In our everyday lives, we often encounter many situations in the workplace, as well as in school, in which we must communicate with others in order to be able to navigate our lives in the best way possible, which is known as language. However, this could not be done without having basic, or even extensive knowledge of the four aspects of language, which some of us don’t realize we use, and must perfect to be the most successful we can be. The four aspects of language that are used every day are reading, writing, speaking, and listening, which are done by everyone every single day, whether it is at home, school, or work. The aspect of reading helps us attain knowledge through terms and words. However, reading does not always have to be used for educational purposes. Reading can also be used for pleasure, from reading magazines, newspapers, fictional books, or even reading text messages due to now living in the age of modern technology. The aspect of writing has many individual purposes as people use it in order to voice an opinion on a situation or even use it as a means of creative writing to express their thoughts and ideologies. Speaking is also a form of communication in which you communicate verbally with others in any physical setting where thoughts and feelings can be expressed. The aspect of listening is being able to hear and gather information based on verbal communication where the other person is expressing their thoughts, expressions, and ideas. Language is what truly helps us share our thoughts, feelings, and individual ideologies with the world. From public speaking to answering someone’s DMs on Instagram, language is always going to be an important part of one’s life no matter what, and we must always be able to acknowledge it, and possibly even evaluate our strengths and weaknesses, as well as memories or impacts, that have shaped who we are as individuals, to sort of navigating or way of life, as well as our critical thinking.

When using one of the 4 aspects of language in our day-to-day life, we all have one specific memory that either had a positive or negative impact on ourselves. As mentioned previously, the language aspect of reading truly makes you knowledgeable but can also be used for anything we desire, as we need it to explore ideologies and be able to hear the voices of others. One memory that was very impactful to me in the aspect of reading is always knowing that knowledge is power and that without reading we wouldn’t be able to attain the knowledge that we truly need to be well informed. This memory specifically occurred when I was back in high school, when I always had a niche to study historical documents and how people who lived before us have shaped our current ideologies as well as evolved through them over time. One exemplification of this would be ideologies and or opinions towards a woman’s right to vote, as well as what rights they should be able to exercise in the United States. This has significantly evolved throughout the past decades as more citizens believed that women should have the same rights as men. This truly exemplifies how reading has impacted me, as it has informed me as a woman living in the United States to always fight for my rights no matter what, as people will always belittle you at school or in your career just because of your gender. This has helped me realize that I, as a woman, truly have a voice in any setting that I am in, as I am also human, and should be treated equally. It has also helped me realize that I should always fight for what I believe in, especially in my future career, as it will be my true passion, but also how I will survive in this world. Without reading, we will never be well informed about what is truly going on in the outside world as well as obtain the proper knowledge needed to live our daily lives.

In the language aspect of writing, you truly can grasp your own individual feelings and ideas onto a page, where you also learn from various mistakes from past experiences and are also able to improve your writing. One memory that I truly have with writing is from my experience in high school. I always used my writing in essays and any other assignment that was related to a global or social issue to voice my opinion and or perspective on it, and it truly made me feel heard. One exemplification of this was one of my research essays on climate change and what we can do to prevent it from worsening. We as humans don’t care about the environment, and or the place in which we live, which is why there are various natural disasters and catastrophes happening in our day-to-day lives across the globe, which has impacted me deeply, as being able to save our environment should truly be a top priority, and has helped me learn that I too should be able to rise, and have my voice truly heard through my writing on any global or social issue. Writing has truly helped me express my feelings about how we, as humans, are living our lives and what we should do to change the way we live for the better in the place we call home. Due to the aspect of writing, it has made me realize that it is your opinion being voiced for the whole world to see, and writing essays or doing argumentative or opinionated assignments in school has helped me realize that no matter what we write, whether it is “good” or “bad”, it truly does not matter, as it is our opinions being put out there, and should be considered no matter what. This had an extremely positive impact on me, as writing has formed my mindset of having a voice, and or opinion is heard even if others didn’t see it, because my feelings were being expressed outside of what I felt or thought in my mind, and that it truly matters.

Communicating with others plays a very important role in our daily lives, as it is how we do certain things at work or school, or how we can problem solve when needed. Speaking is one of, and or is, the most important aspects of language, as it is our main mode of communication in order to speak to other individuals and express feelings, ideas, and much more, and oftentimes our most favorite memories come from when we are speaking. However, there are memories that have had a negative impact on us but have taught us to become better individuals. One memory that was very impactful in the speaking aspect of language, was in middle school when I had past experiences of bullying when people in the class were making rude comments about my appearance, such as saying “you’re too skinny, you should eat more”, as well as extreme rudeness towards me, because of my shyness, as well as always keeping to myself when it came to making friends or sharing past experiences in life. These children in my class would even make fun of me because of my many academic achievements, as I would always try my absolute best to achieve amazing grades. However, what these children failed to realize was that without academic achievement and the ability to know that knowledge is truly power and will bring you true success in life if you work hard to achieve it. Even though it did indeed affect my life for a long period, as I would listen to these comments, I’ve always learned never to acknowledge these rude comments, as bullying shows a sign of insecurity. even though they would say “you’re too nerdy” or “stop trying to be the teacher’s pet so much to get the best grade.” Even though this made me have an extreme sense of sadness as well as make me feel worthless, due to me not being able to stand up for myself During those difficult times, standing up for myself was always a difficult task for me because I always acknowledged these feelings, and even if that sounds like it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t, which truly shows a personal weakness of mine, which is the inability to have high enough self-esteem to even acknowledge my feelings, but rather others. Speaking has always been the most difficult aspect of the language for me to master. As a young child, I had always been shy about communicating or talking to others, as I would think about what people said about me as a person and my opinions, and I would even be bullied for not speaking, which made it even more difficult for me to have as much strength. Speaking has always been difficult for me, but slowly but surely, I am learning to truly have my voice and voice my own opinion when something towards me or even someone else is not right when it comes to bullying. Without truly having the ability to speak and having a voice, we are nothing, as we need these abilities to live in the real world, as well as resolve problems we encounter in our day-to-day life, just like I did when having to deal with bullying in school. Sometimes I wish I had used my voice to truly prove who I am. This specific memory that has occurred during my childhood not only coincides with the aspect of speaking, but also goes hand in hand with the language aspect of listening. During this time in my life, my self-esteem was at a very low point because I was listening to my fellow peers and or classmates at school about their negative and or hurtful perception of me. I would always remember what they would say about me, and always evaluate what was being said about me, and constantly think about it, as people would judge me based on my looks and my actions that didn’t affect them in any way. Due to listening to my fellow peers as well as not rising up and speaking up for myself due to bullying, I would never post on social media, and or would never post pictures with any of my friends, because I was always afraid of what people would say about my looks. During high school, it was also difficult to make friends as I was extremely shy and would constantly remember what was said about me and or about my personality. This experience, and or memory, truly affected my mental state, as I would always feel like an outcast, and or like a teenager who could never fit in with the rest of the group because of how I looked and would act. This truly goes with the approach of both the aspects of speaking and listening, as I would never speak up for myself when I was being bullied and would truly listen as well as remember what was said about me for many years of my teenage life. Podcasts that I have helped me boost my self-esteem, and confidence: Good Life Project Podcast, The Self Esteem and Confidence Mindset • A podcast on Anchor.

Listening to others is a fundamental aspect of life, as not only does it show a sign of respect for our peers, loved ones, and friends, but it truly deepens and or enhances relationships with others. A memory that was very impactful in the listening aspect of language was always listening to the advice of my parents, especially during my senior year of high school, just about to go into college. Their advice for me was to always be disciplined and try to stop my procrastination, and always get things done on time. Even though this somewhat hurt my feelings, as I was a rising honors student with excellent grades, I always knew how to manage my time when it came to studying and balancing a social life as well as working in a fast-paced retail environment for about 4 days a week. However, I never truly spent quality time with my family. Granted, I was having an extremely time-consuming lifestyle, but I always had to face the fact that their advice to me was to not burn myself out and try to spend time with them, which sort of made me feel unappreciated. This is because I had been working so many hours to obtain a certain amount of money for college, as well as studying extremely hard in school to get the best grades and be at the top of my class. I felt extremely unappreciated by this, as I have been doing extremely well and they weren’t acknowledging it. However, I did have to tell them in a way that one day I would have to live alone for college, and not have them in my presence as they are moving away, and we’re trying to spend as much time with me as possible until the big day. Due to this, I did indeed listen to their advice, and not only did I feel relieved, but I felt extremely liberated as it led me to believe that there is much more to life than studying and working extremely long hours to achieve a specific goal when you can spend time with yourself, as well as your family, and still achieve those achievements in a much happier and healthier way. This was truly a positive impact for me, as it taught me to always listen to the advice of my parents, as well as those who are older than me, as they have truly gone through many different processes of life and can truly give you an honest perspective on which you must understand to live the happiest and most fulfilled life. Listening has always been the easiest aspect of language for me, as I would always take the advice and or listen to others when it would truly impact my life decisions as well as my path in life. Listening would truly help me grasp and comprehend the decisions of those closest to me, so that I can support them in any way I possibly can, which is the aspect of our language that I love, as I am able to understand others in their time of need, as well as others listening to me in any situation that I am facing. Soothing music that truly helps me relax, and relieve my stress: Beautiful Relaxing Music for Stress Relief • Meditation Music, Sleep Music, Ambient Study Music Beautiful Relaxing Music for Stress Relief ~ Calming Music ~ Meditation, Relaxation, Sleep, Spa

When evaluating how the 4 aspects and or components of language have impacted my life, I have always thought about how I was truly not cherishing how these 4 aspects of reading, writing, listening, and speaking have played a major role in my memories, experiences, and day-to-day life. However, when looking back at these major instances in my life, I have realized that there is indeed a common thread, and or similarity, between my weaknesses and strengths, which exemplify how these 4 aspects of language have truly shaped me as an individual, and what I can do to change those weaknesses into my best strengths. My listening and speaking are two aspects of language that have a common thread or similarity. When writing about my memories with the 4 modes of language, I realized that perfectionism can never be achieved, as everyone has their strong suit, as well as their weak suit, and I had always believed that I barely had any weaknesses, especially when it came to the 4 aspects of language that I use in my everyday life. However, while looking back at previous experiences, I realized that I am a very active listener who follows others’ advice when needed. However, when it came to speaking, that’s when I realized that not everything about me is perfect and has had a positive impact on my life. When I was younger, I was always bullied by my classmates, which did indeed take a toll on me, as I would never stick up for myself in any way. However, when it came to listening to the advice of others on how to stick up for myself and others, as well as how to set up my life for success, I would always listen and practice the advice that was said. Even though I was a very shy girl who could never be rude or disrespectful towards anyone, I would never be rude or disrespectful to anyone back, because I would give myself the benefit of the doubt that everyone goes through struggles and takes it out on another person. However, I shouldn’t have as it was a very constant situation that could hurt my self-esteem. However, listening to the advice of my parents on how to stick up for themselves and put their needs and feelings first taught me that I am never alone in life and that I should listen to the advice of my parents no matter what is happening in my life. Even though the speaking aspect of language has had a negative impact on my life in the past, listening and practicing the advice given has truly led me to the success I truly need, not only to have the completion of the achievements in my life, but to also live a much happier and healthier life where I feel like I belong, and can spend my time on things that actually matter. Language is extremely important in our daily life, and being able to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses in its 4 aspects will not only make us better speakers, listeners, readers, and writers, but will also help us resolve situations in our daily life, from the workplace to the school environment.