You really want to read it? Okay *sets self up for ridicule*
For any lurking potential applicants, yes you CAN get an offer with a PS as crap and cheesy as this.
Every week, a language dies. By 2100, half of the world's 6,912 languages will be extinct.
English is spoken by up to 1.8 billion people across the world. There are people in England
who believe that, because of this, learning foreign languages is unnecessary, but to me, it
means the opposite. To me, a language is not just a collection of words and grammatical rules:
it represents an entire culture and a way of thinking. As our world gets smaller, the
opportunities that come with a foreign language become ever wider.
I knew that studying French and German at A level would be a challenge, and it has been, but
it has also been extremely rewarding. Making connections and comparisons between the two
languages has been fascinating, and has given me greater understanding of my own language. In
my English Language course, knowledge of German morphology and syntax has helped to analyse
Old English texts. Knowledge of French lexis helps to identify the vast influence of that
language on ours after the Norman Conquest. Research for my German oral exam on Berlin sparked
an interest for me in the Berlin Wall and its fall, which I intend to develop in my A2
personal study in Modern History.
My first memories of French come from "Hugo l'Escargot", who taught me to count. Since that
early stage I have developed my interest in a variety of ways. In 2006 I visited the Languedoc
region of southern France, where the minority language Occitan is still spoken, and the French
sounds very different from the "standard" I had been taught. I intend to go to Berlin next
February with the History faculty. I engage with French and German culture whenever I can; I
listen to and read the news in French and German, listen to podcasts and radio, and read
literature. I am currently reading La Peste by Camus in French, and short stories by Bernhard
Schlink and in German.
I am frustrated by the perceived apathy towards foreign language learning in this country, and
feel strongly that languages should be actively promoted in schools. With my AS French class I
visited a neighbouring upper school to promote A-level French: I co-wrote and performed in a
short play, to illustrate how varied and exciting studying a language can be. My AS English
Language coursework was a leaflet aimed at teenagers, persuading them to take a foreign
language.
As well as French and German, I am currently teaching myself Japanese from scratch, and
attending fortnightly Mandarin Chinese classes at school. I am fascinated by grammar and am
interested in constructed languages such as Esperanto: we bemoan the illogical nature of
English, and yet completely logical languages have never taken hold.
I play the trumpet to grade 5 standard, and have shown long-term commitment to the school
orchestra and swing band. I also play weekly in West Suffolk Youth Wind Band. Last year, I
jointly headed a campaign at my school against charges for peripatetic music lessons, writing
to the governors and collecting signatures. I have fitted a part-time job in a call centre
around my studies for over a year, which has developed my confidence and time management. I am
certain that I will enjoy university and relish the challenges it brings and the opportunities
it will open.