My mother had said that I was an early talker my first words were “Mummy” followed straight after by “food” I didn’t quite understand why my second word was food, nor did my mother judging by the expression on her face when I had asked her. I was encouraged to talk at an early age by my family they would also read me stories and in the process try and make me read a word or two which I tried but it didn’t quite come out the way I had expected. I would try my best to take in what other people would say and mimic them as best I could. My mother used to sing me a lot of nursery rhymes my favourite was The Wheel On The Bus I would try to sing along but the words would come out “Da Wel go roun.”
School
At school I was a confident young boy. I would volunteer to reading in front of the class. My teacher said I was very chatty but I couldn’t help it. I liked to read and write and wanted to give it my all, I was able to speak at an early age, I could also learn from my mistakes. I was intrigued with words since I could speak; I had found them and their meanings interesting. When I was five years of age I started talking back to my teacher and started asking a lot of questions because I was interested and wanted to know everything but then soon found out that talking back to my teacher wasn’t such a good idea as I was sent to my headmaster’s office every time I did.
As I had mentioned before I was introduced to reading at an early age. I had an instant love of reading and my favourite place when I was not in school was the library I would have my mum take me to the library nearly every day and borrow books I was their best customer the librarian had said. My favourite books to read had to be Harry potter. My favourite of the Harry potter books was The Philosophers Stone and probably still is, Harry Potter is my favourite because of the authors use of Language and the way the author gets you interested.
As a child I was very keen to correct my mistakes and widen my vocabulary. My older Brother had a large influence on my use of language. When I asked my mother about my early words she said that I had used words much beyond my age and that I did not now there meaning, I had simply picked up those words from my older brother. I was a confidant and able boy who liked to show off what I could do, In year three of school I would often star in school plays and stand up in front of the whole school even the boys and girls in year six who were feared in the school playground especially. In the playground I had heard a lot of cursing and swear words that I tried to forget but some came out which I meant for them not to when I was angry.
Secondary School Age
My first secondary school was North Westminster, though it was not the best of schools it was the closet to my home and my older brother was a student of theirs. The atmosphere was more relaxed although there was less focus on academic activities. North Westminster was a school of many cultures, cultures that I’ve never even heard of until that day, but the dominant culture was Bengali, the school was largely populated because of them; as you know I have a keen interest in learning, and I was determined to find out about this culture which I did largely due to me befriending most of them. I learnt through time to like and enjoy their culture and traditions. At the age of twelve I joined my tutor groups football team the position I played was goalkeeper, not the best of them but I enjoyed it. I loved football it was a way for me to expressing language, like poetry.
Languages
Since I was little I’ve always wanted to speak many languages and explore them. When I started French in year seven I found it fun and interesting, I took a interest to it straight away I would do all my French homework and finish all the tasks I was given. Then in year eight I gave up French and chose my mother tongue language Arabic after a few years I had forgotten French and stuck with Arabic partly because I wanted to get a certificate for it. I still take an interest to different languages ti this day I have learnt quite a bit of Bengali as I have befriended them.
Comedy
I had always liked to make people laugh and was told I was quite good at it; I would often put on different accents and tell Jokes. My favourite genre of films were comedy, and my favourite film had to be King Of Comedy I like it because, of the use of the language and how they manipulate it to make people laugh. These Artists- Eddie Izzard, Rik Mayall and the Monty python- largely influenced me.
I think people over the next thirty years should make an effort in learning foreign languages. People today are ignorant, if they go abroad they expect the local residents to make an effort of talking their language or they would buy a book that translates for them. In the future I would like to try and become fluent in every language I can. Language is a precious gift, and we mustn’t waste it.
Mohammed Elobied
11M3