My Future Aspirations in Life

 

To have a successful career as a physician

To have a happy family

 

To have my very own dream house

My Teenage Life in 3 Exciting Events

My first travel outside the country with my cousins. (2007)

Four-day tour to the World Trading Center, Hong Kong. We visited Ocean Park, Causeway Bay, Victoria Peak, and Disneyland.

Halloween in Boracay Island.

My five-day visit to the Rising Industrialized Country of East Asia, South Korea with my mom. (May 2010)

3 Most Important Events of my Childhood

 Me, finally out from my mom's belly and out into the world!

At one month old, I entered the Christian Kingdom. During my baptismal, I was sporting a family heirloom: the old traditional white baptismal gown.

My first birthday held in our old house in Manila.

Get to know me

Hi, readers. Let me start off by giving a brief introduction of myself. I'm Clarisse, a 15-year-old ex-Manila girl. I was born  in Caloocan City, Metro Manila and lived there in my grandparents' house until age seven. It was in 2002 when my family moved here in the centralized air-conditioned city of Baguio.

Here are things that I love doing. I love reading books by Stephenie Meyer and Suzanne Collins. I'm a big fan of horror and suspense movies and Asia-novelas. I watch them at home on the DVD. I admire rock music especially by the My Chemical Romance and Paramore.  I enjoy doing Sudoku puzzles during my leisure time. Last but not the least, I really, really love to travel. I get to learn the different cultures of the places I visit. I also get pleasure from trying a diversity of their native dishes.

I know a little about playing the piano. I started taking summer piano lessons at Mount Carmel Montessori when I was four. I lost my enthusiasm when my teacher transferred to the U.S. Someday, I plan to be a great pianist.

Now, here are facts you probably do not know about me.

According to my mom, I was supposed to be named Carmela Denisse but she found out from a book on suggested names of babies that Carmela meant tears. Denisse, on the other hand, sounded quite negative too. If you've read a Dennis, the Menace book, you will surely agree with me. She then decided to name me Pamela Clarisse instead. Pamela meant sweet and Clarisse meant famous, according to the book. Safe, she thought.

When I was a toddler, I had a security blanket which was actually a folded flannel baby blanket named WOW. Why such a name? It was actually used to keep me warm. My mom would place it on top of my chest and I would always exclaim WOW! I stopped using it when I had asthma at 8 years old. My WOW might have caused the allergy, everyone said. 

I had big protruding teeth back then. My mom told me I looked like Bugs Bunny. She even joked that I looked like Apeng Daldal, a Pinoy comedian famous for his rabbity teeth in the 1970s. At age 12, upon my insistence, I wore braces. Two years of suffering from mouth sores and painful gums and voila! Now, I have the perfect smile.

I am clumsy and accident prone. I bump into things and land on the floor easily. I do not know how to cross the street and commute by myself. I move very slow. Turtle, that's what my my mom calls me. I am forgetful. Imagine, at age 15 I already have memory gaps. But there is one thing I am proud of. I will never go hungry because I can cook my own simple meals. Thanks to science! The wonder of the non-stick, fool-proof teflon and the availability of Lucky Me products anytime, anywhere. The affordability is a plus too.

I'm a sweets-addict. And when I say addict, I mean real-addict. If there is anyone with so much sugar in the body, that's me!

I am a pathetic joker. I do not know how to successfully deliver a punchline. My jokes naturally die even before I finish telling them. I laugh at my own jokes. Pathetic, isn't it?

I can  live without my cellphone but I cannot live without my mp3. One more thing I cannot live without is Facebook. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, the genius behind this social networking  giant. With just a few clicks, everyone is in touch.

I hate peanut butter. If I eat anything with a peanut ingredient, it will cause a pimple breakout.

I was fat and morena-skinned when I was little. It was only when I reached age twelve that my baby fat disappeared and my skin pigment became fair. Miracle! I do not know how else to explain it.

Well, now you know me. Please sign in and be my friend. If you have suggestions or comments, please feel free to tell me. I would love to hear from you.

The Advantages of Learning English

The English language is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, second only to Mandarin. That English is used almost everywhere is only one of the many advantages of learning the language.

Business

English is the primary language of business throughout the world. Most international business transactions, including emails, memos, reports and contracts, are written in English.

Employment Opportunities

The ability to fluently speak the English language in addition to your native language can be beneficial if you're seeking job opportunities with international companies. The ability to speak a language spoken by most business people can place you a step ahead of the competition.

Movies

Major Hollywood movies have dialogue in English. The plot of these movies is easier to follow if the person watching the movie speaks English. Subtitles in other languages can sometimes cause the meanings of words to be lost in the translation, and they can be a distraction or even block the action taking place on the screen.

Travel

The English language is predominantly spoken throughout the world, so international travelers may find that speaking English can make their travels a little easier. Most hotel and restaurant employees, as well as store merchants, probably speak English to some degree.

Schools

Students from other countries who attend school in the United States will benefit greatly if they can know basic English. This knowledge will help them communicate better with both their students and teachers. The students also will have an easier time with any research or readings they are assigned.

Academics

The English language is the predominant language of academics all over the world, with a large amount of research conducted, written and presented in English. Knowing English can helpful for scholars who wish to communicate their ideas and research findings to peers in their field.

Computers

Most software programs are written in English. Those seeking to expand their computer knowledge can find the ability to read and understand the English language invaluable.

English as a Medium of Instruction

English is the language of instruction in public schools in countries where it may not be the first language spoken by students, such as the Philippines and India – I believe this is the case in a few other Asian countries but don’t have current news articles to link to. I also don’t think it’s uncommon for French and/or English to be the language of instruction in some African countries.

The presumed benefits are somewhat self-explanatory – students will become proficient in English not only in conversation but in academic subjects, they may fare better in the work force, etc. There is also some idea that having English as the language of instruction removes the connection between having money and having the chance to learn English.

However, the recent news articles I found appeared because many people find problems with instruction in English. In India, sometimes the worry is that non-Hindi-speaking students studying two second languages, Hindi and English, may have negative implications for their own language, and at the same time they are taking in too much to become proficient at either English or Hindi. I suspect that one connected concern is not that they will stop speaking their own language, but perhaps that over time, there will be fewer and fewer literary works in those native languages as educated people are trained to write in other languages.

One interesting point brought up in the article about the Philippines is that English as the language of instruction tends to benefit most those who already have a strong background in English – they can excel and students weaker in English feel intimidated or can’t keep up. The authors even assert that the English policy may be a factor in students with weaker English language skills dropping out of school, and in this way the policy may hurt the country in general more than it helps.
I don’t have much information to base an opinion on, but I think it is notable that there can be very real downsides and even negative implications of a policy that at first glance may seem beneficial. It remains to be seen what the outcome of all this will be.