English is My Favorite Subject
In 9th grade, English was all about hammering down the basics of essays. We learned how to construct a thesis and communicate an argument in five paragraphs.
In 10th grade, it was about perfecting the structures of the papers that we wrote. It was incorporating quotes appropriately and eliminating “to-be” verbs.
In 11th grade, we learned how to take the analysis that we had originally done for these papers and present effective examples to bolster our arguments.
In 12th grade, it was wrapping up everything that we’d learned thus far and learning how to communicate our points not only effectively, but efficiently. It meant going over the word limit and cutting fluff so that we could present fleshed-out arguments in as few of words as possible, while still preserving its essence.
In a school in which discussions govern the class structure, my evolving personality inside and out of the classroom showcased my progress as a student of English. My initial contributions were quiet, uncertain statements, but I’m ending high school with the ability to take a stance on positions that I can defend with confidence.
Outside of the classroom, however, you’ll find me on this blog. Many a time have I employed techniques that I learned throughout the years that have benefited my writing well.
Meanwhile, I’m a music columnist for my school’s newspaper, a position that I hold with contentment. Although I had written for my school newspaper in the past, the articles had always been about sports, and until late, I had never found satisfaction in such topics…
The articles that I write for that column are similar to the ones on this blog, because in both cases I care about the content, which allows for comparatively better and more interesting writing.
English is my strongest subject, as a result of the teachers, the curriculum, and the implicit analysis that I bring to class every year.
In tenth grade, my teacher introduced me to the essays of Thoreau, one of the first works of non-fiction that I actually enjoyed. His explanation of the world and its accompanying metaphors helped reveal nuances in society that I hadn’t noticed before.
I spend half of my days trying to create clear metaphors for my writing content, and the other half coming up with bad literary puns. Metaphors and similes, I find, are some of the most profound ways to get an idea across to an audience. I am always amazed to see what other people can pull from within the depths of their minds.
Friendships are like the earth’s plates?
My emotions are like a dripping faucet or a breaking dam? There’s no in between?
The tears stood in her eyes?
My love of reading, writing and everything in between starts and begins with English, a subject that has consistently been my favorite throughout the years.
At one point, I stopped BSing my papers, ditching my mechanical approach for a far more emotional one.
Somewhere along the way of the 12 years of schooling I’ve endured, English came to be the subject that I immediately drifted towards when it came time to tackle homework.
Free writes are damn powerful; they actually provoke personal thought. Most of the time, we write with the expectation that our words will be read by other eyes, but free writes are different. We’ve been assured that our words are for our eyes only, and time is allotted every so often, cultivating a personal writing style that shifts through the years.
The English language is technically my second, but has become my first. Some texts I have read and reread so thoroughly that I have fallen in love with their individual fragments of phrasing.
I love English’s arbitrary nature, and I love the rhetoric that teachers use when they try to communicate arguments to us. I love the oratory skills that grow stronger day by day, and the public speaking that we’re pushed to exercise every so often.
It’s like this: every time a teacher mentions one of his or her favorite texts, I feel compelled to read it, or at least write down the name for future reference. If some piece of writing is strong enough to win over an English teacher, then goddamnit, it must be special.
— WWC
Catherine Zhang 
Yea, the english language is beautiful, isn’t it? Sometimes they surprise me by how artistic they are.
It seems quite a comprehensive post on everything about English and I love it.
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Even years later, I still love English as a subject!
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English is my favorite subject. you are not get success without read and understand English.And thanks to all to get an idea about the essay my favorite subject English.
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I love your blog! Let me tell you a secret…at 45 years old, I still love music as much now as I did at your age. Your blog inspires me to kick my page up a notch. I like to think of myself as Erin version 4.5 instead of a 45 year old lady with kids your age in college. I hope that when you are my “version,” you will still be doing all this cool stuff. Check out my post on Riotfest in Denver…life just keeps getting richer. Very cool vibe you have going on here…inspiring to me! I found you through your comment on custom widgets. I will work on mine! Yours are great.
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I hope that I will be as cool as you are when I’m 45. I’ll check out your blog! :) WordPress is amazing, and thanks so much for reading!
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English is my favorite subject and i just simply love to read books
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I am literally obsessed with your blog right now. keep on writing :)
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<3 thanks so much! You keep on writing too!!!!
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Thank you for introducing me to Free Writing! I am always having writer’s block and it’ll really help me – I am going to try it later. Also, I love your blog – it’s written in a way that’s easy to read and really entertaining :) I follow you, and can’t wait to see more! :)
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I do the same thing!! I am so glad I’m not alone. :) Lately I have been trying to work against this tendency, but it is difficult.
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Good perspective on Free Writes. I enjoyed your post.
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Nice read.
Me I never found English that interesting. That must be why my grammar is so bad.
But writing was different, be it any language I could always write, if not grammatically correct then at least I could get the idea across the reader
Nice
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The practice itself is universal. One of the best feelings is having people remind you that your ideas are supported by more than one person :)
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I know how you feel. English is a second if not foreign language here, but it’s also my strong point in academics. The thing I love about English is how instinctive it is. It’s a language that allows writers to be free, actually. You can reword a sentence in so many ways, insert goofy words and phrases. My friends usually ask me about tricks to answer multiple choice question when an exam’s coming up. “How do you know when to answer ‘blah’?” “Well, it depends. It always, always depends when it’s in English.”
Consider yourself lucky if you know your language well enough to express yourself (I do too). I’m glad you highlighted how it’s important. Some people I know don’t care enough to read. In the end they can’t even express themselves well enough so others get the point. (You know, those who use “You know what I’m talking about, right?”)
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Hey! I checked out your blog but I couldn’t figure out where you lived. What country do you live in?
English is…liberating, I totally agree. And sometimes the wording is what makes or breaks an article, and makes it so much more easy to relate to.
You bring up an interesting point about language, and I actually wrote a whole blog post about the weird communication between me (an American-born Chinese) and my native Chinese parents, if you want to read it :) http://wp.me/p2Nofk-q5
Thanks for stopping in. – Catherine
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I’m from Indonesia.
The same language barrier happened to my parents. My grandparents are fluent in Chinese and still use it on a daily basis, while my parents are absolutely clueless. It’s a bit sad really.
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Wow. So you’re a second generation! Or at least, in regards to languages. That’s a totally different experience in itself! I guess it can seem sad, but it’s also interesting to think about yourself as a mixture of many cultures :) I call myself an Asian-American fusion.
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Well, guess so. xD
True. It’s a nice feeling to know we still bring our heritage though in smaller amounts. Plus I’m naturally not a conformist to trends and culture I don’t like. So I’m more of a any-culture-that-fits fusion.
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