Kiara 1

Kiara Mahdi
ENG 111-94
Literacy Narrative
Feb 1, 2016
So Much to See; So Much to Do
I wouldnt say that my knowledge on the English language is up to pareven though it
may be my first language and the language that I am fluent in. However, there is still a lot of
aspects about the language that I do not know about, yet I have had the burning urge to learn
more than the one language I know as English. When it comes to learning another language, it is
very difficult because it is like wiping the slate clean of the language that is already known.
However, with language comes culture and the are many different cultures throughout Earth. If a
person takes interest in a different culture or location, communication is the key to learning. It is
like becoming an infant again. If words or phrases are misunderstood (or not understood at all), it
is likely that asking what it means or figuring out will be a small step towards learning the
chosen language. I strive towards learning more than one language because it allows wide
communication, leads to learning culture, and fills the mind with knowledge.
When I was about twelve years old or thirteen years old (Im not sure), I learned that my
cousin knew another language unknown to me. I was told that the language was Japanese. Japan
is a small country in Asia and Japan was where my cousins mother was born. She is fluent in
Japanese since she was born there. The language was completely new to me and it looked
beautiful at a glance. Instead of letters such as what we use in the English language, there were
no letters. The Japanese alphabet consists of characters, and there are three alphabets within this
language, Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Kanji is the most prominent an important alphabet to

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be used, but the most difficult. Hiragana is used to tie the words together in a phrase (as well as
for forming words). Lastly, Katakana is used to form words that are used in foreign languages,
such as English. Japanese is very different from English and the Japanese language is more
flexible. The grammar is very different and the English language has spacing for each word
Japanese does not.
Learning Japanese is difficult for me to learn but I am still making the effort. I am glad to
say that I am able to understand the language a little bit, such as the basics. Hello, Goodbye,
Nice to meet you, Where is (enter location here), and so on. I hope to one-day travel to
Japan and use my knowledge of the language, learn the culture, and make friends to learn more
from.

Story Draft:

Two teenage girls (they are the foils of each other)

Girl One- lives a rich life but is spoiled and has an attitude
Girl Two- lives a middle class life and hopes to become more rich in order to take care of

her family
Love triangle (maybe?)
Competition and one-sided feelings (until the end at least)
Girl one switches morality at near the end of the story

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