Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Why I was a math major…

So we’ve reached that point in Spanish that is all too reminiscent of miserable days in high school and college English classes.  It’s the feeling that I get when I’m biting my tongue to not argue my point with the teacher, because it ultimately doesn’t matter.  Why does this happen?

The answer is simple: perception.

Math is very black and white.  You solve for the answer and you’re either right or wrong.  No questions.

Languages on the other hand are just really complicated.  You can say something and I can take it one of 4 ways.  I can write a poem and you can read into it 100 things that I never meant to say.  I can listen to a song and apply it to my life circumstance right now when it was written from a totally different point of view.

There is something really beautiful and appealing about language for this reason.  It gets to our hearts.  Its how we express ourselves.  It gives a way to communicate things that aren’t always black and white issues.  And I love that.

But I don’t like having it in the classroom.  My perfectionist nature balks against getting points off on my test because I didn’t read something from the same perspective as the teacher.  But that’s pride.  And I’m learning to let things go.  It’s a good lesson for me and one that is much needed.

No comments:

Post a Comment