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Wednesday 30 November 2011

Wait...you want me to introduce myself?

Well, if you insist.
Hi! This is ME.  
I’m pretty new to this social media thing. I just started tweeting last month and, as a newly converted tweeter, twitterite, tweetser (?) I think I’m doing a pretty awful job of notifying people of the nonsensicalities of my everyday life in 140 characters or less. And what’s with the hash tag thing? When is it #appropriate? #Here? Or #there? Am I #overusing it  #now?
But one thing I am good at is talking about myself.  I am a fourth-year university student studying Translation at the Glendon Campus of York University. That means that four years ago, I decided that Glendon was the best and only place for me to spend the next 1460 days of my life. Why Translation at Glendon? If you have a couple minutes, I’d love to tell you my life story. I’ll keep it short. I promise.

My Life Story...

I was born in Kingston, Jamaica 21 years ago. Jamaica is known for many things: its beauty, its beaches and its culture. 
It is not, however, known for being even slightly French. Neither are my parents. Despite many efforts on my part, words like “bonjour” and “aurevoir” still give them difficulty. Plus, I spent most of my life in Ajax, a great place to live, but not a great place to become fluent in a second language. So, when it came to French, I was starting from ground zero. But I took some steps to change that:

1.     I spent twelve years of my life in French Immersion. This is equivalent to approximately 120 months, 3600 days or 86400 hours learning French. Subtract recess, bathroom breaks and sleep and that still leaves you with a lot of time to devote to French grammar. But I wanted to be completely proficient in the language and since my family had no current plans to make a full-scale move to France,  my options were limited to making the most of the resources provided me.
2.     In class I was learning formal French –the French you would write a resumé in, compose a novel in, or impress your grand-mother with, but not the French that you’d use to talk to that cute French boy you want to get to know better. I decided that I would spend extra time outside the classroom enriching my French vocabulary with television shows and radio broadcasts composed or translated into French. I also signed up to participate in various competitions for French Immersion students and volunteered as a tutor in my second language. The extra effort paid off.
3.     My most recent and significant decision was my choice in post-secondary education. I chose Glendon, the bilingual campus of York University. I knew that after devoting close to 86400 hours to French grammar classes, I was not going to allow myself to lose a language I loved.  I spent hours researching programs offered in English and French and for me, Glendon was the only choice.

A completely bilingual environment? Check
A variety of programs offered in the two languages? Check.
An international student population, which provides me the opportunity to use my two languages? Check.

So I applied, was accepted and am now in my fourth year in Glendon’s School of Translation.
Ok, so, that wasn’t short at all. But you try and tell your entire life story in two minutes. See? It’s hard.

And I still didn’t really tell you what is so awesome about Translation at Glendon. That will have to be my next blog post. Wait for it….coming soon to a computer screen near you.

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