Dishon Blog Uno

Jonathan Dishon

English 1101

Dr. Hughes

August 20, 2009

Being raised during my early childhood in Augusta, Georgia and Clemson, South Carolina i was taught what most would call the southern style of speaking English. All of my family is English speaking so i was not exposed to a different language until my family was relocated to Germany. I moved to Germany at the beginning of my 1st grade year, but it was not until I was starting 2nd grade my family decided that it would be good for me to attend German school. I was afraid that I would not understand anyone and they would not understand me so I would not make good grades. But luckily for me they had a teacher who could speak English so I was able to get by. While I was in German school I got to take all kinds of very interesting field trips. I was able to go to Belgium, Holland, and France. So during my stint in Germany I was not only exposed to German but to Dutch and French as well. At the start of the 4th grade my family moved back to Augusta where I did not get any exposure to another foreign language until my 6th grade year. From 6th grade all the way until 10th grade I studied Spanish. Taking Spanish in both middle and high school was very helpful. After finishing Spanish in the 10th grade I tried to keep my skills honed by watching the Spanish television channels, but that did not really work out for me. This summer though I was able to go to Ecuador, and their I was able to use some of my much depleted Spanish skills. It was a very interesting experience for me. Although I would love to say that I am bilingual in English and Spanish I do not think my Spanish is quite good enough. So that is my exposure to the different types of language so far and hopefully I will get to experience many more.