Kasia's Language Logs

When learning a language, it is important to practice speaking it in order to learn it fully. Learning Polish allowed me to understand this. Growing up, I learned both Polish and English simultaneously, but when my parents were working all day and I was surrounded by my English-speaking brothers, my Polish skills suddenly vanished. It wasn’t until third grade that I started speaking Polish again, as my parents sent me to Polish school every Saturday for four hours. I started strictly speaking Polish at home and watching Polish television shows with my parents. I quickly mastered the language. So my childhood taught me the ultimate secret to actually learning a language: by constantly speaking it and being surrounded by it. I believe that knowing another language fluently is truly a super power. My friends have always been in awe about how I’m able to switch between Polish and English so quickly. I am able to think in both languages. I’ve even dreamt in Polish. My absolute favorite

For this week's language log, I decided to talk about the topic I chose for my Explainer project, which is all about the word "swag" and where it came from. Merriam-Webster defines swag as goods acquired by unlawful means, but this isn't the only definition. Urban Dictionary defines swag as the new generation's alternative word for "cool", which is the way I've seen this word used. The first time I remember using the word swag is in sixth grade. My friends Julie and Olivia bought two wallets, one that said swag and one that said "yolo", which stands for "you only live once". They put the two wallets together, took a photo, and posted it one Instagram. The photo was seen by everyone in my middle school and soon everyone was saying "yolo-swag". We didn't really know what the term meant but we basically used it in replace of cool or if we were debating to do something. For example, if I said: "Should I get ice

My entire life, my parents taught me the value of being multilingual. Learning both English and Polish simultaneously growing up, I was exposed to my Polish culture through language and different approaches to every day problems based on my culture. Simply knowing a language exposes so much about the culture behind it. For example, the Polish language uses many consonants and sounds very harsh, exposing the tough nature of the Polish people. My learning of Polish at home inspired me to learn more languages. I began speaking Spanish in first grade and continued to take it throughout my education. There are many Spanish speakers in the town that I live in, so it has been very useful in my everyday life. In addition, it has been very helpful when traveling to different countries. For this weeks language log, I decided to write about a personal experience revolving around the importance of being multilingual. Throughout my high school career, I have taken many trips with my brothers ar