I felt an intense sense of discomfort when the class was assigned this essay. Why? The answer to that most accurately lies in the cold hard fact that I cannot recall for the life of me how I learned to speak English. I did have a very quick conversation once with my mom about how I learned, and I will address the conversation. I can only accurately account for reading one book as a child, and the title of the book will be hysterically shocking. It provides authentic proof that I have always had a comical personality, and it really made me laugh when I remembered reading it. To flip to a more serious note, I also remember writing my first complete sentence, and I can recount almost ever detail of it. I do not remember how I learned to speak, I read a personally defining book when I was young, and my first accurately written sentence still holds a place in my mind, this is my literacy background.
I cannot recall how I learned to speak, but I was vaguely told about it by my mother. I am unable to even indicate who taught me to speak. Most would obviously assume my parents taught me how to speak, but for my sake and pride I like to believe I was the largest beneficiary to my early years of speech. I want to think that even at a young age I formed and diversified my own idiom because eccentric and independent thoughts are two ideas I hold a firm point of pride in.
My mom did tell me once about how I learned to speak, and it came about while we were in a serious conversation on the topic of my adoption. It was not an extended list, which marked every little time I made progress in my literacy. I was extremely glad that it was not, because doing thing like that is obsessive, and can only be identified as a grotesque action easily defined as child worship. She explained first that once she had adopted me, she worried that I would not be able to pick up English quickly. She stressed the fact that I was extremely shy to them, and both my siblings. Therefore, I did not have much contact with other children. I was told I knew one word in Russian, and it was the Russian word for need. It is read phonetically as neobkhodimost’, and I used it every time I had a wish or demand. I used it to indicate I needed nutrition, physical aid, and compassion. I even said it to announce I needed to use the bathroom. The most defining moment in my literacy challenge happened when I entered mothers-day-out. My mom had assumed my speech was lacking in comparison to other children my age. Yet, after just a few weeks of attending mothers-day-out something remarkable was noted by not only the supervisor but almost every mother there. They all knew that I was adopted from Russia, and often questioned my mom about my speech before they had even seen me. Often asking how she was going to teach me to speak, and in one laughable case she was asked if she was going to even attempt to teach me English. She then replied with a reassuringly resolute, “Yes”. Now only a few weeks of experience in the day care it was exclaimed by the supervisor, that I out spoke many of the children in the class. She told my mother that I was one of the smartest children she had ever encountered. It was eventually evident to other parents, and some would actually come up to my mom to ask her what she did. She could not respond, but all she said was that I was a smart kid. I may not remember how I learned to speak, but I did learn much quicker than children my age although I was not born in an American home.
I can only recall reading one book as a child, and it is a slightly humorous book now. The book was named Potty Time. I do not know why that is the only book I can remember reading as a child, but I do find it slightly fitting my personality. The book was a simple read, and it taught children how to use the restroom correctly. This comes off as humorous to most, as it should. I believe it was mildly entertaining when I was a child. I