The State Journal-Register – Megan Crain
“The concept of foreign languages has always fascinated me. When I was a little kid watching “Dora the Explorer,” it was so cool to realize that “red” and “rojo” meant the same thing. I looked forward to taking a foreign language class in high school, because my junior high only offered a Spanish class with a limited number of students. When I got to high school and had to pick a foreign language class, I decided to take French. To me, the French language is one of the most beautiful languages in the world, and I couldn’t wait to learn how to speak it. That first class freshman year, I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t know if my teacher would be speaking completely in French, if I needed to have any background in the language, or how quickly I would have to learn. But we just went over classroom rules and discussed English words with French origins. While that doesn’t sound like the most interesting topic, it was kind of amazing to see what influence French had on other languages.”(more)