Literacy Adaptation

For many of us, literacy is just a term most commonly used to define a person intellectualy. What I mean by that is in today's time, an idividual must be highly literate in order for him or her to be thought as succesful and/or intelligent. here are many !ays for someone to achieve that. "ne of the most common !ays and something I can relate to is adaptation. he reason being is because throughout my childhood, I had to learn four languanges. #ome people might say that !as a challenge, but I thin$ it !as just a ne! !ay to adapt based on my surroundings. Another e%ample of me adapting !ould be my four years of high school &" '. (uring that time, I had to learn ne! military vocabulary !ords such as ran$s or even regular procedures li$e communicating !ith someone of higher ran$. )y third e%ample of literacy adaptation !ould be cars. Why do cars have to do !ith literacy* Well since the cars bet!een +urope and the ,nited #tates are different, the terminology !ould also change dramatically. First of all, gro!ing up in a small country on the eastern side of )oldova, one language !as not enough to get you through the day. o e%plain !hy, !e have to travel bac$ in time to the period !hen the #oviet ,nion !as controlling a lot of the regions beside the +uropean countries. #ince the #oviet ,nion !as controlled by the &ussian government, &ussian !as the primary language of the regions. "nce the #oviet ,nion fell apart in the early -.s, the countries that !ere under its control !ent bac$ to spea$ing their native language. he &epublic of )oldova !as left !ith &ussian spea$ing citi/ens as !ell as &omanian spea$ing citi/ens. &omania is the country bordering )oldova on the !estern side, and so in today's time, you !ill most li$ely find a person spea$ing the t!o languages if you !ere to travel to )oldova. In my family, I !as raised to spea$

&omanian even though all my relatives !ere also fluent in &ussian. I pic$ed up &ussian from family reunions and also my friends from school. In a +uropean school, or pretty much any continent outside 0orth America, there is a stronger focus on education. 1y the time I !as through !ith 2nd grade, I had learned basic French. We even had a play at the end of the year for our parents. Although some people may thin$ it !as a struggle for me to learn ne! languages, I thin$ it !as just another !ay for me to adapt to my surroundings. 3o!ever, there !ere some $ids !ho did struggle. hey !ere the ones !ho !ere raised to spea$ &ussian at home, but the school they !ent to taught in &omanian. I could relate to that struggle because !hen I came to the ,nited #tates, the language in school !as +nglish 4not suprisingly.5 When !e !ere living in )oldova, my mom taught +nglish at a university and so she helped me out !henever I had difficulties saying !hat I !anted to say. )y literacy improved as the years !ent by, just by adapting to ho! everyone around me tal$ed. It !as much simplier for my brother6 he !as 7 !hen !e moved and so +nglish !as more common to him than any other language. 1eing taught ho! to be literate in elementary school !as very interesting to me. #ome people might thin$ that it !ould be strange for a young child to enjoy learning, but thats e%actly !hat I did. As I mentioned before, the schools in the countries of +urope focus highly on getting the best education for their $ids. #o the interesting thing !as, !hat I learned in 8st and 2nd grade got me through 7th and 9th grade. he reason I didn't say :rd grade !as because I s$ipped it, and for this instance it !as because of age not education. #o !hat might I have done during the luctures about topics I already $ne!* I read. 1oo$ after boo$ and page after page, my time in school pretty much consisisted of

getting my hands on something ne! and reading it. As little e%perienced in literature as I !as at the time, someho! I found a !ay to get lost in mystery and adventure boo$s. 1y the end of ;th grade, I finished reading the <ach Files, the =oosebumbs series and the 3arry >otter series. In a !ay, it !as the only enjoyable hobby I had other than soccer. "n another note, my $no!ledge of literacy too$ an interesting turng !hen I entered high school. I thought I $ne! everything there !as to $no! about being literate, until my first day of 0avy &" '. he !ay our instructor spo$e to us and his terminology seemed very strange to me. For instance, if someone needed to use to bathroom, he or she !ould need to re?uest permission to used the @head.@ If you !ere thirsty and !anted to get a drin$ from the !ater fountain, you !ould need to re?uest permission to use the @scuttlebutt.@ From then on, !e !ere taught ne! vocabulary !ords from military history and our orders to the sentry. he terms for change depending on the branch of military your &" ' !as. "ne thing I al!ays had a passion for is cars. 0ot any particular brand, just those !ith high horsepo!er and preferably rear !heel drive. I !as taught from an early age ho! to drive, and given a small history lesson on #oviet cars. #ince I lived in )oldova, formally part of the #oviet ,nion, the transportation is a lot different !hen compared to the ,#. I !as told that all #oviet cars !ere made to be affordable and reliable, and since most had little technology in them if any !hatsoever, it !as common that they lasted for a long period of time. 1oth of my grandfathers o!ned several #oviet vehicles, and still do this day, so I had a pretty good understand of !hat $ept them going. For starters, the engines in the cars !ere very small, ranging from t!o cylinders to four cylinders. hey !ere not made for speed, but for durability. +ven the most po!erful engines had to

struggle at times because the cars !ere made of metal and thus increasing the !eight. o be literate in automobiles means you can distin?uish cars from around the !orld, and moving from place to place, I had no problem adapting to that. Another minor e%ample of my adaptation could be related to a saying of #herman Ale%ie. 3e stated in The Joy of Reading and Writting: Superman and Me that he @read !ith ?ual parts joy and desperation.@ In a !ay, I can recall that not only did I adapt to literacy by adapting, but also ta$ing joy in the things I read. For me, reading has transitioned from the classes in &omanian to the boo$s in French, and finally to the novels I found interesting in +nglish. )y desperation !as to be as literate as everyone around me. hat drove me to times !here I read at levels above my grade, and impressed a lot of +nglish teachers along the !ay. In conclusion, adapting to literacy has been a major part of my life, and even through the struggles, I enjoyed every moment because it has made me !ho I am today.

Wor$s 'itedA
Ale%ei, #herman. @ he Boy of &eading and WrittingA #uperman and )e.@ he )ost Wonderful 1oo$sA Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading. )inneapolisA )il$!eed +ditions, 8--C. :D;. >rint