While thinking back to previous classes I’ve taken throughout my life, I was told multiple times that “gonna” or “ain’t” wasn’t the correct way to use a word. Another thing I seemed to struggle with was when I would write “me and my mom” instead of “my mom and I”. Growing up, I had a problem with my speech, so trying to correct my mistakes wasn’t always the easiest thing. Teachers would never say why those words weren’t okay to use, they just weren’t proper and you were expected to know that. Today, I have definitely come a long way, but I still sometimes write sentences in a non grammarly way.  While I can’t remember a specific time this has happened, I have definitely taken the criticism and used it in a positive way. Sometimes I slip up and use the wrong grammar in my school work, but that’s what being human is about. While there are proper ways of what language actually is, it changes everyday. 

In my 4th grade class in elementary school, I learned some rules about language that said things like “ain’t” were wrong. They said these rules were important for sounding smart. But even though I was taught this, I still used these words in everyday life, especially when talking casually. As I grew older and learned more about language, I realized these rules were not as strict as they seemed. Language changes over time, and what’s considered correct is often just a matter of opinion. So now, I’m more open to different ways of speaking and less worried about following these strict rules.

In another class in middle school, I was told that ending a sentence with, “with” or “for,” was incorrect. The reason why was that it was a rule from Latin grammar, which doesn’t always apply to English. I remember being told to rephrase sentences to avoid ending them that way, which sometimes made my sentences sound awkward or overly formal. even with this instruction, I often found myself naturally using sentences that ended in prepositions in everyday conversation, as it felt more natural and less forced. This experience further reinforced my belief that language rules should be flexible and consider how people actually speak and write.

When reflecting on the past classes that I have taken during my educational journey, I cannot explicitly recall being told not to use a word like ain’t. However, that does not mean that it has never happened before. Though my memory of the rules taught in school are very blurry, I can safely assume many of the prescriptive rules I learned in school taught me how to speak in a “proper” manner. Basically, these prescriptive rules are the reason that I am even typing the way that I am right now. I was never told that ain’t was less valid than aren’t, but I did know that ain’t was not preferred compared to other words. I was most likely taught this, or I developed an understanding myself. There was never really a reason as to why some forms were not preferred. The teachers most likely stated that it was an incorrect way of speaking without giving an actual explanation, which makes sense considering a young child probably would not understand, or even care for an actual explanation. I was most likely taught not to use the double negative through the use of textbooks and activities done in class. Even when looking around a classroom, you can see examples of prescriptive rules because of educational posters on the walls. They are not direct, but indirect ways of teaching children what is “right”, and what is “wrong”. I personally do not use ain’t with anyone. I also do not use the double negative. It is because of the way that I was taught to speak and write.

I remember a time in middle school in one of my English classes, I had written an essay and got it back graded with feedback. While looking at the essay I was handed back, I didn’t know that the word “gonna” wasn’t a “word” and that it wasn’t “proper English”. I spent my whole time saying the word to friends and family and have never had someone, especially a teacher, correct me on this. I knew it meant “going to” but I just used it in my everyday English and thought it was okay to use when writing papers. I, obviously still use it till this day when communicating with friends, family or anyone, it just became a habit of saying.

Throughout my life, I was always taught not to use “gonna” in writing and double negatives in speech. The reasons were because they made me sound uneducated. The teachers never gave me an actual explanation as to why I shouldn’t use them. In middle school, there was one teacher that always responded with “can you?” whenever you asked her “can I go to the bathroom?”. She explained that “can I go to the bathroom?” is not grammatically correct and “may I go to the bathroom?” is the correct way to ask. The reason she gave is “can I go to the bathroom?” is questioning your ability to physically go to the bathroom while “may I go to the bathroom?” is asking for permission. I stopped saying “can I go to the bathroom?” from that day and while I don’t use the word “gonna” in writing, I do use it when speaking to friends and use double negatives.

I do not have any recollections of teachers correcting my grammar, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen but I just don’t recall any (it was 40 years ago). I do have many memories of family correcting my grammar. ‘Ain’t’ was not a word to say around my mother. Once when I told her, “I ain’t got homework” she said I obviously didn’t study enough if I was saying “ain’t” as it wasn’t a word. I was told to go read a book instead of watch tv (the horror). My Aunt Jane was terrifying if she had to correct your writing or speech. Whatever was said ‘improperly’ was corrected with a lecture followed by being told I sounded uneducated and needed to speak English properly in life if I wanted to get ahead. (I had a habit of asking if I could ‘borrow’ her bathroom instead of saying ‘use’ the bathroom.) Of course my two older sisters weren’t as nice, and they would correct any perceived grammatical error by laughing and saying I sounded like an idiot (I’m pretty sure I said “ain’t” in some sentences to them). To this day I can not seem to remember the rule concerning ‘I’ vs ‘Me’ and will just spit out several options and let the listener choose their preference and kind of hide the fact I’m not confident in the correct way to say it. So although I am sure there was a prescriptivism structure of teaching grammar in school when I was growing up, most of the corrections were made and enforced at home. And today at the age of 55, I am still scolded by my mother if I use some choice words even if I am describing my boss on a bad day at work. Her reasoning is that it sounds uneducated if I curse a lot.

Back in middle school my grammar and wording were always corrected by the teachers. They corrected me about a lot of words that I shouldn’t have used. For instance I used gonna a lot. I used to say “ I’m gonna go to the park” or “I’m gonna go home.” Or I would use ain’t, and say “ I ain’t gonna go to school” However my teachers always corrected my vocabulary/grammar, instead of “gonna,” my teacher told me to use “going”. Instead of “ain’t” I had to use “aren’t”. My teacher thought that these words were improper and used the excuse “In high school/college they will not accept this type of grammar” I can agree the words “ain’t” and “gonna” aren’t formal however I do believe now they aren’t improper words to use though. I wouldn’t stop using these words in my daily life or my writing assignments, especially since linguistics makes me have more free will and there’s no such thing as rules with descriptivism linguistics. However, when I write formal essays I do want to be proper and write formally, and use different words.

Thinking back to when I was first learning the basics of grammar in elementary school, I would always struggle to use language in a way that was acceptable to my teachers. Coming from a Spanish speaking family, I would pronounce words as my mother taught me. This was always a problem with my teachers, as they would tell me to improve on my grammar and spelling. One memory that stuck with me is my constant bad grades in writing. I would always use “you and me” in my writing, instead of “you and I”. I would also pronounce words differently, having trouble with run on sentences and double negatives which translated to my writing. Another point that my teachers always enforced was no use of slang or abbreviations. Even today, my spelling isnt the best, and I do struggle with public speaking. I would say that prescriptivism was the basis of my early education. From a young age practicing how we speak is crucial to our ability to speak. However, the strict rules and standards that prescriptivism enforces isnt necessarily how we should understand language. Although I would say my teachers in elementary school helped my writing in the long run, I wish there were fewer rules when it comes to speaking formally.

When I was in elementary school, it seemed that I did a lot wrong. The way I spoke, wrote my letters, and wrote sentences were deemed ‘incorrect’ by many teachers at that time. What I find funny looking back on it is that I tried to correct myself – and I would, but I would always go back to the way I originally spoke. My writing improved over time with different teachers assigning work that challenged the way I wrote, but my language is still just the way I talk. When I speak I sometimes stutter, have a hard time finding the words I wanna say, and pause for a moment before speaking. I also very rarely shift the way I speak depending on who I am speaking to. For the most part, I will speak to a friend the same way I may speak to a manager or teacher – not in a bad way or anything, but in a way that is comforting and casual. Using certain words in sentences may spark a foul look amongst people; for example when people say “ain’t” or use “was” instead of “were.” I.e. “You was there with me and we ain’t got no more.” This sentence is perfectly understandable. If a sentence or phrase is understandable, then why must it be deemed incorrect? The question lies in whether the vocabulary follows the correct grammar laws or if it’s ‘incorrect’ – at least that’s what my teachers told me. Finally, prescriptivism gives power to the speaker and allows them to function the vocabulary to their likeness. I confide in prescriptivism because I’m able to get my point across without worrying about what grammar laws I may break.

Back during  middle school we used to take English courses and practice a lot . So one time we were writing an essay and I said “me and my friends decided to go out “ so my teacher pointed it out for me hat the correct way is to say my friends and I , and truly I didn’t forget it since that day although it didn’t sound convincing to me and felt so weird , but every time I hear someone saying it , it takes me back to the old days. I also remember that my tutor used to tell me that we shouldn’t use too much contractions because I was literally using them in every word and the word “goin out “was a staple in my writing .Even though I know that it’s not grammatically correct and doesn’t count as proper English but I use it while I’m talking a lot of the times.This made me realize how important English is and that we need to consider the proper word structure and sentences.