy narrative has shaped me into the person I am today. Verily, my experiences not only taught me valuable skills, but they became an integral part of me. My literacy sponsors gave me a great advantage throughout my personal and educational path, and I still benefit from them here at the Northeastern University. In return, my literacy sponsors are continually receiving various advantages, as well, such that my parents are proud of me because they have given me a good youth and pinpointed to me life’s right direction.