Here is my journey, how I came to be who I am today.
Carlie’s Journey: The Early Years
1985 - 1999
Born on the 24th of April, 1985, I came out bum first and since then I have always been a little backwards.
I was a big reader from a young age, often reading when I should be bathing, homeworking and even watching tv. As such, I always wanted to be an author, and have been a long time lover of the English language. As a child I read lots of fantasy, science fiction and historical books - I loved escaping to new and different worlds.
As my love affair with English blossomed, I didn’t really have an interest in learning other languages. In Victoria we started learning Italian in either grade one or two, I don’t quite remember. What I do remember, however, is “Jingle Bells” in Italian - perhaps a testament to the power of learning through songs, as I don’t remember much else of the language.
I moved to Queensland where languages aren’t learnt until grade 6. It was here that I got my first taste of the Japanese language. In Victoria there is a high population of Italians, hence that language choice. In Queensland there is a big tourist industry, and with Asia being our closest neighbours it is from here that a lot of our tourists come from. Hence Japanese being the language of choice.
I can’t say that I enjoyed learning Japanese, but I didn’t loath it. I was excited to learn how to write my name in Katakana, but apart from that I have no solid memory from these first encounters of learning Japanese. I know that we did not get very far at all, I believe only really learning “This is a pen” and then a lot of lessons on vocab (i.e. “colours” etc) and learning to write hiragana then katakana. It did make re-learning these two syllabries easier when I can back to it, as it was all strangely familiar.
IWhen it was time for grade 9, when a second language was not compulsory, even though I was urged by my Japanese teacher, I decided not to continue my Japanese studies. I mean, when would I ever need it? Heh. I don’t regret anything in life, but sometimes I wonder how much further ahead I would be today, if only…
(Part Two To Be Continued!)
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