Sahl Altalhi

September 8, 2014
Final Draft of Literacy Memoir

A grateful kid
Although I can understand the numerous challenges and distractions kids struggle with when
trying to learn and read from a young age, I cant really say that was the case for me. I was blessed to
have grown in a home in which my father, who was a teacher, and my older sister were the main reason

Comment [W1]: Although this is a fine topic

sentence, its not exactly an interesting opening
sentence. Check this out:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/businesscareer/public-speaking/openings-and-closings

learning to read and write was not only a painless experience for me, but rather a fun and fascinating
journey. Even though my fathers career as an English teacher for 31 years had a huge influence on
making learning easier for me especially regarding the English language, my older sister gets all
recognition and gratitude for developing my interest in learning and investing my thirst of knowledge
and leading it to the right path ever since I was an eager 5 year old kid who wanted to know everything

Comment [W2]: Write out numbers under 10.

about the world. She used to sit me down and teach me all about the letters and their pronunciations,
and sing the Aalphabet song to make it easier for me to memorize the Arabic letters. I was a very fast
learner back then and loved to find out about new things like all kids do. Thanks to my sister, I was able
to read and write in Arabic when I was 6 six years of age. She also taught me very basic instructions in
English, how to memorize the English Aalphabet and read words, etc.

Later on in my life, being a 12 year old kid who played video games all day long, it bothered me
how I couldnt understand instructions and directions needed to beat a game because all the games

Comment [W3]: Redundant:

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/gram
mar/are-you-annoyingly-redundant
Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5"

were in English and every other language except Arabic. Being only able to read them was of no use.

Comment [W4]: Why not?

Luckily, again, I turned to my father who had studied English in the UK and taught elementary-level
English in my hometown for 31 years. He started giving me lists of words and their meanings and had

Comment [W5]: Redundant and not needed.

Wordy:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/gram
mar/wordiness-and-idioms

me memorize all of them and which I did. He also gave me a dictionary and taught me how to write in

Comment [W6]: Wordy/ not needed

cursive and enunciate basic sentences.

Sahl Altalhi
September 8, 2014
Final Draft of Literacy Memoir
I never went to an English language institution, and the English programs in our schools were
very simplistic and basic which meant I had to teach myself. I started listening to Rrock music for no

Comment [W7]: Redundant

other reason than it sounded good to me. I could only understand a sentence or two in these songs. I
picked up the dictionary and looked up the meaning of every word. I gave up pretty quickly after that
because of for the obvious wastefulness of this process. After a while, I started watching movies and TV
shows, I would come back from school, literally spend 6-7 hours every day on the computer watching
shows like Lost and Prison Break, then go to bed. Although it wasnt particularly healthy for me, it made
the process of learning the language more fluid and easier for me. I was always pretty fast at
memorizing words, so when I heard a movie line and read its translation in Arabic that line would

Comment [W8]: Run-on sentence:

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/gram
mar/what-are-run-on-sentences
Comment [W9]: Quotation marks arent needed
here.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/
quotation.htm

instantly register in my memory. That helped me learn meanings of words, pronunciations, and the body
language and tone in which the actors delivered their lines. I spent insane amounts of hours on the
computer for such a long time that I learned English almost only because of watching TV shows and

Comment [W10]: Redundant

movies and listening to music. I was always the best student in my English classes in middle school and
high school since it wasnt a big issue for me anymore.

Kids are much smarter than we people take them for. We underestimate their growing curiosity
and constant questions and disregard them as childlike and annoying when we must not only satisfy

Comment [W11]: Avoid this use of first person

in academic writing. Using the plural we often
sounds judgmental.

their desire for knowledge and invest in their wild imaginations but applaud it rather than discourage it.
Most importantly when they are at a young age when they are most impressionable and vulnerable to
their surroundings. I was a lucky kid in that regard but I realize not every kid was as privileged as I was.
Its truly depressing to think about all the kids who had all these big dreams and real potential talents
deprived from them because they lived in an abusive household environment. We must consider the
childrens best interest because in almost every family conflict kids wellbeing must always come first.

Comment [W12]: This all seems off topic.

Discuss how this experience affects YOU now.
Reflect on how this has changed you or helped to
bring you where you are today.