Studying languages
From as far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to learn a foreign language. I remember the book "Last of the Mohicans" and encountering my first French phrases while reading the story. Then came college, where our class in the course Speculative Thought was advised by our teacher, Ma'm Jenny de Villa, to learn a foreign language - either French or German, to help us in studying for our major subjects. So I chose French (I took 18 units of it) apart from the required 12 units of Spanish (which was a bit confusing. When I entered college, they were still formulating a new curriculum for us, so I used the old curriculum in getting my subjects. So I still made provisions in getting the required 12 units of Spanish. I also enrolled in Japanese and Chinese classes (I managed to complete 3 units of each course). So in effect, I attempted to learn four languages when I was in college - French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese. Ang dami ano?
After finishing college and I was out looking for a job, I often looked back at what I learned in college and I thought that I may have wasted my time learning all those foreign languages. I couldn't get a job then because I am a Philosophy major (a difficult course to find a job in), so I wished I spent all my electives learning something useful (like accounting) thay may have increased my chances in getting a job (imagine, I completed 42 units in languages alone!). But then, my aunt convinced me to get my Civil Service Eligibility and apply for a job in government.
And in about a year, I finally got a job in government. It wasn't easy but I managed to convince people that I was the right guy for the job. So I here I am now, working in the bureaucracy for a little less than 5 years now.
In all the years that I have been working, I had resolved to find time and hone my language skills. I can now afford to think about learning a new language because I have a steady job (which is not to say that it has been an "easy" steady job). I was planning to save my money and enroll in one of those private language learning institutions when I heard of the Language Program being offered by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Language course being offered by FSI was a free language course open to all government employees. So I decided to take the exam, and what do you know, I passed! I enrolled in the French program (because I decided that I had more of a background there than in any of the languages I previously studied). It has been quite an exciting adventure, learning language at FSI. I met a lot of new people there and I formed friendships with some of them (specifically my classmates from the French language course). And now, after completing that course, I enrolled again. This time, in the Japanese language course (because ever since I saw my first episode of Dragonball Z undubbed, I had wanted to understand whatever it is that the characters were saying in whatever anime I would be watching). If I ever complete this course, I will try and enroll again, and this time, I'll take German (I want to learn it to complete the advice that was given to me in college).
After finishing college and I was out looking for a job, I often looked back at what I learned in college and I thought that I may have wasted my time learning all those foreign languages. I couldn't get a job then because I am a Philosophy major (a difficult course to find a job in), so I wished I spent all my electives learning something useful (like accounting) thay may have increased my chances in getting a job (imagine, I completed 42 units in languages alone!). But then, my aunt convinced me to get my Civil Service Eligibility and apply for a job in government.
And in about a year, I finally got a job in government. It wasn't easy but I managed to convince people that I was the right guy for the job. So I here I am now, working in the bureaucracy for a little less than 5 years now.
In all the years that I have been working, I had resolved to find time and hone my language skills. I can now afford to think about learning a new language because I have a steady job (which is not to say that it has been an "easy" steady job). I was planning to save my money and enroll in one of those private language learning institutions when I heard of the Language Program being offered by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Language course being offered by FSI was a free language course open to all government employees. So I decided to take the exam, and what do you know, I passed! I enrolled in the French program (because I decided that I had more of a background there than in any of the languages I previously studied). It has been quite an exciting adventure, learning language at FSI. I met a lot of new people there and I formed friendships with some of them (specifically my classmates from the French language course). And now, after completing that course, I enrolled again. This time, in the Japanese language course (because ever since I saw my first episode of Dragonball Z undubbed, I had wanted to understand whatever it is that the characters were saying in whatever anime I would be watching). If I ever complete this course, I will try and enroll again, and this time, I'll take German (I want to learn it to complete the advice that was given to me in college).
posted by Marc dela Peña | 9:17 AM
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