I was very worried going into this because of several reasons: a) I have next to no video recording equipment, b) I have only basic editing software, and c) I hate being in front of a camera. I solved problems a) and b) by lowering my standards and just using a webcam and Windows Movie Maker. It worked out better than I thought it would, so I'm satisfied.
Now, I've endured graphing sine waves in pre-calc, poring over the Thirty Years' War in AP Euro, and listening to Mr. McDaniels in history...turns out watching myself over and over again as I edit is way more painful than all of those things combined. I became hyper-aware of all my weird tics and facial expressions - also does my voice really sound like that?? I got so stressed out during editing that afterwards I felt like I had run two whole feet...which is like really far for me.
Vimeo tells me that my frame rate is a bit low...but it doesn't look exceptionally bad, so let me know if there are unexpected issues.
Password: queenjess
Genius Project vlog from Jess on Vimeo.
Jess,
ReplyDeleteI loved your video - I wholeheartedly agree with what you said about the advantage many English speakers have as far as other non-native speakers willing to speak English, which might not be the language they are most comfortable speaking. I've thought about it a lot while communicating with my pen pal - we switch from speaking in Italian to speaking in English, and it amazes me how she is able to switch so effortlessly to and from both. I really love speaking with her in Italian, though, seeing as it is the one she is most comfortable with. The sheer diversity of people who are native speakers of one language and choose to (or are forced to, from a different perspective) speak English as a second or even third language astounds me.
Thanks for such a thoughtful comment! I've seen some people observe that, for English speakers, learning a foreign language is a resume-builder, or a nice additional skill to have. For non-English speakers, learning English is almost a necessity. People have no trouble pointing out the "broken" English of immigrants, without hesitating to think that they have learned a second language and are using it almost all the time. I've said it before and I'll say it again - the U.S. needs better foreign language education in their schools!
DeleteHey Jess!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what you said about understanding more about your culture, as that is one of the main reasons why I chose to learn Hebrew for my Genius Hour as well. I loved that you mentioned that even though you will learn a lot, there will always be more that you won't get a chance to do, and I think that this is a definite when learning a language in such a short amount of time. I can't wait to see your TED Talk and final product!
Jason
Thanks for the comment :) I definitely talk about cultural identity and language in my TEDtalk (it's kind of the whole point...shhh). I'm excited to present it to you!
DeleteAs an immigrant (which I tend to point out really often because that's practically what built me into what I am today), the language thing has been a really big problem for me. I'm American enough to be able to tell apart a native speaker and a non-native speaker or even someone with non-native parents, but I'm not American enough to have a perfect accent and lack a lot of vocabulary and pronunciation skills (so I don't know how to pronounce a lot of words). When someone tries to learn Korean, even when they mess up a lot, I have a really happy feeling that pops inside of me that makes me just love the person. When someone learning English has a prevalent accent, their voice doesn't seem to receive the same amount of respect as someone who's native.
ReplyDeleteI'm always self-conscious of my voice, so that's a problem, but I bet you were often self-conscious about your Chinese, which is another problem I totally understand too. You have no idea how much I admire you for taking this challenge, because although a lot of kids are aware of their lack of control over their parents' language and their parents' difficulty with English, they never actually do anything about it. Chinese is super hard to write as well, so that must have been even harder.
I'm 1.5 generation; From an American perspective, I give you a round of applause for even daring to learning all of those characters and spending the time and effort to participate more in your culture. From a foreigner's perspective, I can bet you that your family appreciates this from the bottom of their hearts - and I want to even thank you a little (although it's really cheesy, ew) because I don't think enough people understand the struggle or even try.
And Jess, you look & sound like a true queen. I love that poster, by the way.
I can totally relate to the "in-between" feeling of cultural identity, which is something I also talk about in my TEDtalk. I also understand what you mean when you say foreign English speakers get less respect. I've had to listen to store employees get frustrated with my dad when he can't understand them, or they can't understand him.
DeleteI can recognize why you're self-conscious of your voice, but I think it's impressive that you've managed to learn a new language so well in these years. And I'm very self-conscious of my Chinese (which is why I don't speak it very often). I get uncomfortable when I try to say something, and I can't come up with the word! Thank you for all the kind words :)
Wow, what a heartfelt vlog! You've definitely come far, and I can see your dedication to the language (from your blog posts). You mentioned in the beginning that you wanted to learn languages for the genius project, so what languages were you considering other than Chinese (French, Italian, etc.)? Like you, I also was forced to suffer through Chinese school and I hated it. However, unlike you, even though I'm currently not learning Chinese, I don't feel "separate" from my family. We speak "Chinglish" and I think I'm average (going to Taiwan tells me the complete opposite) at speaking Chinese. However, I cannot read or write for my life.
ReplyDeleteI know you've mainly focused on reading and writing (based on your past blogs and the pictures of your worksheets), but have you also been practicing your speaking and listening?
In the beginning, I was considering improving my German, or learning Swedish (because it's fairly similar to German). I feel bad at home because my dad mostly speaks to me in English (although we'll switch back and forth unconsciously). I decided not to practice my speaking and listening mostly because I've practiced that skill throughout my life anyway.
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